Counterfactual thinking in mock juror assessments of negligence: A preliminary investigation

This Research Report presents an initial attempt to apply the theory of counterfactual thinking to study the cognitive processes that underlie judgments of negligence. Subjects reviewed a summary of an appellate case involving a work accident and listed all the ways in which the accident could have been undone (mutated). Participants' evaluations of the defendant's behavior were influenced by the ease of mutation of the negligent act and other mutations of the defendant's behavior, but not by the number of mutations of the plaintiffs conduct. Exploratory path analysis suggested that counterfactual thinking may have its greatest impact not as a direct influence on verdicts and damages, but rather as an indirect influence impacting verdicts through lower level judgments about the normality of the defendant's behavior and the standard of care. The results also suggest that contrary to the law, subjects base their negligence verdicts on assessments of normal care along with due care.     

GAME THEORY AND KNOWLEDGE BY SIMULATION

This paper makes a connection between some developments in game theory and issues about everyday psychological knowledge. I argue that there are two-person situations in which agents will do badly if they use a particular simple theory of rationality to predict one another's actions. If we assume that our everyday techniques for anticipating one another's actions will get better results than this, it follows that these techniques do not consist in applying a theory like this one. One alternative is that when we anticipate actions we supplement whatever theories we have with a capacity to imagine the other person's motivation. I sketch a way of modelling this capacity. ¹ 1 This paper went through many drafts. Martin Davies was very patient with several of them. Remarks by Susan Hurley and Alex Cacelnik at a crucial moment helped me see what I was trying to say. I should like to dedicate the paper to Stephan Körner, former editor of Ratio, who recently celebrated his eightieth birthday.
     

Youth Homelessness and Vulnerability: How Does Couch Surfing Fit?

Youth homelessness is a problem characterized by high levels of vulnerability. The extent to which couch surfing — moving from one temporary housing arrangement to another — is part of youth homelessness is not well understood. Chapin Hall's Voices of Youth Count, a national research initiative, involves a multicomponent approach to studying youth homelessness. This study reports emerging findings regarding couch surfing and homelessness primarily from a national survey of 13,113 adults with youth ages 13–25 in their households or who are themselves ages 18–25. Findings suggest that couch surfing is relatively common, particularly among the older age group. Among households with 13‐ to 17‐year‐olds and 18‐ to 25‐year‐olds, 4.0% and 20.5%, respectively, reported that any of them had couch surfed in the last 12 months. There are notable social, economic, and educational differences, on average, between youth reporting homelessness and those reporting only couch surfing. However, most youth who report experiencing homelessness also report couch surfing, and these youth who experience both circumstances present high levels of socioeconomic vulnerability. Couch surfing encompasses a range of experiences, some of which likely include need for services. Interviews currently in the field, and expanded analysis of data, will contribute more nuanced policy insights.     

The BUFFET Program: Development of a Cognitive Behavioral Treatment for Selective Eating in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Selective eating (often referred to as “picky” eating) is common in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) across the lifespan. Behavioral interventions are widely used to treat selective eating; however, most of these programs are time intensive, have not been evaluated for use in outpatient settings, and do not typically include youth beyond early childhood. Despite the functional impact and risk for negative outcomes associated with selective eating, there are no empirically supported treatments available for older children, adolescents, or adults, either with or without ASD. To address this treatment gap, we developed BUFFET: the Building Up Food Flexibility and Exposure Treatment program. BUFFET is a 14-week, multi-family group cognitive behavioral treatment for selective eating in children (8–12 years) with ASD. In this paper, we will (1) discuss the theoretical conceptualization of BUFFET, (2) describe the treatment content and structure, (3) present feasibility data from the initial pilot trial, and (4) consider next steps in treatment development.     

Association between obesity and suicide in woman,but not in man: a population-based study of young adults

The relationship between obesity and suicide risk is still unclear with controversial research results. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between obesity and suicide risk for men and women in a population-based study of young adults. This is a cross-sectional population-based study that identified young adults between 18 and 35 years of age. Suicide risk was investigated through the structured clinical interview Mini. Weight and height were assessed, and participants were classified as normal-weight body mass index (BMI < 30) or obese (BMI > 30). The prevalence of obesity was of 19.9% of the total sample (n = 1953). Obesity was more prevalent among women and participants between 27 and 35 years of age. Suicide risk was present in 13.0% of the sample and more prevalent among women. In our study we found an association between obesity and suicide risk for women, but not for men. Obesity was associated with a higher prevalence of suicide risk in women. Given the strength of the relationship between BMI and suicide, identifying the mechanisms associated with obesity, especially for women, can lead to new insights into the prevention of suicide risk     

Sponsorship and resettlement success

Objective  

To compare the integration of privately and government sponsored Southeast Asian refugees at the end of their first decade in the country.     

Are you listening? Exploring a developmental knowledge–action dissociation in a speech interpretation task

Young children sometimes act inappropriately despite appearing to know what to do. Dissociations of this kind raise important questions about the organization and development of knowledge and action systems. The present study investigated a knowledge–action dissociation in 6–year–olds performing a speech interpretation task and tested the hypothesis that knowledge–action dissociations stem from a general difficulty resolving conflicting cues. When knowledge and action measures were equated in terms of the amount of conflict that needed to be resolved for a correct response, children’s knowledge no longer appeared to outstrip their ability to act appropriately. Implications of the findings for competing views of knowledge representation and knowledge–action system organization are discussed.     

Path planning under spatial uncertainty

In this article, we present experiments studying path planning under spatial uncertainties. In the main experiment, the participants' task was to navigate the shortest possible path to find an object hidden in one of four places and to bring it to the final destination. The probability of finding the object (probability matrix) was different for each of the four places and varied between conditions. Givensuch uncertainties about the object's location, planning a single path is not sufficient. Participants had to generate multiple consecutive plans (metaplans)--for example: If the object is found in A, proceed to the destination; if the object is not found, proceed to B; and so on. The optimal solution depends on the specific probability matrix. In each condition, participants learned a different probability matrix and were then asked to report the optimal metaplan. Results demonstrate effective integration of the probabilistic information about the object's location during planning. We present a hierarchical planning scheme that could account for participants' behavior, as well as for systematic errors and differences between conditions.