Use of internal consistency coefficients for estimating reliability of experimental task scores

Reliabilities of scores for experimental tasks are likely to differ from one study to another to the extent that the task stimuli change, the number of trials varies, the type of individuals taking the task changes, the administration conditions are altered, or the focal task variable differs. Given that reliabilities vary as a function of the design of these tasks and the characteristics of the individuals taking them, making inferences about the reliability of scores in an ongoing study based on reliability estimates from prior studies is precarious. Thus, it would be advantageous to estimate reliability based on data from the ongoing study. We argue that internal consistency estimates of reliability are underutilized for experimental task data and in many applications could provide this information using a single administration of a task. We discuss different methods for computing internal consistency estimates with a generalized coefficient alpha and the conditions under which these estimates are accurate. We illustrate use of these coefficients using data for three different tasks.     

Rawls and the Problem of Honour

In this paper, I consider the difficult relationship between Rawls, religion and the values that religious believers might consider important in order to lead the good life. Contrary to many of Rawls’ defenders, I argue that at least some of the values that religious citizens are likely to hold cannot be accounted for under Rawls’ theory or under his conception of the good life. I argue that the model of goods which Rawls takes to be part of a thin theory of the good is tied to his belief that under the Original Position justice can be derived from calculations of self-interest alone. To perform my critique, I consider the paradigmatic case of honour in so-called traditional societies. I argue that the way Rawls thematizes primary goods in A Theory of Justice, including concepts like esteem, cannot account for the way honour manifests itself inside traditional communities. I conclude the paper by considering how Rawls might be able to defend his theory against my objection, by considering the relationship between Rawls’ theory, and the rationalization and secularization of society.     

Female facial appearance and health

The current study addressed whether rated femininity, attractiveness, and health in female faces are associated with numerous indices of self-reported health history (number of colds/stomach bugs/frequency of antibiotic use) in a sample of 105 females. It was predicted that all three rating variables would correlate negatively with bouts of illness (with the exception of rates of stomach infections), on the assumption that aspects of facial appearance signal mate quality. The results showed partial support for this prediction, in that there was a general trend for both facial femininity and attractiveness to correlate negatively with the reported number of colds in the preceding twelve months and with the frequency of antibiotic use in the last three years and the last twelve months. Rated facial femininity (as documented in September) was also associated with days of flu experienced in the period spanning the November-December months. However, rated health did not correlate with any of the health indices (albeit one marginal result with antibiotic use in the last twelve months). The results lend support to previous findings linking facial femininity to health and suggest that facial femininity may be linked to some aspects of disease resistance but not others.     

Emotional appraisal is influenced by cardiac afferent information

Influential models highlight the central integration of bodily arousal with emotion. Some emotions, notably disgust, are more closely coupled to visceral state than others. Cardiac baroreceptors, activated at systole within each cardiac cycle, provide short-term visceral feedback. Here we explored how phasic baroreceptor activation may alter the appraisal of brief emotional stimuli and consequent cardiovascular reactions. We used functional MRI (fMRI) to measure brain responses to emotional face stimuli presented before and during cardiac systole. We observed that the processing of emotional stimuli was altered by concurrent natural baroreceptor activation. Specifically, facial expressions of disgust were judged as more intense when presented at systole, and rebound heart rate increases were attenuated after expressions of disgust and happiness. Neural activity within prefrontal cortex correlated with emotionality ratings. Activity within periaqueductal gray matter reflected both emotional ratings and their interaction with cardiac timing. Activity within regions including prefrontal and visual cortices correlated with increases in heart rate evoked by the face stimuli, while orbitofrontal activity reflected both evoked heart rate change and its interaction with cardiac timing. Our findings demonstrate that momentary physiological fluctuations in cardiovascular afferent information (1) influence specific emotional judgments, mediated through regions including the periaqueductal gray matter, and (2) shape evoked autonomic responses through engagement of orbitofrontal cortex. Together these findings highlight the close coupling of visceral and emotional processes and identify neural regions mediating bodily state influences on affective judgment.     

Executive function on the Psychology Experiment Building Language tests

The measurement of executive function has a long history in clinical and experimental neuropsychology. The goal of the present report was to determine the profile of behavior across the lifespan on four computerized measures of executive function contained in the recently developed Psychology Experiment Building Language (PEBL) test battery and evaluate whether this pattern is comparable to data previously obtained with the non-PEBL versions of these tests. Participants (N = 1,223; ages, 5–89 years) completed the PEBL Trail Making Test (pTMT), the Wisconsin Card Sort Test (pWCST; Berg, Journal of General Psychology, 39, 15–22, 1948; Grant & Berg, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 38, 404–411, 1948), the Tower of London (pToL), or a time estimation task (Time-Wall). Age-related effects were found over all four tests, especially as age increased from young childhood through adulthood. For several tests and measures (including pToL and pTMT), age-related slowing was found as age increased in adulthood. Together, these findings indicate that the PEBL tests provide valid and versatile new research tools for measuring executive functions.     

Changing the body image concern and eating behaviour of chronic dieters: The effects of a psychoeducational intervention

Abstract

A program designed to diminish body image concern and to normalise the eating of chronic dieters was evaluated experimentally and by monitoring outcomes for 12 months. The subjects were 82 females (mean age 44.4 years, mean BMI 31.4). Data from repeated measures of eating style, self-esteem and body shape concern revealed a strong, positive and enduring intervention effect. At 12 months the majority (86%) of the subjects were not dieting and 73% reported “sometimes” or “often” engaging in natural eating, i.e., unrestrained and physiologically cued eating. A positive relationship was found between extent of natural eating and the likelihood of weight loss or weight maintenance. It is concluded that female dieters can derive considerable benefits from programs promoting natural eating.     

Recalled parental bonding,current attachment,and the triarchic conceptualisation of psychopathy

The current investigation examined whether attachment functioning might mediate the effects of parenting on traits associated with psychopathy. Participants completed the Parental Bonding Instrument, the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale, and the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure within a cross-sectional design. Whilst several recalled parenting variables demonstrated significant correlations with the psychopathy subscales, mediation analyses confirmed that the majority of these effects were mediated by current attachment anxiety and avoidance. Only paternal overprotection maintained a significant direct effect on levels of disinhibition. These findings provide support for the argument that attachment dysfunction may represent a potential mechanism through which parenting practices contribute to the emergence of psychopathy-related traits. Inferences regarding causality and mechanisms of effect are naturally constrained by the cross-sectional design of the current investigation, but the preliminary findings presented warrant further examination within prospective designs.     

Executive function as a function of sub-clinical psychopathy

Some aspects of executive function are thought to be dysfunctional in psychopathic individuals. We administered a small battery of neuropsychological tests (spatial alternation task, object alternation task, and Porteus Maze) to two samples of college students and obtained a measure of psychopathy via a self-report questionnaire. Psychopathic traits were related to the tests of object alternation and Porteus Maze but not to the spatial alternation task. Our results support the hypothesis of orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) dysfunction with sparing of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in psychopathy and provide a downward extension of this theory to sub-clinical levels of psychopathy.     

Rawls’s Principle of Justice as Fairness and Its Application to the Issue of Same-Sex Marriage

Abstract

This essay applies the principle of justice as fairness to the issue of same-sex marriage. I will outline Rawls’s theory of justice, including the original position and the veil of ignorance as the means by which choosers craft a just state. In considering whether same-sex marriage should be permissible, I argue that a just society, formulated in the Rawlsian context of justice as fairness, should allow them. I assert that gays and lesbians do count as equal citizens because they possess the minimum requirements of the capacity for a sense of justice, a conception of the good, and the ability to be cooperating members of society. Furthermore, within the original position gays and lesbians will be represented because choosers do not know their sexual orientation because it is one of the individual characteristics that are withheld behind the veil. Since the choosers do not know their sexual orientation, they will be unable to use that information in their construction of what counts as a just state comprised of free and equal citizens. Because the family, and the institution of marriage as a primary manifestation of the family, is one of the major social institutions within the basic structure, limitations must be carefully scrutinized.     

Addressing Sexual Assault within Social Systems: System Justification as a Barrier to College Prevention Efforts

Sexual assault perpetrated by men against women is a distressingly common occurrence, particularly on college campuses. One of the barriers to assault prevention efforts is the general perception of violence against women as an unwanted yet implicitly tolerated aspect of the status quo. Drawing on system justification theory, a concept used to explain why individuals accept aspects of their social systems that are objectively unjust, the mechanisms that perpetuate sexual assault are examined. Furthermore, this theory is used to examine current prevention efforts on college campuses and suggestions for modifications to these programs will be made.