Human–Computer Interaction in Face Matching

Automatic facial recognition is becoming increasingly ubiquitous in security contexts such as passport control. Currently, Automated Border Crossing (ABC) systems in the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) require supervision from a human operator who validates correct identity judgments and overrules incorrect decisions. As the accuracy of this human–computer interaction remains unknown, this research investigated how human validation is impacted by a priori face‐matching decisions such as those made by automated face recognition software. Observers matched pairs of faces that were already labeled onscreen as depicting the same identity or two different identities. The majority of these labels provided information that was consistent with the stimuli presented, but some were also inconsistent or provided “unresolved” information. Across three experiments, accuracy consistently deteriorated on trials that were inconsistently labeled, indicating that observers’ face‐matching decisions are biased by external information such as that provided by ABCs.     

父母心理控制与小学生的欺负行为:敌意归因和冷酷无情的作用检验

采用班级整群抽样法选取1847名3~6年级小学生（男生987名;平均年龄10.73±1.16岁）及其家长为被试,采用问卷法考察父母心理控制与小学生欺负行为的关系,同时探讨敌意归因和冷酷无情的中介作用。结果发现：（1）父母心理控制显著正向预测小学生的欺负行为;（2）冷酷无情在父母心理控制与小学生欺负行为间的关系中存在中介作用,敌意归因不发挥中介作用;（3）父母心理控制对小学生欺负行为影响的中介机制不存在显著的性别差异和学段差异。本研究结果表明,冷酷无情是父母心理控制影响小学生欺负行为的重要机制,但敌意归因不是。研究者和实践者应注重对欺负者情感加工能力的关注和干预。     

判断框架对时序知觉位置启动效应的影响

研究采用包含两种判断框架（判断刺激出现的先后次序）的时序判断任务探讨了决策偏向对时序知觉位置启动效应的影响。实验结果表明,时序知觉中存在着位置启动效应,而且在两个靶刺激出现时间间隔不同时,被试在“哪个靶刺激先出现”和“哪个靶刺激后出现”两种判断框架下的正确率存在显著差异,但在两个靶刺激同时出现时并没有出现显著的判断框架效应。因此,本研究推测时序知觉位置启动效应的作用机制不仅包括知觉增强加工过程,而且也与认知决策有关,这为反应偏向理论提供了新的支持证据。     

Effects of facial expression on working memory

In long‐term memory (LTM) emotional content may both enhance and impair memory, however, disagreement remains whether emotional content exerts different effects on the ability to maintain and manipulate information over short intervals. Using a working‐memory (WM) recognition task requiring the monitoring of faces displaying facial expressions of emotion, participants judged each face as identical (target) or not (non‐target) to that presented 2 trials back (2‐back). Negative expression was better and faster recognised, illustrated by higher target discriminability and target detection. Positive and negative expressions also induced a more liberal detection bias compared with neutral. Taking the preceding item into account, additional accuracy impairment (negative preceding negative target) and enhancement effects (negative or positive preceding neutral target) appeared. This illustrates a differential modulation of WM based on the affective tone of the target (mirroring LTM enhancement‐ and recognition bias effects), and of the preceding item (enhanced and impaired target detection).     

Not all effect sizes are the same: Comments on Holden (2008)

Despite the common belief that response bias is a significant moderator of psychological tests in field settings, these biases have been notoriously difficult to identify. Holden (2008) has recently presented evidence suggesting this paradox may at least in part be explained by problems inherent to the use of moderated regression with self-report indicators of response bias. His article offers an innovative proposal for understanding a central issue in applied test use. However, the conclusions drawn about both moderated regression and the general validity of response bias indicators are open to alternative explanations. It would be premature to assume these factors are important contributors to the ephemeral character of response bias effects.     

Property and prejudice: How racial attitudes and social‐evaluative concerns shape property appraisals

Property evaluations rarely occur in the absence of social context. However, no research has investigated how intergroup processes related to prejudice extend to concepts of property. In the present research, we propose that factors such as group status, prejudice and pressure to mask prejudiced attitudes affect how people value the property of racial ingroup and outgroup members. In Study 1, White American and Asian American participants were asked to appraise a hand‐painted mug that was ostensibly created by either a White or an Asian person. Asian participants demonstrated an ingroup bias. White participants showed an outgroup bias, but this effect was qualified. Specifically, among White participants, higher racism towards Asian Americans predicted higher valuations of mugs created by Asian people. Study 2 revealed that White Americans' prejudice towards Asian Americans predicted higher valuations of the mug created by an Asian person only when participants were highly concerned about conveying a non‐prejudiced personal image. Our results suggest that, ironically, prejudiced majority group members evaluate the property of minority group members whom they dislike more favourably. The current findings provide a foundation for melding intergroup relations research with research on property and ownership.     

Temporal dynamics of anxiety-related attentional bias: is affective context a missing piece of the puzzle?

Previous research has demonstrated that anxious individuals attend to negative emotional information at the expense of other information. This is commonly referred to as attentional bias. The field has historically conceived of this process as relatively static; however, research by [Zvielli, A., Bernstein, A., &; Koster, E. H. W. (2014). Dynamics of attentional bias to threat in anxious adults: Bias towards and/or away? PLoS ONE, 9(8), e104025; Zvielli, A., Bernstein, A., &; Koster, E. H. W. (2015). Temporal dynamics of attentional bias. Clinical Psychological Science, 3(5), 772–788.], and others, challenges this assumption by demonstrating considerable temporal variability in attentional bias amongst anxious individuals. Still, the mechanisms driving these temporal dynamics are less well known. Using a modified dot-probe task, the present study examined the impact of two relevant contextual variables- affective valence and trial repetition. Affective context was instantiated by the presentation of negative versus neutral pictures before each trial, while repetition context was achieved via the presentation of the valenced pictures in either a blocked- or mixed-trial design. Results indicate that individuals with higher trait-anxiety levels were significantly more influenced by blocked presentations of negative affective information, leading to greater temporal fluctuations in attentional bias. Furthermore, our findings provide additional evidence that attentional bias is best conceptualised as dynamic and variable, and that an individual’s affective experience is one factor that regulates attentional bias dynamics. Implications relating to theoretical and methodological factors are discussed.     

Hindsight Bias Demonstrated in the Prediction of a Sporting Event

Abstract

The authors examined hindsight bias in the context of a sporting event (Super Bowl XXXIII) with individuals who had previous knowledge of the hindsight bias–42 students who were currently enrolled in psychology classes that had previously covered hindsight bias. To control for extraneous variables, the authors analyzed how often the participants watched football, their gender, and whom they predicted to win; they found no differences between how often the participants watched football and whom they predicted to win. The hindsight bias existed for the prediction of the outcome for the Super Bowl, and the participants with previous knowledge were not immune to its effect. Results are discussed in relation to attribution theory, the reconstructionist view, and response bias view.     

Self-Esteem and In-Group Bias Among Members of a Religious Social Category

Abstract

In a sample of New Zealand university students, the author extended earlier research into the relationship between self-esteem and intergroup discrimination. He found no support for the hypothesis that social-category members (i.e., Christians) experience an elevation in the domain of self-esteem (i.e., religious self-esteem) judged as more relevant to the in-group after evaluations favoring the in-group. Regardless of whether the evaluation targets behaved positively or negatively, the respondents in the experimental condition evaluated in-group (Christian) targets more highly than out-group (Atheist) targets. After evaluations favoring the in-group, the respondents did not experience an elevation of religious self-esteem, global self-esteem, or mathematical self-esteem (judged as less relevant to the in-group).     

Weight bias as a function of person variables and contact experiences

ABSTRACT

We tested a mediation model of weight bias that considers person attributes and contact experiences with overweight individuals. In Study 1, we administered a survey to assess Openness, Agreeableness, Attributional Complexity, contact experiences with overweight individuals, and weight bias. Mediation analyses found that Agreeableness predicted less weight bias through contact experiences. In Study 2, we asked participants to interact with a peer whose weight and attributions regarding the weight were experimentally manipulated. We then measured acceptance of the peer. Agreeableness was found to indirectly predict more acceptance of an overweight peer through Empathy and contact experiences. These results show that contact theory is applicable to the domain of weight bias, and support person-situation approaches to prejudice.