Under the skin: On the impartial treatment of genetic and environmental hypotheses of racial differences

Environmental and genetic explanations have been given for Black-White racial differences in intelligence and other traits. In science, viable, alternative hypotheses are ideally given equal Bayesian prior weights; but this has not been true in the study of racial differences. This article advocates testing environmental and genetic hypotheses of racial differences as competing hypotheses. Two methods are described: (a) fitting means within structural equation models and (b) predicting means of interracial children. These methods have limitations that call for improved research designs of racial differences. One improvement capitalizes on biotechnology. Genetic admixture estimates--the percentage of genes of European origin that a Black individual possesses (independent of genes related to skin coloration)--can represent genetic influences. The study of interracial children can be improved by increasing sample size and by choosing family members who are most informative for a research question. Eventually, individual-admixture estimates will be replaced by molecular genetic tests of alleles of those genes that influence traits.     

In defense of 'The Free Will Defense' Response to Daniel Howard-Snyder and John O'Leary-Hawthorne

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion -     

Presleep attributions about arousal during sleep: nocturnal panic

This study examined the role of presleep attributions about physiological events during sleep in nocturnal panic attacks. Patients who regularly experienced nocturnal panic were physiologically monitored as audio signals were presented during sleep. They were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: expected, in which signals of intense physiological changes were expected; unexpected, in which signals of intense physiological changes were not expected; or control, involving distinctly different signals unrelated to physiological responses. The unexpected condition led to substantially more self-reported distress and panic attacks. The experimental conditions did not elicit different autonomic reactions, but those who panicked showed stronger physiological responses than those who did not panic. The findings are consistent with a cognitive model of nocturnal panic attacks.     

Expanding variance and the case of historical changes in IQ means: a critique of Dickens and Flynn (2001)

The Flynn effect is the rise in mean IQ scores during the 20th century, amounting to about 0.33 IQ points per year. Many theoretical explanations have been proposed, though none are universally accepted. W. Dickens and J. R. Flynn's (2001) new approach explains the large IQ changes by means of recursive models of IQ growth. A salient feature of their models is that IQ phenotypes and their supportive environments are correlated; in addition, environmental effects can rebound on phenotypic IQ to increase or lower IQ. In this critique, the authors examine an empirical challenge to their models, which typically imply large changes in IQ variance. However, the historical rise in IQ mean level has not been accompanied by substantial variance changes, a finding inconsistent with the properties of the proposed model.     

Heuristic Reasoning and the Observer's View: The Influence of Example-Availability on ad-hoc Frequency Judgments in Sport

Drawing upon evidence from broader social psychology, and an illustrative study of frequency-estimation during a simple, sport-specific observe-and-recall task, this paper makes the case for the more thorough investigation of the availability heuristic (Tversky & Kahneman, 1973 Tversky, A. and Kahneman, D. 1973. Availability: A heuristic for judging frequency and probability. Cognitive Psychology, 5: 207–232. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) on practical state-of-play reasoning in largely observational sporting activities. It is argued that this evidence particularly substantiates a need for a more robust body of research in two primary domains: (a) the gatekeeping tasks pertinent (and usually preliminary) to an individual's sporting performance such as talent scouting, team selection, and substitution decisions, and (b) the business of officiating in high-tempo environments.     

The Effect of Disguise on Novice and Expert Tennis Players’ Anticipation Ability

Skilled performers interpret cues in the preparatory movements of their opponents to anticipate future events in many sports. Little work has tested whether these cues can be disguised. Using a temporal occlusion paradigm, this paper examines the effect of disguise on an Australian sample of expert (16 male, 2 female, age M = 24.67, SD = 9.47 years) and novice players’ (24 male, 38 female, age M = 22.26, SD = 5.24 years) anticipation of tennis ground strokes. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that expert anticipation was more accurate than novice overall (p < .001), and disguise reduced accuracy (p = .001). The disguise effect differed by expertise across occlusion points (p = .027). The experts’ anticipatory advantage was removed by disguise at 40 ms before contact. Novice performance was significantly below chance for disguise shots occluded at contact. These results indicate that disguise is an important topic for research and practice.     

Incorporating Handheld Computers into a Public Science Center: A Design Research Study

ABSTRACT

The feasibility of using handheld computers to customize learning opportunities was explored using a design research process with 68 visitor groups to a small interactive science museum and aquarium. The authors discuss the iterations of the research process, reasons given for both using and not using the handheld computers, and findings related to participants' prior use of handheld computers and their perception of the effects of using the device on their visit. The authors discuss the findings in light of current research on visitor motivations and identities, as well as models of customization. Recommendations for practitioners interested in implementing similar programs, and suggestions for further research are included.