Reliability of the Go/No Go Association Task

The Go/No Go Association Task (GNAT; Nosek & Banaji, 2001) is an implicit measure with broad application in social psychology. It has several conceptual strengths to recommend it over other implicit methods, but the belief that it has poor reliability coupled with the absence of a method for calculating this important psychometric property has hindered its wider acceptance and use. Using data obtained from six GNAT studies covering a wide range of content areas, Study 1 compares the properties of different methods for estimating reliability of the GNAT. Study 2 demonstrates a resampling procedure to investigate how reliability varies as a function of block length. Study 1 shows that with appropriately chosen stimuli the GNAT can be a very reliable measure, while Study 2 indicates that as an empirical rule of thumb 50 to 80 trials per block should yield adequate to very good reliability. However, researchers are urged to calculate their own reliability coefficients, to this end we discuss GNAT design issues and provide procedures for calculating GNAT reliability which we hope will enhance the utility of the GNAT as a measure and promote its use in studying implicit cognition.     

Feature-based versus category-based induction with uncertain categories

Previous research has suggested that when feature inferences have to be made about an instance whose category membership is uncertain, feature-based inductive reasoning is used to the exclusion of category-based induction. These results contrast with the observation that people can and do use category-based induction when category membership is known. The present experiments examined the conditions that drive feature-based and category-based strategies in induction under category uncertainty. Specifically, 2 experiments investigated whether reliance on feature-based inductive strategies is a product of the lack of coherence in the categories used in previous research or is due to the use of a decision-only induction procedure. Experiment 1 found that feature-based reasoning remained the preferred strategy even when categories with relatively high internal coherence were used. Experiment 2 found a shift toward category-based reasoning when participants were trained to classify category members prior to feature induction. Together, these results suggest that an appropriate conceptual representation must be formed through experience with a category before it is likely to be used as a basis for feature induction.     

Dopaminergic and prefrontal contributions to reward-based learning and outcome monitoring during child development and aging

In many instances, children and older adults show similar difficulties in reward-based learning and outcome monitoring. These impairments are most pronounced in situations in which reward is uncertain (e.g., probabilistic reward schedules) and if outcome information is ambiguous (e.g., the relative value of outcomes has to be learned). Furthermore, whereas children show a greater sensitivity to external outcome information, older adults focus less on a rapid differentiation of rewarding outcomes. In this article, we review evidence for the idea that these phenomenologically similar impairments in learning and outcome monitoring in children and older adults can be attributed to deficits in different underlying neurophysiological mechanisms. We propose that in older adults learning impairments are the result of reduced dopaminergic projections to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which lead to less differentiated representations of reward value. In contrast, in children, impairments in learning can be primarily attributed to deficits in executive control, which may be due to a protracted development of the dorsal medial and lateral prefrontal cortices. We think that this framework maps well onto recent neurophysiological models of reward processing and is plausible from a broader developmental perspective.     

Suicide among foreign residents of Japan

The suicide rate of Koreans living in Japan is twice as high as that of Koreans in South Korea. Reasons for this high suicide rate are discussed, including effects of economic crises and discrimination.     

The three latent classes of adolescent delinquency and the risk factors for membership in each class

This study used latent class analysis to examine subpopulation membership based on self-reports of delinquent behaviors obtained from Australian youth. Three discrete identifiable classes were derived based on 51 indicators of physical violence, property damage, minor infractions, drug use, and social delinquency. One class of youth engaged in primarily rule breaking and norm violations including underage alcohol use, typical of this age period. A second class was more actively delinquent emphasizing drug use, trespassing, and various forms of disobedience. A third class of highly delinquent youth differed from their counterparts by endorsing drug use, thievery that involved stealing money, goods, and cars, property damage, gambling, precocious sexual experiences, involvement with pornographic materials, and fighting. Multinomial logistic regression predicting class membership indicated highly delinquent youth were more likely to be older males, use venting coping strategies, and be fun or novelty seeking compared with rule breakers. Findings are discussed in terms of refining current taxonomic arguments regarding the structure of delinquency and implications for prevention of early-stage antisocial behavior.     

We're Closer than I Thought: Social Network Heterogeneity,Morality, and Political Persuasion

Literature in the area of social networks indicates that increases in perceived social network attitudinal heterogeneity generate increased openness to attitude change. Recent evidence in the area of morality, however, shows that morally based attitudes are particularly resistant to persuasion and can result in the rejection of disagreeing others. Positing that considering morality would reduce network influence, an experiment varied moral cues presented along with a non‐network persuasive message while holding the actual content constant. Results demonstrate that morality and network composition interact to predict persuasion, such that when people are not cued to consider morality increased network heterogeneity predicts increased persuasion, but when identical messages are presented in a way that invokes morality the impact of network heterogeneity disappears or even reverses marginally. This interactive effect was replicated in two very different political issues: gay adoption and nationalized healthcare. Implications for persuasion by morally motivated sources independent of the effects of specific moral arguments are discussed.     

Research Note: Assessing the Determinants of the Contemporary Social Attitudes of Roman Catholics in Britain: Abortion and Homosexuality

This research note examines the determinants of British Catholics’ social attitudes using a nationally representative survey undertaken in 2010. It examines attitudes towards abortion and homosexuality, issues where the Church has clear moral teachings and has recently intervened in national debates, but where significant proportions of Catholics currently hold dissenting views. Noteworthy findings are the consistent role played by sex, age, and religious commitment in underpinning attitudes towards social issues, while party political support only affects attitudes towards homosexuality. Men, older people, and those who attend religious services more frequently represent the sections of the Catholic community which are particularly likely to hold traditionalist views that accord with official Church teaching.     

认知诊断缺失数据处理方法的比较：零替换、多重插补与极大似然估计法

数据缺失在测验中经常发生, 认知诊断评估也不例外, 数据缺失会导致诊断结果的偏差。首先, 通过模拟研究在多种实验条件下比较了常用的缺失数据处理方法。结果表明：(1)缺失数据导致估计精确性下降, 随着人数与题目数量减少、缺失率增大、题目质量降低, 所有方法的PCCR均下降, Bias绝对值和RMSE均上升。(2)估计题目参数时, EM法表现最好, 其次是MI, FIML和ZR法表现不稳定。(3)估计被试知识状态时, EM和FIML表现最好, MI和ZR表现不稳定。其次, 在PISA2015实证数据中进一步探索了不同方法的表现。综合模拟和实证研究结果, 推荐选用EM或FIML法进行缺失数据处理。