Transient error or specificity? An alternative to the staggered equivalent split-half procedure

The data-based partial and complete reliability coefficients defined by G. Becker (2000) in his staggered equivalent split-half procedure (SESHP) were compared with the model-based specificity and consistency reliability coefficients defined by R. Steyer, M. J. Schmitt, and M. Eid (1999) in their latent state-trait model (LSTM). Partial reliability is based on coefficient alpha, which contains transient error. State and trait anxiety, measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory on 2 occasions among French adults, illustrated both approaches. Theoretical and empirical analyses demonstrated that the specificity and consistency coefficients offer a testable alternative to the SESHP coefficients. In addition, dynamics of the state residual variance could be modeled and estimated in LSTM.     

Neurological basis of language and sequential cognition: evidence from simulation,aphasia, and ERP studies

The current research addresses the hypothesis that certain aspects of sequential cognition have made substantial contributions to the human language processing capability, from a functional neurophysiology perspective. We first describe a cognitive sequence processing model that was developed based on the functional neuroanatomy of primate cortex and basal ganglia. We demonstrate how this model is capable of simulating the behavior of human infants in extracting serial, temporal and abstract structure from language-like sound sequences as revealed in recent psycholinguistic experiments. We then demonstrate how, through training, this model can perform adult level syntactic comprehension, based on dissociated processing streams for open vs. closed class words. The model subsequently predicts: (1) that impaired syntactic processing (as in agrammatic aphasia) will be associated with impairments in corresponding non-linguistic cognitive sequencing tasks, and (2) that neurophysiological processes (as revealed by ERPs) involved in syntactic processing should also be involved in the corresponding non-linguistic cognitive sequencing tasks. Data confirming these predictions are reviewed. We conclude that the study of sequential cognition will provide a new paradigm for the investigation of the neurophysiological bases of language.     

Religious involvement and the forgiving personality

The relationship between religious involvement and forgiveness was assessed in three samples of Western Europeans living in a social environment dominated by the Catholic tradition. The samples comprised nonbelievers/nonattendees, believers/nonattendees, believers/regular attendees, and religious people. Age and religious involvement were shown to affect the willingness to forgive in an interactive way: The effect of religious involvement was stronger for the elderly group. We also found that what made the difference in the willingness to forgive was mainly the social commitment to religion (attendance in church and the taking of vows), not mere personal beliefs. In addition, age and religious involvement were found to affect blockage towards forgiveness in an additive way.     

Differential brain responses when applying criterion attribute versus family resemblance rule learning

Subsystems of category learning have been identified on the basis of general domains of content (e.g., tools, faces). The present study examined categories from the standpoint of internal structure and determined brain topography associated with expressing two fundamentally different category rule structures (criterion attribute, CA, and family resemblance, FR). CA category learning involves processing stimuli by isolated features and classifying by properties held by all members. FR learning involves processing stimuli by integral wholes and classifying on overall similarity among members without sharing identical features. fMRI BOLD response to CA and FR categorization was measured with pseudowords as stimuli. Category knowledge for both tasks was mastered prior to brain imaging. Areas of activation emerged unique to the structure of each category and followed from the nature of the rule abstraction procedure. CA categorization was implemented by strong target monitoring and expectation (medial parietal), rule maintenance in working memory, feature selection processes (inferior frontal), and a sensitivity to high frequency components of the stimulus such as isolated features (anterior temporal). FR categorization, consistent with its multi-featural nature, involved word-level processing (left extrastriate) that evoked articulatory rehearsal (medial cerebellar). The data suggest category structure is an important determinant of brain response during categorization. For instance, anterior temporal structures may help attune visual processing systems to high frequency components to support the learning of criterial, highly predictive rules.     

Global optimality of the successive Maxbet algorithm

The Maxbet method is an alternative to the method of generalized canonical correlation analysis and of Procrustes analysis. Contrary to these methods, it does not maximize the inner products (covariances) between linear composites, but also takes their sums of squares (variances) into account. It is well-known that the Maxbet algorithm, which has been proven to converge monotonically, may converge to local maxima. The present paper discusses an eigenvalue criterion which is sufficient, but not necessary for global optimality. However, in two special cases, the eigenvalue criterion is shown to be necessary and sufficient for global optimality. The first case is when there are only two data sets involved; the second case is when the inner products between all variables involved are positive, regardless of the number of data sets.The authors are obliged to Henk Kiers for critical comments on a previous draft.     

Blinded by trust in close others: Examining the effect of social closeness on cooperative behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic

In the context of public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential that individuals cooperate by complying with preventive measures (e.g., wearing a mask). The current research examines how high trust in close others is linked to less cooperation—that is, less compliance with measures—and thus, undermines collective interests. Specifically, we test whether individuals are less willing to comply with preventive measures when interacting with close others they trust. We conducted two experiments in which participants read a vignette depicting a social interaction with either close others (e.g., family) or strangers. Participants had to report the extent to which they would (1) trust the other people in the situation and (2) comply with the mask wearing and physical distancing measures during this interaction. In both experiments, we find that when individuals are considering an interaction with close others, they report experiencing higher trust which is then linked to lower compliance with preventive measures. In Experiment 2, we further demonstrate that participants report less compliance with preventive measures around close others, even when they perceive non-compliance with the measures as morally “wrong”. Our findings shed light on the challenges that compliance with preventive measures poses during social interactions in a context of high trust.     

Word‐to‐picture recognition is a function of motor components mappings at the stage of retrieval

Embodied approaches of cognition argue that retrieval involves the re‐enactment of both sensory and motor components of the desired remembering. In this study, we investigated the effect of motor action performed to produce the response in a recognition task when this action is compatible with the affordance of the objects that have to be recognised. In our experiment, participants were first asked to learn a list of words referring to graspable objects, and then told to make recognition judgements on pictures. The pictures represented objects where the graspable part was either pointing to the same or to the opposite side of the “Yes” response key. Results show a robust effect of compatibility between objects affordance and response hand. Moreover, this compatibility improves participants' ability of discrimination, suggesting that motor components are relevant cue for memory judgement at the stage of retrieval in a recognition task. More broadly, our data highlight that memory judgements are a function of motor components mappings at the stage of retrieval.     

How Initial Fixation Position Influences Visual Word Recognition: A Comparison of French and Arabic

The position the eye initially fixates in a written word influences the ease with which this word is recognized. Prior research has shown that the function relating ease of word recognition and initial fixation position in the word is not symmetric. Word recognition is generally superior when the initial fixation is left rather than right of the center of the word. This asymmetry in the function relating initial fixation position to word identifiability could be due to (a) hemispheric specialization, (b) reading habits, or (c) variations in lexical constraint. The present experiments tested these alternative explanations by comparing the effects of initial fixation position in prefixed and suffixed words in French and Arabic. The results show that, contrary to both the hemispheric specialization and reading habit hypotheses, the average initial fixation curves for Arabic are asymmetric neither to the left nor to the right but depend on the morphological structure of the stimuli, thus lending support to the lexical constraint hypothesis.     

An Analysis of Federal Court Cases Involving Nine Selection Devices

A content analysis of US federal court cases was conducted to assess the relative frequency of litigation associated with nine selection devices: 1) unstructured interviews; 2) structured interviews; 3) biographical information blanks; 4) cognitive ability tests; 5) personality tests; 6) honesty tests; 7) physical ability tests; 8) work sample tests; and 9) assessment centers. The outcomes of the cases (whether the devices were ruled to be discriminatory) for each of the nine types of selection devices were also examined. The possible implications of the current findings for organizations and researchers are discussed.