Motivated to Forgive? Partisan Scandals and Party Supporters

In this study, we investigate how partisan motivations shape voters' reactions to a political scandal by drawing on a unique survey experiment fielded immediately after Justin Trudeau's brownface/blackface scandal broke during the 2019 Canadian election. We thus explore motivated reasoning in real time in a competitive and highly partisan election context. Are voters more willing to forgive politicians for past behavior when their own party leader's impropriety is cued? To what extent do personal interests, such as cross-pressures or electoral concerns, affect the motivation to forgive? Our findings show that partisan-motivated reasoning is overwhelmingly powerful, producing politically biased judgments of politicians implicated in scandals. Furthermore, voters' willingness to forgive scandals is also influenced by “strategic” considerations, in that preferences over which political party wins or loses in the election affect opinions about whether someone should be forgiven or whether the scandal is considered important at all. However, we find no evidence that personal involvement in the issue raised by the scandal conditions partisan motivations. We posit that the environment—in this case, a competitive election—is an important consideration for understanding the extent and limits of partisan-motivated reasoning.     

Statin Use,Ageing, and Cognition: A Review

Cholesterol performs a number of important roles in normal brain functioning, including the formation of myelin sheaths and communication between cells, and it has been theorised that statin use could disrupt these roles leading to deficits in cognition. Relevant research was identified via the La Trobe University library Summon^TM search tool, using search terms including “statin cognition,” “statins cognition,” “statin brain,” “cholesterol cognition,” “cholesterol brain,” and “statin adverse effects” in addition to examination of the reference lists of the retrieved research articles. Research was examined from the published literature across several different research modalities: systematic reviews and meta‐analyses, randomised control trials, cohort studies, and case reports. On the basis of the surveyed literature, it is not possible to indicate any consistent caution or limitation with regard to the use of statins and their effects upon cognitive functioning due to the contradictory and inconsistent results arising from this literature. In summary, it is not possible to conclusively determine whether there are either cognitive benefits or detriments associated with the use of the statins. The determination of the effect of these agents on neuropsychological functioning requires more methodologically controlled long‐term longitudinal follow‐up studies of these treatments due to the complex and multisystem effects of these agents.     

Training Young Adult Peers in a Mobile Motivational Interviewing‐Based Mentoring Approach to Upstream HIV Prevention

Mentoring relationships are characterized by a sustained, high quality, and skill‐building relationship between a protégé and mentor (Handbook of Youth Mentoring, Los Angeles, SAGE, 2014). Within prevention science, youth mentoring programs emphasize creating a specific context that benefits a young person. Program‐sponsored relationships between youth and adults allow for creating a mentor–mentee partnership, but do not require the establishment of a strong bond in order to deliver prevention‐focused activities and experiences (Handbook of Youth Mentoring, Los Angeles, SAGE, 2014). Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a counseling style used widely to promote health behavior change and in prevention interventions. As part of an upstream approach to HIV prevention, we combined mentoring and MI by training peer mentors to use MI skills in their interactions as part of a large RCT of a mobile life skills intervention for adolescent men who have sex with men (AMSM). Our training model developed for training peer mentors in MI skills resulted in peers reaching and exceeding established MI fidelity thresholds (e.g., mean percentage of complex reflections = 80%, mean reflection to question ratio = 2.2:1). We offer reflections on lessons learned and future directions for those researchers and practitioners who may benefit from adapting this blended approach for mentoring AMSM.     

Examination of the Psychometric Properties of a Brief PTSD Measure on a French–Canadian Undergraduate Population

This study examines the psychometric properties of the French-Canadian Modified PTSD Symptom Scale (MPSS-FC) in a sample of French-Canadian undergraduates. Findings uncovered a 3-dimensional model for the Frequency and Severity scales, which shared factorial invariance. In addition, the MPSS-FC scales had adequate internal consistency and a satisfactory 5-week test-retest reliability. In view of its satisfactory psychometric properties, the MPSS-FC seems promising as a brief screening measure of PTSD. Indeed, the MPSS-FC as a stand-alone measure could be used with a population known to have been exposed to a traumatic event.     

It's Not Easy Being Green: Minor Party Labels as Heuristic Aids

This paper examines if, when, and to what extent U.S. minor party labels influence individual opinions over a range of political issues. Based on data from an experimental study, we reach three general conclusions. First, as cues, party labels are more likely to influence opinions over complex issues. Second, familiarity with and trust in a party condition cue acceptance. Third, as a whole, minor party labels act as effective cues less consistently than major parties. This finding, we suggest, indicates that there exists some threshold level of familiarity and trust that minor parties must reach in the mass public in order to be effective cues. This research is valuable because it extends current work on party labels as heuristic devices and more general work on cues; our findings are additionally important given recent trends in public opinion data, which indicate that the U.S. public is becoming more accepting of minor parties as permanent features of the political system.     

An experimental study of social performance and delay on the testimonial validity of story recall

Sixty adults from the city of Linz took part in this experiment. They read a story—The War of the Ghosts—in pairs, and were required to reproduce it either jointly, in dyads, or singly, and either immediately following or one week later. In addition they were asked a number of specific questions about the story, and gave various ratings of confidence and completeness. As predicted, social (dyadic) performance increased confidence, completeness and the incidence of implicational errors (errors which do not contradict the original). Delay significantly diminished confidence. Analyses of confidence for right and wrong answers indicated that subjective testimonial validity was substantial in all conditions. Analyses of objective testimonial validity showed that dyads are more trustworthy than individuals when they are correct, but are less trustworthy when they happen to be wrong. They overall conjidence I accuracy correlation across conditions of +0.6 masks the fact that the greatest obstacle to valid testimony is inappropriate confidence in wrong answers, especially in dyads, and especially immediately after the event. The incidence of implicational errors was highly related positively to measures of confidence and accuracy, whereas confusional errors were independent. Implicational errors are regarded as an especially important element in schematic recall, and are an important aspect of the superiority of social performance.     

The role of visual communication in synchronising conversation

Previous research on visual interaction has indicated that Looking¹ may serve a number of important functions in social interaction. In particular, the apparent relationship between the timing of Looks and the patterning of speech has led to the suggestion that visual communication serves to regulate the flow of conversation and to synchronise transitions from speaker to speaker. This was tested in the present experiment by comparing face-to-face dyadic encounters with similar discussions which took place over an audio intercom link which precluded visual communication. Simultaneous speech, which resulted generally from interruptions, occurred more frequently and for longer in total face-to-face than in the audio condition, while the length of utterances and the incidence of speech disturbance were both greater in the audio condition. This pattern of findings was quite different from that predicted, and suggests that the role of visual communication is to allow participants to converse spontaneously and interrupt freely by enabling them to send and receive nonverbal signals which maintain the interaction and prevent the breakdown which interruption might otherwise threaten. Suggestions for testing this interpretation further are outlined.     

An intelligent PET interface for environmental control and data acquisition and analysis

An interface, controlled by a Z-80 central processor, that plugs into the PET microcomputer’s IEEE-488 port is described. This interface is capable of controlling 48 separate 28-V dc output signals, six of which are high current. Sixteen inputs (switch closures) can be accepted by the interface. Data tagged with real-time information are output automatically to cassette tape in PET format. This PET interface system is designed to accommodate a single experimental station.