Empathy,Perspective Taking and Prosocial Behaviour: The Importance of Parenting Practices

The current study analyzed the relationships among maternal empathy (emotional and cognitive), parenting that encourages the child to take the perspective of others, child cognitive empathy and child prosocial behaviour. Participants were 72 typically developing children (66 Caucasian, six Asian) aged between 47 and 76 months (M = 61.5 months, SD = 8.3 months). Results support the facilitative effect of parenting that encourages the child to take the perspective of others. Thus, the role played by parents in the development of prosocial behaviour extends beyond warm/sensitive/responsive parenting in infancy. Together these forms of parenting are key factors that facilitate the development of prosocial behaviour. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Meta-analytic evidence for a superordinate cognitive control network subserving diverse executive functions

Classic cognitive theory conceptualizes executive functions as involving multiple specific domains, including initiation, inhibition, working memory, flexibility, planning, and vigilance. Lesion and neuroimaging experiments over the past two decades have suggested that both common and unique processes contribute to executive functions during higher cognition. It has been suggested that a superordinate fronto–cingulo–parietal network supporting cognitive control may also underlie a range of distinct executive functions. To test this hypothesis in the largest sample to date, we used quantitative meta-analytic methods to analyze 193 functional neuroimaging studies of 2,832 healthy individuals, ages 18–60, in which performance on executive function measures was contrasted with an active control condition. A common pattern of activation was observed in the prefrontal, dorsal anterior cingulate, and parietal cortices across executive function domains, supporting the idea that executive functions are supported by a superordinate cognitive control network. However, domain-specific analyses showed some variation in the recruitment of anterior prefrontal cortex, anterior and midcingulate regions, and unique subcortical regions such as the basal ganglia and cerebellum. These results are consistent with the existence of a superordinate cognitive control network in the brain, involving dorsolateral prefrontal, anterior cingulate, and parietal cortices, that supports a broad range of executive functions.     

The effects of whispers,voice-sample duration,and voice distinctiveness on criminal speaker identification

A total of 156 introductory psychology students heard a taped voice of a mock kidnapper for either 30 seconds or 8 minutes. The kidnapper had either a distinctive voice or a non-distinctive voice, and spoke either in a whisper or in a normal tone of voice. Voice identification from six-person, tape-recorded lineups was tested 2 days later. Participants who initially heard the perpetrator speak in a normal tone were tested with normal tone lineups. Participants who initially heard the perpetrator speak in a whisper were tested either with whispered lineups or normal tone lineups. Results showed that identification performance was superior with longer voice-sample durations. Voice disguise through whispering, distinctiveness of suspect's voice, and changes in tone of voice from initial hearing and lineup test significantly influenced identification performance on both suspect-present and suspect-absent lineups. Small but significant accuracy-confidence correlations were found in both suspect-present and suspect-absent lineups. Duration estimations of the length of the speaker's voice-sample were overestimated, particularly for the short 30-second voice sample.     

An attentional analysis of children's sensitivity to artistic style in paintings

This study investigated the claim that children are not able to judge artistic style when it conflicts with subject matter cues in paintings, using stimulus and methodological controls not employed previously. 6 and 9 year old children and adults were asked to judge which member of a pair of paintings looked like it was painted by the same painter as the target in a matching to sample task. Style choices were always possible and subject matter matches were either not possible because that dimension was controlled in the stimulus set (control), or possible but in conflict with style choices (experimental). The levels of discriminability of style and subject matter differences were varied. For control conditions, we found that performance was poor for all ages when style differences were low in discriminability and subject matter varied across the three stimuli; otherwise it was high. For experimental conditions, we found that irrelevant variation of subject matter was more detrimental if differences on that dimension were highly discriminable. Even the youngest children could make style matches and could do so even when a subject matter match was also possible, suggesting that they are sensitive to artistic style and can focus on that dimension in the face of irrelevant variation on other dimensions. The results are discussed as they relate to earlier claims that children are not able to judge artistic style and to the implications for training that follow from those claims.     

Sex-role identity,sex of other,and affective relationship as determinants of interpersonal conflict-management styles

Previous research in sex-role identity has explored behavioral differences in a variety of contexts. Only recently, however, have differences in interaction style been investigated. The study reported here was designed to assess behavioral differences in one important type of interaction: interpersonal conflict. Of 143 college students responding to the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), a final sample of 57 subjects provided questionnaire data on five conflict-management modes in hypothetical conflicts with others who varied on factors of sex and affective relationship with respondent. Results of the MANOVA analysis suggested that feminine persons disapprove of competition more than persons of masculine and androgynous sex-role identification. The results further suggested that masculine persons may differentiate less between liked and disliked others in their competitive behavior than do feminine and androgynous persons. Finally, results suggested that conflicts with liked, as opposed to disliked, others are managed with less competition and more accommodation, collaboration, and compromise for all sex-role identity groups.     

The Impact of Film Manipulation on Men’s and Women’s Attitudes Toward Women and Film Editing

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of film manipulation on men’s and women’s attitudes toward women and film editing. One hundred and seventy-four participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups. Three groups viewed a particular manipulation of the treatment film (i.e., uncut, mosaic-ed, or edited) The Accused, a movie about gang rape that was based on a true story. The fourth group served as a control. As predicted, men reported significantly higher levels of traditionalism and rape myth acceptance-related attitudes at the onset of the study, whereas women reported higher levels of empathic attitudes. Following the study, and as expected, women experienced significantly more attitude change as a result of viewing the treatment film; men’s rape myth-related attitudes nonetheless continued to exceed those of women. Finally, men’s positive attitudes toward favoring editing decreased as sexual violence increased, whereas women’s pro-editing attitudes increased as sexual violence increased. The theoretical implications of the study, as well as the impact of viewing sexual violence in a more reality-based, versus a more entertaining, forum are discussed.     

Ambivalence and Unprotected Sex: Failure to Predict Sexual Activity and Decreased Condom Use1

Using a prospective design, we assessed whether ambivalence toward sexual activity is associated with decreased condom use. Undergraduates predicted whether they would have intercourse and use condoms in the next week. A week later, they reported their sexual and contraceptive behavior. Among 65 individuals who had intercourse and planned to use condoms, ambivalence toward sexual activity was negatively associated with condom use. Moreover, whether intercourse was planned mediated the relationship between ambivalence and condom use, such that ambivalence was negatively associated with accuracy in planning sex, and unplanned sex was less likely to be protected. Individuals who are ambivalent about sex may intend to use condoms, but fail to do so because they cannot predict when they will have intercourse.