Interactive effects of life experience and situational cues on aggression: The weapons priming effect in hunters and nonhunters

Recent research (Anderson, Benjamin, & Bartholow, 1998) indicates that the presence of guns increases the accessibility of aggressive thoughts via automatic priming. Our research examined whether this “weapons priming effect” differs depending on the structure of an individual's knowledge about guns, and if so, whether that difference results in corresponding differences in aggressive behavior. Experiment 1 revealed that individuals with prior gun experience (hunters) have more detailed and specific information about guns than do individuals with no direct gun experience (nonhunters), and that hunting experience interacts with gun type (hunting versus assault) in predicting affective and cognitive reactions to guns. Experiment 2 revealed that pictures of hunting guns were more likely to prime aggressive thoughts among nonhunters, whereas pictures of assault guns were more likely to prime aggressive thoughts among hunters. Experiment 3 showed differences in aggressive behavior following gun primes that correspond to differences in affective and cognitive responses to gun cues. Our findings are discussed in light of the General Aggression Model.     

THE VACUITY OF POSTMODERNIST METHODOLOGY

Abstract: Many of the philosophical doctrines purveyed by postmodernists have been roundly refuted, yet people continue to be taken in by the dishonest devices used in proselytizing for postmodernism. I exhibit, name, and analyse five favourite rhetorical manoeuvres: Troll's Truisms, Motte and Bailey Doctrines, Equivocating Fulcra, the Postmodernist Fox Trot, and Rankly Relativising Fields. Anyone familiar with postmodernist writing will recognise their pervasive hold on the dialectic of postmodernism and come to judge that dialectic as it ought to be judged.     

An exploration of adolescent emotional intelligence in relation to demographic characteristics

Emotional intelligence (EI) was measured in 200 youth ages 16-19. EI scores were compared to demographic characteristics of the individuals (age, sex, household income, parents' level of education, and location of residence). Findings indicate that EI levels were positively related to females, parents' education, and household income. The study did not show significant relationships between adolescent EI and location of residence or age. EI scores were significantly different between females and males, with females reporting higher EI levels. A one-way ANOVA showed no significant differences between EI scores and age, location of residence, and household income. Significant differences were found based upon EI scores for parents' education; as they increased, so did EI levels. In a linear regression model, with demograpics as the independent variables and EI as the dependent variable, father's education and sex were both predictors. The results will guide future studies to determine the factors behind adolescent El formation and development.     

Egocentrism over e-mail: can we communicate as well as we think?

Without the benefit of paralinguistic cues such as gesture, emphasis, and intonation, it can be difficult to convey emotion and tone over electronic mail (e-mail). Five experiments suggest that this limitation is often underappreciated, such that people tend to believe that they can communicate over e-mail more effectively than they actually can. Studies 4 and 5 further suggest that this overconfidence is born of egocentrism, the inherent difficulty of detaching oneself from one's own perspective when evaluating the perspective of someone else. Because e-mail communicators "hear" a statement differently depending on whether they intend to be, say, sarcastic or funny, it can be difficult to appreciate that their electronic audience may not.     

Optimum take-off angle in the standing long jump

The aim of this study was to identify and explain the optimum projection angle that maximises the distance achieved in a standing long jump. Five physically active males performed maximum-effort jumps over a wide range of take-off angles, and the jumps were recorded and analysed using a 2-D video analysis procedure. The total jump distance achieved was considered as the sum of three component distances (take-off, flight, and landing), and the dependence of each component distance on the take-off angle was systematically investigated. The flight distance was strongly affected by a decrease in the jumper's take-off speed with increasing take-off angle, and the take-off distance and landing distance steadily decreased with increasing take-off angle due to changes in the jumper's body configuration. The optimum take-off angle for the jumper was the angle at which the three component distances combined to produce the greatest jump distance. Although the calculated optimum take-off angles (19-27 degrees) were lower than the jumpers' preferred take-off angles (31-39 degrees), the loss in jump distance through using a sub-optimum take-off angle was relatively small.     

Familiarization to treadmill running in young unimpaired adults

This study investigated the time needed for familiarization to treadmill running. Seventeen young healthy adults, who were inexperienced on a treadmill, ran for 11 min on a treadmill at their self-selected speed. Discrete sagittal-plane angular kinematic parameters of the pelvis, hip, knee and ankle, and cadence and stride time data were captured with a three-dimensional motion analysis system at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 min. Participants were considered familiarized to treadmill running by 6 min, as there were no significant changes in any dependent variables from this time. Furthermore, mean absolute difference scores between consecutive times were minimal (1.3 degrees ) and the average intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC(2,1)=.95] was maximal and highly reliable by this time. Future studies comparing treadmill and overground running need to provide an adequate treadmill familiarization time of at least 6 min prior to data capture of sagittal-plane kinematic events.     

From dichoptic to dichotic: historical contrasts between binocular vision and binaural hearing

Phenomena involving vision with two eyes have been commented upon for several thousand years whereas those concerned with hearing with two ears have a much more recent history. Studies of binocular vision and binaural hearing are contrasted with respect to the singleness of the percept, experimental manipulations of dichoptic and dichotic stimuli, eye and ear dominance, spatial localisation, and the instruments used to stimulate the paired organs. One of the principal phenomena that led to studies of dichotic hearing was dichoptic colour mixing. There was similar disagreement regarding whether colours or sounds could be combined when presented to different paired organs. Direction and distance in visual localisation were analysed before those for auditory localisation, partly due to difficulties in controlling the stimuli. Instruments for investigating binocular vision, like the stereoscope and pseudoscope, were invented before those for binaural hearing, like the stethophone and pseudophone.     

Lessons from longitudinal studies for new approaches to the DSM-V: the FFM and FFT

After brief comments about each target article, we discuss their significance for the DSM-V, the implications for personality disorders of universal trait developmental trends, and our emerging theoretical model, the Five-Factor Theory, which provides an integrative context for these remarkable findings.