Counterpossibles in Science: The Case of Relative Computability

I develop a theory of counterfactuals about relative computability, i.e. counterfactuals such as

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Inventar zur therapeutischen Beziehung (ITB)

A successful psychotherapy requires a good therapeutic relationship. An adequate operationalization by German diagnostic instruments has to be improved. A new instrument for measuring the therapeutic relationship from the patient’s perspective is presented. It is suitable for various therapeutic orientations, integrates current empirical findings in a broad theoretical framework and corrects methodological deficits of the existing German questionnaires. The therapeutic relationship questionnaire (ITB) was developed with a sample of 44 therapists and 519 inpatient, outpatient and day clinic patients. The ITB findings confirm a very good reliability (internal consistency and retesting reliability). There is initial evidence for convergent, divergent and differential validity and for associations with therapy effects. The ITB is an economic instrument that in contrast to other questionnaires measures a general factor which could be replicated in several confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses.     

Configurations of unemployment,reemployment, and psychological well-being: A longitudinal study of unemployed individuals in Portugal

This study examined how four different configurations of unemployment and reemployment (defined by history of past unemployment and unemployment/reemployment 3 years later) related to changes in psychological well-being. The longitudinal sample consisted of 566 Portuguese men and women who were unemployed at the beginning of the study. Using true change score models, we found that individuals who reported a long period of unemployment at T1 but were reemployed at T2 showed meaningful gains in positive affect and life satisfaction compared to those who had a shorter history of unemployment and were reemployed. An examination of gender differences revealed that the women who were reemployed after a long history of unemployment showed the greatest relative gains in positive affect. We conclude by noting limitations of this research and suggesting future research to address these limitations.     

End-state comfort in bimanual object manipulation

The present experiment investigated the sensitivity for end-state comfort in a bimanual object manipulation task. Participants were required to simultaneously reach for two bars and to place the objects' ends into two targets on the table. The design of the experiment allowed to dissociate the relative roles of initial means (e.g., the selection of grips) and final postures (e.g., the anticipation of end-states). The question of interest was whether affording different grip patterns for the two hands would introduce a bias away from reaching end-state comfort. Results revealed a strong sensitivity for end-state comfort, independent of the required grip patterns. In particular, end-state comfort was preferred even if this meant selecting different initial means (i.e., different grips) for the two hands. Hence, end-state oriented action planning appears to dominate interaction costs that may result from motor-related, intermanual interference. We infer that movement planning is constrained by action goals (e.g., a comfortable end-posture for both hands), but largely unaffected by the type of motor actions necessary to achieve these goals.     

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful: Anti-attractiveness bias in organizational evaluation and decision making

Within organizational judgment and decision making contexts, biases based on an evaluated person's attractiveness are among the most salient and frequently investigated. An enormous amount of research indicates favoritism for attractive people compared to unattractive ones. The current research demonstrates that the nature of this bias depends on whether one is evaluating a member of the same sex or the opposite sex. Experiment 1 (n = 2639) investigated selection of scholarship applicants and demonstrated that a pro-attractiveness bias held only for selection of opposite-sex scholarship applicants; no such bias was observed for highly attractive same-sex applicants. Experiment 2 (n = 622) investigated evaluations of prospective job candidates and demonstrated again that pro-attractiveness bias was observed only for opposite-sex candidates; participants discriminated against highly attractive same-sex candidates. Moreover, this bias was not observed among highly attractive participants; it held only for moderately attractive participants, those for whom highly attractive same-sex individuals can pose especially potent social threats. Findings suggest that attractiveness biases in organizational decision making are rooted partly in the social threats and opportunities afforded by attractive people.     

On the relative importance of linear model and human judge(s) in combined forecasting

When and to what extent should forecasts rely on linear model or human judgment? The judgmental forecasting literature suggests that aggregating model and judge using a simple 50:50 split tends to outperform the two inputs alone. However, current research disregards the important role that the structure of the task, judges’ level of expertise, and the number of individuals providing a forecasting judgment may play. Ninety-two music industry professionals and 88 postgraduate students were recruited in a field experiment to predict chart entry positions of pop music singles in the UK and Germany. The results of a lens model analysis show how task structure and domain-specific expertise moderate the relative importance of model and judge. The study also delineates an upper boundary to which aggregating multiple judgments in model-expert combinations adds predictive accuracy. It is suggested that ignoring the characteristics of task and/or judge may lead to suboptimal forecasting performance.     

The impact of cognitive control on children’s goal monitoring in a time-based prospective memory task

The present study investigated whether developmental changes in cognitive control may underlie improvements of time-based prospective memory. Five-, 7-, 9-, and 11-year-olds (N = 166) completed a driving simulation task (ongoing task) in which they had to refuel their vehicle at specific points in time (PM task). The availability of cognitive control resources was experimentally manipulated by imposing a secondary task that required divided attention. Children completed the driving simulation task both in a full-attention condition and a divided-attention condition where they had to carry out a secondary task. Results revealed that older children performed better than younger children on the ongoing task and PM task. Children performed worse on the ongoing and PM tasks in the divided-attention condition compared to the full-attention condition. With respect to time monitoring in the final interval prior to the PM target, divided attention interacted with age such that older children’s time monitoring was more negatively affected by the secondary task compared to younger children. Results are discussed in terms of developmental shifts from reactive to proactive monitoring strategies.