USING COMPLEX AUDITORY—VISUAL SAMPLES TO PRODUCE EMERGENT RELATIONS IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM

Six participants with autism learned conditional relations between complex auditory‐visual sample stimuli (dictated words and pictures) and simple visual comparisons (printed words) using matching‐to‐sample training procedures. Pre‐ and posttests examined potential stimulus control by each element of the complex sample when presented individually and emergence of additional conditional relations and oral labeling. Tests revealed class‐consistent performance for all participants following training.     

Comparison of Behavioral Belief Structures in the Physical Activity Domain

Behavioral belief structures were evaluated in the physical activity domain along 4 dimensions: positive–negative, affective–instrumental, distal–proximal, and specific motive. Participants completed 19 behavioral belief items and a measure of intention. These behavioral beliefs were subsequently classified on each dimension by 2 independent judges. Results using structural equation modeling showed that positive–negative, affective–instrumental, and proximal–distal dimensions each improved fit over a single behavioral belief construct. Division by affective–instrumental and positive–negative yielded the best fit, compared to single dimensions, but no division resulted in adequate model fit. Indeed, fit continued to improve as each dimension was added, but this specificity came with incumbent multicollinearity when trying to use the constructs for prediction purposes.     

Proximal antecedents and correlates of adopted error approach: a self-regulatory perspective

The current study aims to further investigate earlier established advantages of an error mastery approach over an error aversion approach. The two main purposes of the study relate to (1) self-regulatory traits (i.e., goal orientation and action-state orientation) that may predict which error approach (mastery or aversion) is adopted, and (2) proximal, psychological processes (i.e., self-focused attention and failure attribution) that relate to adopted error approach. In the current study participants' goal orientation and action-state orientation were assessed, after which they worked on an error-prone task. Results show that learning goal orientation related to error mastery, while state orientation related to error aversion. Under a mastery approach, error occurrence did not result in cognitive resources "wasted" on self-consciousness. Rather, attention went to internal-unstable, thus controllable, improvement oriented causes of error. Participants that had adopted an aversion approach, in contrast, experienced heightened self-consciousness and attributed failure to internal-stable or external causes. These results imply that when working on an error-prone task, people should be stimulated to take on a mastery rather than an aversion approach towards errors.     

Modelling the Moral Dimension of Decisions

In this paper we explore the connections between ethics and decision theory. In particular, we consider the question of whether decision theory carries with it a bias towards consequentialist ethical theories. We argue that there are plausible versions of the other ethical theories that can be accommodated by “standard” decision theory, but there are also variations of these ethical theories that are less easily accommodated. So while “standard” decision theory is not exclusively consequentialist, it is not necessarily ethically neutral. Moreover, even if our decision‐theoretic models get the right answers vis‐à‐vis morally correct action, the question remains as to whether the motivation for the non‐consequentialist theories and the psychological processes of the agents who subscribe to those ethical theories are lost or poorly represented in the resulting models.     

Is Religious Coping Associated with Cumulative Health Risk? An Examination of Religious Coping Styles and Health Behavior Patterns in Alzheimer’s Dementia Caregivers

The current study explored the relationship between religious coping and cumulative health risk associated with health behavior patterns in a sample of 256 Latina and Caucasian female caregivers of elderly relatives with dementia. Primary analyses examined the relationship between religious coping (both positive and negative) and an overall index of cumulative health risk. Secondary analyses were conducted on the individual health behaviors subsumed in the broader index. Findings revealed that negative religious coping was significantly associated with increased cumulative health risk. Positive religious coping was predictive of decreased cumulative health risk among Latina caregivers but not among Caucasians. Negative religious coping was significantly associated with both an increased likelihood for weight gain and increased dietary restriction. Positive religious coping was associated with decreased likelihood for weight gain in Latinas. Implications for both caregivers and clinicians are discussed.     

The development of spatial frequency biases in face recognition

Previous research has suggested that a mid-band of spatial frequencies is critical to face recognition in adults, but few studies have explored the development of this bias in children. We present a paradigm adapted from the adult literature to test spatial frequency biases throughout development. Faces were presented on a screen with particular spatial frequencies blocked out by noise masks. A mid-band bias was found in adults and 9- and 10-year-olds for upright faces but not for inverted faces, suggesting a face-sensitive effect. However, 7- and 8-year-olds did not demonstrate the mid-band bias for upright faces but rather processed upright and inverted faces similarly. This suggests that specialization toward the mid-band for upright face recognition develops gradually during childhood and may relate to an advanced level of face expertise.     

Bifactor models and rotations: exploring the extent to which multidimensional data yield univocal scale scores

The application of psychological measures often results in item response data that arguably are consistent with both unidimensional (a single common factor) and multidimensional latent structures (typically caused by parcels of items that tap similar content domains). As such, structural ambiguity leads to seemingly endless "confirmatory" factor analytic studies in which the research question is whether scale scores can be interpreted as reflecting variation on a single trait. An alternative to the more commonly observed unidimensional, correlated traits, or second-order representations of a measure's latent structure is a bifactor model. Bifactor structures, however, are not well understood in the personality assessment community and thus rarely are applied. To address this, herein we (a) describe issues that arise in conceptualizing and modeling multidimensionality, (b) describe exploratory (including Schmid-Leiman [Schmid & Leiman, 1957] and target bifactor rotations) and confirmatory bifactor modeling, (c) differentiate between bifactor and second-order models, and (d) suggest contexts where bifactor analysis is particularly valuable (e.g., for evaluating the plausibility of subscales, determining the extent to which scores reflect a single variable even when the data are multidimensional, and evaluating the feasibility of applying a unidimensional item response theory (IRT) measurement model). We emphasize that the determination of dimensionality is a related but distinct question from either determining the extent to which scores reflect a single individual difference variable or determining the effect of multidimensionality on IRT item parameter estimates. Indeed, we suggest that in many contexts, multidimensional data can yield interpretable scale scores and be appropriately fitted to unidimensional IRT models.     

Longer-term consequences of anger expression in negotiation: Retaliation or spillover?

Negotiators often concede to angry partners. But what happens when they meet again? According to the spillover hypothesis, negotiators demand less from previously angry partners because they perceive them as tough. According to the retaliation hypothesis, negotiators demand more from previously angry partners because of negative impressions and a desire to get even. Experiment 1 showed that participants demanded less in later negotiations when their partner in a previous negotiation had expressed anger (rather than no emotion) and the later negotiation was with the same (rather than a different) partner. Consistent with the spillover hypothesis, this effect was mediated by inferences regarding the partner’s toughness. Experiment 2 showed that apologies reduce the negative effects of anger on impressions and desire for future interaction. Behavioral reactions were moderated by social value orientation: extending the established might/morality effect, prosocial participants responded cooperatively to an apology, whereas proselfs responded competitively.     

The central tendency of a social group can affect ratings of its intragroup variability in the absence of social identity concerns

People report less variability within in-groups than within out-groups when they make their ratings on traits on which the in-group has a higher central tendency than the out-group. [Simon, 1992a] and [Simon, 1992b] proposed that this effect is motivated by the need to protect a positive social identity. The present research tested the necessity of the social identity motive by using participants who were not members of any of the target groups that they judged. In Study 1 (N = 60), psychology undergraduate students reported significantly less intragroup variability on positive traits among a group of fashion designers that won a fashion competition than among a group that lost. Study 2 (N = 75) found a reverse effect on negative traits and confirmed the mediating role of perceived central tendency. These results demonstrate that the social identity motive is not necessary to explain the effect of central tendency on ratings of intragroup variability, and that the effect is more general than previously reported.     

What is learned when concept learning fails?—A theory of restricted-domain relational learning

Two matching-to-sample (MTS) and four same/different (S/D) experiments employed tests to distinguish between item-specific learning and relational learning. One MTS experiment showed item-specific learning when concept learning failed (i.e., no novel-stimulus transfer). Another MTS experiment showed item-specific learning when pigeons’ novel-stimulus transfer decreased because they chose familiar training comparisons instead of matching novel comparisons. In 8-item and 3-item S/D tasks, pigeons and monkeys were accurate with unfamiliar training-stimulus pairings, stimulus inversions, and distorted stimuli, suggesting relational learning within a domain restricted to the training stimuli (i.e., no novel-stimulus transfer). In 32-item S/D tasks, pigeons with previous 8-item training showed less transfer than those without prior training, suggesting a carryover of restricted-domain relational learning. Pigeons shifted from 1024-item to 8-item S/D tasks showed reinstatement of restricted-domain relational learning. These findings are important in specifying which types of learning occur in these tasks, showing that subjects failing novel-stimulus transfer are not required to switch from item-specific to relational learning as a training set is expanded, and demonstrating that concept learning failure is not proof of item-specific learning.