Pathway to health: cluster-randomized trial to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among smokers in public housing.

OBJECTIVES: Examine the effectiveness of an intervention to increase fruits and vegetables (FV) consumption among smokers. DESIGN: Cluster-randomized trial of 20 public housing developments; 10 randomly assigned to an FV intervention and 10 to a smoking cessation intervention. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Usual (past 7 days) and past 30 days change in daily FV intake at 8 weeks and 6 months postbaseline. RESULTS: Greater increases were seen in the FV group. At Week 8 and Month 6, the FV group had consumed 1.58 (p = .001) and 0.78 (p = .04), respectively, more daily FV servings in the past 7 days than the cessation group. At the same time points, the FV group had consumed 3.61 (p = .01) and 3.93 (p = .01), respectively, more FV servings in the past 30 days than the cessation group. Completing more motivational interviewing sessions (p = .02) and trying more recipes (p = .02) led to significantly greater increases at Month 6 among FV participants. CONCLUSIONS: Motivational interviewing counseling and lifestyle modification through trying out healthy recipes may be effective in helping a high-risk population increase their FV intake.     

Work-family balance and energy: A day-level study on recovery conditions

The present study examines whether daily recovery inhibiting and enhancing conditions predict day-levels of work-family conflict (WFC), work-family facilitation (WFF), exhaustion and vigor. Forty-nine individuals from various professional backgrounds in Spain provided questionnaire and daily survey measures over a period of five working days. Multilevel analyses showed that day-levels of work pressure and recovery after breaks at work significantly predicted WFC and exhaustion, and WFF and vigor, respectively. Moreover, daily fluctuations in expression of emotions had different effects depending on the expressed content (negative or positive) and the setting where it took place (work or home). Furthermore, additional analyses provided some evidence for a moderating role of expression of emotions at work on the relationship between recovery inhibiting and enhancing conditions and exhaustion. These findings reveal practical implications for individuals and organizations and suggest possible avenues for future research.     

An objective theory of statistical testing

Theories of statistical testing may be seen as attempts to provide systematic means for evaluating scientific conjectures on the basis of incomplete or inaccurate observational data. The Neyman-Pearson Theory of Testing (NPT) has purported to provide an objective means for testing statistical hypotheses corresponding to scientific claims. Despite their widespread use in science, methods of NPT have themselves been accused of failing to be objective; and the purported objectivity of scientific claims based upon NPT has been called into question. The purpose of this paper is first to clarify this question by examining the conceptions of (I) the function served by NPT in science, and (II) the requirements of an objective theory of statistics upon which attacks on NPT's objectivity are based. Our grounds for rejecting these conceptions suggest altered conceptions of (I) and (II) that might avoid such attacks. Second, we propose a reformulation of NPT, denoted by NPT*, based on these altered conceptions, and argue that it provides an objective theory of statistics. The crux of our argument is that by being able to objectively control error frequencies NPT* is able to objectively evaluate what has or has not been learned from the result of a statistical test.     

“I am not guilty” vs “I am innocent”: Successful negation may depend on the schema used for its encoding

Negations (e.g., “Jim is not guilty”) are part of our daily language and communication. Linguistic and non-linguistic negations can occur when receivers counter-argue what communicators are saying, when hypotheses are disconfirmed, or through negative cognitive responses and many other social interactive processes. Our study explores how negations are encoded by considering the predictions of two theoretical models. According to the fusion model, the core of a negated message and the negation marker are integrated into one meaningful unit. Thus, Jim in the example might be encoded within the schema “innocence.” According to the schema-plus-tag model, a negated message is represented as a core supposition and a negation tag, allowing for dissociation of the two at a later point in time. We compare the two models by examining the nature of inferences that are facilitated by negations. Our results show that the existence of a schema that accommodates the meaning of the original negation is critical in determining how a negation will be encoded. When such a schema is not readily available, processing a negated message facilitates negation-incongruent associations, in line with predictions of the schema-plus-tag model. This model is also supported by analyses of respondents’ memory. We discuss implications of these findings for the communication of negated information, for discounting theories, and for the assessment of the truth of incoming information.     

The error statistical philosopher as normative naturalist

We argue for a naturalistic account for appraising scientific methods that carries non-trivial normative force. We develop our approach by comparison with Laudan’s (American Philosophical Quarterly 24:19–31, 1987, Philosophy of Science 57:20–33, 1990) “normative naturalism” based on correlating means (various scientific methods) with ends (e.g., reliability). We argue that such a meta-methodology based on means–ends correlations is unreliable and cannot achieve its normative goals. We suggest another approach for meta-methodology based on a conglomeration of tools and strategies (from statistical modeling, experimental design, and related fields) that affords forward looking procedures for learning from error and for controlling error. The resulting “error statistical” appraisal is empirical—methods are appraised by examining their capacities to control error. At the same time, this account is normative, in that the strategies that pass muster are claims about how actually to proceed in given contexts to reach reliable inferences from limited data.     

The value of distrust

We assume that a state of distrust is the mental system’s signal that the environment is not normal—things may not be as they appear. Hence, individuals sense they should be on guard. In particular, they are likely to avoid routine strategies, ones proven to be optimal and regularly used in normal environments, because these strategies are easily anticipated by whoever may be seeking to deceive them. Conversely, a state of trust is associated with a feeling of safety. The environment is as it normally is and things really are as they appear to be. Thus, individuals see no reason to refrain from doing what they routinely do. Accordingly, we hypothesize that figuring out a new situation depends on the type of environment and the actor’s state of mind: in normal environments, where routine strategies are optimal, individuals who trust should outperform those who distrust; however, in unusual environments, where non-routine strategies are optimal, individuals who distrust should outperform those who trust. This paper reports three experiments that manipulate distrust via orienting tasks that participants perform prior to attempting to predict a series of events (Experiments 1 and 2) or solve matchstick arithmetic problems (Experiment 3). Performance success depends on discovering and implementing an appropriate rule. We found that, as predicted, the manipulation of distrust sensitized participants to the existence of non-routine contingencies, that is, contingencies that were not expected.     

Encoding under trust and distrust: the spontaneous activation of incongruent cognitions

Past studies of strategic thinking have shown that the encoding of the message information becomes more complex under distrust. Receivers process the information as if they are trying to protect themselves from being misled by testing alternative potential interpretations. The present study investigates the possibility that when people are mistrustful they spontaneously activate associations that are incongruent with the given message. Findings from 3 experiments suggest that, even when the distrust is unrelated in any meaningful way to the message and even when receivers are unable to prepare a strategic response, the cognitive system reacts to distrust by automatically inducing the consideration of incongruent associations--it seems designed to ask, "and what if the information were false?" The theoretical implications of the results for theories of social perception and persuasion are discussed.     

The Role of Accountability in Suppressing Managers’ Preinterview Bias against African-American Sales Job Applicants

In an experiment on preinterview racial bias, white sales managers evaluated the resume of either a white or African- American applicant for a sales position. Managers exhibited a preinterview racial bias, giving a more positive hiring recommendation for the white versus African-American applicant even though their resumes were exactly the same. However, when managers felt accountable to others for their evaluations, they suppressed racial bias by evaluating the African-American’s credentials more positively. Our experiment identifies a condition under which preinterview racial bias against African-American sales applicants may be attenuated and delineates a strategy by which managers may overcome preinterview racial bias.