When will is not the same as should: The role of modals in reasoning with legal conditionals

Naïve reasoners reject logically valid conclusions from conditional rules if they can think of exceptions in which the antecedent is true, but the consequent is not. However, when reasoning with legal conditionals (e.g., “If a person kills another human, then this person should be punished for manslaughter”) people hardly consider exceptions but evaluate conclusions depending on their own sense of justice. We show that participants’ reluctance to consider exceptions in legal reasoning depends on the modal auxiliary used. In two experiments we phrased legal conditionals either with the modal “should” (i.e., “ . . . then this person should be punished”), or with “will” (i.e., “ . . . then this person will be punished”) and presented them as modus ponens or modus tollens inferences. Participants had to decide whether the offender should or will be punished (modus ponens) or whether the offender indeed committed the offence (modus tollens). For modus ponens inferences phrased with “should” we replicate previous findings showing that participants select conclusions on the basis of their own sense of justice (Experiments 1 and 2). Yet, when the legal conditional is phrased with the modal “will” this effect is attenuated (Experiments 1 and 2), and exceptions are considered (Experiment 1). The modal auxiliary did not affect modus tollens inferences.     

The Impact of Family-Friendly Practices on Work–Family Balance in Spain

Not being able to combine work with family properly is negatively related to employees’ quality of life. Some firms are aware of this reality and provide their employees family-friendly practices, a set of practices designed to enable employees a work–family balance. Family-friendly practices are classified in three subsets: family support practices, flexible arrangement practices, and parental leave practices. Then, this paper analyzes the impact of different subsets of family-friendly practices on work–family balance for women and men subsamples, as well as to disentangle the mechanisms through with such effects occur. Based on a representative sample of 8,061 Spanish workers and using the Baron and Kenny procedure to test for mediation, the results show that the three subsets of family-friendly practices increase work–family balance for both genders, although some of them have different effects for women and men. In line with societal gender role expectation, family support practices better accommodate men’s need, increasing work–family balance almost for them, and parental leave practices women’s need, increasing work–family balance more for them. However, flexible arrangement practices increase work–family balance equally for both genders. Moreover, in all cases, the effect of family-friendly practices on work–family balance goes beyond the effect of time outside work and time at work, then this partial mediation indicates that time is an important mechanism in achieving work–family balance. In sum, offering employees family-friendly practices is a good starting point in order to increase people’s quality of life by helping them achieve work–family balance.     

Developmental changes associated with cross-language similarity in bilingual children

The main goal of the present study was to investigate how the degree of orthographic overlap between translation equivalents influences bilingual word recognition processes at different stages of reading development. Spanish–Basque bilingual children with ages ranging from 8 to 15 years were tested in an explicit translation recognition task with a large set of items. Critically, the degree of cross-language similarity (i.e. the cognate status) between the references and the correct targets was manipulated along a continuum in order to investigate how the reliance on cross-language orthographic overlap varies as a function of reading experience. Results showed that younger children were significantly more sensitive to the cognate status of words than older children while recognising translation equivalents, and that this difference did not depend on the speed of response of the participants. These results demonstrate that the influence of cross-language similarity progressively diminishes as a function of increased exposure to print together with the maturation of the mechanisms responsible for language interference suppression, as suggested by developmental models of bilingual lexical access.     

The Close Relationship Context and HIV/AIDS Risk Reduction Among Mexican Americans

The purpose of this study was to determine, within a community sample of 115 Mexican Americans, the association of relationship variables to participants' HIV risk perception, use of condoms, and HIV-related communication with a relationship partner. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses with the total sample and within each gender separately revealed that intimacy and commitment were related to HIV risk perception, condom use, and HIV-related communication even after effects of age, gender, acculturation, marital status, and length of relationship were controlled. The pattern of significant correlates differs, however, in the total, women-only, and men-only samples. Results suggest that intimacy and commitment are important elements of the close relationship context that should be considered in HIV risk reduction efforts among Mexican Americans.     

Effect of Concurrent Visual Feedback Frequency on Postural Control Learning in Adolescents

The purpose was to find better augmented visual feedback frequency (100% or 67%) for learning a balance task in adolescents. Thirty subjects were divided randomly into a control group, and 100% and 67% feedback groups. The three groups performed pretest (3 trials), practice (12 trials), posttest (3 trials) and retention (3 trials, 24 hours later). The reduced feedback group showed lower RMS in the posttest than in the pretest (p = 0.04). The control and reduced feedback groups showed significant lower median frequency in the posttest than in the pretest (p < 0.05). Both feedback groups showed lower values in retention than in the pretest (p < 0.05). Even when the effect of feedback frequency could not be detected in motor learning, 67% of the feedback was recommended for motor adaptation.     

The Use of an Identifiability-Based Strategy for the Interpretation of Parameters in the 1PL-G and Rasch Models

Psychometrika - Using the well-known strategy in which parameters are linked to the sampling distribution via an identification analysis, we offer an interpretation of the item parameters in the...     

Different faces of (un)controllability: Control restoration modulates the efficiency of task switching

Uncontrollability has been often associated with impaired or rigid cognitive processing. However, perceived stability of uncontrollable events modulated some of these detrimental effects on cognition. We investigated whether the experience of sequential control loss and restoration can enhance cognitive flexibility. We manipulated uncontrollability using a concept formation procedure that entailed either only unsolvable tasks (control deprivation condition), unsolvable tasks followed by solvable ones (control restoration condition) or only solvable tasks (control condition). To assess cognitive flexibility, we used a task-switching procedure that incorporated social categories. In Experiment 1 participants categorized people based on gender or age, and in Experiment 2 and 3 based on gender or social roles. Participants showed more flexibility in control restoration than in control deprivation condition. Additionally, in Experiments 2 and 3 this effect was mainly pronounced in the condition where the task evoked more cognitive conflict. We discuss the motivational underpinnings of unstable experiences of control loss and restoration.

     

Building capacity in neurodevelopment assessment of children in sub-Saharan Africa: A quality assurance model to implement standardized neurodevelopment testing

Compromised neurodevelopment (ND) among infants and children is prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa. Standardized testing of ND is frequently prohibitive in these contexts, as tests require skilled staff for their application. In this paper, we present a quality assurance (QA) model (QualiND) for standardized ND testing, discussing findings and implications from our experience applying the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children second edition (KABC-II). The QualiND model was implemented within IMPAACT P1104s study, a multisite, prospective study including 615 children affected by HIV. From 2014 to 2016, the QualiND managed 18 testers across 6 sites located in 4 African countries applying the KABC-II in 9 local languages. The QualiND is a multilevel, video-assisted iterative model incorporating remote evaluation, feedback, and supervision roles. Using an ad hoc rubric, videos of test application were evaluated by experienced staff in a centralized QA center. At each study site, testers and supervisors reviewed feedback from videos received via email from the QA center and devised an action plan to address testing errors and deficiencies. There were few instances of invalid tests and few barriers to test completion. Over 97% of KABC-II tests across sites were considered to be valid by the QA center. Overall, the QualiND model was a useful platform for remote supervision to nonspecialist and minimally trained research staff. The QualiND model may be useful to researchers and organizations involved in measuring early child development using standardized tests in low and middle-income countries.