A Test of the Overconfidence Phenomenon Using Audio Signals

The existence of the overconfidence phenomenon was examined using a signal detection paradigm. Fifty-five participants were asked to decide whether they heard a signal or noise only, and to rate how certain they were of their decisions. The results confirmed the existence of overconfidence as well as the “hard-easy” effect.     

Verbal learning and memory as measured by the Rey-Auditory Verbal Learning Test: ADHD with and without learning disabilities

The primary purpose of the present study is to examine the effects of attention deficits, learning disability, and the combined effects of both on the learning and memory processes, as measured by the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT). Thirty children (age range 12–17) diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), 18 children (age range 11–17) diagnosed with learning disabilities (LD), and 64 children (age range 12–17) diagnosed with ADHD as well as with LD, and 28, 18, and 62 matched controls, respectively, participated in this study. It was found that the children diagnosed with ADHD did not differ in any of the verbal learning and memory measures derived from the Rey AVLT. The group with LD was impaired in the overall number of words recalled across the learning phase. Performance of the children diagnosed with ADHD +LD showed a similar impairment as the group with LD (i.e., overall amount of words learned) and, in addition, their retrieval efficiency was also impaired. In conclusion, this study indicates that verbal memory is preserved in children with ADHD if they have no LD and their intelligence is in the normal range or above. LD by itself leads to difficulties in acquisition, but the combination of ADHD+LD leads to additional impairment in retrieval processes.     

Need for closure and heuristic information processing: The moderating role of the ability to achieve the need for closure

In contrast to the ample research that shows a positive relationship between the need for closure (NFC) and heuristic information processing, this research examines the hypothesis that this relationship is moderated by the ability to achieve closure (AAC), that is, the ability to use information‐processing strategies consistent with the level of NFC. Three different operationalizations of heuristic information processing were used: recall of information consistent with the impression (Study 1); pre‐decisional information search (Study 2); and stereotypic impression formation (Study 3). The results of the studies showed that there were positive relationships between NFC and heuristic information processing when participants assessed themselves as being able to use cognitive strategies consistent with their level of NFC (high AAC). For individuals with low AAC, the relationships were negative. Our data show that motivation–cognition interactions influence the information‐processing style.     

The Relation Between Executive Function and Theory of Mind is More Than Skin Deep

A simple “expression” account of the relation between executive function (EF) and children's developing theory of mind (ToM) has difficulty accounting for the generality of the changes occurring in children's mental-state understanding during the preschool years. The current study of preschool children (N = 43) showed that EF—especially conflict EF—related uniformly to ToM measures that imposed either high or low executive demands, independent of verbal ability. These findings can be explained within an emergence account wherein executive skills are implicated in the acquisition of mental-state concepts as opposed to merely the expression of these concepts in task performance.     

Faith-Based Organizations: Sexual Harassment and Health in Accra-Tema Metropolis

Sexual harassment occurs frequently in many faith-based organizations (FBOs). This study investigated whether sexual harassment in FBOs was a public health concern in Ghana. A cross-sectional exploratory approach was used to assess the prevalence and incidence of traditional or contrapower sexual harassment in FBOs. We also investigated the correlation between sexual harassment and health. Respondents completed a self-administered open-ended questionnaire in an anonymous survey about sexual harassment during the 12 months preceding the study. We hypothesized that both traditional and contrapower harassment were prevalent in FBOs of Ghana and also that the health effects were the same for both sexes in both forms of harassment. The two hypotheses were generally supported. We found that sexual harassment is a public health concern. Women were more likely to be sexually harassed (73%) than men were (27%). Sexual harassment negatively affects the victims’ health outcome. Secondly, both the traditional and contrapower forms of sexual harassment were prevalent in FBOs in Ghana. The health consequences of sexual harassment in Ghana are the same as in an industrialized country. The implications for policy and research are discussed.     

Social phobia in ultra-orthodox Jewish males: culture-bound syndrome or virtue?

Social difficulties of the performing variety are reported by ultra-orthodox male referrals to a psychiatrist in Jerusalem and confirmed by key communal informants. Three cases of social phobia are presented, and the content concerns performing, either speaking on religious matters publicly, a role associated with status and authority, or leading prayers and ceremonies, a role of sanctity and duty. The absence of women sufferers may be understood as a consequence of the value placed on modesty in women and there being no expectation of women to participate in study and public prayer, while the absence of complaints of interactional social phobia may be a consequence of the general discouragement of social intercourse not related to religious study. Aymat zibur, literally meaning fear of the community, is a term used by ultra-orthodox Jews to describe these fears of performance, although in its original meaning the term expresses the respect that the leader of prayers is expected to have for his awesome role. The cases described, however, were motivated by personal shame, similar to social phobia of the performance variety found in other cultures, rather than fear and respect. The values of ultra-orthodox religious life are presented that invest a person who avoids interactional social behaviors with the status of zaddik (a righteous person) while one who avoids the performance behaviors of speaking publicly on religious matters or leading prayers suffers from an idiom of distress in this particular society. Religious law and societal mores appear to be critical factors in deciding whether symptoms of social phobia are perceived and experienced as idioms of distress.     

A two-sample test

In certain investigations involving an experimental group and a control group, the effect of the experimental treatment may be expected to manifest itself by increasing the scores of some subjects but by decreasing the scores of other subjects. Examples arise in the area of defensive behavior. Customary tests of differences between means are inappropriate for assessing the existence of effect of the experimental treatment in such cases. A test based on the ranks of the observations is proposed; it will be sensitive to extreme scores (either large or small or both) for experimentals.     

Seek and ye shall find: test results are what you hypothesize they are

Expert clinicians were given batteries of psychodiagnostic test results (Rorschach, TAT, Draw-A-Person, Bender-Gestalt, Wechsler) to analyze. For half, a battery came along with a suggestion that the person suffers from Borderline Personality disorder, and for half, that battery was accompanied by a suggestion that he suffers from Paranoid Personality disorder. In Study 1, the suggestion was made indirectly, through a background story that preceded the test results. In Study 2, the suggestion was made directly, by the instructions given. The experts saw in the tests what they hypothesized to be there. In particular, the target diagnoses were rated higher when they were hypothesized than when they were not. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Paradoxical effects of testing: retrieval enhances both accurate recall and suggestibility in eyewitnesses

Although retrieval practice typically enhances memory retention, it can also impair subsequent eyewitness memory accuracy (Chan, Thomas, & Bulevich, 2009). Specifically, participants who had taken an initial test about a witnessed event were more likely than nontested participants to recall subsequently encountered misinformation—an effect we called retrieval-enhanced suggestibility (RES). Here, we sought to test the generality of RES and to further elucidate its underlying mechanisms. To that end, we tested a dual mechanism account, which suggests that RES occurs because initial testing (a) enhances learning of the later misinformation by reducing proactive interference and (b) causes the reactivated memory trace to be more susceptible to later interference (i.e., a reconsolidation account). Three major findings emerged. First, RES was found after a 1-week delay, where a robust testing benefit occurred for event details that were not contradicted by later misinformation. Second, blockage of reconsolidation was unnecessary for RES to occur. Third, initial testing enhanced learning of the misinformation even when proactive interference played a minimal role.