Understanding linear and exponential growth: Searching for the roots in 6- to 9-year-olds

Previous studies have suggested that children as young as 9 years old have developed an understanding of non-linear growth processes prior to formal education. The present experiment aimed at investigating this competency in even younger samples (i.e., in kindergartners, first, and third graders, ages 6, 7 and 9, respectively). Children (N = 90) solved non-verbal inductive reasoning tasks by forecasting linear and exponential growth. While children of all ages forecasted linear growth adequately, exponential growth was also estimated remarkably well. Surprisingly, kindergartners and third graders showed similar high achievement concerning the magnitude and curve shape of forecasts, whereas first graders performed significantly worse. We concluded that primary knowledge of both linearity and non-linearity exists even in kindergartners. However, children's understanding is quite fragile, as their performance was strongly affected by task sequence: Children underestimated exponential growth when the previous task required a forecast of linear growth, and overestimated linear growth when the previous task required forecasting of exponential growth.     

Sounds change four-dot masking

The temporal occurrence of a flash can be shifted towards a slightly offset sound (temporal ventriloquism). Here we examined whether four-dot masking is affected by this phenomenon. In Experiment 1, we demonstrate that there is release from four-dot masking if two sounds - one before the target and one after the mask - are presented at ∼100 ms intervals rather than at ∼0 ms intervals or a silent condition. In Experiment 2, we show that the release from masking originates from an alerting effect of the first sound, and a temporal ventriloquist effect from the first and second sounds that lengthened the perceived interval between target and mask, thereby leaving more time for the target to consolidate. Results thus show that sounds penetrate the visual system at more than one level.     

Becoming More Conscientious or More Open to Experience? Effects of a Two-Week Smartphone-Based Intervention for Personality Change

Research indicates that it might be possible to change personality traits through intervention, but this clinical research has primarily focused on changing neuroticism. To date, there are no established, proven techniques for changing other domains of personality, such as conscientiousness and openness. This research examined the effects of a two-week smartphone-based intervention to either change one facet of conscientiousness (i.e. self-discipline) or one facet of openness to experience (i.e. openness to action). Two intervention studies (total N = 255) with two active intervention groups for mutual comparisons were conducted. Results of self-reports and observer reports showed that people who wanted to become more self-disciplined were less self-disciplined at pretest. Similarly, people who wanted to become more open to action were less open to action at pretest. The results showed that people who chose the self-discipline intervention showed greater increases in self-discipline, and people who chose the openness to action intervention showed greater increases in openness to action compared with the other group. Changes were maintained until follow-up two and six weeks after the end of the intervention. Future work is needed to examine whether these personality changes are enduring or reflect temporary accentuation as a result of participation in the intervention. © 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Experimental evidence for aggressive antipredator behavior in black skimmers (rynchops niger)

We experimentally studied the aggressive antipredator behavior of black skimmers Rynchops niger nesting in a salt marsh and sandy beach with the use of a live herring gull Larus argentatus. Although there were no significant habitat differences in vegetation cover, distance from the edge of the colony, or nesting density, skimmers nesting in salt marshes were more aggressive toward the herring gull than were those nesting on the beach. Aggression increased during the first three minutes of the test, and decreased slightly thereafter. Aggression levels were highest when the gull moved compared to when it was stationary. Skimmers made few responses when a person was present with the gull, but aggression increased dramatically when only the gull remained. Our results suggest skimmers may engage in more aggressive behavior in defense of their nests than previously thought, particularly when exposed to a predator that actually takes eggs and chicks. Further, we suggest that conclusions about antipredator behavior drawn only from studies of interactions with people may need further amplification. © 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

W. I. Thomas and social reform: His work and writings

W. I. Thomas was a major figure in the founding of sociology, especially symbolic interactionism. His concern with and commitment to social reform, however, is rarely recognized. This neglected aspect of his thought and activities is crucial for the interpretation and assessment of his writings and status in the profession. Examination of this facet of his work also illuminates some of the important contributions made by women to the development of his thought and career.     

Perception of intersensory synchrony: A tutorial review

For most multisensory events, observers perceive synchrony among the various senses (vision, audition, touch), despite the naturally occurring lags in arrival and processing times of the different information streams. A substantial amount of research has examined how the brain accomplishes this. In the present article, we review several key issues about intersensory timing, and we identify four mechanisms of how intersensory lags might be dealt with: by ignoring lags up to some point (a wide window of temporal integration), by compensating for predictable variability, by adjusting the point of perceived synchrony on the longer term, and by shifting one stream directly toward the other.     

Atypicality and the two fundamental dimensions: Applying the negativity effect on warmth to group perception

The person perception literature has shown that negative information on warmth influences impression formation more than other kinds of information. In the present paper, we argue for the usefulness of using the knowledge accumulated on the negativity effect on warmth when studying how members of a group who are disconfirming the group stereotype are perceived. We show that negative divergent information on warmth is perceived as more surprising because it appears to be more discrepant than positive divergent information on warmth or than competence information. We also show how stereotype holders protect their stereotype by rating the surprising incoherent information as atypical. Results are discussed in terms of the necessity to apply our knowledge of the two fundamental dimensions of social perception and their properties to typicality ratings and, beyond them, to stereotype change research. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Biased Evaluation of Abstracts Depending on Topic and Conclusion: Further Evidence of a Confirmation Bias Within Scientific Psychology

The present paper investigated whether academic psychologists show a tendency to rate the quality and appropriateness of scientific studies more favorably when results and conclusions are consistent with their own prior beliefs (i.e., confirmation bias). In an online experiment, 711 psychologists completed a questionnaire (e.g., about their belief in astrology) and evaluated research that was presented in form of a short abstract in which 40 different behaviors (e.g., alcohol consumption, willingness to share money) have been tried to be predicted. The research to be evaluated varied on three dimensions which were all manipulated between subjects: (1) the predictors of the 40 behaviors (either Big Five or astrological factors), (2) the methodological quality of the study (low, medium, high), and (3) the results and subsequent conclusion of the study (confirmation or disconfirmation of the hypotheses). Factor-analyzed scores of participants’ ratings on 8 scales, resulting in 2 factors termed quality and appropriateness, served as dependent measures. The main result of the study is a two-way interaction: Psychologists tended to evaluate results qualitatively higher when they conformed to their own prior expectations, as in this case, when astrological hypotheses were disconfirmed.     

The bilingual lexicon: Modality effects in processing

In this article the effects of modality on the processing in the bilingual lexicon will be explored. Therefore, two parallel repetition priming experiments were conducted, an auditory and a visual one. The subjects were Dutch-English bilinguals. They had to perform a lexical decision task. There were two types of stimuli: cognates and noncognates. The results indicated that there are no processing differences between the auditory and the visual modalities. Furthermore, in both experiments interlingual repetition priming was found for both cognates and noncognates. The implications of these results for the influence of the factor proficiency level are discussed.     

Who benefits from psychotherapies for adult depression? A meta-analytic update of the evidence

It is not clear whether specific target groups for psychotherapies in adult depression benefit as much from these treatments as other patients. We examined target groups that have been examined in randomized trials, including women, older adults, students, minorities, patients with general medical disorders, and specific types of depression, and we examined where patients were recruited. We conducted subgroup and multivariate metaregression analyses in a sample of 256 trials (with 332 comparisons) comparing psychotherapy with an inactive control condition. Only 22% of the studies had low risk of bias (RoB), heterogeneity was high and there was a considerable risk of publication bias. A meta-regression analysis among low RoB studies showed that effect sizes found for studies among women, older adults, patients with general medical disorders, patients recruited from primary care, and patients scoring above a cut-off on a self-rating depression scale, did not differ significantly from effect sizes from other studies. For other target groups, the number of low RoB studies was too small to draw any conclusion. We found few indications that psychotherapies for adult depression are more or less effective in women, older adults, patients with comorbid general medical disorders, and primary care patients.