Pack behavior

We analyze a sequential decision model, where every decision maker has her own preferences over actions. Some actions have positive Externalities if a large enough population has previously chosen them, and those Externalities may lead a decision-maker to ignore her own preferred actions to benefit from those Externalities. We give a fairly general sufficient condition such that, on almost every equilibrium path, every decision maker eventually prefers to benefit from group Externalities. We show that this situation, called pack behavior, is observationally equivalent to a herd behavior, but it is triggered by positive Externalities generated by group decision, instead of standard belief-based decisions. We also show that this notion is not ex-ante Pareto-efficient in general.     

Effects of Computer-Based Fluency Training on Concept Formation

This study provides a preliminary analysis of how the techniques of fluency training can be combined with systematic concept instruction to improve the learning of complex verbal concepts. Fluency techniques, which require the learner to respond accurately at high rates, have typically focused on definition learning when teaching concepts. Instructional psychologists, however, recommend multiple exemplar training for conceptual instruction. To examine this issue, 41 undergraduate students completed a computer-based instructional module on logical fallacies. Participants were assigned to one of four groups, with the modules for each group differing only in the type of practice provided—either fluency or practice with either examples or definitions. Examination of posttest scores revealed significantly higher scores for participants in the examples groups than those in the definitions groups, but low experimental power prevented a clear conclusion to be drawn about differences between the fluency and practice groups. Implications of results and several methodological issues relevant to this area of research are discussed.     

Les unités de soins intensifs psychiatriques (USIP) : expériences françaises et internationales

Psychiatric Intensive Care Units (PICU) propose a secure setting for patients with acute behavior disturbances who can not be managed in psychiatric general wards. Physical violence acts against patients or hospital staff, substance abuse, non-compliance for care and treatment, intensity of symptoms or absconding are frequent motives for admission. Patients are compulsorily detained in secure conditions. They are admitted from psychiatric facilities of a health area or by agreement between hospitals. Multidisciplinary working in psychiatric intensive care is essential, delivered by qualified staff. Care and treatment must be centered on the patient, multidisciplinary, intensive, comprehensive with an immediacy of response to critical situations. As length of stay should not exceed 2 months in duration, interface and liaison with original services of patients are important issues. In France, PICU exist notably at Cadillac, Lyon, Paris, Nice, Eygurande, Montpellier, Pau and Prémontré. These facilities appear as a missing level, an interesting alternative in mental health care system, between psychiatric general wards and maximum security hospitals. This paper reports the creation of a National Association of PICU in France, the existence of national minimum standards and international experiences.     

Scientific Self-Regulation—So Good, How Can it Fail?

To be a functional alternative to government regulation, self-regulation of science must be credible to both scientists and the public, accountable, ethical, and effective. According to some, serious problems continue in research ethics in the United States despite a rich history of proposed self-regulatory standards and oversight devices. Successful efforts at self-regulation in stem cell research contrast with unsuccessful efforts in research ethics, particularly conflicts of interest. Part of the cause for a lack of success in self-regulation is fragmented, disconnected oversight, and failure to embody genuine scientific and public consensus. To be accountable, credible and effective, self-regulation must be inclusive and multidisciplinary, publicly engaged, sufficiently disinterested, operationally integrated with institutional goals, and must implement a genuine consensus among scientists and the public. The mechanisms of self-regulation must be sufficiently broad in their oversight, and interconnected with other institutional forces and actors, that they do not create fragmented solutions.

Antonello da Messina: l’ opera completa

Antonello da Messina’s Annunciation with the Blessèd Virgin sola breaks with iconic convention, so inviting new interpretations of the theme. The Rome exhibition of 2006 allowed one to compare Antonello with van Eyck: Antonello seemed pre-modern. This review discusses three important essays on the Annunciation (see the last three keywords). All three perceptive essays raise theological and phenomenological issues directly related to the almost unique iconic representation which Antonello gives us.     

Presidential speechmaking style: Emotional response to micro-expressions of facial affect

Research considering the effect of Presidential speech making style shows individuals are likely to attend to and be emotionally affected by the facial expressions of leaders, especially those that are inappropriate for the context. In this study we tested how rapid and subtle expressions of facial affect (i.e., expressions of less than one-second, often termed micro-expressions) in speeches by a political leader impacts participants’ emotional state. We do this by removing seven brief expressions (less than one-second) from a nearly twelve minute televised speech by President George H. W. Bush concerning the 1990 commitment of US military in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. FACS coding identified all these expressions as containing a component of smiling (lip corner puller: AU12), in some cases with the addition of other facial movements (sometimes associated with anger and/or disgust). Experiments carried out on 206 university undergraduates showed emotional state was altered as a result of these micro-expressions when the control (unaltered speech) and experimental group (micro-expressions removed from speech) were compared. Specifically, participants who viewed the micro-expressions felt less threatened and less angry. Thus, facial expression (even very brief micro-expressions) can have a significant impact on the receiver of a political speech.

Examining the Role of Applicant Faking in Hiring Decisions: Percentage of Fakers Hired and Hiring Discrepancies in Single- and Multiple-Predictor Selection

Purpose  

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of applicant faking on personnel selection outcomes (fakers hired and hiring discrepancies) across single-predictor (conscientiousness alone) and multiple-predictor (combinations of conscientiousness and cognitive ability) selection methods.     

Not too little, but not too much: The perceived desirability of responses to personality items

Paradigms typically employed to investigate socially desirable responding in personality assessment implicitly assume linear relationships exist between trait level and desirability but recent research has called this assumption into question. In this study, participants rated the desirability of a hypothetical applicant to one of four jobs on the basis of which five-point Likert-type scale option he/she selected when responding to personality items. Results generally indicated that the most extreme option, on the desirable side of the response scale, was rated as most desirable, but perceived desirability asymptotes with the penultimate option. The middle (neutral) option, however, was consistently regarded as being much less desirable. The occupational context also significantly moderated the patterns of desirability ratings for many items.