Defeasibility And The Normative Grasp Of Context

In this article, we present an analysis of defeasible generalizations – generalizations which are essentially exception-laden, yet genuinely explanatory – in terms of various notions of privileged conditions. We argue that any plausible epistemology must make essential use of defeasible generalizations so understood. We also consider the epistemic significance of the sort of understanding of context that is required for understanding of explanatory defeasible generalizations on any topic.     

Transmission risk behaviors in a subset of HIV-positive individuals: The role of narcissistic personality features

Most people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) take steps to protect their sexual partners. However, a minority of PLWHA continue to engage in sexual risk behaviors that might contribute to the transmission of HIV. Psychiatric conditions, including certain pathological traits, are associated with sexual risk behaviors. Research examining the association between narcissistic traits as they relate to HIV transmission risk is limited. In the present study, 303 PLWHA were recruited from an infectious disease clinic and completed questionnaires assessing narcissistic characteristics, substance use, sexual risk behavior, and intentions to use condoms in the future. Narcissistic traits predicted unprotected sex with partners who are HIV-negative or whose HIV status was unknown as well as lower intentions to use condoms, after controlling for demographic factors and substance use. Interventions focused on reducing the transmission of HIV should take into account associations between sexual risk behavior and narcissism.     

Two causal theories of counterfactual conditionals

Bayes nets are formal representations of causal systems that many psychologists have claimed as plausible mental representations. One purported advantage of Bayes nets is that they may provide a theory of counterfactual conditionals, such as If Calvin had been at the party, Miriam would have left early. This article compares two proposed Bayes net theories as models of people's understanding of counterfactuals. Experiments 1-3 show that neither theory makes correct predictions about backtracking counterfactuals (in which the event of the if-clause occurs after the event of the then-clause), and Experiment 4 shows the same is true of forward counterfactuals. An amended version of one of the approaches, however, can provide a more accurate account of these data.     

Do children learn the integers by induction?

According to one theory about how children learn the meaning of the words for the positive integers, they first learn that "one," "two," and "three" stand for appropriately sized sets. They then conclude by inductive inference that the next numeral in the count sequence denotes the size of sets containing one more object than the size denoted by the preceding numeral. We have previously argued, however, that the conclusion of this Induction does not distinguish the standard meaning of the integers from nonstandard meanings in which, for example, "ten" could mean set sizes of 10, 20, 30,... elements. Margolis and Laurence [Margolis, E., & Laurence, S. (2008). How to learn the natural numbers: Inductive inference and the acquisition of number concepts. Cognition, 106, 924-939] believe that our argument depends on attributing to children "radically indeterminate" concepts. We show, first, that our conclusion is compatible with perfectly determinate meanings for "one" through "three." Second, although the inductive inference is indeed indeterminate - which is why it is consistent with nonstandard meanings - making it determinate presupposes the constraints that the inference is supposed to produce.     

Support for employment equity policies: A self-enhancement approach

The effectiveness of employment equity (EE) policies has been hindered by negative reactions to these policies. We draw on the self-enhancement literature to expand self-interest accounts of reactions to EE policies to explain inconsistent findings showing that both nonbeneficiaries and beneficiaries react negatively to EE policies. Across four studies, we found that self-image threat influences reactions to gender-based EE policies. Studies 1 and 2 established that EE policies threaten the self-images of both men (nonbeneficiaries) and women (beneficiaries). Study 3 found that those least likely to experience self-image threat when faced with a gender-based EE policy are the most likely to show positive reactions to EE policies, while Study 4 showed that both men and women react more favorably to EE policies when self-images threats are mitigated through a self-affirmation task. Implications for our understanding of reactions to EE policies are discussed.     

When is Nothing Something? Editorial for the Null Results Special Issue of Journal of Business and Psychology

This special issue is focused on how null results can meaningfully advance science and practice. This editorial describes some of the unique aspects of creating a special issue devoted to null results, offers opinions regarding why and under what conditions null results should be valued, and offers recommendations for key stakeholders (i.e., editors, reviewers, and authors) in the publication enterprise with respect to submitting and evaluating research with null findings. This editorial also provides summaries of the papers included in this special issue with emphasis on how they serve as example for what constitutes meaningful null results.