Evaluating the contributions of task expectancy in the testing and guessing benefits on recognition memory

Recently, we have shown that two types of initial testing (recall of a list or guessing of critical items repeated over 12 study/test cycles) improved final recognition of related and unrelated word lists relative to restudy. These benefits were eliminated, however, when test instructions were manipulated within subjects and presented after study of each list, procedures designed to minimise expectancy of a specific type of upcoming test [Huff, Balota, & Hutchison, 2016. The costs and benefits of testing and guessing on recognition memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 42, 1559–1572. doi:10.1037/xlm0000269], suggesting that testing and guessing effects may be influenced by encoding strategies specific for the type of upcoming task. We follow-up these experiments by examining test-expectancy processes in guessing and testing. Testing and guessing benefits over restudy were not found when test instructions were presented either after (Experiment 1) or before (Experiment 2) a single study/task cycle was completed, nor were benefits found when instructions were presented before study/task cycles and the task was repeated three times (Experiment 3). Testing and guessing benefits emerged only when instructions were presented before a study/task cycle and the task was repeated six times (Experiments 4A and 4B). These experiments demonstrate that initial testing and guessing can produce memory benefits in recognition, but only following substantial task repetitions which likely promote task-expectancy processes.     

How Did You Like This Course? The Advantages and Limitations of Reaction Criteria in Ethics Education

Ethics courses are most commonly evaluated using reaction measures. However, little is known about the specific types of reaction data being collected (e.g., content relevance, course satisfaction) and how these reaction data relate to improvements in trainee performance (e.g., knowledge, moral reasoning). Using a sample of 381 ethics training sessions, major reaction data categories were identified. Content and course satisfaction were the most frequently collected types of reaction criteria. Furthermore, content relevance (r = .84) and course satisfaction (r = .79) showed strong, positive relationships with performance criteria, whereas content satisfaction demonstrated a moderate, negative relationship (r = –.28). These results and future directions for ethics training evaluation are discussed.     

Males Prefer Younger Females: Age Preference Among Online Daters in the Dominican Republic

Previous research has found that online daters show a trend in age preference, with males seeking females younger than themselves and females seeking males older than themselves. These studies covered a wide geographic area but not in the Caribbean. To contribute to the literature, we examine online daters’ age preferences in the Dominican Republic. Our statistical analyses show that similar gendered age preferences exist among Dominican online daters even after controlling for their ages. On average, Dominican males prefer younger partners and the reverse is true for females. While there might be cultural differences in different countries affecting the extent and degree of age preferences, the consistent difference by sex underscores the challenges faced by older females in the online dating market.     

The College Student Subjective Wellbeing Questionnaire: A Brief,Multidimensional Measure of Undergraduate’s Covitality

This study reports on the preliminary development and validation of the College Student Subjective Wellbeing Questionnaire (CSSWQ) with two subsamples of undergraduates. The CSSWQ is a brief, multidimensional, domain-specific measure of college students’ covitality—operationalized by a measurement model comprised of four first-order latent constructs (i.e., academic efficacy, college gratitude, school connectedness, and academic satisfaction) and one second-order latent construct (i.e., college student covitality). Results from exploratory factor analyses, conducted with the first subsample (n = 387), were used to refine a 15-item, four-subscale version of the CSSWQ, which demonstrated strong internal consistency and concurrent validity with several global indicators of subjective wellbeing. Results from confirmatory factor analyses, conducted with the second subsample (n = 584), corroborated the CSSWQ’s four-factor structure and supported the second-order latent construct of college-student covitality. Further concurrent validity analyses conducted with the second subsample, using latent-variable path analysis, indicated that the college-student covitality variable was a strong predictor of both psychological distress and psychological wellness. Analysis of variance also indicated that, when compared with global covitality status (i.e., below average, low average, high average, or above average), college-student covitality status had a stronger effect and thus incremental validity in relation to academic achievement. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.     

The Logic of Divine Blessedness and the Salvific Teleology of Christ

This article recovers a fundamental part of the logic inherent in the traditional doctrine of divine blessedness for the sake of commending the efficacy of the incarnate Son's mission. This recovery begins with two theses derived from Thomas Aquinas’ account in the Summa theologiae, where divine blessedness includes an intrinsic connection between self‐sufficiency and aseity through the concept of self‐possession. It is then argued that revisionists and critics of the doctrine tend to soften this connection, and that something like the traditional logic is indispensable to the salvific teleology of the Word become flesh.     

A Meta-Analysis of the Reliability of Free and For-Pay Big Five Scales

The present study meta-analytically compared coefficient alpha reliabilities reported for free and for-pay Big Five scales. We collected 288 studies from five previous meta-analyses of Big Five traits and harvested 1,317 alphas from these studies. We found that free and for-pay scales measuring Big Five traits possessed comparable reliabilities. However, after we controlled for the numbers of items in the scales with the Spearman-Brown formula, we found that free scales possessed significantly higher alpha coefficients than for-pay scales for each of the Big Five traits. Thus, the study offers initial evidence that Big Five scales that are free more efficiently measure these traits for research purposes than do for-pay scales.     

Reactions of African American Students to the George Zimmerman Trial: Co-Rumination and Thought Intrusions as Mediators

We document how prior experiences with racism, sequentially mediated by co-rumination about racial problems with a friend and thought intrusions, are associated with negative reactions to a racially charged event—the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman and the subsequent trial and acquittal of Mr. Zimmerman. African Americans’ prior experiences with racial discrimination predicted more co-rumination about racial problems with a friend. In turn, co-rumination was associated with more thought intrusions about the trial, leading to more negative affect and less forgiveness for Zimmerman. Co-rumination about racism and worrisome thinking about high-profile race-related events may amplify concern about racism for a frequent target of racial discrimination, lowering the threshold for negative psychological reactions to racist acts (including acts of violence) that may happen to other African Americans or to oneself.     

The neural circuitry supporting goal maintenance during cognitive control: a comparison of expectancy AX-CPT and dot probe expectancy paradigms

Goal maintenance is an aspect of cognitive control that has been identified as critical for understanding psychopathology according to criteria of the NIMH-sponsored CNTRICS (Cognitive Neuroscience Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia) and Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiatives. CNTRICS proposed the expectancy AX-CPT, and its visual-spatial parallel the dot probe expectancy (DPX), as valid measures of the cognitive and neural processes thought to be relevant for goal maintenance. The goal of this study was to specifically examine the functional neural correlates and connectivity patterns of both goal maintenance tasks in the same subset of subjects to further validate their neural construct validity and clarify our understanding of the nature and function of the neural circuitry engaged by the tasks. Twenty-six healthy control subjects performed both the letter (AX) and dot pattern (DPX) variants of the CPT during fMRI. Behavioral performance was similar between tasks. The 2 tasks engaged the same brain networks including dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and dorsal parietal regions, supporting their validity as complementary measures of the goal maintenance construct. Interestingly there was greater engagement of the frontal opercular insula region during the expectancy AX-CPT (letter) and greater functional connectivity between the PFC and medial temporal lobe in the DPX (dot pattern). These differences are consistent with differential recruitment of phonological and visual-spatial processes by the two tasks and suggest that additional long-term memory systems may be engaged by the dot probe version.