Dissociating Indifferent,Directional, and Extreme Responding in Personality Data: Applying the Three‐Process Model to Self‐ and Observer Reports

Research suggests that respondents vary in their tendency to use the response scale of typical (Likert‐style) questionnaires. We study the nature of the response process by applying a recently introduced item response theory modeling procedure, the three‐process model, to data of self‐ and observer reports of personality traits. The three‐process model captures indifferent, directional, and extreme responding. Substantively, we hypothesize that, and test whether, trait Honesty‐Humility is negatively linked to extreme responding. We applied the three‐process model to personality data of 577 dyads (self‐ and observer reports of the HEXACO Personality Inventory‐Revised; Lee & Ashton, 2006 ) of Dutch and German undergraduate respondents. First, we provide evidence that indifferent, directional, and extreme responding can be separated from each other in personality data through the use of the three‐process model. Second, we show that the various response processes show a pattern of correlations across traits and rating sources which is in line with the idea that indifferent and extreme responding are person‐specific tendencies, whereas directional responding is content‐specific. Third, we report findings supporting the hypothesis that Honesty‐Humility is negatively linked to extreme responding. In Likert‐based personality data, applying the three‐process model can unveil individual differences in the response process.     

Prior categorization can produce more efficient ordering

We hypothesized that prior categorization of an attribute might sometimes facilitate the ordering of stimuli, particularly when the number of stimuli is relatively large or some of them need to be remembered. In four experiments, participants were required to rank order either numbers or line lengths either using a selection sort or following prior categorization. The results indicated that prior categorization produced faster sorting when the number of stimuli to be ordered was relatively large and when the stimuli were not continuously visible.     

The development of stimulus control over tics: A potential explanation for contextually-based variability in the symptoms of Tourette syndrome

Research has demonstrated that providing reinforcement for tic-free intervals can decrease tic frequency in controlled analogue settings. The aim of the current study was to determine whether reinforcement could be used to create stimulus control over tic expression. Ten children with chronic tic disorders (including Tourette syndrome) completed four discrimination training sessions. Each session consisted of three exposures to each of three, 5 min conditions presented in a random order. In one condition, participants were reinforced for tic absence on a 10-s fixed interval schedule in the presence of a purple light. In a second condition, participants were instructed to suppress their tics, but were not reinforced for doing so in the presence of an orange light. In a third condition, participants were instructed not to suppress their tics in the presence of two non-illuminated lights. Confirming findings from other studies, results showed that reinforcing tic suppression reduced tic frequency to a greater extent than only providing instructions to suppress. To test for stimulus control, a fifth session was conducted following the aforementioned discrimination training sessions. The fifth session consisted of three exposures to each of three 5 min conditions presented in a random order. In one condition, a purple light was illuminated. In a second condition, an orange light was illuminated. In a third condition, neither light was illuminated. Across all three conditions, instructions to suppress (or not suppress) tics were not provided, and reinforcers for successful suppression were not delivered. Results indicated that in the presence of the purple light, tics were significantly lower than when neither light was illuminated. These findings provide preliminary support for the idea that a history of differential reinforcement in various contexts may play a role explaining variability in tic symptom expression.     

Addiction as temporal disruption: interoception,self, meaning

Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences - Addiction remains a challenging disorder, both to treat and to conceptualise. While the temporal dimension of addiction has been noted before, here the...     

Transformational and derivational strategies in analogical problem solving

Analogical problem solving is mostly described as transfer of a source solution to a target problem based on the structural correspondences (mapping) between source and target. Derivational analogy (Carbonell, Machine learning: an artificial intelligence approach Los Altos. Morgan Kaufmann, 1986) proposes an alternative view: a target problem is solved by replaying a remembered problem-solving episode. Thus, the experience with the source problem is used to guide the search for the target solution by applying the same solution technique rather than by transferring the complete solution. We report an empirical study using the path finding problems presented in Novick and Hmelo (J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 20:1296–1321, 1994) as material. We show that both transformational and derivational analogy are problem-solving strategies realized by human problem solvers. Which strategy is evoked in a given problem-solving context depends on the constraints guiding object-to-object mapping between source and target problem. Specifically, if constraints facilitating mapping are available, subjects are more likely to employ a transformational strategy, otherwise they are more likely to use a derivational strategy.     

The Moderating Influence of Personality and Culture on Social Loafing in Typical versus Maximum Performance Situations

The current paper combines research from personality, cultural, social, and work‐ and organizational psychology. More precisely, it addresses the motivating effects of situations that either foster or inhibit social loafing under typical vs maximum performance conditions. It further tests how these effects are moderated by the three individual difference variables of conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness to experience, and the two cultural dimension variables of collectivism and power distance. Results reveal positive main effects for inherently motivating situations, maximum performance conditions, conscientiousness, agreeableness and collectivism, as well as a significant interaction between the degree to which the situation invites social loafing and the typical vs maximum performance condition. These findings thus confirm a possible overlap between the theories of social loafing and of typical vs maximum performance. Finally, power distance showed a number of surprising interactions that may, in part, account for cultural differences found in the social loafing literature. Implications for theory building, empirical research and practice are discussed.