Accuracy and assumed similarity in first impressions of personality: Differing associations at different levels of analysis

How are accuracy and assumed similarity associated in first impressions of personality? In a large-scale video perception study, accuracy and assumed similarity were strongly negatively associated across traits, consistent with past research (e.g., Beer & Watson, 2008). However, across perceivers and perceiver-target dyads, the ability to perceive others accurately was independent of the tendency to assume similarity with others. Thus, viewing others in general or specific others as overly similar to the self does not imply viewing them inaccurately. In sum, accuracy and assumed similarity are inversely related when examined across traits but are independent across perceivers and dyads.     

Personality assessment and behavioral prediction at first impression

Research has demonstrated high levels of consensus and self-other agreement for extraversion and conscientiousness. However, the mechanisms whereby these assessments contribute to accuracy in behavioral predictions remain unclear. In this study, two judges rated targets on Big Five personality factors, and predicted their compliance to offer help in response to a fabricated emergency. Whereas one judge interacted directly with the target, the other judge only observed the interaction. There was consensus and self-other agreement on conscientiousness for both judges. Critically, self-reported conscientiousness fully mediated the effect of judged conscientiousness on compliance to offer help, regardless of the nature of the judge-target interaction. These results demonstrate a mechanism whereby judged personality can predict a specific behavioral outcome in initially unacquainted persons.     

The Awakening of Global Reason The Logical and Ontological Foundation of Integral Science

This article suggests that we are in the midst of a profound dimensional shift in our rational capacity to process reality, and seeks to articulate the implications of this evolutionary shift to global reason for our scientific enterprise. As we enter the 21st century it is unmistakably clear that we are in the midst of an unprecedented shift in the human condition—a global renaissance that affects every aspect of our cultural lives, our self-understanding, and, of course, our rational enterprise. This evolutionary transformation, when seen through the expanded global lens, has been emerging through the ages on a global scale. In this brief reflection I suggest that this advance in our technology of mind is of an order of magnitude that is so radical and comprehensive that the very concept of a person, of what it means to be human, of our encounter with Reality and all our hermeneutical arts, including the sciences, are likewise taken to a higher global dimension. I suggest that the diverse voices included in this special edition are best situated in the context of this global awakening of reason, scientific knowing, and the holistic worldview.     

Learning Phonemes With a Proto‐Lexicon

Before the end of the first year of life, infants begin to lose the ability to perceive distinctions between sounds that are not phonemic in their native language. It is typically assumed that this developmental change reflects the construction of language‐specific phoneme categories, but how these categories are learned largely remains a mystery. Peperkamp, Le Calvez, Nadal, and Dupoux (2006) present an algorithm that can discover phonemes using the distributions of allophones as well as the phonetic properties of the allophones and their contexts. We show that a third type of information source, the occurrence of pairs of minimally differing word forms in speech heard by the infant, is also useful for learning phonemic categories and is in fact more reliable than purely distributional information in data containing a large number of allophones. In our model, learners build an approximation of the lexicon consisting of the high‐frequency n‐grams present in their speech input, allowing them to take advantage of top‐down lexical information without needing to learn words. This may explain how infants have already begun to exhibit sensitivity to phonemic categories before they have a large receptive lexicon.     

The Wax and the Mechanical Mind: Reexamining Hobbes's Objections to Descartes's Meditations

Many critics, Descartes himself included, have seen Hobbes as uncharitable or even incoherent in his Objections to the Meditations on First Philosophy. I argue that when understood within the wider context of his views of the late 1630s and early 1640s, Hobbes's Objections are coherent and reflect his goal of providing an epistemology consistent with a mechanical philosophy. I demonstrate the importance of this epistemology for understanding his Fourth Objection concerning the nature of the wax and contend that Hobbes's brief claims in that Objection are best understood as a summary of the mechanism for scientific knowledge found in his broader work. Far from displaying his confusion, Hobbes's Fourth Objection in fact pinpoints a key weakness of Descartes's faculty psychology: its unintelligibility within a mechanical philosophy.     

Is there an optimal factor structure of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale in patients with first‐episode psychosis?

The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) is the most widely used scale to assess a variety of symptoms in patients with schizophrenia and other psychoses. The factor structure of the PANSS has been examined with confirmatory factor analyses in several studies, but not in a well‐defined first‐episode psychosis sample. The aim of this paper is to examine the statistical fit of five different PANSS models in a first‐episode, non‐affective psychosis sample. Confirmatory factor analyses were performed on PANSS data (n = 588). A main criterion for best fit was defined as the Expected Cross Validation Index (ECVI). No tested model revealed an optimally satisfactory model fit index. The Wallwork/Fortgang five‐factor model demonstrated the most optimal psychometric properties. The corresponding subscales of all evaluated five‐factor models were strongly intercorrelated. The Wallwork/Fortgang five‐factor model was found to be statistically and clinically ideal among patients with first‐episode psychosis. Therefore, we recommend this model in forthcoming studies among patients with first‐episode psychosis. However, to prevent the loss of clinically valuable information on an item level, we do not recommend removing any items from the original form. Our study also implies that the specific choice of model will not have a substantial effect on outcome results in studies on the course and outcome in first‐episode psychosis.     

The military chaplain: a study in ambiguity

This article looks at the ambiguities in the role of the military chaplain from three points of view. The first considers the nature of the constituency within which the chaplain ministers, paying particular attention to the degree – or otherwise – of secularisation and the reasons for this. The second examines the role of the chaplain in relation to the two institutions which he or she serves (i.e. church and state) and the tensions that emerge as a result. These are articulated in terms of ‘an angle of eschatological tension’. The third is concerned with ‘the roles within the role’ – that is the variety of tasks that make up the role of chaplaincy and the degree to which these are compatible with each other. The significance of theology in the resolution of the ensuing issues is set against diminishing societal resources in terms of religious literacy.     

Defective number module or impaired access? Numerical magnitude processing in first graders with mathematical difficulties

This study examined numerical magnitude processing in first graders with severe and mild forms of mathematical difficulties, children with mathematics learning disabilities (MLD) and children with low achievement (LA) in mathematics, respectively. In total, 20 children with MLD, 21 children with LA, and 41 regular achievers completed a numerical magnitude comparison task and an approximate addition task, which were presented in a symbolic and a nonsymbolic (dot arrays) format. Children with MLD and LA were impaired on tasks that involved the access of numerical magnitude information from symbolic representations, with the LA children showing a less severe performance pattern than children with MLD. They showed no deficits in accessing magnitude from underlying nonsymbolic magnitude representations. Our findings indicate that this performance pattern occurs in children from first grade onward and generalizes beyond numerical magnitude comparison tasks. These findings shed light on the types of intervention that may help children who struggle with learning mathematics.     

Motor unit firing rates of the first dorsal interosseous differ between male and female children aged 8–10 years

The purpose of this study was to examine possible differences in motor unit action potential amplitudes (MUAP_AMPS) and firing rates of the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) in male and female children aged 8–10 years. Eight male (mean ± SD, age = 8.8 ± 0.7 yrs; BMI = 16.5 ± 1.3 kg/m²) and eight female (age = 9.3 ± 0.9 yrs; BMI = 16.1 ± 1.5 kg/m²) children volunteered to complete isometric trapezoidal muscle actions of the first dorsal interosseous at 50% of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). Electromyographic signals were decomposed to yield MUAP_AMPS and mean firing rates (MFR) at the targeted force. An exponential model was fitted to the MUAP_AMPS vs. recruitment threshold (RT) while linear models were fitted to the MFRs vs. RT relationships for each subject. Ultrasonography determined the muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) of the FDI. Independent samples t-tests were used to examine possible differences between the male and female children for MVC strength, CSA, and the coefficients from the MU relationships. There were no differences in MVC strength, CSA, or the MUAP_AMP vs. RT relationships between the male and female children (P < 0.05). Males, however, had greater MFRs of lower-threshold MUs as evident by significantly larger y-intercepts (P = 0.019) and more negative slopes (P = 0.004) from the MFR vs. RT relationships. Despite no differences in muscle strength, CSA, and MUAP_AMPS, differences in firing rates existed between male and female children aged 8–10 years. Neural mechanisms may primarily contribute to sex-related differences in firing rates.     

Ballot Photographs as Cues in Low‐Information Elections

In low‐information elections, voters are often faced with the task of choosing from a list of unknown candidates. By examining a set of low‐information elections where candidate photographs were displayed on the ballot, we test how first impressions of candidates can influence election outcomes. We find that attractive candidates are more likely to be attributed the qualities associated with successful politicians and these trait inferences, based on facial appearances, influence the outcomes of elections. We also find that these trait inferences are based on physical characteristics of the candidates, such as age, race and ethnicity, evident from a photograph. Therefore, first impressions can be important determinants of election outcomes, especially in low‐information elections.