Statistical properties of four effect-size measures for mediation models

This project examined the performance of classical and Bayesian estimators of four effect size measures for the indirect effect in a single-mediator model and a two-mediator model. Compared to the proportion and ratio mediation effect sizes, standardized mediation effect-size measures were relatively unbiased and efficient in the single-mediator model and the two-mediator model. Percentile and bias-corrected bootstrap interval estimates of ab/s _Y , and ab(s _X )/s _Y in the single-mediator model outperformed interval estimates of the proportion and ratio effect sizes in terms of power, Type I error rate, coverage, imbalance, and interval width. For the two-mediator model, standardized effect-size measures were superior to the proportion and ratio effect-size measures. Furthermore, it was found that Bayesian point and interval summaries of posterior distributions of standardized effect-size measures reduced excessive relative bias for certain parameter combinations. The standardized effect-size measures are the best effect-size measures for quantifying mediated effects.     

Internet Use Associated Body-Surveillance Among Female Adolescents: Assessing the Role of Peer Networks

Body-surveillance is a core element of self-objectification, which has been recognized as a health hazard, particularly in female adolescents. Although the role of peers in self-objectification has been documented, the utility of ego-centered network approach has not been demonstrated. Using an online sample of 211 Croatian female adolescents, this study explored whether structural characteristics of self-reported networks (composed of same-sex peers one has discussed sexuality with) moderated the relationship between the use of social networking sites (SNS) and body-surveillance. Controlling for parental monitoring and accounting for self-esteem—which was negatively associated with adolescent body-surveillance—smaller network size amplified the association between SNS use and body-surveillance. Apart from confirming the overlap between offline and online peer networks in shaping adolescent body image concerns, this study’s findings suggest that adolescent women who frequently use SNS and those with fewer close friends are more vulnerable to social media-related body-objectification than their peers.     

From Teachers’ Work Engagement to Pupils’ Positive Affect: a Weekly Diary Study on the Role of Pupils’ Autonomous Motivation

Applied Research in Quality of Life - The main purpose of the present study was to investigate whether there is a crossover effect from teacher’s general (trait-level) work engagement to...     

Developmental changes in colour constancy in a naturalistic object selection task

When the illumination falling on a surface change, so does the reflected light. Despite this, adult observers are good at perceiving surfaces as relatively unchanging—an ability termed colour constancy. Very few studies have investigated colour constancy in infants, and even fewer in children. Here we asked whether there is a difference in colour constancy between children and adults; what the developmental trajectory is between six and 11 years; and whether the pattern of constancy across illuminations and reflectances differs between adults and children. To this end, we developed a novel, child-friendly computer-based object selection task. In this, observers saw a dragon's favourite sweet under a neutral illumination and picked the matching sweet from an array of eight seen under a different illumination (blue, yellow, red, or green). This set contained a reflectance match (colour constant; perfect performance) and a tristimulus match (colour inconstant). We ran two experiments, with two-dimensional scenes in one and three-dimensional renderings in the other. Twenty-six adults and 33 children took part in the first experiment; 26 adults and 40 children took part in the second. Children performed better than adults on this task, and their performance decreased with age in both experiments. We found differences across illuminations and sweets, but a similar pattern across both age groups. This unexpected finding might reflect a real decrease in colour constancy from childhood to adulthood, explained by developmental changes in the perceptual and cognitive mechanisms underpinning colour constancy, or differences in task strategies between children and adults.

Highlights

• Six- to 11-year-old children demonstrated better performance than adults on a colour constancy object selection task.
• Performance decreased with age over childhood.
• These findings may indicate development of cognitive strategies used to overcome automatic colour constancy mechanisms.

     

Individual differences in logical intuitions on reasoning problems presented under two-response paradigm

ABSTRACT

Studies on individual differences in susceptibility to cognitive biases have identified several cognitive dispositions which were thought to predict reasoning by contributing to the efficiency of analytic thought. However, hybrid models suggest that differences between reasoners may arise already in the intuitive stages of the reasoning process. To address this possibility, we examined standard individual difference measures, mindware instantiation, and conflict detection efficiency as predictors of the accuracy on conflict problems presented under a two-response paradigm. We found that almost half of conflict reasoning problems were solved correctly already at the initial response stage and that the individual differences in initial reasoning performance were predicted by participants’ cognitive reflection, mindware instantiation, and detection efficiency. The findings advance the specification of hybrid dual-process models and provide corroborating evidence that a part of the link between bias susceptibility and cognitive dispositions is due to differences in intuitive processing.     

Logical Foundations and Kant's Principles of Formal Logic

The abstract status of Kant's account of his ‘general logic’ is explained in comparison with Gödel's general definition of a formal logical system and reflections on ‘abstract’ (‘absolute’) concepts. Thereafter, an informal reconstruction of Kant's general logic is given from the aspect of the principles of contradiction, of sufficient reason, and of excluded middle. It is shown that Kant's composition of logic consists in a gradual strengthening of logical principles, starting from a weak principle of contradiction that tolerates a sort of contradictions in predication, and then proceeding to the (constructive) principle of sufficient reason, and to a classical-like logic, which includes the principle of excluded middle. A first-order formalisation is applied to this reconstruction, which reveals implicit modalities in Kant's account of logic, and confirms the implementability of Kant's logic into a sound and complete formal system.