Safety and Unknowability

Philosophia - In a recent paper Jacob Ross presents two ingenious objections against the safety theory of knowledge: one against the claim that safe true belief is necessary for knowledge, the...     

Becoming uniquely human? Comparing chimpanzee to human infancy

Does comparing behavioral development between chimpanzees and humans during infancy hold the key to understanding what is uniquely human? Recent work shows that while many behaviors emerge at similar ages in chimpanzees, human infants develop behavioral traits underpinning our prosocial and ultra-cooperative nature at a much accelerated rate.     

Seeking flow in the achievement domain: The achievement flow motive behind flow experience

The authors propose a flow motive behind flow experience. It is defined as the intrinsic component of the achievement motive (i.e., need to seek and master difficulty), assessed with an operant motive test (OMT), and investigated with a multimethod approach. The achievement flow motive was stable over 2 years (Study 1) and positively correlated with the following variables: self-determination (Study 2), work-efficiency according to multisource feedbacks (Study 3), and flow experience during an outdoor assessment center (Study 4). In addition, the achievement flow motive was associated with the simultaneous presence of two sets of overt behaviors: Seeing difficulty (planning, analytical problem solving, and task focus) and mastering difficulty (high commitment, spreading optimism, and staying power). The direct relationship between achievement flow motive and flow experience was mediated by this behavioral pattern (Study 4). The achievement flow motive offers researchers a way to operationalize Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of autotelic personality.     

Near, yet so far: the effect of pictorial cues on spatial attention

Distinct cognitive and neural mechanisms underlie perception and action in near (within-reach) and far (outside-reach) space. Objects in far space can be brought into the brain's near-space through tool-use. We determined whether a near object can be pushed into far space by changing the pictorial context in which it occurs. Participants (n = 372) made relative length judgements for lines presented in near space, but superimposed over photographs of near and far objects. The left segment of the line was overestimated in the baseline and near-context conditions whereas the right was overestimated in the far-context. The change from leftward to rightward overestimation is the same when lines are physically shifted from near to far space. Because participants did not have to do anything in relation to the photograph, the results suggest that simply viewing images with a near/far context can cause a shift of attention along the distal/proximal axis, which may reflect differential activation of the ventral/dorsal visual streams.     

Familism, family environment, and suicide attempts among Latina youth

In this study, we examined the relationship between familism and family environment type as well as the relationship between family environment type and suicide attempts among Latina youth. Latina teen attempters (n = 109) and nonattempters (n = 107) were recruited from the New York City area. Latent class analysis revealed three family environment types: tight-knit, intermediate-knit, and loose-knit. Tight-knit families (high cohesion and low conflict) were significantly less likely to have teens who attempted suicide as compared with intermediate-knit families or loose-knit families. Moreover, familism increased the odds of being in a tight-knit family versus a loose-knit family and the odds of being in a tight-knit family versus a intermediate-knit. The results suggest that familism may protect against suicide behavior among Latinas via its influence on family environment.     

A robust classic

In the present research, we argue for the robustness of illusory correlations (ICs, Hamilton & Gifford, 1976) regarding two boundary conditions suggested in previous research. First, we argue that ICs are maintained under extended experience. Using simulations, we derive conflicting predictions. Whereas noise-based accounts predict ICs to be maintained (Fielder, 2000; Smith, 1991), a prominent account based on discrepancy-reducing feedback learning predicts ICs to disappear (Van Rooy et al., 2003). An experiment involving 320 observations with majority and minority members supports the claim that ICs are maintained. Second, we show that actively using the stereotype to make predictions that are met with reward and punishment does not eliminate the bias. In addition, participants' operant reactions afford a novel online measure of ICs. In sum, our findings highlight the robustness of ICs that can be explained as a result of unbiased but noisy learning.     

Playing prosocial video games increases the accessibility of prosocial thoughts

Past research has provided abundant evidence that playing violent video games increases aggressive tendencies. In contrast, evidence on possible positive effects of video game exposure on prosocial tendencies has been relatively sparse. The present research tested and found support for the hypothesis that exposure to prosocial video games increases the accessibility of prosocial thoughts. These results provide support to the predictive validity of the General Learning Model (Buckley & Anderson, 2006) for the effects of exposure to prosocial media on social tendencies. Thus, depending on the content of the video game, playing video games can harm but may also benefit social relations.