SEX DIFFERENCES IN VISUAL ENCODING SKILLS: READING SYMBOLS

Written language in all cultures is composed of symbols to which sounds have been attached somewhat arbitrarily. Meanings are also attached somewhat arbitrarily to letters and groups of letters. The transformation of symbols into sounds is generally seen to be part of the reading process, though it is not clear whether it is of equal importance at all stages of competence. It is possible that, at some stages, the skilled reader may have direct access to the meaning of a word or phrase from its visual representation. There is evidence from work of Coltheart, Hull and Slater (1975) that females tend to use phonological encoding to a greater extent than males when reading. Naish (1980) found that females encoded phonologically at a faster rate than males, and suggested that this might explain why the preferred mode of access to meaning appeared to be phonological for females but visual for males.     

The Effects of Self-Efficacy on Behavior in Escalation Situations

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the hypothesis that perceptions of self-efficacy influence, in various ways, behavior in escalation situations. Self-efficacy beliefs for finding oil were measured for 527 petroleum geologists as they decided, at increasing levels of negative feedback in the form of dry wells, whether to persist with an unproductive venture in petroleum exploration. Experiment 1 employed a within-subject design and found a significant main effect of both negative feedback and initial self-efficacy. Differences in intentions to escalate between low and high self-efficacy individuals were apparent at all levels of negative feedback. No moderating effect of self-efficacy, however, was discernible. Experiment 2 employed a between-subjects design and multiple regression analysis. Like Experiment 1, Experiment 2 revealed a significant main effect of negative feedback and initial self-efficacy. Post-feedback self-efficacy was found to mediate the effects of negative feedback on the escalation tendency. Implications of these results for the self-efficacy and escalation literatures are discussed.     

Competence and Trust in Choice Architecture

Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein’s Nudge advances a theory of how designers can improve decision-making in various situations where people have to make choices. We claim that the moral acceptability of nudges hinges in part on whether they can provide an account of the competence required to offer nudges, an account that would serve to warrant our general trust in choice architects. What needs to be considered, on a methodological level, is whether they have clarified the competence required for choice architects to prompt subtly our behaviour toward making choices that are in our best interest from our own perspectives. We argue that, among other features, an account of the competence required to offer nudges would have to clarify why it is reasonable to expect that choice architects can understand the constraints imposed by semantic variance. Semantic variance refers to the diverse perceptions of meaning, tied to differences in identity and context, that influence how users interpret nudges. We conclude by suggesting that choice architects can grasp semantic variance if Thaler and Sunstein’s approach to design is compatible with insights about meaning expressed in science and technology studies and the philosophy of technology.     

The relative energy of fcc and hcp foams

The energies of face-centred cubic (fcc) and hexagonal close-packed (hcp) monodisperse foams, associated with their total surface area, are equal in the wet and dry limits, in the usual model. We prove that for all intermediate values of liquid fraction, hcp has lower energy. Energy considerations are thus not sufficient to explain the observed preference for crystallization into fcc over hcp in experiments using monodisperse bubbles.     

Collective efficacy and vigilant problem solving in group decision making: A non-linear model

This research explores the relationship between collective efficacy and aspects of analytic or vigilant problem solving (Janis, 1989) in the context of group decision making. We hypothesized that vigilant problem solving would be most evident under conditions of relatively moderate collective efficacy, as opposed to either very high or very low collective efficacy. We investigated this hypothesis with groups of business students who participated in a complex business strategy simulation. Results show a significant curvilinear relationship between collective efficacy and vigilant problem solving, and a significant linear relationship between vigilant problem solving and decision outcomes. There is also evidence that vigilant problem solving mediates the relationship between collective efficacy and decision outcomes. Implications for theory, managerial practice, and directions for future research are discussed.     

Selfless self-transcendence in the clinical setting as a source of self-enhancement

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis - This paper examines the paradox of Selfless–Self-Transcendence, that is, how the self is enriched through...     

The Cure for Psychoanalysis,by Adam Phillips,Confer Books,London, 2021, 184 pp.

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

Correction to: The Cure for Psychoanalysis,by Adam Phillips,Confer Books,London, 2021, 184 pp.

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -