Word knowledge in the crowd: Measuring vocabulary size and word prevalence in a massive online experiment

We use the results of a large online experiment on word knowledge in Dutch to investigate variables influencing vocabulary size in a large population and to examine the effect of word prevalence—the percentage of a population knowing a word—as a measure of word occurrence. Nearly 300,000 participants were presented with about 70 word stimuli (selected from a list of 53,000 words) in an adapted lexical decision task. We identify age, education, and multilingualism as the most important factors influencing vocabulary size. The results suggest that the accumulation of vocabulary throughout life and in multiple languages mirrors the logarithmic growth of number of types with number of tokens observed in text corpora (Herdan's law). Moreover, the vocabulary that multilinguals acquire in related languages seems to increase their first language (L1) vocabulary size and outweighs the loss caused by decreased exposure to L1. In addition, we show that corpus word frequency and prevalence are complementary measures of word occurrence covering a broad range of language experiences. Prevalence is shown to be the strongest independent predictor of word processing times in the Dutch Lexicon Project, making it an important variable for psycholinguistic research.     

Executive Resources and Item-Context Binding: Exploring the Influence of Concurrent Inhibition,Updating, and Shifting Tasks on Context Memory

Previous research has demonstrated that context memory performance decreases as a result of cognitive load. However, the role of specific executive resources availability has not been specified yet. In a dual-task experiment, participants performed three kinds of concurrent task engaging: inhibition, updating, or shifting operations. In comparison with a no-load single-task condition, a significant decrease in item and context memory was observed, regardless of the kind of executive task. When executive load conditions were compared with non-specific cognitive load conditions, a significant interference effect was observed in the case of the inhibition task. The inhibition process appears to be an aspect of executive control, which relies on the same resource as item-context binding does, especially when binding refers to associations retrieved from long-term memory.     

Leaders as attachment figures: leaders' attachment orientations predict leadership-related mental representations and followers' performance and mental health

In 3 studies, the authors examined the contribution of leaders' attachment styles to their leadership motives and beliefs and to followers' outcomes. In Study 1, participants completed measures of attachment orientation, leadership motives, self-representations, and leadership style. Studies 2 and 3 were conducted within Israeli military units either during a leadership workshop or during intensive combat training. Israeli military officers and their soldiers (followers) reported on their attachment styles, and the soldiers reported on the officers' leadership qualities and on the soldiers' own performance and mental health. Leaders' attachment anxiety was associated with more self-serving leadership motives and with poorer leadership qualities in task-oriented situations. Leaders' attachment anxiety also predicted followers' poorer instrumental functioning. Leaders' attachment-related avoidance was negatively associated with prosocial motives to lead, with the failure to act as a security provider, and with followers' poorer socioemotional functioning and poorer long-range mental health. Results are discussed with respect to the value of attachment theory for the study of leadership.     

On simplicity of formulas

Simple formula should contain only few quantifiers. In the paper the methods to estimate quantity and quality of quantifiers needed to express a sentence equivalent to given one.     

Relation Formulas for Protoalgebraic Equality Free Quasivarieties; Pałasińska’s Theorem Revisited

We provide a new proof of the following Pa?asińska's theorem: Every finitely generated protoalgebraic relation distributive equality free quasivariety is finitely axiomatizable. The main tool we use are ${\mathcal{Q}}$ Q -relation formulas for a protoalgebraic equality free quasivariety ${\mathcal{Q}}$ Q . They are the counterparts of the congruence formulas used for describing the generation of congruences in algebras. Having this tool in hand, we prove a finite axiomatization theorem for ${\mathcal{Q}}$ Q when it has definable principal ${\mathcal{Q}}$ Q -subrelations. This is a property obtained by carrying over the definability of principal subcongruences, invented by Baker and Wang for varieties, and which holds for finitely generated protoalgebraic relation distributive equality free quasivarieties.     

Understanding the relations between different forms of racial prejudice: a cognitive consistency perspective

Research on racial prejudice is currently characterized by the existence of diverse concepts (e.g., implicit prejudice, old-fashioned racism, modern racism, aversive racism) that are not well integrated from a general perspective. The present article proposes an integrative framework for these concepts employing a cognitive consistency perspective. Specifically, it is argued that the reliance on immediate affective reactions toward racial minority groups in evaluative judgments about these groups depends on the consistency of this evaluation with other relevant beliefs pertaining to central components of old-fashioned, modern, and aversive forms of prejudice. A central prediction of the proposed framework is that the relation between "implicit" and "explicit" prejudice should be moderated by the interaction of egalitarianism-related, nonprejudicial goals and perceptions of discrimination. This prediction was confirmed in a series of three studies. Implications for research on prejudice are discussed.     

On the propositional nature of cognitive consistency: Dissonance changes explicit, but not implicit attitudes

Two studies investigated the influence of cognitive dissonance on explicit and implicit attitudes. Employing the induced compliance paradigm, participants wrote a counterattitudinal essay under conditions of either high or low perceived situational pressure; control participants did not write an essay. Consistent with dissonance theory, results indicated a more favorable explicit attitude toward the initially counterattitudinal position when perceived situational pressure was low, but not when it was high. Implicit attitudes, however, were unaffected by dissonance manipulations. Moreover, explicit attitudes were significantly related to implicit attitudes under high perceived situational pressure and control conditions, but not when perceived situational pressure was low. Results are discussed in terms of associative versus propositional modes of information processing.     

The Set of Fear Inducing Pictures (SFIP): Development and validation in fearful and nonfearful individuals

Emotionally charged pictorial materials are frequently used in phobia research, but no existing standardized picture database is dedicated to the study of different phobias. The present work describes the results of two independent studies through which we sought to develop and validate this type of database—a Set of Fear Inducing Pictures (SFIP). In Study 1, 270 fear-relevant and 130 neutral stimuli were rated for fear, arousal, and valence by four groups of participants; small-animal (N = 34), blood/injection (N = 26), social-fearful (N = 35), and nonfearful participants (N = 22). The results from Study 1 were employed to develop the final version of the SFIP, which includes fear-relevant images of social exposure (N = 40), blood/injection (N = 80), spiders/bugs (N = 80), and angry faces (N = 30), as well as 726 neutral photographs. In Study 2, we aimed to validate the SFIP in a sample of spider, blood/injection, social-fearful, and control individuals (N = 66). The fear-relevant images were rated as being more unpleasant and led to greater fear and arousal in fearful than in nonfearful individuals. The fear images differentiated between the three fear groups in the expected directions. Overall, the present findings provide evidence for the high validity of the SFIP and confirm that the set may be successfully used in phobia research.     

Appraisal of suicidal risk among adolescents and young adults through the Rorschach test

The aims of this study are to investigate suicidal behaviors among adolescents and young adults and to test an index composed using Rorschach test responses related to an increased risk of suicide. Using a cross-sectional design, 4 groups were studied (according to criteria of the Columbia Classification Algorithm of Suicide Assessment [Posner, Oquendo, Gould, Stanley, & Davies, 2007]): A group with suicidal ideation (n = 30), a group with parasuicidal behavior (n = 30), a group with near-lethal suicide attempts (n = 26), and a control group (n = 30). Responses to the Rorschach test yielded 6 potential indicators of suicidal behavior (scored according to Exner's Comprehensive System and the Suicidal Index for Adolescents; Silberg & Armstrong, 1992 ). Rorschach scores including at least 4 of these 6 indicators selected 69% of the people who had committed serious suicide attempts. The Rorschach Suicidal Index reached an acceptable reliability and was related to other criteria of suicide risk, such as the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, Ward, Mendelsohn, Mock, & Erbaugh, 1961) and Linehan Reasons for Living Inventory (RFL-I; Linehan, Goodstein, Nielsen, & Chiles, 1983). Moreover, the Rorschach Suicidal Index showed incremental validity over the BDI and the RFL-I to predict suicidal behavior. A path analysis additionally showed that low social support was an important mediator between the Rorschach Suicidal Index and the number of suicide attempts committed by participants.