Does a Tired Mind Help Avoid a Decision Bias? The Effect of Ego Depletion on Escalation of Commitment

In this research, we investigated the effect of ego depletion on escalation of commitment. Specifically, we conducted two laboratory experiments and obtained evidence that ego depletion decreases escalation of commitment. In Study 1, we found that individuals were less susceptible to escalation of commitment after completing an ego depletion task. In Study 2, we confirmed the effect observed in Study 1 using a different manipulation of ego depletion and a different subject pool. Contrary to the fundamental assumption of bounded rationality that people have a tendency to make decision errors when mental resources are scarce, the findings of this research show that a tired mind can help reduce escalation bias.     

Fostering learning from instructional video in a second language

This study investigated the most effective way to present an instructional video that contains words in the students' second language. Korean‐speaking university students received a 16‐min video lesson on Antarctica that included English narration (video + narration group), English text subtitles (video + text group), or English narration with simultaneous text subtitles (video + narration + text group). On a comprehension test, the video + text group scored higher than each of the other two groups, in contrast to the modality effect; and the video + narration + text group outscored the video + narration group, in contrast to the redundancy effect. Each of the lessons that included text was rated as less difficult than the lesson with narration only. The narration + text group reported lower effort than each of the other groups. Results highlight boundary conditions for two principles of multimedia instructional design that apply for college students who are learning in a second language. Theoretical implications are discussed.     

The learning benefits of teaching: A retrieval practice hypothesis

Teaching educational materials to others enhances the teacher's own learning of those to‐be‐taught materials, although the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, we show that the learning‐by‐teaching benefit is possibly a retrieval benefit. Learners (a) solved arithmetic problems (i.e., they neither taught nor retrieved; control group), (b) taught without relying on teaching notes (i.e., they had to retrieve the materials while teaching; teaching group), (c) taught with teaching notes (i.e., they did not retrieve the materials while teaching; teaching without retrieval practice [TnRP] group), or (d) retrieved (i.e., they did not teach but only practised retrieving; retrieval practice group). In a final comprehension test 1 week later, learners in the teaching group, as did those in the retrieval practice group, outperformed learners in the TnRP and control groups. Retrieval practice possibly causes the learning benefits of teaching.     

Generating Multivariate Ordinal Data via Entropy Principles

When conducting robustness research where the focus of attention is on the impact of non-normality, the marginal skewness and kurtosis are often used to set the degree of non-normality. Monte Carlo methods are commonly applied to conduct this type of research by simulating data from distributions with skewness and kurtosis constrained to pre-specified values. Although several procedures have been proposed to simulate data from distributions with these constraints, no corresponding procedures have been applied for discrete distributions. In this paper, we present two procedures based on the principles of maximum entropy and minimum cross-entropy to estimate the multivariate observed ordinal distributions with constraints on skewness and kurtosis. For these procedures, the correlation matrix of the observed variables is not specified but depends on the relationships between the latent response variables. With the estimated distributions, researchers can study robustness not only focusing on the levels of non-normality but also on the variations in the distribution shapes. A simulation study demonstrates that these procedures yield excellent agreement between specified parameters and those of estimated distributions. A robustness study concerning the effect of distribution shape in the context of confirmatory factor analysis shows that shape can affect the robust \(\chi ^2\) and robust fit indices, especially when the sample size is small, the data are severely non-normal, and the fitted model is complex.     

The role of threat,emotions, and prejudice in promoting collective action against immigrant groups

In two studies we assessed the role of distinctiveness threat, group‐based emotions (angst, fear, and anger), and prejudice on people's willingness to engage in collective action against immigrant groups. In Study 1 (N = 222) White British participants were either informed that in the next 40 years the proportion of immigrants in the UK is unlikely to change (control condition) or that there will be more immigrants than White British people living in Britain (threat condition). We obtained support for a sequential multiple mediator model in which threat predicted British people's willingness to engage in collective action via the emotions first and then prejudice. This finding was replicated in Study 2 with an Italian sample (N = 283). These results enhance understanding of when and why advantaged groups undertake collective action against disadvantaged groups by demonstrating that distinctiveness threats and emotions promote such actions.     

On Doubt

Despite the prominence of doubt in philosophy since Descartes, the published philosophical literature includes no extended treatment of the nature of doubt. In this paper, I summarize the main contributions that have been made to the subject and then develop a commonsense functionalist account of doubt by specifying (a significant part of) the functional role of doubt that something is the case. After adding two further wrinkles, I show how the resulting account can be used to address the questions of how doubt is related to belief and whether suspension of judgment can be identified with (some appropriate level or levels of) doubt. Although the account is partisan, it should hold interest for those who favor other positions in the philosophy of mind, since (a) much of the account can be taken on board by those in other camps, and (b) the paper demonstrates how a sufficiently detailed account of doubt can be put to work addressing longstanding questions of interest across philosophical sub-disciplines.     

Increased parasympathetic activity and ability to generate positive emotion: The influence of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism on emotion flexibility

Cross-species behavioral research suggests that a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene (rs6265, Val66Met), influences behavioral inflexibility. This SNP has not yet been linked to variability in emotion-related behaviors, despite broader evidence suggesting an association may be present. This investigation explored the role of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism in emotion response behaviors measured during a lab-based emotional provocation. Specifically, the influence of BDNF Val66Met in emotion flexibility was explored in a sample of healthy adults (N?=?120), emotion responses were recorded during the emotional provocation on multiple dimensions, in response to emotionally-evocative videos of negative then positive valence. These results suggest that Met carriers exhibit decreased parasympathetic responding, and reduced ability to generate positive emotion, relative to Val homozygotes. These findings are the first to suggest an association between the Met allele and a pattern of responding indicative of emotion inflexibility that might afford greater risk for psychopathology.     

Resolving Peer Disagreements Through Imprecise Probabilities

Two compelling principles, the Reasonable Range Principle and the Preservation of Irrelevant Evidence Principle, are necessary conditions that any response to peer disagreements ought to abide by. The Reasonable Range Principle maintains that a resolution to a peer disagreement should not fall outside the range of views expressed by the peers in their dispute, whereas the Preservation of Irrelevant Evidence (PIE) Principle maintains that a resolution strategy should be able to preserve unanimous judgments of evidential irrelevance among the peers. No standard Bayesian resolution strategy satisfies the PIE Principle, however, and we give a loss aversion argument in support of PIE and against Bayes. The theory of imprecise probability allows one to satisfy both principles, and we introduce the notion of a set‐based credal judgment to frame and address a range of subtle issues that arise in peer disagreements.     

A comparison of prompts and feedback for promoting handwashing in university restrooms

We compared the effects of prompts versus feedback on handwashing behavior across six restrooms at a large university. We evaluated the effects using two separate multiple baseline designs across three men's and three women's restrooms. Results indicate that feedback was more effective for increasing handwashing.     

Dreams of Life and Death

This article examines the personal and archetypal aspects of images from six dreams that occurred during the illness and after the death of the dreamer's sister. It connects the dream images to the unresolved issues in the relationship between siblings and to the dreamer's own reflections on typology. It also explores the larger questions concerning the psychological process of grief, the common occurrence of synchronistic events related to death and loss, and includes Jung's comments on life and death. Finally, the article suggests solutions to our very human fears of death and encourages the development of our capacity to discover a personal mythology, a working sacred story, of “the beyond” or “life” after death.