The effects of confederate prompt delivery style in a standardized social simulation test

Role plays or social simulations are presently one of the most common methods for assessing social skills. Although social simulation techniques have become quite popular, little is known about the psychometric adequacy of many of the role-play instruments which have been developed. This investigation was an attempt to determine certain properties of one particular social skills assessment instrument: the Simulated Social Interaction Test. The effects of various confederate prompt delivery styles on the judged social competency level of subjects in the Simulated Social Interaction Test were examined. Two confederates, one male and one female, were trained to portray three confederate prompt delivery styles: (a) unreceptive, (b) neutral, and (c) receptive. In order to determine if judges would compensate for the different confederate prompt delivery styles, two sets of trained judges rated the levels of skill and anxiety generated by the 30 subjects tested. One set of judges was screened from the confererate delivery while observing the simulation; the other set of judges followed the more common rating procedure (i.e., they were not screened from the confederates' deliveries). Data analysis examined variation in subject performance under each condition and according to each set of judges for both overall social skills and anxiety ratings. Confederate prompt delivery style was found to affect subjects' rated performance. There was also suggestive evidence that judges were sometimes able to compensate for different confederate delivery styles. The practical and theoretical implications of the results are discussed.This study was funded in part by a research grant from the Veterans Administration.     

An approach to geometry of visual space with no a priori mapping functions: Multidimensional mapping according to Riemannian metrics

A method of multidimensional mapping is described which constructs a configuration of points {P_i} in a Euclidean map of Riemannian space of constant curvature (hyperbolic, Euclidean, and elliptic) from the dissimilarity matrix (d_ij). The method was applied to the distance matrix in visual space where stimulus points Q_i were either small light points in the dark or small black points in the illuminated field surrounded by white curtains and d_ij represent scaled values of perceptual distances. Configuration of points {Q_i} were at intersections of parallel or distance alleys and horopters for the subject in the horizontal plane of the eye level. In contrast to the theoretical equations for {Q_i} by Luneburg and Blank, no a priori assumption on mapping functions between {Q_i} and {P_i} is necessary in this procedure to fit theoretical curves to {P_i} in the Euclidean map. The data were accounted for better by equations in the hyperbolic plane than by ones in the Euclidean plane. Discussions are made on robustness of Euclidean representation and on how to approach geometry of visual space as a dynamic entity under more natural conditions than the traditional frameless condition for alley and horopter experiments.     

The acquisition of prenominal modifier sequences

This paper presents a study of children's interpretations of prenominal modifier sequences like the one in ‘the second green ball’. In such phrases the modifier ‘second’ has scope over the rest of the phrase. It is shown that children misinterpret these phrases in such a way that it appears that they give ‘second’ scope only over the head noun of the phrase. A series of six experiments, all designed to test various hypotheses about the motivating factors behind this misinterpretation is described. Experiments 1 and 2 constitute a replication and extension of the work in this area originally done by Roeper (1972). Experiment 3 tests a set of hypotheses about the influence of certain syntactic variables in conditioning the children's misinterpretations. Experiment 4 is an attempt to check an hypothesis about the semantic complexity of phrases like ‘the second green ball’. Experiments 5 and 6 test the children's sensitivity to ordering constraints in different kinds of prenominal modifier sequences. The results are presented in Section 3 and discussed in Section 4. It is argued that the children's misinterpretations of the phrases come about because of their tendency to be conservative about the amount of hierarchically organized structure they will postulate in the absence of evidence that such structure is needed.     

Classification of concatenation measurement structures according to scale type

A relational structure is said to be of scale type (M,N) iff M is the largest degree of homogeneity and N the least degree of uniqueness (Narens, 1981a, Narens, 1981b) of its automorphism group.Roberts (in Proceedings of the first Hoboken Symposium on graph theory, New York: Wiley, 1984; in Proceedings of the fifth international conference on graph theory and its applications, New York: Wiley, 1984) has shown that such a structure on the reals is either ordinal or M is less than the order of at least one defining relation (Theorem 1.2). A scheme for characterizing N is outlined in Theorem 1.3. The remainder of the paper studies the scale type of concatenation structures 〈X, ?, ° 〉, where ? is a total ordering and ° is a monotonic operation. Section 2 establishes that for concatenation structures with M>0 and N<∞ the only scale types are (1,1), (1,2), and (2,2), and the structures for the last two are always idempotent. Section 3 is concerned with such structures on the real numbers (i.e., candidates for representations), and it uses general results of Narens for real relational structures of scale type (M, M) (Theorem 3.1) and of Alper (Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 1985, 29, 73–81) for scale type (1, 2) (Theorem 3.2). For M>0, concatenation structures are all isomorphic to numerical ones for which the operation can be written $\text{x°y = yf(}\text{x}\text{y}\text{)}$, where f is strictly increasing and $\text{f(x)}\text{x}$ is strictly decreasing (unit structures). The equation f(x^?)=f(x)^? is satisfied for all x as follows: for and only for ? = 1 in the (1,1) case; for and only for ?=kⁿ, k > 0 fixed, and n ranging over the integers, in the (1, 2) case; and for all ?>0 in the (2, 2) case (Theorems 3.9, 3.12, and 3.13). Section 4 examines relations between concatenation catenation and conjoint structures, including the operation induced on one component by the ordering of a conjoint structure and the concept of an operation on one component being distributive in a conjoint structure. The results, which are mainly of interest in proving other results, are mostly formulated in terms of the set of right translations of the induced operation. In Section 5 we consider the existence of representations of concatenation structures. The case of positive ones was dealt with earlier (Narens & Luce (Journal of Pure & Applied Algebra27, 1983, 197–233). For idempotent ones, closure, density, solvability, and Archimedean are shown to be sufficient (Theorem 5.1). The rest of the section is concerned with incomplete results having to do with the representation of cases with M>0. A variety of special conditions, many suggested by the conjoint equivalent of a concatenation structure, are studied in Section 6. The major result (Theorem 6.4) is that most of these concepts are equivalent to bisymmetry for idempotent structures that are closed, dense, solvable, and Dedekind complete. This result is important in Section 7, which is devoted to a general theory of scale type (2, 2) for the utility of gambles. The representation is a generalization of the usual SEU model which embodies a distinctly bounded form of rationality; by the results of Section 6 it reduces to the fully rational SEU model when rationality is extended beyond the simplest equivalences. Theorem 7.3 establishes that under plausible smoothness conditions, the ratio scale case does not introduce anything different from the (2, 2) case. It is shown that this theory is closely related to, but somewhat more general, than Kahneman and Tversky's (Econometrica47, 1979, 263–291) prospect theory.     

Shy teens and their peers: Shyness in respect to basic personality traits and social relations

The main purpose of this paper was to examine shyness in teenagers from two perspectives: in terms of its relations with basic personality traits and in terms of its influence on the processes that occur in the social networks of high school students. First, we found that shyness was negatively predicted by extraversion and positively by neuroticism. Second, using exponential random graph models we demonstrated that shyness across network effects was similar to reversed extraversion (introversion): Both negatively predicted the number of outgoing relations, whereas they did not affect the number of incoming relations. We discuss the issue of locating shyness in the space of personality traits, supporting the relevance of ascribing it to introversion.     

Implicit achievement motive limits the impact of task difficulty on effort-related cardiovascular response

In contrast to the motive literature, motivational intensity theory predicts that the implicit achievement motive (nAch) should only exert an indirect impact on effort by limiting the impact of task difficulty. To contrast these two views, sixty-eight participants with a low or high nAch performed an easy or difficult arithmetic task. Effort was assessed using cardiac pre-ejection period (PEP). Supporting motivational intensity theory’s view, PEP response was low in both easy-task conditions but stronger in the high-nAch group than in the low-nAch group in the difficult task. These findings suggest that nAch exerts an indirect effect on effort investment by setting the maximally justified effort instead of directly determining the amount of effort that is invested to satisfy the motive.     

‘Check Your Selfie before You Wreck Your Selfie’: Personality ratings of Instagram users as a function of self-image posts

This study considered the relation between self-image posts (i.e., selfies, posies) on Instagram and the personality and self-perception attributions made by unfamiliar perceivers based on those posts. Phase 1 involved 30 undergraduates who completed self-report inventories and whose Instagram posts were coded and then screenshot for the second phase. Phase 2 included 119 undergraduates from a different university. Phase 2 participants (perceivers) rated Phase 1 participants (targets) on 13 attributes (e.g., self-absorption, low self-esteem, extraversion, successfulness) based on these screenshots. Targets who posted more selfies were rated more negatively (e.g., more lonely, less successful). Although self-image posts on social media may not be clearly indicative of personality/self-perception, they may be cues for how the depicted person is perceived by others.     

Reaching skills of infants born very preterm predict neurodevelopment at 2.5 years

The purpose was to investigate associations between quality of reaching for moving objects at 8 months corrected age and neurodevelopment at 2.5 years in children born very preterm (gestational age (GA), 24–31 weeks). Thirtysix infants were assessed while reaching for moving objects. The movements were recorded by a 3D motion capture system. Reaching parameters included aiming, relative length of the reach, number of movement units, proportion of bimanual coupled reaches and number of hits. Neurodevelopment was assessed at 2.5 years by the Bayley Scales of Infant Development III. There were strong associations between infant reaching kinematics and neurodevelopment of cognition and language but the patterns differed: in children born extremely preterm (GA < 28 weeks), planning and control of reaching was strongly related to outcome, while in children born very preterm (GA 28–31 weeks) number of hits and bimanual strategies were of greater relevance. In conclusion, for extremely preterm infants, basic problems on how motion information is incorporated with action planning prevail, while in very preterm infants the coordination of bimanual reaches is more at the focus. We conclude that the results reflect GA related differences in neural vulnerability and that early motor coordination deficits have a cascading effect on neurodevelopment.     

Social-relational exposures and well-being: Using multivariate twin data to rule-out heritable and shared environmental confounds

The aims of the present study were as follows: (1) Using a large sample of adults, estimate overlap between social-relational exposures measured at midlife and well-being measured at midlife and approximately 9-years later. (2) Using a subsample of twins, test for heritable variation in social-relational exposures, and (3) controlling for heritable and shared environmental variation, estimate overlap between social-relational exposures and well-being, both concurrently and approximately 9-years later. Results indicated small-to-moderate overlap between exposures and well-being (mean r = 0.29, range = 0.05–0.54). There was also evidence for heritable variation in exposures, and after accounting for these genetic factors, the degree of overlap between social-relational exposures and well-being decreased (mean r = 0.10, range = −0.07 to 0.33).     

Holding onto emotions: A call to action in academia

This intervention foregrounds two contemporary political situations across two continents, to stress how emotions matter in space and society. We are compelled to write about these unfolding, complex, troubling situations, specifically their visceral and emotive dimensions, to foreground how holding onto emotions is critical to academic research, thinking and praxis. We present our reading of two situations: the Grenfell social housing fire in the U.K. and migrant and refugee detention in the U.S. We highlight these cases to draw out the argument that nuanced, relativist epistemological and ontological approaches, including the place of emotions, are required as much as, and alongside, quantitative research, to better understand spatial and societal complexity, and enable transformative change. We thus call for renewed attention to emotional geographies, and methodologies that attend to embodied and emotional ways of doing, being, becoming and (co)producing knowledges.