Choosing and using geospatial displays: effects of design on performance and metacognition

Interactive display systems give users flexibility to tailor their visual displays to different tasks and situations. However, in order for such flexibility to be beneficial, users need to understand how to tailor displays to different tasks (to possess "metarepresentational competence"). Recent research suggests that people may desire more complex and realistic displays than are most effective (Smallman & St. John, 2005). In Experiment 1, undergraduate students were tested on a comprehension task with geospatial displays (weather maps) that varied in the number of extraneous variables displayed. Their metacognitive judgments about the relative effectiveness of the displays were also solicited. Extraneous variables slowed response time and increased errors, but participants favored complex maps that looked more realistic about one third of the time. In Experiment 2, the eye fixations of undergraduate students were monitored as they performed the comprehension task. Complex maps that looked more realistic led to more eye fixations on both task-relevant and task-irrelevant regions of the displays. Experiment 3 compared performance of experienced meteorologists and undergraduate students on the comprehension and metacognitive tasks. Meteorologists were as likely as undergraduate students to prefer geographically complex (realistic) displays and more likely than undergraduates to opt for displays that added extraneous weather variables. However, meteorologists were also slower and less accurate with complex than with simple displays. This work highlights the importance of empirically testing principles of visual display design and suggests some limits to metarepresentational competence.     

Automated assembly of optimally spaced and balanced paired comparisons: Controlling order effects

To control order effects in questionnaires containing paired comparisons, Ross (1934) described an optimal ordering of the pairings. The pairs can also be balanced so that every stimulus appears equal numbers of times as the first and the second member of a pair. First, we describe and illustrate the optimally spaced, balanced ordering of pairings. Then we show how the optimally spaced, balanced order can be used to implement a matrix-sampling design or a fully incomplete design when the number of stimuli n is so large that respondents cannot reasonably be expected to judge all n(n - 1)/2 pairs. The algorithm for balancing and optimally spacing the list of pairs is described.     

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.     

Nonword repetition and phoneme elision in adults who do and do not stutter

The purpose of the present study was to explore the phonological working memory of adults who stutter through the use of a non-word repetition and a phoneme elision task. Participants were 14 adults who stutter (M=28 years) and 14 age/gender matched adults who do not stutter (M=28 years). For the non-word repetition task, the participants had to repeat a set of 12 non-words across four syllable lengths (2-, 3-, 4-, and 7-syllables) (N=48 total non-words). For the phoneme elision task, the participants repeated the same set of non-words at each syllable length, but with a designated target phoneme eliminated. Adults who stutter were significantly less accurate than adults who do not stutter in their initial attempts to produce the longest non-words (i.e., 7-syllable). Adults who stutter also required a significantly higher mean number of attempts to accurately produce 7-syllable non-words than adults who do not stutter. For the phoneme elision task, both groups demonstrated a significant reduction in accuracy as the non-words increased in length; however, there was no significant interaction between group and syllable length. Thus, although there appear to be advancements in the phonological working memory for adults who stutter relative to children who stutter, preliminary data from the present study suggest that the advancements may not be comparable to those demonstrated by adults who do not stutter. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: At the end of this activity the reader will be able to (a) summarize the nonword repetition data that have been published thus far with children and adults who stutter; (b) describe the subvocal rehearsal system, an aspect of the phonological working memory that is critical to nonword repetition accuracy; (c) employ an alternative means to explore the phonological working memory in adults who stutter, the phoneme elision task; and (d) discuss both phonological and motoric implications of deficits in the phonological working memory.     

Personality and Legislative Politics: The Big Five Trait Dimensions Among U.S. State Legislators

The impact of personality traits on people's attitudes and behaviors is widely recognized, yet systematic attention to personality in large‐N research on elected officials has been rare. Among psychologists, five‐factor frameworks that focus on openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability have gained tremendous prominence in the past two decades. Applications of these frameworks to the study of mass political behavior have been highly fruitful, but corresponding applications in the study of legislators have been rare. In an effort to assess the utility of a Big Five approach in the study of legislative politics, this article addresses three questions: whether elected officials will be willing to provide personality self‐assessments, whether any data they do provide will exhibit meaningful variance, and whether the Big Five trait dimensions will correspond with patterns in respondents' attitudes and behaviors. These questions are addressed using data from members of the state legislatures in Arizona, Connecticut, and Maine. Results provide considerable grounds for optimism regarding the likely utility of more extensive applications of the Big Five in research on elected officials.     

Parenting style in Spanish parents with children aged 6 to 14

The aim of this paper was to establish which parenting style of Spanish families is associated with optimum children's outcomes. A random Spanish sample of 1,103 parents of children and teenagers from 6 to 14 years of age, of whom 47% were females, reported on their child-rearing practices. Families were classified into 1 of 4 groups (authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, or neglectful) based on the parents' answers. Socialization outcomes were 6 indicators of interpersonal relationship quality, 9 indicators of psychological adjustment, 7 indicators of personal competence, and 12 indicators of behavior problems. Results showed that indulgent and authoritative parenting styles were associated with better outcomes than authoritarian and neglectful parenting. Overall, our results supported the idea that, in Spain, the optimum parenting style is the indulgent one, as scores in the four sets of socialization outcomes among children and teenagers from indulgent families were always equal to, or even better than, the authoritative parenting style.     

War stress and late-life mortality in World War II male civilian resistance veterans

The mental and physical health of 146 Dutch males exposed to severe war stress during their young adulthood were examined in 1986-1987 when they were at ages 61 to 66 years. The veterans' data were compared with a randomly selected population-based sample of same-aged males. In 2005, 70% of the war stress veterans had died, and only 35% of the comparison group. The baseline quality of life was significantly poorer in the war stress veterans than in the comparison group. Baseline variables explained 42% of the increased risk of mortality among war stress veterans. Smoking was the largest single contributor to mortality.     

Are lies more wrong than errors? Accuracy judgments of inaccurate statements

People are often mistaken when estimating and predicting quantities, and sometimes they report values that they know are false: they lie. There exists, however, little research devoted to how such deviations are being perceived. In four vignette studies, participants were asked to rate the accuracy of inaccurate statements about quantities (prices, numbers and amounts). The results indicate that overstatements are generally judged to be more inaccurate than understatements of the same magnitude; self-favorable (optimistic) statements are considered more inaccurate than unfavorable (pessimistic) statements, and false reports (lies) are perceived to be more inaccurate than equally mistaken estimates. Lies about the future did not differ from lies about the past, but own lies were perceived as larger than the same lies attributed to another person. It is suggested that estimates are judged according to how close they come to the true values (close estimates are more correct than estimates that are less close), whereas lies are judged as deviant from truth, with less importance attached to the magnitude of the deviation.