The Reduced and Enhanced Impact of Shared Features on Individual Brand Evaluations

In 3 studies, consumers received information about products that had either positive or negative features in common. When they evaluated the products shortly afterward, the common features had little influence on their evaluations, and this was true regardless of whether they had made a preference rating, a similarity rating, or no rating at all before reporting these evaluations. In all cases, consumers apparently used one of the brands spontaneously as a standard of comparison for the other and, in doing so, discounted their common features. When their evaluation was delayed, however, shared features had greater impact. Two factors appear to be operating in the latter conditions. First, the alternative brand is less accessible and, therefore, is less likely to be used as a standard of comparison. Second, shared features are easier to recall than unique features, so they have a disproportional influence for this reason.     

Women's perceptions of female contraceptive behavior: experimental evidence of the sexual double standard

A social perception study was conducted to examine the effect of the sexual double standard on impressions of a female target. As part of a "social memory" study, 57 female undergraduates read a fictitious woman's diary describing a sexual encounter where the woman provided a condom, the man provided a condom, or the couple had unprotected intercourse. Participants made behavioral judgments and interpersonal judgments about the couple, and rated the female target on several personality traits. Women rated the target's behavior more negatively, and as more inappropriate, when she provided a condom, than when her partner provided a condom. Participants also assumed that the target's partner would feel less positive about her when she provided a condom than if he provided a condom or if they had unprotected intercourse. These results are discussed with respect to the continued existence of the sexual double standard, and its impact on women's contraceptive behavior.     

Posttraumatic Overmodulation,Callous–Unemotional Traits,and Offending Among Justice-Involved Youth

A large body of research has demonstrated an association between childhood trauma exposure (TE) and adolescent delinquency. This association may be explained by callous–unemotional (CU) traits, which may stem from TE and are associated with persistent offending and recidivism. However, research on the mechanisms underlying TE and delinquency has lacked specificity regarding the posttraumatic symptoms that may drive this effect, particularly new models that distinguish between posttraumatic symptoms (PTS) of overmodulation versus undermodulation. This article sought to investigate the role of overmodulation in the association between TE and CU traits and their relations with persistent offending. Participants included 829 detained youth who completed self-report measures of TE, PTS, and CU traits. Official records of youth offenses were also obtained. Results of path analyses demonstrated that the association between interpersonal TE and persistent offending exhibited an indirect effect through overmodulation and CU traits. Efforts to address overmodulation among traumatized detained youth may represent a promising avenue of intervention for reducing recidivism.     

Interactions of team mental models and monitoring behaviors predict team performance in simulated anesthesia inductions

In the present study, we investigated how two team mental model properties (similarity vs. accuracy) and two forms of monitoring behavior (team vs. systems) interacted to predict team performance in anesthesia. In particular, we were interested in whether the relationship between monitoring behavior and team performance was moderated by team mental model properties. Thirty-one two-person teams consisting of anesthesia resident and anesthesia nurse were videotaped during a simulated anesthesia induction of general anesthesia. Team mental models were assessed with a newly developed measurement tool based on the concept-mapping technique. Monitoring behavior was coded by two organizational psychologists using a structured observation system. Team performance was rated by two expert anesthetists using a performance-checklist. Moderated multiple regression analysis revealed that team mental model similarity moderated the relationship between team monitoring and performance; a higher level of team monitoring in the absence of a similar team mental model had a negative effect on performance. Furthermore, team mental model similarity and accuracy interacted to predict team performance. Our findings provide new insights on factors influencing the relationship between team processes and team performance in health care. When investigating the effectiveness of a specific team coordination behavior, team cognition has to be taken into account. This represents a necessary and compelling extension of the popular process-outcome relationship on which previous teamwork research in health care has focused. Moreover, the current study adds further external validity to the concept of team mental models by highlighting its usefulness in health care.     

Parent-child value transmission among Chinese immigrants to North America: the case of traditional mate preferences

Parent-child similarities in traditional mate preferences were examined in Chinese immigrants to North America. Adult children (n = 63) rated their preferred mate characteristics. Children then completed measures of interdependence, family allocentrism, Chinese identity, and Asian values. Their parents (n = 63) also rated their own preferences for their child's spouse and their own Asian values. Parents reported greater preference for traditional mate characteristics than did their children. Parents' preferences were related to parents' own Asian values. Children's traditional mate preferences were predicted by their parents' preferences and their own family allocentrism. Family allocentrism was a marginally significant partial mediator of parent's influence on children's preferences. Family connectedness may, therefore, facilitate intergenerational transmission of values in immigrant Asian families.     

Natural categorization through multiple feature learning in pigeons

Recently (Troje, Huber, Loidolt, Aust, & Fieder 1999), we found that pigeons discriminated between large sets of photorealistic frontal images of human faces on the basis of sex. This ability was predominantly based on information contained in the visual texture of those images rather than in their configural properties. The pigeons could learn the distinction even when differences of shape and average intensity were completely removed. Here, we proved more specifically the pigeons' flexibility and efficiency to utilize the class-distinguishing information contained in complex natural classes. First, we used principal component as well as discriminant function analysis in order to determine which aspects of the male and female images could support successful categorization. We then conducted various tests involving systematic transformations and reduction of the feature content to examine whether or not the pigeons' categorization behaviour comes under the control of categorylevel feature dimensions-that is, those stimulus aspects that most accurately divide the stimulus classes into the experimenter-defined categories of 'Male' and 'Female'. Enhanced classification ability in the presence of impoverished test faces that varied only along one of the first three principal components provided evidence that the pigeons used these class-distinguishing stimulus aspects as a basis for generalization to new instances.     

Reducing risk of head injury in youth soccer: An extension of behavioral skills training for heading

Recently, concerns regarding sport-related concussions have increased within the research literature, the media, and popular culture. One potential source of soccer-related concussions involves the purposeful striking of the ball with one's head (i.e., heading). There is currently limited research on an effective teaching method to improve safe heading technique. In the current study, Behavior Skills Training (BST) was evaluated as a method to teach correct heading techniques to youth soccer players. BST increased the percentage of correct steps for each player based on a task analysis of heading. Based on social validity questionnaires administered to players and the coach, BST was rated as an acceptable form of training. After the final training session, experienced coaches rated each player as having improved from baseline to training.