The relationship among ethnic identity, psychological well-being, and intergroup competence: an investigation of two biracial groups

This study examined the ethnic identification, psychological well-being, and intergroup competence of biracial individuals. Using a self-identification measure, the authors explored whether biracial individuals would identify with one, both, or none of their ethnic heritages and the implications of these orientations on psychological well-being and intergroup competence. Sixty-six Black/White and Asian/White individuals were included. Not differing between the 2 biracial groups, results revealed that participants were most likely to be biculturally identified, followed by minority identified and then nonidentified. Furthermore, psychological well-being and intergroup anxiety varied as a function of identity. Suggestions for future research with biracial identity are discussed.     

Inducing affective states with success-failure manipulations: a meta-analysis

Meta-analytic techniques were used to assess whether successes and failures can be used experimentally to induce affective states. Data from 32 studies, with a total of 2,468 participants, were reviewed. Methods for producing success-failure experiences, as well as the resulting affective reactions, were analyzed. Effect sizes as a result of various methods of induction were calculated. The success-failure manipulation turned out to be capable of reliably inducing both positive and negative affective reactions. A framework for using success-failure manipulations in affect induction is presented. ((c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acculturation, parent-adolescent conflict, and adolescent adjustment in Mexican American families

We tested an acculturation model in a community sample of Mexican American families (146 mothers, 137 fathers, and 146 adolescents) that proposed that differences between parents and adolescents in acculturation would be associated with parent-adolescent conflict and adolescent adjustment problems. Contrary to hypotheses, we found that families who exhibited an acculturation gap were not more likely to report parent-adolescent conflict or adolescent adjustment problems. In fact, familial conflict and adolescent sexual experience were associated with high levels of acculturation among adolescents and their parents. Pending replication, these findings suggest that both parent and children acculturation may independently predict familial processes and youth outcomes, irrespective of an acculturation gap. Future research should consider other factors aside from acculturation differences that might account for parent-adolescent conflict and adolescent adjustment in Mexican American families.     

Quantity estimation and comparison in western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla)

We investigated the quantity judgment abilities of two adult male western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) by presenting discrimination tasks on a touch-screen computer. Both gorillas chose the larger quantity of two arrays of dot stimuli. On some trials, the relative number of dots was congruent with the relative total area of the two arrays. On other trials, number of dots was incongruent with area. The gorillas were first tested with static dots, then with dots that moved within the arrays, and finally on a task where they were required to discriminate numerically larger subsets within arrays of moving dots. Both gorillas achieved above-chance performance on both congruent and incongruent trials with all tasks, indicating that they were able to use number as a cue even though ratio of number and area significantly controlled responding, suggesting that number was not the only relevant dimension that the gorillas used. The pattern of performance was similar to that found previously with monkeys and chimpanzees but had not previously been demonstrated in gorillas within a computerized test format, and with these kinds of visual stimuli.     

Defining behavior-environment interactions: translating and developing an experimental and applied behavior-analytic vocabulary in and to the national language

Verbal behavior, as in the use of terms, is an important part of scientific activity in general and behavior analysis in particular. Many glossaries and dictionaries of behavior analysis have been published in English, but few in any other language. Here we review the area of behavior analytic terminology, its translations, and development in languages other than English. As an example, we use our own mother tongue, Finnish, which provides a suitable example of the process of translation and development of behavior analytic terminology, because it differs from Indo-European languages and entails specific advantages and challenges in the translation process. We have published three editions of a general dictionary of behavior analysis including 801 terms relevant to the experimental analysis of behavior and applied behavior analysis and one edition of a dictionary of applied and clinical behavior analysis containing 280 terms. Because this work has been important to us, we hope this review will encourage similar work by behavior analysts in other countries whose native language is not English. Behavior analysis as an advanced science deserves widespread international dissemination and proper translations are essential to that goal.     

Dreams are more negative than real life: Implications for the function of dreaming

Dream content studies have revealed that dream experiences are negatively biased; negative dream contents are more frequent than corresponding positive dream contents. It is unclear, however, whether the bias is real or due to biased sampling, i.e., selective memory for intense negative emotions. The threat simulation theory (TST) claims that the negativity bias is real and reflects the evolved biological function of dreaming. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis of the TST that threatening events are overrepresented in dreams, i.e., more frequent and more severe in dreams than in real life. To control for biased sampling, we used as a baseline the corresponding negative events in real life rather than the corresponding positive events in dreams. We collected dream reports (N=419) and daily event logs (N=490) from 39 university students during a two-week period, and interviewed them about real threat experiences retrievable from autobiographical memory (N=714). Threat experiences proved to be much more frequent and severe in dreams than in real life, and Current Dream Threats more closely resembled Past than Current Real Threats. We conclude that the TST's predictions hold, and that the negativity bias is real.     

Detection of emotional faces: salient physical features guide effective visual search

In this study, the authors investigated how salient visual features capture attention and facilitate detection of emotional facial expressions. In a visual search task, a target emotional face (happy, disgusted, fearful, angry, sad, or surprised) was presented in an array of neutral faces. Faster detection of happy and, to a lesser extent, surprised and disgusted faces was found both under upright and inverted display conditions. Inversion slowed down the detection of these faces less than that of others (fearful, angry, and sad). Accordingly, the detection advantage involves processing of featural rather than configural information. The facial features responsible for the detection advantage are located in the mouth rather than the eye region. Computationally modeled visual saliency predicted both attentional orienting and detection. Saliency was greatest for the faces (happy) and regions (mouth) that were fixated earlier and detected faster, and there was close correspondence between the onset of the modeled saliency peak and the time at which observers initially fixated the faces. The authors conclude that visual saliency of specific facial features--especially the smiling mouth--is responsible for facilitated initial orienting, which thus shortens detection. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).     

Toward a Comprehensive Understanding of Officers’ Shooting Decisions: No Simple Answers to This Complex Problem

Police officers make life-or-death shooting decisions in complex situations under extreme time pressure. If officers make a mistake, there are dire consequences—they could kill an innocent or be killed themselves. In contrast to prior work's near-exclusive focus on suspect race, the present study examined features of methodology, officers, suspects, and neighborhoods that may affect officers’ shooting decisions. Empirical exploration of officers’ shooting decisions and mistakes is still in its infancy, and given the seriousness and importance of this phenomenon—and the potential for this research to inform policy decisions—additional research is needed.