An investigation of the relationships between problem solving strategies, representation and memory

There has been considerable debate in recent years about the status of “imagery” in problem solving. The present experiment attempts to show that while subjects may employ representational strategies when they first encounter a class of problems, they abandon such strategies as they gain experience with the problems. It does this by asking subjects to answer unexpected questions which are based upon the information which they have just used to solve a problem. The hypothesis, which is supported by the results, is that increasing experience with problems will be paralleled by a decreasing ability to answer unexpected questions. The experiment also shows that such effects are not attributable to a build-up in proactive interference.     

The impact of event vividness,event severity,and prior paranormal belief on attributions towards a depicted remarkable coincidence experience: Two studies examining the misattribution hypothesis

Two studies examine the impact event vividness, event severity, and prior paranormal belief has on causal attributions for a depicted remarkable coincidence experience. In Study 1, respondents (n = 179) read a hypothetical vignette in which a fictional character accurately predicts a plane crash 1 day before it occurs. The crash was described in either vivid or pallid terms with the final outcome being either severe (fatal) or non‐severe (non‐fatal). Respondents completed 29 causal attribution items, one attribution confidence item, nine scenario perception items, a popular paranormal belief scale, and a standard demographics questionnaire. Principal axis factoring reduced the 29 attribution items to four attribution factors which were then subjected to a 2 (event vividness) × 2 (event severity) × 2 (paranormal belief) MANCOVA controlling for respondent gender. As expected, paranormal believers attributed the accurate crash prediction less to coincidence and more to both paranormal and transcendental knowing than did paranormal sceptics. Furthermore, paranormal (psychokinesis) believers deemed the prediction more reflective of paranormal knowing to both (1) a vivid/non‐fatal and (2) a pallid/fatal crash depiction. Vividness, severity, and paranormal belief types had no impact on attribution confidence. In Study 2, respondents (also n = 179) generated data that were a moderately good fit to the previous factor structure and replicated several differences across attributional pairings albeit for paranormal non‐believers only. Corresponding effects for event severity and paranormal belief were not replicated. Findings are discussed in terms of their support for the paranormal misattribution hypothesis and the impact of availability biases in the form of both vividness and severity effects. Methodological issues and future research ideas are also discussed.     

Social media addiction and psychological adjustment: religiosity and spirituality in the age of social media

Previous research indicates a significant association between social media use and psychological adjustment. The present study investigated whether religiosity/spirituality mediates the relationship between social media intrusion and psychological adjustment. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, Religious Commitment Inventory-10, Spirituality Index of Well-Being, the DASS-21 Scales, and the Facebook Intrusion Questionnaire, which was altered slightly to include all types of social media. Results revealed that social media intrusion was significantly positively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress, and negatively correlated with spiritual well-being and the self-efficacy component of spiritual well-being. Furthermore, the self-efficacy dimension of spiritual well-being partially mediated the association between social media intrusion and psychological stress. From these results, it may be inferred that higher social media intrusion may have the ability to decrease specific aspects of spirituality, which may, in turn, negatively impact psychological adjustment. Limitations and future directions are discussed.     

Marital Processes Linking Gender Role Attitudes and Marital Satisfaction Among Mexican‐Origin Couples: Application of an Actor–Partner Interdependence Mediation Model

Informed by dyadic approaches and culturally informed, ecological perspectives of marriage, we applied an actor–partner interdependence mediation model (APIMeM) in a sample of 120 Mexican‐origin couples to examine (a) the associations linking Mexican immigrant husbands’ and wives’ gender role attitudes to marital satisfaction directly and indirectly through marital processes (i.e., warmth and negativity) and (b) whether the associations between spouses’ gender role attitudes and marital processes were moderated by wives’ employment. Although previous research has identified spouses’ gender role attitudes as potential predictors of spouses’ marital satisfaction, no study has examined these links in a dyadic model that elucidates how gender role attitudes may operate through processes to shape marital satisfaction and conditions under which associations may differ. We found that when spouses reported less sex‐typed attitudes, their partners reported feeling more connected to them and more satisfied with the marriage, regardless of whether wives were employed. Our results suggest that marital satisfaction was highest for those Mexican‐origin couples in which marital partners were less sex‐typed in their attitudes about marital roles to the extent that partners’ attitudinal role flexibility promoted spouses’ feelings of warmth and connection to their partner.     

“Digging in” or “Giving in”: Attachment-related threat moderates the association between attachment orientation and reactions to conflict

Prior research suggests that individuals higher in attachment anxiety react to conflict in a more hostile manner than those lower in attachment anxiety. Although less pronounced, there is also evidence that attachment anxiety is associated with submissive behavior in conflict. Thus, the literature presents a paradox, as attachment anxiety is associated with both domineering and submissive responses to relationship conflict. We proposed that attachment-related threat moderates the effects of attachment orientations on conflict behavior, such that under conditions of low threat attachment anxiety would be associated with dominance, whereas under conditions of high threat attachment anxiety would be associated with submission. Further, we expected that this interaction between attachment anxiety and threat condition would be stronger for individuals lower in attachment avoidance, relative to those higher in avoidance. We found support for our hypotheses, such that attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, and threat interacted to predict responses to relationship conflict.     

Measuring the speed of newborn object recognition in controlled visual worlds

How long does it take for a newborn to recognize an object? Adults can recognize objects rapidly, but measuring object recognition speed in newborns has not previously been possible. Here we introduce an automated controlled‐rearing method for measuring the speed of newborn object recognition in controlled visual worlds. We raised newborn chicks (Gallus gallus) in strictly controlled environments that contained no objects other than a single virtual object, and then measured the speed at which the chicks could recognize that object from familiar and novel viewpoints. The chicks were able to recognize the object rapidly, at presentation rates of 125 ms per image. Further, recognition speed was equally fast whether the object was presented from familiar viewpoints or novel viewpoints (30° and 60° azimuth rotations). Thus, newborn chicks can recognize objects across novel viewpoints within a fraction of a second. These results demonstrate that newborns are capable of both rapid and invariant object recognition at the onset of vision.     

Is Alaska an Aberration or the Worst Case? A Robust Regression Approach to Understanding Inter-State Variations of Forcible Rape

Alaska’s rape rate perennially exceeds that of all other states. This study considers Alaska’s socioeconomic extremes—its frontier demography, its externally dependent resource economy, and its military presence—as explanations for inter-state variations of sexual violence. Robust regression procedures that accommodate extreme values were used to account for the effects of measures capturing Alaska’s unique socioeconomic qualities on state-level rape rates. The results showing that other economically dependent states with frontier demographic structures also report elevated rape rates indicate that despite its endemic levels of sexual violence, Alaska is not an aberration but is instead the worst case possible.