Recognition and recall by children and adults as a function of variations in memory encoding instructions

In four experiments Ss were instructed to learn a set of 40 words by producing implicit associative responses to each item (association instructions), by repeating items over and over (repetition instruction), or by using their own devices (neutral instructions). Experiment I showed that recognition memory (RM) accuracy was greatest under association instructions for adults and children and least under repetition instructions for children. The implications of these results for a frequency theory analysis for RM were discussed. Experiments II, III, and IV examined free recall (FR) as a function of encoding instructions at short (1 min) and long (either 90 min or 24 h) retention intervals. FR was worst under repetition instructions, with little overall difference between the association and neutral conditions. However, in Experiments III and IV, using school children, the neutral condition exceeded the others in FR after 90 min but not after 1 min.     

HARKing's Threat to Organizational Research: Evidence From Primary and Meta‐Analytic Sources

We assessed presumed consequences of hypothesizing after results are known (HARKing) by contrasting hypothesized versus nonhypothesized effect sizes among 10 common relations in organizational behavior, human resource management, and industrial and organizational psychology research. In Study 1, we analyzed 247 correlations representing 9 relations with individual performance in 136 articles published in Journal of Applied Psychology and Personnel Psychology and provide evidence that correlations are significantly larger when hypothesized compared to nonhypothesized. In Study 2, we analyzed 281 effect sizes from a meta‐analysis on the job satisfaction–job performance relation and provide evidence that correlations are significantly larger when hypothesized compared to nonhypothesized. In addition, in Study 2, we documented that hypothesized variable pairs are more likely to be mentioned in article titles or abstracts. We also ruled out 13 alternative explanations to the presumed HARKing effect pertaining to methodological (e.g., unreliability, publication year, research setting, research design, measure contextualization, publication source) and substantive (e.g., predictor–performance pair, performance measure, satisfaction measure, occupation, job/task complexity) issues. Our results suggest that HARKing seems to pose a threat to research results, substantive conclusions, and practical applications. We offer recommended solutions to the HARKing threat.     

Hooking Up and Identity Development of Female College Students

Hooking up generally involves casual sex with noncommittal partners. Hooking up is prevalent on college campuses today and can negatively affect the identity development of female students. The authors examined this phenomenon with a feminist developmental perspective, evaluating hooking up in the context of sexual risk taking with physical and psychosocial consequences.     

Mental representations in fraction comparison

In this study, we investigated the mental representations used in a fraction comparison task. Adults were asked to quickly and accurately pick the larger of two fractions presented on a computer screen and provide trial-by-trial reports of the types of strategies they used. We found that adults used a variety of strategies to compare fractions, ranging among just knowing the answer, using holistic knowledge of fractions to determine the answer, and using component-based procedures such as cross multiplication. Across all strategy types, regression analyses identified that reaction times were significantly predicted by numerical distance between fractions, indicating that the participants used a magnitude-based representation to compare the fraction magnitudes. In addition, a variant of the problem-size effect (e.g., Ashcraft, 1992) appeared, whereby reaction times were significantly predicted by the average cross product of the two fractions. This effect was primarily found for component-based strategies, indicating a role for strategy choice in the formation of mental representations of fractions.     

A longitudinal twin study of the genetic and environmental etiology of maternal hostile-reactive behavior during infancy and toddlerhood

Children's negative characteristics are thought to be a factor in evoking hostile parenting responses. This can result in genotype/environment correlations (rGE) in which children's heritable traits influence the parenting they experience. We did genetic analyses on 292 mothers' self-reported hostile-reactive behaviors toward each of their twins at 5, 18 and 30 months. Finding heritability for a parenting behavior analyzed as a child phenotype is evidence of rGE correlation. The heritability of maternal behavior was modest (29% at 5 months, 0% at 18 months, and 25% at 30 months) and longitudinal analyses indicated that genetic factors at 5 and 30 months were uncorrelated. Common environment factors, probably reflecting characteristics of the mothers, were the main source of variance at the three ages and were highly correlated through time. We concluded that children's heritable characteristics evoked maternal negative response at specific times, but were not responsible for the stability of maternal hostility from infancy to toddlerhood.     

The role of pre-exposure to novel food tastes in activity-based conditioned taste avoidance

Rats were given differential exposure to three distinct and novel foods. One of these foods was exposed for 7 days; another for 2 days, and the last was not exposed. Next, half of the rats received six daily sessions in which a compound of the three flavors was followed by opportunities to run in wheels. The other rats received the food compound but without wheel running. On the next day, all rats were given a choice among the three food flavors presented concurrently in separate dishes. When the compound food had been followed by wheel running, rats ate little of the food given no pre-exposure, more of the food given 2 days of pre-exposure, and considerably more of the food given 7 days of pre-exposure. In comparison, rats who did not receive an opportunity to run ate equal and moderate amounts of the three foods. The results suggest that pre-exposure to a food’s taste produces latent inhibition that interferes with conditioned taste avoidance produced by pairing a taste (CS) with wheel running (US).