Spontaneous inferential processing while reading interleaved expository texts enables learners to discover the underlying regularities

Recent studies on text sequencing found learning advantages of interleaving over blocking in terms of high‐level inferences. We conducted a 2 × 2 × 2 mixed factorial experiment with college students (n = 117) by manipulating text sequence (interleaved vs. blocked) and self‐questioning activity while reading (spontaneous vs. prompted) between subjects and testing delay (immediately vs. 1‐week delay) within subjects. Results revealed that students are spontaneously engaged in self‐questioning and inferential processing while reading an interleaved text. Students who were spontaneously engaged while reading an interleaved text outperformed their counterparts in all other conditions in the immediate and delayed test on comparative reasoning, inductive reasoning, and memorization of factual details. The learning advantages were mediated by inductive inferences made while reading an interleaved text. Results support the discriminative contrast view that readers are encouraged to discover the underlying regularities when differences and similarities among categories are accentuated by their juxtaposition.     

Testing the basic socio‐structural assumptions of social identity theory in the gender context: Evidence from correlational studies on women's leadership

Given negative social identity, different perceptions of the structure of an intergroup relation (i.e., stability, legitimacy, permeability) should be related to different identity‐management strategies (i.e., social competition, social creativity, or individual mobility) depending on group identification. This is among the basic tenets of social identity theory (SIT). There is surprisingly little empirical support for these postulates in the context of one of the most central group identities: gender. Using a sample of women in leadership positions in Spain (N = 649), we tested relations between structural perceptions and identity‐management strategies in a pilot study. Structural equation modeling yielded empirical support regarding social competition, but little for social creativity or individual mobility. Identity‐management strategies were related to one organizational outcome (i.e., identification with the organization). The preregistered main study is intended to replicate and extend these findings using a different sample while improving several of the measures used.     

Investigating the Links Between Cultural Values and Belief in Conspiracy Theories: The Key Roles of Collectivism and Masculinity

Research suggests that belief in conspiracy theories (CT) stems from basic psychological mechanisms and is linked to other belief systems (e.g., religious beliefs). While previous research has extensively examined individual and contextual variables associated with CT beliefs, it has not yet investigated the role of culture. In the current research, we tested, based on a situated cultural cognition perspective, the extent to which culture predicts CT beliefs. Using Hofstede's model of cultural values, three nation-level analyses of data from 25, 19, and 18 countries using different measures of CT beliefs (Study 1, N = 5323; Study 2a, N = 12,255; Study 2b, N = 30,994) revealed positive associations between masculinity, collectivism, and CT beliefs. A cross-sectional study among U.S. citizens (Study 3, N = 350), using individual-level measures of Hofstede's values, replicated these findings. A meta-analysis of correlations across studies corroborated the presence of positive links between CT beliefs, collectivism, r = .31, 95% CI = [.15; .47], and masculinity, r = .39, 95% CI = [.18; .59]. Our results suggest that in addition to individual differences and contextual variables, cultural factors also play an important role in shaping CT beliefs.     

The Problems and Contradictions Inherent in Analytic Training and the Ultimate Requirement: Working with Uncertainty

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis - In this essay, the author’s aim is to outline the specifics of psychoanalytic intervention and its current relevance. She explores the...     

Using nostalgia to reduce prejudice toward immigrants

Based on research that points to nostalgia as a means of warding off stigmatization, this study suggests that nostalgia triggered by a past encounter with a close immigrant from the in‐group can improve attitudes toward out‐group immigrants. Focusing on immigration in Greece, 99 university students (M = 23.06, SD = 5.44) participated in the study. Participants who were induced with nostalgia reported higher social connectedness, inclusion of the out‐group in the self, out‐group trust, and positive out‐group attitude compared with participants in the control condition. The aforementioned findings demonstrated that the positive effects of nostalgia about a close in‐group member (in this case, a Greek person), who shares an identity with the out‐group (being an immigrant), can generalize to the out‐group as a whole (immigrants in general). Further implications and future directions on the use of nostalgia as a means of improving attitudes are addressed.     

Why Women Take Fewer Risk Than Men Do: The Mediating Role of State Anxiety

Gender studies have showed that women take fewer risks than men do. Previous research has also provided evidence for a link between negative affect (anxiety and depressive mood) and risk-taking. Little is known about the relationships among these factors. We examined the role of state anxiety in the relationship between gender and risk-taking. Fully 149 undergraduate students filled out the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Beck Depression Inventory–II (BDI) before playing the hot version of the Columbia Card Task (hot CCT), which is designed to measure emotionally based risk-taking behavior. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that gender and state anxiety were associated with risk-taking even when controlling for age, depressive mood, and trait anxiety. Moreover, results pointed out that gender is related to risk-taking through state anxiety. These results offer insights into gender research, as well as affective and decision science. Implications for future studies and applied interventions are discussed.     

A semi-parametric within-subject mixture approach to the analyses of responses and response times

In item response theory, modelling the item response times in addition to the item responses may improve the detection of possible between- and within-subject differences in the process that resulted in the responses. For instance, if respondents rely on rapid guessing on some items but not on all, the joint distribution of the responses and response times will be a multivariate within-subject mixture distribution. Suitable parametric methods to detect these within-subject differences have been proposed. In these approaches, a distribution needs to be assumed for the within-class response times. In this paper, it is demonstrated that these parametric within-subject approaches may produce false positives and biased parameter estimates if the assumption concerning the response time distribution is violated. A semi-parametric approach is proposed which resorts to categorized response times. This approach is shown to hardly produce false positives and parameter bias. In addition, the semi-parametric approach results in approximately the same power as the parametric approach.     

Asymptotic Posterior Normality of Multivariate Latent Traits in an IRT Model

Psychometrika - The asymptotic posterior normality (APN) of the latent variable vector in an item response theory (IRT) model is a crucial argument in IRT modeling approaches. In case of a single...     

Career calling and team member proactivity: The roles of living out a calling and mentoring

With the growing interest in the joint effects of individual and contextual factors in predicting team member proactivity, this paper examines why and when pursuing one's career calling can lead to team member proactivity. Drawing on the Work as a Calling Theory, we propose that “living out a calling” explains why employees' perceived career calling positively relates to team member proactivity and especially when the employee receives high levels of mentoring support. Our hypotheses are tested using a multisource and time-lagged study design with a sample of 296 dyads of Chinese employees and their direct supervisors. We found support for the mediating role of living out a calling (Time 2) in the positive relationship between perceiving a calling (Time 1) and team member proactivity (Time 3). Mentoring (Time 2) moderated the perceiving a calling and living out a calling link such that when employees received more mentoring, the relationship was positive, whereas under lower levels of mentoring, the relationship was negative. Similarly, the indirect relationship between perceiving a calling and team member proactivity through living out a calling was positive at higher levels of mentoring, but the relationship was negative at lower levels of mentoring.