Asymmetric Comparison in Choice Processes

Since Tversky's (1977) seminal paper on asymmetric comparisons was published, comparisons of different options are generally believed to be directional. Interestingly, the asymmetry involved in comparisons has not been considered systematically for choices between different options. This paper argues that, in decision situations, one of the options serves as a dominant standard against which the others are evaluated, which results in asymmetric comparisons and, in turn, has important and systematic consequences for the choice process. This paper outlines which conditions should result in asymmetric comparisons. Taking existing models of asymmetric comparisons into account, a process model will be presented using the loss of a previously available choice option as an example.     

Emotion emphasis effects in moral judgment are moderated by mindsets

Motivation and Emotion - In two studies, emotion emphasis effects on moral judgment are demonstrated. The studies indicate that emphasizing negative consequences in trolley-type dilemmas with...     

Rapid naming deficits in dyslexia: a stumbling block for the perceptual anchor theory of dyslexia

According to a recent theory of dyslexia, the perceptual anchor theory, children with dyslexia show deficits in classic auditory and phonological tasks not because they have auditory or phonological impairments but because they are unable to form a ‘perceptual anchor’ in tasks that rely on a small set of repeated stimuli. The theory makes the strong prediction that rapid naming deficits should only be present in small sets of repeated items, not in large sets of unrepeated items. The present research tested this prediction by comparing rapid naming performance of a small set of repeated items with that of a large set of unrepeated items. The results were unequivocal. Deficits were found both for small and large sets of objects and numbers. The deficit was actually bigger for large sets than for small sets, which is the opposite of the prediction made by the anchor theory. In conclusion, the perceptual anchor theory does not provide a satisfactory account of some of the major hallmark effects of developmental dyslexia.     

The virtual haptic display: A device for exploring 2-D virtual shapes in the tactile modality

In order to understand better the processes involved in the perception of shape through touch, someelement of control is required over the nature of the shape presented to the hand and the presentation timing. To that end, we have developed a cost-effective, computer-controlled apparatus for presenting haptic stimuli using active touch, known as a virtual haptic display (VHD). The operational principle behind this device is that it translates black and white visual images into topographic, 2-D taxel (tactile pixel) arrays, along the same principle using in Braille letters. These taxels are either elevated or depressed at any one time representing white and black pixel colors of the visual image, respectively. To feel the taxels, the participant places their fingers onto a carriage which can be moved over the surface of the device to reveal a virtual shape. We conducted two experiments and the results show that untrained participants are able to recognize different, simple and complex, shapes using this apparatus. The VHD apparatus is therefore ideal at presenting 2-Dshapes through touch alone. Moreover,this device and its supporting software can also be used for presenting computer-controlled stimuli in cross-modal experiments.     

Organisation and Recall in Verbal Tasks and in Subject-performed Tasks

In memory for subject-performed tasks (SPTs), subjects encode a list of simple action phrases (e.g. "lift the pen", "open the book") by performing these actions during learning. Performing tasks has proved to be a much more efficient type of encoding than verbal tasks (VTs), in which subjects only listen to the action phrases in order to memorise them. It is assumed that good item-specific encoding after SPTs plays an important role in the SPT effect. The role of relational encoding for the SPT effect is less clear, as is the question of whether SPT encoding is automatic or controlled. Two experiments were conducted to address these issues. Subjects learned lists which were categorically structured in VTs and SPTs, under focal attention or divided attention. The results indicated that relational encoding does not differ between VTs and SPTs, and that free recall is impaired in both cases by divided attention, more so in VTs than in SPTs. It is concluded that the SPT effect is primarily based on item-specific information rather than on relational information, and that VTs are more dependent than SPTs on active encoding.     

Paired associate learning of action verbs with visual-or motor-imaginal encoding instructions

Summary It is suggested that visual-imaginal encoding of actions, i.e., imagining seeing somebody else performing a described action, should be distinguished from motor-imaginal encoding, i.e., imagining how one performs the action oneself. While both kinds of encoding should provide good item-specific information, only visual-imaginal encoding should also lead to good relational encoding of word pairs. In three experiments in which subjects had to learn verb pairs, we obtained supporting data for this assumption. Although CR performance was equal to FR performance under visual-imaginal encoding, under motorimaginal encoding CR performance was worse than FR performance. In principle, this finding parallels results obtained with imagined noun pairs and with performed verb pairs.The research reported here was supported by a grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft to J. Engelkamp and Hubert D. Zimmer. The paper was prepared during a stay of these authors at the Centre d'Études de Psychologie Cognitive, enabled by a grant of PROCOPE 311 pro     

New biographical research on the members of the psychoanalytic movement in vienna 1902-1938

Abstract

The paper presents Elke Mühlleitner's Biographisches Lexikon der Psychoanalyse (Biographical Lexicon of Psychoanalysis) and comments on her first evaluations of this comprehensive data. It illustrates, by reference to the early members of the Psychologische Mittwoch-Gesellschaft (the Wednesday Psychological Society), the heuristic value of the collected material for dealing with the issues and hypotheses related to the history of science.     

One executive function never comes alone: monitoring and its relation to working memory,reasoning, and different executive functions

Monitoring is involved in many daily tasks and is described in several theoretical approaches of executive functioning. This study investigated the relative relationship of cognitive processes that are theoretically relevant to monitoring, such as concept formation, reasoning, working memory, and general cognitive control functions. Data from 699 participants who performed the Balanced Switching Task, aiming at capturing monitoring, were used. Subsamples also performed standard tasks assessing the processes assumed to be related to monitoring. Structural equation modeling revealed that general cognitive control processes are particularly relevant. They mediate the relationship between working memory, reasoning, and monitoring. Updating and maintaining information, as well as concluding from information which strategies can guide behavior toward predefined goals, is required for the ability to exert general cognitive control, which again may be relevant for implementing strategies in a goal-directed way. Together, these processes seem to be necessary to adequately monitor behavior in complex tasks.