A test of the circumvention-of-limits hypothesis in scientific problem solving: the case of geological bedrock mapping

Sources of individual differences in scientific problem solving were investigated. Participants representing a wide range of experience in geology completed tests of visuospatial ability and geological knowledge, and performed a geological bedrock mapping task, in which they attempted to infer the geological structure of an area in the Tobacco Root Mountains of Montana. A Visuospatial Ability × Geological Knowledge interaction was found, such that visuospatial ability positively predicted mapping performance at low, but not high, levels of geological knowledge. This finding suggests that high levels of domain knowledge may sometimes enable circumvention of performance limitations associated with cognitive abilities.     

Individual differences in ideological attitudes and prejudice: evidence from peer-report data

Our knowledge on the personality basis of ideological attitudes and prejudice, while based on a substantial body of research, suffers from a potentially serious methodological limitation: an overreliance on the method of self-reports. Across 2 studies (Ns = 193, 424), we examined associations between the Big Five personality dimensions, Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA), Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), and generalized prejudice, using both self-report and peer-report data stemming from 1 (Study 1) or 2 (Study 2) peer rater/s. Correlational and regression analyses as well as structural equation modeling showed that (a) the associations between personality dimensions, ideological attitudes, and prejudice were largely similar to previous research for both data sources; (b) RWA and prejudice showed a similar level of self-peer agreement to personality dimensions; (c) most of the known associations between personality, ideological attitudes, and prejudice were replicated also when measured by independent methods; (d) peer reports had some incremental validity in predicting ideological attitudes and prejudice; and (e) there was evidence that Openness to Experience and Agreeableness predicted prejudice directly and not only indirectly via RWA and SDO, respectively. Implications for the status of RWA, SDO, and prejudice as individual-difference constructs and for their bases in personality dimensions are discussed.     

Gender differences in self-conscious emotional experience: A meta-analysis

The self-conscious emotions (SCE) of guilt, shame, pride, and embarrassment are moral emotions, which motivate adherence to social norms and personal standards and emerge in early childhood following the development of self-awareness. Gender stereotypes of emotion maintain that women experience more guilt, shame, and embarrassment but that men experience more pride. To estimate the magnitude of gender differences in SCE experience and to determine the circumstances under which these gender differences vary, we meta-analyzed 697 effect sizes representing 236,304 individual ratings of SCE states and traits from 382 journal articles, dissertations, and unpublished data sets. Guilt (d = -0.27) and shame (d = -0.29) displayed small gender differences, whereas embarrassment (d = -0.08), authentic pride (d = -0.01), and hubristic pride (d = 0.09) showed gender similarities. Similar to previous findings of ethnic variations in gender differences in other psychological variables, gender differences in shame and guilt were significant only for White samples or samples with unspecified ethnicity. We found larger gender gaps in shame with trait (vs. state) scales, and in guilt and shame with situation- and scenario-based (vs. adjective- and statement-based) items, consistent with predictions that such scales and items tend to tap into global, nonspecific assessments of the self and thus reflect self-stereotyping and gender role assimilative effects. Gender differences in SCE about domains such as the body, sex, and food or eating tended to be larger than gender differences in SCE about other domains. These findings contribute to the literature demonstrating that blanket stereotypes about women's greater emotionality are inaccurate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Repetition and Spacing Effects on True and False Recognition in the DRM Paradigm

Dubuisson, J.-B., Fiori, N. & Nicolas, S. (2012) Repetition and spacing effects on true and false recognition in the DRM paradigm. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53, 382-389. With the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, the repetition effect on false memory had never been clarified. More importantly, the spacing effect on false memory was never directly investigated. So, we carried out two experiments to examine these effects on true and false recognition. In experiment 1, participants studied DRM lists which were presented one, three or five times. In experiment 2, we manipulated the repetition mode (massed vs. spaced with a short interval or a long interval) to explore the spacing effect. The results showed that true recognition increased monotonically with list repetition (experiment 1) and repetition spacing (experiment 2). The most striking finding was a similar spacing effect but no repetition effect on false recognition. Thus, these results were principally discussed in the light of the activation-monitoring framework.     

Dissociating linguistic and non-linguistic gesture processing: electrophysiological evidence from American Sign Language

A fundamental advance in our understanding of human language would come from a detailed account of how non-linguistic and linguistic manual actions are differentiated in real time by language users. To explore this issue, we targeted the N400, an ERP component known to be sensitive to semantic context. Deaf signers saw 120 American Sign Language sentences, each consisting of a “frame” (a sentence without the last word; e.g. BOY SLEEP IN HIS) followed by a “last item” belonging to one of four categories: a high-close-probability sign (a “semantically reasonable” completion to the sentence; e.g. BED), a low-close-probability sign (a real sign that is nonetheless a “semantically odd” completion to the sentence; e.g. LEMON), a pseudo-sign (phonologically legal but non-lexical form), or a non-linguistic grooming gesture (e.g. the performer scratching her face). We found significant N400-like responses in the incongruent and pseudo-sign contexts, while the gestures elicited a large positivity.     

Power motivation as an influence on reaction to an imagined feminist dating partner

McClelland??s (1976) power-stress theory proposes that persons high in need for power experience severe stress in the face of actual or anticipated social events that thwart their need to exert control or influence over others, or to achieve recognition for power-oriented behaviors. Guided by McClelland??s theory, we conducted a simulated dating service experiment with college men who scored either high or low on the Picture Story Exercise (PSE) measure of power motivation and later observed a video displaying an interview with a hypothetical dating partner. From among the 203 men who completed the PSE, 96 took part in the experiment. The video presented an 8-min enactment by a young woman who came across either as an assertive feminist or as compliant and agreeable. Electromyographic responses from the corrugator supercilii (frown muscles) fit the premise of McClelland??s power-stress theory, as did scores on the Reysen Likability Scale and the Affective Attitudes Scale.     

Temperament Variation in Sensitivity to Parenting: Predicting Changes in Depression and Anxiety

Temperament was examined as a moderator of maternal parenting behaviors, including warmth, negativity, autonomy granting, and guidance. Observations of parenting and questionnaire measures of temperament and adjustment were obtained from a community sample (N = 214; ages 8–12). Trajectories of depression and anxiety were assessed across 3 years. The pattern of parenting as a predictor of internalizing symptoms depended on temperament. Maternal negativity predicted increases in depression for children low in fear. Effortful control moderated sensitivity to maternal negativity, autonomy granting, and guidance. Children low in effortful control reported more symptoms in the presence of negative or poor-fitting parenting. The results support differential responding, but also suggest that temperament may render children vulnerable for the development of problems regardless of parenting.     

Parts, cavities, and object representation in infancy

Part representation is not only critical to object perception but also plays a key role in a number of basic visual cognition functions, such as figure-ground segregation, allocation of attention, and memory for shapes. Yet, virtually nothing is known about the development of part representation. If parts are fundamental components of object shape representation early in life, then the infant visual system should give priority to parts over other aspects of objects. We tested this hypothesis by examining whether part shapes are more salient than cavity shapes to infants. Five-month-olds were habituated to a stimulus that contained a part and a cavity. In a subsequent novelty preference test, 5-month-olds exhibited a preference for the cavity shape, indicating that part shapes were more salient than cavity shapes during habituation. The differential processing of part versus cavity contours in infancy is consistent with theory and empirical findings in the literature on adult figure-ground perception and indicates that basic aspects of part-based object processing are evident early in life.     

Emotional responses to rejection of gestures of intergroup reconciliation

Four experiments examine the emotional and attitudinal consequences of victim group rejection of a gesture of reconciliation from a transgressor group. Participants were reminded about an ingroup transgression and were told that their ingroup provided an apology (Studies 1 and 4) or an offer of repair (Studies 2 and 3). The authors varied whether the victim group rejected or accepted these gestures. As predicted, rejection resulted in greater anger and lower levels of satisfaction directed toward the victim group. Victim group response had little systematic effect on anxiety or shame, however. Appraisals of the response as illegitimate mediated the effects of victim group response (Studies 3 and 4). Furthermore, Study 4 showed that the emotional backlash toward victim groups who reject an offer of reconciliation leads to heightened racism and reduced intentions to financially compensate victim groups. Implications for how groups reconcile in the face of historical transgressions are discussed.