The point of no return in choice reaction time: controlled and ballistic stages of response preparation

A countermanding procedure and race model are used to assess separately the effects of experimental factors before and after the "point of no return" in response preparation. The results reveal details about processes that so closely precede the initiation of movement that they cannot be inhibited. These processes appear to be affected by the repetition of stimulus-response pairs, but not by the physical or semantic properties of the stimuli. A model of response preparation is supported in which response inhibition depends upon the outcome of a race between independent excitatory and inhibitory processes, and reaction time is the sum of the durations of at least two stages, separated by the point of no return.     

Development of intuitive rules: Evaluating the application of the dual-system framework to understanding children’s intuitive reasoning

Theories of adult reasoning propose that reasoning consists of two functionally distinct systems that operate under entirely different mechanisms. This theoretical framework has been used to account for a wide range of phenomena, which now encompasses developmental research on reasoning and problem solving. We begin this review by contrasting three main dual-system theories of adult reasoning (Evans & Over, 1996; Sloman, 1996; Stanovich & West, 2000) with a well-established developmental account that also incorporates a dual-system framework (Brainerd & Reyna, 2001). We use developmental studies of the formation and application of intuitive rules in science and mathematics to evaluate the claims that these theories make. Overall, the evidence reviewed suggests that what is crucial to understanding how children reason is the saliency of the features that are presented within a task. By highlighting the importance of saliency as a way of understanding reasoning, we aim to provide clarity concerning the benefits and limitations of adopting a dual-system framework to account for evidence from developmental studies of intuitive reasoning.     

The brief Reasons for Living Inventory for adolescents (BRFL-A)

This study modified and evaluated the psychometric properties of the Reasons for Living Inventory (RFL) in samples of adolescents. Internal consistency reliability, corrected item-total scale correlation, and exploratory factor analysis procedures were used with a mixed sample of 260 adolescents to identify 14 items for the brief version of the RFL (BRFL-A). Confirmatory factor analyses provided support for the five-factor oblique structure of the BRFL-A in a psychiatric inpatient sample with a range of suicidal behaviors. Reliabilities of the BRFL-A subscales were satisfactory. Four of the five subscales differentiated between suicidal and nonsuicidal adolescents. Significant correlations were found between three BRFL-A subscales and several suicide indices. Convergent-discriminant validity was examined by correlating the BRFL-A subscales with the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory—Adolescents (MMPI-A) Content Scales. Limitations of the study are discussed.This study was supported in part by a Project Grant from the Graduate College, The University of Northern Iowa.     

苏丹就知情同意开展的一项调查

调查目的:调查文化、社会性别问题对不同社会经济地位的人们的知情同意的现实性和可行性的影响.     

Recipient Design in Communicative Pointing

A long‐standing debate in the study of human communication centers on the degree to which communicators tune their communicative signals (e.g., speech, gestures) for specific addressees, as opposed to taking a neutral or egocentric perspective. This tuning, called recipient design, is known to occur under special conditions (e.g., when errors in communication need to be corrected), but several researchers have argued that it is not an intrinsic feature of human communication, because that would be computationally too demanding. In this study, we contribute to this debate by studying a simple communicative behavior, communicative pointing, under conditions of successful (error‐free) communication. Using an information‐theoretic measure, called legibility, we present evidence of recipient design in communicative pointing. The legibility effect is present early in the movement, suggesting that it is an intrinsic part of the communicative plan. Moreover, it is reliable only from the viewpoint of the addressee, suggesting that the motor plan is tuned to the addressee. These findings suggest that recipient design is an intrinsic feature of human communication.     

Can Empathy Promote Cooperation When Status and Money Matter?

Abstract

In the present study we ask, Does empathy also support cooperative behaviors when the status (high, low) of an individual differs relative to other group members and is determined by either chance or effort? In response to this unexplored question, the present study involved a series of 4 experiments using a linear public goods game (Experiment 1–3, 4-player; Experiment 4, 2-player). Regardless of the way in which status was achieved (chance, effort), those with low status cooperated more compared with their high-status counterparts. Empathy in and of itself revealed very small overall increases in cooperative behavior. Overall, status and monetary incentives appear to be more salient than empathy in guiding behaviors in a social dilemma task.     

Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Suicide Anger Expression Inventory—28

We conducted 4 studies to develop and cross-validate scores on a multidimensional self-report measure of suicide and anger expression, the Suicide Anger Expression Inventory-28 (SAEI-28). The SAEI-28 evaluates Suicide Rumination, Maladaptive Expression, Reactive Distress, and Adaptive Expression with 7 content specific items each. Participants were between ages 14 and 47 years old. Study 1 developed a pool of content relevant and representative items for the new inventory. Study 2 explored potential domains of the SAEI-28 items, evaluating preliminary estimates of internal consistency reliability. Study 3 examined specific structures of the SAEI-28 items and scale reliability. Study 4 evaluated the fit of the oblique 4-factor model to 2 alternative solutions. Support was found for estimates of internal consistency reliability for the scales. Criterion-related validity and potential correlates for the SAEI-28 scales were also assessed.     

Bound to remember: Infants show superior memory for objects presented at event boundaries

Following Event Segmentation Theory (EST) adult memory is enhanced at event boundaries (EB). The present study set out to explore this in infancy. Sixty‐eight 21‐month‐olds watched a cartoon with one of two objects (counterbalanced) inserted for 3s either at EB or between EB. Ten minutes later they watched both objects (familiar and novel) in a 10s Visual Paired Comparison (VPC) test while being eye‐tracked. Furthermore, they were asked to point to the previous object. Based on EST, we hypothesized that objects inserted at EB would be processed more fully, resulting in improved memory compared to objects inserted between EB. Only infants with objects at EB exhibited memory evidenced by a transient familiarity preference for the first 3s of the test. Only 18 infants completed the pointing test, but all infants presented with objects at EB (10/10) pointed to the correct (familiar) object, which was not the case for the infants presented with objects between EB (5/8).