The Advantage of Democratic Peer Punishment in Sustaining Cooperation within Groups

In social dilemma situations, individuals benefit from uncooperative behavior while exploiting resources of the collective. One prominent solution to prevent uncooperative behavior and to increase cooperation is to establish a system of costly peer punishment, that is, the possibility for every individual involved in the dilemma to impose costly punishment on interaction partners. However, recent research revealed that, in contrast to a situation without punishment, peer punishment is inefficient and maladaptive in the sense that the total payoff is reduced and punishment of cooperative individuals (i.e., antisocial punishment) is possible. In the present work, we propose that a system of democratic peer punishment, that is, direct and equal participation of each individual in the punishment decision‐making process with punishment only executed when a majority has voted for its execution, can address the shortcomings of a peer punishment system. Using iterated public goods games, we show higher cooperation levels, higher total payoffs, and reduced executed punishment in the democratic compared with a peer punishment system. Moreover, we document that fairness perceptions, satisfaction, and interpersonal trust are increased in the democratic punishment system. Implications for how cooperation and democratic punishment systems may evolve are discussed. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vague Quantifiers Demonstrate Little Susceptibility to Frame of Reference Effects

Applied Research in Quality of Life - Comparison standards that people use when responding to survey questions, also called Frames of Reference (FoRs), can influence the validity of self-report...     

Intentional Switching Between Bimanual Coordination Patterns

Previous theoretical and empirical work indicates that intentional changes in a bimanual coordination pattern depends on the stability of the bimanual coordination pattern (Kelso, Schotz, & Schöner, 1988; Scholz & Kelso, 1990). The present experiments retest this notion when online Lissajous displays are provided. Switching to and from in-phase and antiphase and to and from 90° and 270° were tested in Experiment 1. Participants were able to very effectively produce the 180°, 90°, and 270° coordination patterns although performance of the in-phase coordination task was even more stable. The data indicated that switching to in-phase from antiphase was more rapid than vice versa and that switching times between 90° to 270° were similar. Experiment 2 investigated switching between 1:2 and 2:1 bimanual coordination patterns. The results indicated that switching time was similar between the 2:1 and 1:2 coordination tasks and that increases in stability over practice resulted in additional decreases in switching times. This provides additional evidence that the attractor landscape is fundamentally different dependent on the type of information provided the performer. What remains to be done is to reconcile these results with the various theories/perspectives currently used to describe and explain bimanual coordination.     

Integrating predictive frameworks and cognitive models of face perception

The idea of a “predictive brain”—that is, the interpretation of internal and external information based on prior expectations—has been elaborated intensely over the past decade. Several domains in cognitive neuroscience have embraced this idea, including studies in perception, motor control, language, and affective, social, and clinical neuroscience. Despite the various studies that have used face stimuli to address questions related to predictive processing, there has been surprisingly little connection between this work and established cognitive models of face recognition. Here we suggest that the predictive framework can serve as an important complement of established cognitive face models. Conversely, the link to cognitive face models has the potential to shed light on issues that remain open in predictive frameworks.     

Safe and sensible preprocessing and baseline correction of pupil-size data

Measurement of pupil size (pupillometry) has recently gained renewed interest from psychologists, but there is little agreement on how pupil-size data is best analyzed. Here we focus on one aspect of pupillometric analyses: baseline correction, i.e., analyzing changes in pupil size relative to a baseline period. Baseline correction is useful in experiments that investigate the effect of some experimental manipulation on pupil size. In such experiments, baseline correction improves statistical power by taking into account random fluctuations in pupil size over time. However, we show that baseline correction can also distort data if unrealistically small pupil sizes are recorded during the baseline period, which can easily occur due to eye blinks, data loss, or other distortions. Divisive baseline correction (corrected pupil size = pupil size/baseline) is affected more strongly by such distortions than subtractive baseline correction (corrected pupil size = pupil size ? baseline). We discuss the role of baseline correction as a part of preprocessing of pupillometric data, and make five recommendations: (1) before baseline correction, perform data preprocessing to mark missing and invalid data, but assume that some distortions will remain in the data; (2) use subtractive baseline correction; (3) visually compare your corrected and uncorrected data; (4) be wary of pupil-size effects that emerge faster than the latency of the pupillary response allows (within ±220 ms after the manipulation that induces the effect); and (5) remove trials on which baseline pupil size is unrealistically small (indicative of blinks and other distortions).     

Can smartphones be used to bring computer-based tasks from the lab to the field? A mobile experience-sampling method study about the pace of life

Researchers are increasingly using smartphones to collect scientific data. To date, most smartphone studies have collected questionnaire data or data from the built-in sensors. So far, few studies have analyzed whether smartphones can also be used to conduct computer-based tasks (CBTs). Using a mobile experience-sampling method study and a computer-based tapping task as examples (N = 246; twice a day for three weeks, 6,000+ measurements), we analyzed how well smartphones can be used to conduct a CBT. We assessed methodological aspects such as potential technologically induced problems, dropout, task noncompliance, and the accuracy of millisecond measurements. Overall, we found few problems: Dropout rate was low, and the time measurements were very accurate. Nevertheless, particularly at the beginning of the study, some participants did not comply with the task instructions, probably because they did not read the instructions before beginning the task. To summarize, the results suggest that smartphones can be used to transfer CBTs from the lab to the field, and that real-world variations across device manufacturers, OS types, and CPU load conditions did not substantially distort the results.     

Equivalence of computerized and conventional versions of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II)

This study examined the equivalence of the conventional and computerized versions of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), taking into account that computer aver-sion may negatively impact computer-administered BDI-II scores by elevating them. Participants were 180 psychology undergraduate students from a medium-sized midwestern university. Participants were divided into four experimental groups. Each group was administered the BDI-II twice in various combinations (conventional only, computerized only, conventional and computerized and vice versa). All participants completed measures of computer aversion and computer experience. Participants who received both versions of the BDI-II were also asked to specify their preference for method of administration. Independent samples t-test results indicated that the com-puterized and paper-and-pencil versions of the BDI-II may be considered equivalent in terms of measurement validity. Implications for future research are discussed. Portions of this article were presented at the 1999 meetings of the American Psychological Association, Boston. The authors thank Dr. Michael Granaas for statistical assistance with the Latin Squares analysis.     

A Role for Equity Theory in the Turnover Process: An Empirical Test1

The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of equity theory in the context of the contemporary turnover process. A model was developed and tested with 192 hospital employees using structural equation modeling (SEM), which placed satisfaction and intention to quit as mediators of employee turnover. The results strongly support the present model, but also suggest a role for other mediators, some of which are suggested for future research.