Conformity to the power PC theory of causal induction depends on the type of probe question

P. W. Cheng's (1997) power PC theory of causal induction proposes that causal estimates are based on the power (P) of a potential cause, where P is the contingency between the cause and effect normalized by the base rate of the effect. Most previous research using a standard causal probe question has failed to support the predictions of the power PC model but recently Buehner, Cheng, and Clifford (2003) found that participants responded in terms of causal power when probed with a counterfactual test question, which they argued prompted participants to consider the base rate of the effect. However, Buehner et al. framed their counterfactual question in terms of frequency, a factor that has been demonstrated to decrease base rate neglect in judgements under uncertainty. In the experiment reported here, we sought to disentangle the influence of counterfactual and frequency framing of the probe question to determine which factor is responsible for encouraging responses in terms of causal power.     

Genetic testing and psychology. New roles, new responsibilities

Advances in genetics and genetic testing promise to catalyze a fundamental change in the practice of medicine. Psychologists have much to offer as psychotherapists, researchers, educators, and policymakers to a society heavily influenced by the genetic revolution. To make the most of new opportunities available to mental health professionals in genetics, psychologists must know basic genetic principles and learn what is new about 21st-century genetics. The core competencies for all health professionals developed by the National Coalition for Health Professional Education in Genetics are related in this article to the significant roles psychologists can play in helping individuals with genetic concerns to cope with vulnerability, optimize family interaction, and improve health behaviors.     

Can one written word mean many things? Prereaders' assumptions about the stability of written words' meanings

Results of three experiments confirmed previous findings that in a moving word task, prereaders 3 to 5 years of age judge as if the meaning of a written word changes when it moves from a matching to a nonmatching toy (e.g., when the word "dog" moves from a dog to a boat). We explore under what circumstances children make such errors, we identify new conditions under which children were more likely correctly to treat written words' meanings as stable: when the word was placed alongside a nonmatching toy without having been alongside a matching toy previously, when two words were moved from a matching toy to a nonmatching toy, and when children were asked to change what the print said. Under these conditions, children more frequently assumed that physical forms had stable meanings as they do with other forms of external representation.     

Vibrotactile localization on the arm: effects of place, space, and age

Although tactile acuity has been explored for touch stimuli, vibrotactile resolution on the skin has not. In the present experiments, we explored the ability to localize vibrotactile stimuli on a linear array of tactors on the forearm. We examined the influence of a number of stimulus parameters, including the frequency of the vibratory stimulus, the locations of the stimulus sites on the body relative to specific body references or landmarks, the proximity among driven loci, and the age of the observer. Stimulus frequency and age group showed much less of an effect on localization than was expected. The position of stimulus sites relative to body landmarks and the separation among sites exerted the strongest influence on localization accuracy, and these effects could be mimicked by introducing an "artificial" referent into the tactile array.     

The role of pictorial convention in haptic picture perception

An investigation of tactile picture perception is reported. Blindfolded sighted subjects explored either 'line drawings' or 'textured' tactile pictures produced on Zytex swell paper. All pictures were 'two-dimensional', that is they depicted only one object face and so did not represent a third dimension. Both picture sets represented the same objects. Results revealed that the textured pictures, in which solid surfaces of depicted objects were uniformly textured, were recognised more often than tactile line drawings, in which surfaces of objects were simply bounded by lines. There were no significant correlations between imagery ability (visual, cutaneous, or kinaesthetic) and picture recognition success. Texture may be a form of 'uniform connectedness' (Palmer and Rock 1994 Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 1 29-55) or 'common region' (Palmer 1992 Cognitive Psychology 24 436-447), highlighting the global characteristics of stimuli. We argue that textured pictures may encourage the haptic system to take a more globally oriented approach to tactile picture perception, benefiting recognition.     

Unwanted and unfollowed: Defining ghosting and the role of social media unfollowing

Ghosting involves terminating communication, including through technological mediums, as a means of ending a relationship. Despite attention from popular media, empirical examinations of this breakup strategy are sparse. Using a correlational design, we examined the defining features of ghosting including its associations with other breakup tactics, whether it is an exclusively unilateral strategy, and the role of social media unfollowing in its implementation. A convenience sample of primarily undergraduate students (n = 260) completed an online survey describing recent breakups, indicating the disengagement tactics used, social media unfollowing, and the extent to which the breakups involved ghosting. Findings indicated that ghosting is extremely common, it was used to terminate more than half of participants' recent relationships. Most participants had experienced a breakup involving ghosting as either the disengager and/or the recipient. Ghosting was found to involve less open confrontation, more avoidance/withdrawal and de-escalation tactics. Contrary to previous research, ghosting can occur bilaterally, with partners ghosting each other. Social media unfollowing is an important aspect of ghosting. Relationships ended via ghosting have fewer post-breakup connections than those ended through other strategies. Typically, ghosters initiate social media unfollowing. Findings provide insight into how ghosting should be conceptualized and measured in future explorations.     

Do you see what I see? Testing horses’ ability to recognise real-life objects from 2D computer projections

Animal Cognition - The use of 2-dimensional representations (e.g. photographs or digital images) of real-life physical objects has been an important tool in studies of animal cognition. Horses are...     

Color aftereffect contingent on text

During adaptation, two different letter strings (each five or six letters) were presented to subjects alternately, one in green and the other in magenta. The extent to which these letter strings subsequently elicited a color aftereffect was assessed. In different experiments, the chromatic letter strings consisted of words and nonwords. The results indicated that letter strings that form English words can contingently elicit a color aftereffect. This was the case even when the words were anagrams. There was no evidence that nonword letter strings could contingently elicit such an aftereffect, even when the nonwords conformed to English orthography. The results are relevant to understanding other contingent color aftereffects (McCollough effects), illusory color noted by computer operators who work at monochrome (green or amber) displays, and the processing of text.     

Emotion in social reflection and comparison situations: intuitive, systematic, and exploratory approaches

We asked 26 subjects to recall and describe social situations in which either a close or a distant other performed better or worse than the self at an activity that was either high or low in relevance to the self. Subjects then rated the extent to which they experienced each of 18 different emotions in each situation. They also rated each situation on a series of dimensions that Smith and Ellsworth (1985) found to be consequential for differentiating emotions. In a series of analyses guided by intuitive hypotheses, the Smith and Ellsworth theoretical approach, and a relatively unconstrained, open-ended exploration of the data, the situations were found to vary with respect to the emotions of pride, jealousy or envy, pride in the other, boredom, and happiness. We discuss the results in terms of their relevance to emotion theories and to the self-evaluation maintenance model of social behavior.