Is there an Effect of Print Exposure on the Word Frequency Effect and the Neighborhood Size Effect?

Orthographic and phonological processing skills have been shown to vary as a function of reader skill (Stanovich & West, Reading Research Quarterly, 24, 402-433, 1989; Unsworth & Pexman, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 56A, 63-81, 2003). One variable known to contribute to differences between readers of higher and lower skill is amount of print exposure: higher skilled readers read more often than lower skilled readers, and their increased print exposure is associated with faster responding to words and nonwords in lexical decision tasks. The present experiments examined the effect of print exposure on the word frequency effect and neighborhood size effect. We conclude that the different outcomes reported in previous studies (Chateau & Jared, Memory and Cognition, 28, 143-153, 2000; Lewellen, Goldinger, Pisoni, & Greene, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 122, 316-330, 1993) were due to the type of nonwords used in the lexical decision task (regular nonwords versus pseudohomophones). Our results are explained in terms of differences in the reliance on orthographic and phonological information between readers of higher and lower print exposure.     

Auditory and haptic systems for in-car speed management – A comparative real life study

Field experiments with ISA (intelligent speed adaptation) were carried out in Hungary and Spain in 2003 and 2004, respectively. Twenty private vehicles in each country were equipped with two kinds of systems: (1) support via an active accelerator pedal (AAP) and (2) warning via beep signals and a flashing red light when the speed limit was exceeded (BEEP). The test drivers drove for a month with both systems installed in each car. Speed was continually logged in all the vehicles and the test drivers were interviewed about their acceptance and experiences of the systems. The results show that both systems reduced the mean and 85 percentile speeds, but that the AAP was more effective. There was no long-lasting effect on speeds when the systems were removed. After the trial half of the drivers were willing to keep an ISA system, but more drivers wanted to keep the BEEP-system even though it showed lower satisfaction ratings than the AAP. The results indicate no major differences between the countries despite the workload being perceived to be higher in Hungary than in Spain.     

Driver distraction in long-haul truck drivers

Research on driver distraction has typically been conducted by means of epidemiology or experimental testing. The study presented here uses a naturalistic approach, where real-world driving data were collected from truck drivers as they worked their normal delivery runs. Crash, near-crash, and crash-relevant conflict data from 41 long-haul truck drivers, driving approximately 140,000 miles, were examined. Of the 2737 crashes, near-crashes, and crash-relevant conflicts (collectively termed “critical incidents”) that were recorded, 178 were attributed to “driver distraction”. The 178 distraction-related critical incidents were analyzed and 34 unique distraction types were identified. Results showed that a small number of long-haul drivers were involved in a disproportionate number of distraction-related critical incidents. For example, two of the drivers accounted for 43 of the 178 distraction incidents. Important insight was also gained into the relative safety impacts of different distracting agents and behaviors. The frequency and duration of a task, along with the visual demand associated with performing the task, were found to contribute in combination to the prevalence of critical incidents. Finally, it was found that simply because a task does not necessarily require visual attention does not mean that long-haul drivers will not look (sometimes often) away from the roadway. However, it is also clear that visually demanding tasks carry the highest degree of risk, relative to other categories of tasks.     

Persistent bias in expert judgments about free will and moral responsibility: a test of the expertise defense

Many philosophers appeal to intuitions to support some philosophical views. However, there is reason to be concerned about this practice as scientific evidence has documented systematic bias in philosophically relevant intuitions as a function of seemingly irrelevant features (e.g., personality). One popular defense used to insulate philosophers from these concerns holds that philosophical expertise eliminates the influence of these extraneous factors. Here, we test this assumption. We present data suggesting that verifiable philosophical expertise in the free will debate—as measured by a reliable and validated test of expert knowledge—does not eliminate the influence of one important extraneous feature (i.e., the heritable personality trait extraversion) on judgments concerning freedom and moral responsibility. These results suggest that, in at least some important cases, the expertise defense fails. Implications for the practice of philosophy, experimental philosophy, and applied ethics are discussed.     

Validation of a component model of social skill with outpatient adults

Little social skills research has been generated from applied outpatient settings. The present study examined the relationship of behavioral social skill components to independent judges' social skill judgments. A secondary question was whether nonverbal components would demonstrate a curvilinear relationship to social skill ratings. Forty-two outpatient adults at a community mental health center were videotaped role-playing eight scenes (four commendatory and four refusal). Videotapes were viewed in random order by community members who rated the subject's social skill in the situation. Trained raters scored the videotapes on standard behavioral components. While both nonverbal and verbal components accounted for significant portions of unique variance, the percentage of eye contact was an overwhelmingly large contributor to skill judgments. No curvilinear trend was evidenced for the nonverbal components. The study extended prior findings with psychiatric inpatients into applied outpatient settings and indicated that a component social skills model is equally applicable with outpatient adults. The findings replicated with a second sample of outpatient adults.     

Invited Response to Commentaries: Self‐Practice/Self‐Reflection (SP/SR): Contexts,Challenges and Ways Forward

McGinn (2015) and Fernández‐Álvarez, Castañeiras, and Wyss (2015) make valuable suggestions in their commentaries on the three self‐practice/self‐reflection (SP/SR) articles in this issue of the Australian Psychologist. In our response, we use their commentaries as a springboard to highlight contextual influences and challenges for future SP/SR research, and suggest potential ways forward.     

Dimensions of driver anger, aggressive and highway code violations and their mediation by safety orientation in UK drivers

Aggressive behaviour on the roads is reported to be on the increase. This study administered Driving Anger Scale (Deffenbacher et al. (1994). Development of a driving anger scale. Psychological Reports, 74, 83–91.), the Driver Behaviour Questionnaire, and the Driving Skill Inventory to a sample of 270 British drivers. Factor analysis of the Driving Anger Scale items yielded three factors measuring anger generated by the reckless driving, direct hostility and impeded progress by others—contrary to the six subscales found with the original US sample. Younger drivers and low mileage drivers were more likely to exhibit all three types of driving anger, but no differences between male and female drivers were found. In addition, a driver’s safety orientation predicted (negatively) anger evoked by impeded progress and direct hostility whereas self-assessed perceptual-motor skills were positively related to anger generated by impeded progress. Both Highway Code and aggressive violations were significantly related to the anger factors, and, using the procedure by Baron and Kenny (Baron & Kenny (1986). The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182.), the prediction of violating behaviour (Driver Behaviour Questionnaire) by reported anger was shown to be mediated by the self-assessed safety skill scale but not the perceptual-motor skill scale (Driver Skill Inventory), and moderated by neither. Implications for driver education countermeasures are noted.     

Measuring social skill in grade school boys

This study examined positive and negative assertive skill in 60 elementary school boys, grades 3–8. Subjects' role-played responses to standard analogue situations requiring expression of positive and negative assertion were videotaped and rated retrospectively. High- and low-assertive subjects were identified through ratings of overall assertiveness. Results of this study indicate that (1) high- and low-assertive subjects differ on a number of response components which are related to age level and type of assertive situation (positive vs. negative), (2) assertive skill is associated with role-taking (or decentering) ability, (3) teachers tend to perceive their assertive boys as more sociable and interpersonally sensitive than unassertive boys, (4) there is essentially no correlation between teachers' ratings of aggressiveness and separate behavioral ratings of assertive skill, and (5) behavioral ratings of assertiveness show little relationship to self-report or teachers' ratings of assertiveness.This article is based on a dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Loyola University of Chicago in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The study was conducted under the direction of the second, third, and fourth authors.     

Being Unimpressed with Ourselves: Reconceiving Humility

I first sketch an account of humility as a character trait in which we are unimpressed with our good, envied, or admired features, achievements, etc., where these lack significant salience for our image of ourselves, because of the greater prominence of our limitations and flaws. I situate this view among several other recent conceptions of humility (also called modesty), dividing them between the inward-directed and outward-directed, distinguish mine from them, pose problems for each alternative account, and show how my understanding of humility captures truths present but exaggerated in several of them. Responding to some problems for my view, including what I call “Driver’s Paradox”(i.e., the strangeness of someone’s proclaiming ‘I’m humble!’), I suggest that some over-ambitious claims about our moral responsibilities may indicate a lack of proper humility. I discuss the relationship of the character trait of humility both to what humiliates and to what humbles, concluding with consideration of the background assumptions against which, and the circumstances in which, humility may reasonably be classified as a moral virtue.