Putting the brakes on prejudice: on the development and operation of cues for control

A model concerning the establishment and operation of cues for control was developed and tested to understand how control can be exerted over (automatic) prejudiced responses. Cues for control are stimuli that are associated with prejudiced responses and the aversive consequences of those responses (e.g., guilt). In Experiments 1 and 2, 3 events critical to the establishment of cues occurred: behavioral inhibition, the experience of guilt, and retrospective reflection. In Experiment 3, the presentation of already-established cues for control did, as expected, produce behavioral inhibition. In Experiment 4, participants were provided with an experience in which cues could be established. Later presentation of those cues in a different task resulted in behavioral inhibition and less racially biased responses.     

The roles of letter names and letter sounds in connecting print and speech

Three experiments were carried out to examine the cues that are used in learning to read and spell new words. In a reading task (Experiment 1), even preschoolers who could not read simple real words were able to benefit from print-sound relationships that were based on letter names. They found it easier to learn that the made-up word TM was pronounced as 'team" (name condition) than that TM was pronounced as "tame" (sound condition) or as "wide" (visual condition). The letter-name strategy persisted among college students (Experiment 2). In a spelling task (Experiment 3), prereaders and novice readers again did better in the name condition than in the sound condition. The ability to use relationships based on letter sounds emerged later than the ability to use relationships based on letter names. However, sound-based relationships were used to a greater extent in spelling than in reading.     

My “Investigation of Things”

“Confucianism” can refer to two topics, namely “Philosophical Confucianism” and “State Confucianism.” Regarding contemporary China and the global world, the one that has a positive content is not the latter but is the former. Philosophical Confucianism takes Mencius’ thesis as its key. It emphasizes knowledge, emotions, and intentions to act as an interrelated mental cluster. It encourages people to focus on family love and its societal expansion. At the same time, through the investigation of such universal topics as humane love, mental tranquility, care, suffering, and empathy, it provides a rich scholarly content and raises positive questions for reflection. Thus, that very old concept of Philosophical Confucianism doubtless has a new destiny, because currently a number of American ethicists and scientists work in closely related topics. Chinese and American scholars not only can develop cooperative work, but also that cooperation will definitely bear abundant fruit.     

Group Decision Makers' Preferences Modelling within the Goal Programming Model: An Overview and a Typology

The Goal Programming (GP) model is one of the first models that have been developed to deal with managerial decision‐making problems where several incommensurable and conflicting objectives are involved. The GP variants integrate the decision maker's preferences differently. This model has also been applied to group decision‐making situations. The aim of this paper is to propose a new typology based on preferences articulation of decision makers through the GP model. This typology is based on the articulation and the elucidation process of the group decision makers' preferences. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Motivated Suspicion: Asymmetrical Attributions of the Behavior of Political Ingroup and Outgroup Members

Suspicious attributional thought was assessed in the context of the political behavior of ingroup and outgroup politicians. Strong Democrats and Republicans read a newspaper article describing a Democratic or Republican politician's support of a bill. Half the participants read that the politician may have been motivated by an ulterior motive, obtaining campaign support from companies that benefited from the bill. In two studies, interaction effects revealed that participants discounted the behavior of an outgroup politician when an ulterior motive was salient. In contrast, they failed to discount the behavior of an ingroup politician when an ulterior motive was salient or either politician when no ulterior motive was salient. Study 2 also revealed evidence that negative, other-directed affect mediated the bias in attributional judgments.     

Sex differences in cognition in healthy elderly individuals

ABSTRACT

Sex differences in patterns of cognitive test performance have been attributed to factors, such as sex hormones or sexual dimorphisms in brain structure, that change with normal aging. The current study examined sex differences in patterns of cognitive test performance in healthy elderly individuals. Cognitive test scores of 957 men and women (age 67–89), matched for overall level of cognitive test performance, age, education, and depression scale score, were compared. Men and women were indistinguishable on tests of auditory divided attention, category fluency, and executive functioning. In contrast, women performed better than men on tests of psychomotor speed and verbal learning and memory, whereas men outperformed women on tests of visuoconstruction and visual perception. Our finding that the pattern of sex differences in cognition observed in young adults is observed in old age has implications for future studies of both healthy elderly individuals and of those with cognitive disorders.     

Gender Differences in Body Size Dissatisfaction Among Individuals With Low,Medium, or High Levels of Body Focus

The authors designed the present study to test whether women reported higher levels of body dissatisfaction than did men even when the 2 genders were matched on a measure of degree of body focus. Sixty undergraduates (30 men, 30 women) were screened on attention-to-body-shape scores and divided into high, medium, and low body-shape-focus groups. The participants also completed questionnaires that provided information on age, education, vocabulary ability, levels of depression, and body-image assessment. The groups did not differ (ps > .05) on age, education, vocabulary ability, or levels of depression. However, women in all 3 body-shape-focus categories indicated a larger discrepancy between their real vs. ideal body images (p < .01) than did the men. In the high-body-focus group, there was an 11:1 ratio between women's and men's reported real-ideal body-shape discrepancies. Women showed greater body dissatisfaction than did men, even when the genders were matched on a measure of body focus.     

The Relation of Severity and Comorbidity to Treatment Outcome with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Childhood Anxiety Disorders

The present study investigated the impact of comorbidity over and above the impact of symptom severity on treatment outcome of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for children with anxiety disorders. Children (aged 8–12, n = 124) diagnosed with an anxiety disorder were treated with a short-term CBT protocol. Severity was assessed with a composite measure of parent-reported behavior problems. Two approaches to comorbidity were examined; “total comorbidity” which differentiated anxiety disordered children with (n = 69) or without (n = 55) a co-occurring disorder and “non-anxiety comorbidity’ which differentiated anxious children with (n = 22) or without a non-anxiety comorbid disorder (n = 102). Treatment outcome was assessed in terms of Recovery, represented by post-treatment diagnostic status, and Reliable Change, a score reflecting changes in pre- to post-treatment symptom levels. Severity contributed to the prediction of (no) Recovery and (more) Reliable Change in parent-reported internalizing and externalizing symptoms and self-reported depressive symptoms. Total and non-anxiety comorbidity added to the prediction of diagnostic recovery. Non-anxiety comorbidity added to the prediction of Reliable Change in parent reported measures by acting as a suppressor variable. Non-anxiety comorbidity operated as a strong predictor that explained all of the variance associated with severity for self-reported depressive symptoms. The results support the need for further research on mechanisms by which treatment gains in children with higher symptom severity and non-anxiety comorbidity can be achieved.     

The Scientific Impotence Excuse:Discounting Belief‐Threatening Scientific Abstracts

The scientific impotence discounting hypothesis predicts that people resist belief‐disconfirming scientific evidence by concluding that the topic of study is not amenable to scientific investigation. In 2 studies, participants read a series of brief abstracts that either confirmed or disconfirmed their existing beliefs about a stereotype associated with homosexuality. Relative to those reading belief‐confirming evidence, participants reading belief‐disconfirming evidence indicated more belief that the topic could not be studied scientifically and more belief that a series of other unrelated topics could not be studied scientifically. Thus, being presented with belief‐disconfirming scientific evidence may lead to an erosion of belief in the efficacy of scientific methods.