Individual differences in information order effects: The importance of right-hemisphere access in belief updating

The order in which information is received alters the evaluation of causal hypotheses. Specifically, research suggests that the last piece of information oftentimes has the greatest impact on the evaluation and that the difference in subjective value between two pieces of information is an important factor influencing the magnitude of this recency effect. The present paper extends this line of work by exploring individual differences in this phenomenon via one's degree of handedness. Two hundred and five participants were given two hypothetical scenarios and related causal hypotheses accompanied by two pieces of additional information and asked to revise their belief in each hypothesis as information accumulated. Results confirmed predictions that 1) inconsistent/mixed-handers (those who use their non-dominant hand for at least some activities) show a larger effect with two pieces of inconsistent weak or strong information, and 2) neither mixed-handers nor consistent/strong-handers (those who use their dominant hand for almost all activities) show an effect with strong and weak pieces of consistent information. Mixed-handers' susceptibility to persuasive arguments and Ramachandran’s (1995; Ramachandran and Blakeslee, 1998) belief-updating theory centered around communication between the two halves of the brain and functional access to the right hemisphere are used to account for these data.     

A longitudinal study of career success,embeddedness, and mobility of early career professionals

The study of voluntary job mobility has traditionally focused on how the present context and individual factors either support or constrain choice of blue and white collar workers. Less attention has been devoted to the relationships among career success, embeddedness, and mobility of early career professionals. How do past career success and job mobility affect job embeddedness, subsequent career success, and future mobility within and between organizations and occupations? Each of these constructs is often studied as a dependent variable, yet the relationships among them, over time, are rarely examined. We explore the effects of past objective career actions (promotions, % salary change, and job mobility) on current job embeddedness and subjective career success, and on job, organizational, and occupational mobility one year later. Results support the positive influence of past promotions, % salary change, and current job embeddedness on subjective career success, and a negative influence for past promotions, job embeddedness, and subjective career success on mobility one year later as people began to ‘settle in’. We also observed small positive relationships of past promotions and % salary change with job embeddedness, and of past job mobility with future mobility — indicating that objective career success contributes to embeddedness, yet those that move more often tend to keep doing so. There were no differences or interaction effects based on gender or years of work experience. We found significantly stronger negative relationships of embeddedness and subjective career success with mobility between occupations than for mobility within organizations. However, the same pattern of findings was observed for job, organization, and occupational mobility.     

Task-set reconfiguration with predictable and unpredictable task switches

Participants switched frequently between high/low and odd/even classification of a digit. The interval between a task cue and the next digit varied between blocks. In Experiment 1, the task switched predictably every two, four, or eight trials. In Experiment 2, switching predictably every four trials was compared with random switching. With predictable switching, the cost was limited to the first trial of a run. Random switching produced a more gradual approach to asymptotic performance. After one performance, control processes attenuate the resulting change in task-set bias if a further switch is likely, but this strategic modulation is soon overwhelmed by task-set priming through further performances. Preparation reduced switch costs but not interference from the irrelevant attribute: Control of interference appears to be reactive, not proactive. Switch costs did not increase with run length, suggesting that retrieval of the task set last associated with the stimulus did not contribute to switch costs.     

Involuntary competence

This article addresses whether the state has the right to medicate involuntarily a defendant who is incompetent either to plead guilty or to stand trial for the purpose of restoring legal competence. It first presents the constitutional background concerning incompetence and the right of prisoners generally to refuse psychotropic medication. Then the article examines the individual and state interests that must be considered to decide specifically whether the state may involuntarily medicate a criminal defendant solely for the purpose of restoring competence. Although the individual interests are strong, the article contends that the state does have a right to medicate involuntarily defendants charged with most crimes to restore trial competence, and that adequate remedies are available to ensure that medicated defendants receive a fair trial.     

Social and Academic Impairment in Youth with ADHD, Predominately Inattentive Type and Sluggish Cognitive Tempo

Sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) was originally identified as a construct that characterized the inattention problems of some children with attention deficit disorder (ADD). Research has indicated that using SCT symptoms to identify a subset of youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, predominately inattentive type (ADHD-IT) may elucidate distinct patterns of impairment and thereby improve the external validity of ADHD subtypes. The objective of the current study was to investigate whether youth with clinically-assessed ADHD-IT and high levels of SCT exhibit unique social and academic impairments. In a clinic-referred sample of youth (N?=?209; 23 % female) aged 6 to 17 years, participants who met criteria for three different groups were identified: ADHD, Combined Type (ADHD-CT; n?=?80), ADHD-IT with low SCT symptoms (n?=?74), and ADHD-IT with high SCT symptoms (n?=?55). These groups were compared on indicators of social and academic functioning while considering the effects of co-occurring internalizing and disruptive behavior disorders. Youth with ADHD-IT high in SCT exhibited uniquely elevated withdrawal, as well as low leadership and low peer-directed relational and overt aggression, which were not accounted for by co-occurring disorders. This high-SCT group was also the only group to have more homework problems than the ADHD-CT group, but only when other disruptive behavior disorders were absent. The distinctiveness of the high-SCT group, which was primarily evident in social as opposed to academic functioning, provides partial support for the external validity and clinical utility of SCT.     

Friends’ Accuracy and Bias in Rating Group Identification

Group identification predicts adherence to a group’s norms, values, beliefs, and behaviors. The ability to accurately perceive another’s degree of group identification may be important for predicting the other’s beliefs and actions. In two studies, we examine friends’ accuracy and bias in rating identification with social categories. Friends were asked to rate one another’s and their own identification with state (Studies 1 and 2), national, and global citizen (Study 2) social identities. Across both studies, friends were shown to be both accurate and biased in rating one another’s identification. Thus, although friends may project identification onto a friend (i.e., bias), friends are also able to accurately predict one another’s degree of connection to social groups. Furthermore, friends’ greater frequency of contact was found to increase accuracy in prediction. Together, the results provide initial evidence for future research examining person perception and intergroup interactions.     

The politics of color: Preferences for Republican red versus Democratic blue

The present study reveals that Election Day differentially affects the color preferences of US Republicans and Democrats. Voters’ preferences for Republican red and Democratic blue were assessed, along with several distractor colors, on and around the 2010 interim and 2012 presidential elections. On non-Election Days, Republicans and Democrats preferred Republican red equally, and Republicans actually preferred Democratic blue more than Democrats did. On Election Day, however, Republicans’ and Democrats’ color preferences changed to become more closely aligned with their own party’s colors. Republicans liked Republican red more than Democrats did, and no longer preferred Democratic blue more than Democrats did. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that color preferences are determined by people’s preferences for correspondingly colored objects/entities (Palmer & Schloss in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107:8877–8882, 2010). They further suggest that color preferences are calculated at a given moment, depending on which color–object associations are currently most activated or salient. Color preferences are thus far more dynamic and context-dependent than has previously been believed.     

Depressed nursing home residents' activity participation and affect as a function of staff engagement

Behavioral interventions for depression target activity engagement and increased positive reinforcement, particularly from social interaction. Nursing homes provide limited opportunity for meaningful social engagement, and have a high prevalence of depression. Often residents obtain most of their social contacts from staff members. We present intra-individual correlations among positive staff engagement, resident affect, and resident activity participation from behavior stream observations of residents who were participants in an ongoing trial of an intervention for depression. Sixteen residents were observed 6 times weekly for 8 to 45 weeks, 5 minutes per observation. Positive staff engagement during the observations was significantly correlated with resident interest and pleasure. Positive staff engagement was related to resident participation in organized group activity; however, residents tended to be more engaged and show more pleasure when in informal group activities, especially those residents receiving the behavioral treatment. Positive staff engagement was not related to time in activities of daily living. Results have implications for understanding mechanisms and potential targets of interventions for depression.     

Visual hemispheric asymmetries depend on which spatial frequencies are task relevant

Observers classified sine-wave and square-wave gratings on the basis of fundamental frequency (Are the bars wide or narrow?) or on the basis of higher harmonic frequencies (Are the bars sharp or fuzzy?). Stimuli were presented in either the left (LVF) or right (RVF) visual field. When the classification was made on the basis of the fundamental frequencies (1 or 3 c/deg), there was a LVF/right hemisphere advantage. However, when the classification was on the basis of a sharp/fuzzy distinction which involved searching for the higher harmonic frequencies, then a RVF/left hemisphere advantage was found.