Characterization of Children's Decision Making: Sensitivity to Punishment Frequency,Not Task Complexity

On a gambling task that models real-life decision making, children between ages 7 and 12 perform like patients with bilateral lesions of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), opting for choices that yield high immediate gains in spite of higher future losses (Crone &; Van der Molen, 2004 Crone, E. A. and Van der Molen, M. W. 2004. Developmental changes in decision-making: Performance on a gambling task previously shown to rely on ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Developmental Neuropsychology, 25(3): 251–279. [PUBMED][INFOTRIEVE][CROSSREF][Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The current study set out to characterize developmental changes in decision making by varying task complexity and punishment frequency. Three age groups (7–9 years, 10–12 years, 13–15 years) performed two versions of a computerized variant of the original Iowa gambling task. Task complexity was manipulated by varying the number of choices participants could make. Punishment frequency was manipulated by varying the frequency of delayed punishment. Results showed a developmental increase in the sensitivity to future consequences, which was present only when the punishment was presented infrequently. These results could not be explained by differential sensitivity to task complexity, hypersensitivity to reward, or failure to switch response set after receiving punishment. There was a general pattern of boys outperforming girls by making more advantageous choices over the course of the task. In conclusion, 7–12-year-old children—like VMPFC patients—appear myopic about the future except when the potential for future punishment is high.     

Eye gaze patterns reveal how we reason about fractions

ABSTRACT

Fractions are defined by numerical relationships, and comparing two fractions’ magnitudes requires within-fraction (holistic) and/or between-fraction (componential) relational comparisons. To better understand how individuals spontaneously reason about fractions, we collected eye-tracking data while they performed a fraction comparison task with conditions that promoted or obstructed different types of comparisons. We found evidence for both componential and holistic processing in this mixed-pairs task, consistent with the hybrid theory of fraction representation. Additionally, making within-fraction eye movements on trials that promoted a between-fraction comparison strategy was associated with slower responses. Finally, participants who performed better on a non-numerical test of reasoning took longer to respond to the most difficult fraction trials, which suggests that those who had greater facility with non-numerical reasoning attended more to numerical relationships. These findings extend prior research and support the continued investigation into the mechanistic links between numerical and non-numerical reasoning.     

Analysing the Simultaneous Relationship Between Life Satisfaction and Health-Related Quality of Life

This paper aims to examine whether life satisfaction and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are simultaneously related, as well as to quantify the bias that occurs if simultaneity is not accounted for. The study sample consisted of 870 respondents, representative of the Spanish adult general population. Using a simultaneous equations system —with the satisfaction with life scale (SWLS) and the SF-6D index as outcome variables—, we found a simultaneous association between life satisfaction and HRQoL, although this relationship is heterogeneous in individual characteristics such as age and sex. More important, the fact of estimating the relationship between life satisfaction and HRQoL under a unidirectional approach severely underestimates the effect of life satisfaction on HRQoL and, to a lesser degree, the reverse direction effect. In consequence, policy decisions intended to improve satisfaction with life or HRQoL can be wrong if they rely on unidirectional estimates. Another relevant implication of this research is that, as a result of the simultaneous relationship between life satisfaction and HRQoL, not only health interventions may increase satisfaction with life, but also policies that improve life satisfaction can lead to positive side effects on HRQoL.     

The link between anger and admiration toward governmental actions and self-reported preventive behaviour in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, across six correlational studies in four different countries (total N = 4937), we examined the link between citizens' anger with and admiration for the government's actions and decisions (i.e., system-based anger and admiration) and engagement in preventive behaviour. The internal meta-analyses showed that individuals who admired the government's actions were more likely to adopt personal hygiene and social distancing behaviour. Yet, the link between emotions and preventive behaviour differed concerning the target of emotions, especially for anger. Specifically, anger about restrictions imposed by the government was negatively related to preventive behaviours, but this relationship was not significant when the target of anger was the government's overall handling of the pandemic. Our findings emphasise the importance of citizens' emotions and the targets of those emotions during the crisis.     

Internalizing and Externalizing Problems as Correlates of Self-Reported Attachment Style and Perceived Parental Rearing in Normal Adolescents

The current study examined relationships between attachment style, parental rearing behaviors, and symptoms of internalizing and externalizing in a large sample of nonreferred adolescents (N = 742). Adolescents completed (a) a single-item measure of attachment style, (b) the child version of the EMBU, a questionnaire measuring perceptions of parental rearing behaviors, and (c) the Youth Self-Report, an index of severity of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Results showed that attachment style was related to internalizing as well as externalizing symptoms. More specifically, adolescents who classified themselves as avoidantly or ambivalently attached displayed higher levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms than adolescents who classified themselves as securely attached. Furthermore, perceived parental rearing behaviors were also associated with internalizing and externalizing symptoms. That is, low levels of emotional warmth and high levels of rejection and overprotection were accompanied by high levels of psychopathological symptoms. Finally, both attachment and parental rearing behaviors accounted for a unique proportion of the variance in internalizing symptoms. Yet, when predicting externalizing symptoms, only parental rearing behaviors declared a significant proportion of the variance.     

Test–Retest Reliability of Ratings of Job Performance Dimensions in Managers

This article examines the test–retest reliability of supervisory ratings for several dimensions of job performance and for overall job performance. We found that the test–retest reliability of overall job performance is .79 (SD = .08), a value very close to the one found by Viswesvaran, Ones and Schmidt (1996), and that the average test–retest reliability for specific dimensions of job performance is .57 (SD = .07). We also found that some dimensions of job performance appear to be easier to rate than others. We suggest some implications of these findings for research and practice of personnel selection.     

Self-efficacy and interest: Experimental studies of optimal incompetence

How does self-efficacy affect interest? The interest-and-interests model assumes that factors that induce interest—novelty, complexity, conflict, and uncertainty—do so non-linearly. Self-efficacy should thus affect interest quadratically, because it reflects uncertainty about an activity’s outcome. When self-efficacy is low, interest is low because the activity’s outcome is certain. When self-efficacy is moderate, the person’s success on the task seems likely, but not inevitable. But as self-efficacy becomes very high, success seems completely certain, and the task is thus uninteresting. Two experiments tested these predictions. Experiment 1 asked people to rate the interestingness of differentially difficult activities; Experiment 2 manipulated self-efficacy regarding a fuzzy dart game. In both experiments, interest was a quadratic function of self-efficacy. Implications for theories of vocational interest development and change are considered.     

Throwing Away the Key: Measuring Prison Reform Attitudes1

The American prison system is larger than ever and ranks among the largest in the world. Yet, prisons have received little research attention relative to other issues in forensic psychology. In an effort to study one facet of the prison system, a scale for measuring attitudes toward prison reform was developed. The 12‐item scale has a single factor measuring whether people feel prisons should be tougher or softer on inmates. Several studies with diverse samples found that the scale has a consistent factor structure, good reliability, and a coherent pattern of relationships to other psychological variables. The scale appears to be a promising tool for studying how people want to treat those who have been officially rejected by society.     

‘We are the good guys but they are not bad’. In‐group positivity and cognitive performance in preschoolers

The general purpose of this study was to analyse the developmental relations between the early forms of ethnic attitudes, and the classification abilities of the young child. We designed new cognitive tasks within a detection paradigm adapted to preschoolers and attitudinal tasks that were presented as games in a computer screen. Participants were 75 majority‐group children of 3, 4, and 5 years of age. Children's preferences and positive/negative attitudes towards the in‐group (Spaniards) and three out‐groups (Latin‐Americans, Africans, and Asians) were measured. The results showed a remarkable preference and positivity for the in‐group, but not out‐group derogation. Children's cognitive performance, to a greater extent than their age, was positively associated with in‐group favouritism and positivity. On the other hand, we found some interesting differences and developmental changes in children's positive orientation to the out‐groups that are discussed in the last section.