Development and Evaluation of the Belief Acceptance Scale

The Belief Acceptance Scale (BAS) is a nine question scale that was developed to evaluate how open and accepting an individual is to other people’s beliefs across interdependent life domains. The purposes of this article are to demonstrate the internal consistency of the BAS and examine the instrument’s substructure and to correlate the BAS with validated measures of religiosity and demographic data gathered from a web-based Survey of Spiritual Experiences. The BAS focuses on cultural beliefs instead of religious motivations and was designed to be administered to religious and non-religious individuals. Three domains of belief acceptance were tested: the internal or subjective openness to other beliefs (Psychological Domain), willingness to participate in other ideologies and rituals (Reciprocal Domain), and the willingness to date or marry outside one’s belief system or cultural background (Social Domain). Responses from 350 individuals were correlated and analysed to estimate the scale’s internal consistency and subscale structure. Analyses support the validity of the BAS scores in that they demonstrate expected correlations with demographic data and standardised measures of religiosity. The results show that the BAS is an internally consistent scale with a coherent substructure that adequately measures openness to other beliefs, ideologies and belief systems.     

A Systematic Review Into the Psychological Causes and Correlates of Plagiarism

Interventions that are designed to stem plagiarism do not always override the motivation of individuals to cheat and, therefore, may not diminish misconduct. To inform more effective approaches, we conducted a systematic review to clarify the psychological causes of plagiarism. This review of 83 empirical papers showed that a specific blend of circumstances may foster plagiarism: an emphasis on competition and success rather than development and cooperation coupled with impaired resilience, limited confidence, impulsive tendencies, and biased cognitions. Fortunately, whenever students feel their life and studies align to their future aspirations, many of these circumstances tend to dissipate.     

The effects of protective helmet use on physiology and cognition in young cricketers

Many studies have reported physiological and cognitive decrements following heat stress. Of particular concern in cricket are the possible negative effects of sustained protective helmet use, as this leads to an increase in heat‐related stress. Correct and rapid decision making, and focused attention are essential for efficient performance whilst batting, and it is possible that helmet usage could impair such processes. In a repeated‐measures, randomized crossover study, physiological, self‐report, and cognitive measures were taken from 16 teenage cricketers before and after moderately intense (batting) exercise. Participants underwent the assessments twice, once while wearing a standard protective helmet, and again, when not wearing a helmet (counterbalanced). While helmet use did not lead to significant physiological changes, wearing a helmet led to some cognitive impairments in attention, vigilance and reaction times. These preliminary findings could have significance for cognitively demanding sports (and perhaps military and industrial settings) in which participants perform cognitively demanding operations under conditions of physical exercise whilst wearing protective helmets. Additional factors of hydration, exercise duration, and helmet design are discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Attentional and interpretative biases in appearance concern: An investigation of biases in appearance-related information processing

The present study examined associations between high levels of appearance concern and information processing biases in interpretation and attention. An opportunity sample (N = 79) categorised ambiguous stimuli as related or unrelated to appearance. Participants then responded to the same stimuli in a modified visual dot-probe task assessing attentional bias. Participant responses were assessed in relation to level of appearance concern. The results indicated a valence specific bias towards interpretation of ambiguous stimuli as negative and appearance-related in individuals with higher levels of concern. There was also evidence of attentional bias towards information perceived as appearance-related in participants with higher levels of appearance concern. The study findings suggest that association between appearance-orientated information processing biases and level of appearance concern; this association may lead to mutually reinforcing bias and concern.     

The impact of surface projection on military tactics comprehension

This experiment assessed how displaying information onto different surfaces (flat vs. raised) influenced the performance, workload, and engagement of cadets answering questions on military tactics. Sixty-two cadets in a within-subjects design each answered 24 tactics-related questions across 2 conditions (12 on flat, 12 on raised) which were measured by accuracy and time on task. After each set of 12 questions, the cadets took postsurveys assessing engagement, measured by a modified User Engagement Scale and the System Usability Scale, and workload measured by the NASA-TLX. Findings indicated that raised terrain surface led to reduced workload and increased engagement and time on task as compared to the flat terrain surface. A practice effect drove performance metrics (time on task and accuracy), where the learner performed better on the second surface type displayed. This research contributes to expanding the literature base that supports alternative display methods to increase engagement and augment instruction of military tactics tasks.     

The role of learning history in current sick-role behavior and assertion

It has previously been suggested that sick-role or illness behavior has learned components which may contribute to the maintenance of an individual's negative physical condition. The present study was designed as an elaboration on the role of learning history in the production of current sick-role behavior. A total of 180 college students responded to an inventory which consisted of 15 questions. The inventory looked at parents as role models for assertion and illness behavior, as well as the individual's own history of assertiveness, illness and positive reinforcement for illness behavior. Multiple stepwise regressions were performed on the data. The results indicated the best predictors of current work or school avoidance were their own history of stopping work and absence from school as a child, their fathers' work history of work avoidance, and low assertion. The best predictors for an individual's self report of positive reinforcement for illness behavior were a history of similar reinforcement as a child and their mothers history of attention for illness behavior. The fathers' work avoidance when ill was the third predictor for positive reinforcement for illness behaviour in the females. Finally, the best predictors for the male Ss' current assertion were assertion as a child, the mothers' assertion and a low frequency of school absence and work avoidance as a child. For females, the best predictors of current assertion were assertion as a child and a high frequency of current work and school avoidance. Discussion focuses on the implications of these results for future research.