The Evaluative Factor of Risk Perception

This study was aimed at identifying an evaluative factor in perceived risk that was independent of the previously identified Dread and Knowledge factors. The methodology used was that developed by Slovic, Fischhoff, and Lichtenstein (1985a) with the addition of four new dimensions: personal position, economic justification, justification through well-being, and beneficial to society. This evaluative factor was identified, and loads the four above-mentioned dimensions while excluding 11 others. This evaluative factor primarily emerges as a major determinant in subjects' demands for risk control legislation.     

The evolutionary selection of human races: A response to Miller

Miller's (1993, Personality and Individual Differences, 15, 665–675) theory of the origin of “the African Personality” is not new. The focus on testosterone as a mediator of male-male agonistic interaction and strong sexuality has been a component of the r-K analysis of human race differences from the outset. Several aspects of Miller's paper are discussed.     

Dimensions of control and project-work outcomes

Two questionnaires exploring dimensions of control were administered to 463 Open University students involved in courses containing an element of either structured or unstructured project work. The questionnaires were Rotter's Locus-of-Control Form and Parlett's Syllabus-Orientation Form. Correlations were examined between these scores, the student's attitudes toward project work, and academic outcomes from their courses (scores for project work and scores for non-project work). Locus of Control was found not to correlate with outcomes, but Syllabus Orientation was found to correlate with attitude toward project work. Locus of Control and Syllabus Orientation were not correlated, suggesting that each construct corresponds to different dimensions of control.     

Gesturing helps memory encoding in aMCI

Encoding in episodic memory is a step often impaired in patients with amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI). However, procedural memory processes are still relatively preserved. In line with previous research on the enactment effect, we investigated the potential benefit of encoding words combined with imitative gestures on episodic memory. Based on the Grober and Buschke’s free/cued recall procedure, we developed the Symbiosis test in which 13 patients with aMCI and 16 healthy elderly participants learned 32 words belonging to 16 different semantic categories either in a verbal encoding (A) or a bimodal (B; verbal and motor imitation) condition, using a blocked ABBA/BAAB procedure. Overall, memory retrieval was better in healthy participants than in patients with aMCI, and better for cued retrieval in the bimodal encoding (gesture cues) than the verbal encoding (category cues) condition, but there was no interaction effect between group and encoding conditions. These results show that performing concomitant gestures can enhance cued episodic memory retrieval in patients with aMCI and in healthy elderly controls. The Symbiosis test broadens the scope of the enactment effect, from action phrases to isolated words learning in patients with aMCI. Future work should investigate how bimodal encoding provides novel perspectives for memory rehabilitation in patients with aMCI.     

Rapid decrement in the effects of the Ponzo display dissociates action and perception

It has been demonstrated that pictorial illusions have a smaller influence on grasping than they do on perceptual judgments. Yet to date this work has not considered the reduced influence of an illusion as it is measured repeatedly. Here we studied this decrement in the context of a Ponzo illusion to further characterize the dissociation between vision for perception and for action. Participants first manually estimated the lengths of single targets in a Ponzo display with their thumb and index finger, then actually grasped these targets in another series of trials, and then manually estimated the target lengths again in a final set of trials. The results showed that although the perceptual estimates and grasp apertures were equally sensitive to real differences in target length on the initial trials, only the perceptual estimates remained biased by the illusion over repeated measurements. In contrast, the illusion’s effect on the grasps decreased rapidly, vanishing entirely after only a few trials. Interestingly, a closer examination of the grasp data revealed that this initial effect was driven largely by undersizing the grip aperture for the display configuration in which the target was positioned between the diverging background lines (i.e., when the targets appeared to be shorter than they really were). This asymmetry between grasping apparently shorter and longer targets suggests that the sensorimotor system may initially treat the edges of the configuration as obstacles to be avoided. This finding highlights the sensorimotor system’s ability to rapidly update motor programs through error feedback, manifesting as an immunity to the effects of illusion displays even after only a few trials.     

Differential effects of happy,neutral, and sad still‐faces on 2‐, 4‐ and 6‐month‐old infants

The role of facial expression in the determination of infants' reaction to the sudden still‐face of a social partner was investigated. In a within subject design, 2, 4 and 6‐month‐old infants were tested in periods of normal interaction interspersed with periods of prolonged still‐face episodes in which the female adult social partner adopted either a happy, neutral, or sad static facial expression while maintaining eye contact with the infant. Proportion of infants' smiling and gazing at the social partner as indices of reaction from the various still‐face episodes reveal that, in comparison with same age control groups, four and six‐month‐old infants did not demonstrate any differential responses depending on either happy, neutral, and sad still‐faced expression. In contrast, two‐month olds demonstrated some evidence of a reduced still‐face effect in the happy still‐face condition. These results point to early developmental changes in the mechanisms underlying the still‐face phenomenon. We propose that by 4 months, and not prior, the reaction to still‐face episodes are essentially based on the detection of social contingencies. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does Optimization Imply Rationality?

The relations between rationality and optimizationhave been widely discussed in the wake of HerbertSimon's work, with the common conclusion that therationality concept does not imply the optimizationprinciple. The paper is partly concerned with addingevidence for this view, but its main, more challengingobjective is to question the converse implication fromoptimization to rationality, which is accepted even bybounded rationality theorists. We discuss three topicsin succession: (1) rationally defensible cyclicalchoices, (2) the revealed preference theory ofoptimization, and (3) the infinite regress ofoptimization. We conclude that (1) and (2) provideevidence only for the weak thesis that rationalitydoes not imply optimization. But (3) is seen todeliver a significant argument for the strong thesisthat optimization does not imply rationality.     

The biology of visual perspective and depression: A reply to Sutin

A recent meta-analysis by Munafò, Durrant, Lewis, and Flint (2009) [Munafò, M. R., Durrant, C., Lewis, G., & Flint, J. (2009). Gene × environment interactions at the serotonin transporter locus. Biological Psychiatry, 65, 211–219] questioned the meaning of studies searching for endophenotypes associated with the serotonin-transporter-linked promoter region (5-HTTLPR) polymorphism, including our study on visual perspective during autobiographical memory retrieval. However, the association of 3rd person perspective with vulnerability for depression does not rely only on genetics. External consistency is provided by the influence of the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism on brain regions involved in emotion regulation and autobiographical memory retrieval (e.g. the medial prefrontal cortex). Internal consistency is provided by the increased prevalence of 3rd person perspective in both currently and previously depressed patients, as well as in depression-prone individuals. Further studies should examine therapeutic opportunities.     

L’apport des tests d’aptitudes dans le recrutement : l’exemple de la NV5-R

From the observation of a limited use of aptitude tests in the recruitment process, this article attempts to illustrate the relevance of such tests from applied research on the recruitment of sales persons. Thus, 32 candidates have participated in the recruitment process that is traditionally practiced by the organization, to which we have added three of the subtests of the battery NV5-R. The comparison of the scores at this test and the results of the classical procedure of recruitment for each subject shows that similar information is obtained by these two methods of selection. The contribution of aptitude tests in selection procedures has been discussed in terms of these results while laying the limitations of this study.