Religious authority and the transmission of abstract god concepts

According to the Standard Model account of religion, religious concepts tend to conform to “minimally counterintuitive” schemas. Laypeople may, to varying degrees, verbally endorse the abstract doctrines taught by professional theologians. But, outside the Sunday school exam room, the implicit representations that tend to guide people’s everyday thinking, feeling, and behavior are about minimally counterintuitive entities. According to the Standard Model, these implicit representations are the essential thing to be explained by the cognitive science of religion (CSR). It is argued here that this theoretical orientation of mainstream CSR misses a whole dimension of religiosity—the acceptance of certain religious authorities, that is, the acceptance of other people’s superior expertise. Average believers (especially in doctrinal traditions) tend to accept the authority of religious experts who espouse highly counterintuitive ideas that they (the laypeople) understand in a distorted form, if at all. These highly counterintuitive ideas are culturally successful because laypeople see them as being justified by people they have reason to regard as epistemic authorities. The tendency for people to endorse (without fully understanding) highly counterintuitive religious ideas espoused by intellectuals may explain parallels in the development of separate traditions (e.g., Judaism and Hinduism), as religious philosophers follow parallel lines of reasoning.     

Gift Giving at Israeli Weddings as a Function of Genetic Relatedness and Kinship Certainty

This study examines gift giving at Israeli weddings. In accordance with kin selection theory, we hypothesized that wedding guests possessing greater genetic relatedness to the newlyweds would offer greater sums of money as wedding gifts. We also hypothesized that family members stemming from the maternal side (where the genetic lineage has higher kinship certainty) would offer the newlyweds more money than those stemming from the paternal side. Data on the monetary gift sums of the wedding guests from 30 weddings were collapsed according to two criteria: (a) genetic relatedness (0%, 6.25%, 12.5%, 25%, and 50%) and (b) kinship certainty (maternal or paternal lineage). Both hypotheses were supported. We discuss the implications of these data in understanding family dynamics, as well as practical applications associated with the marketing of gifts.     

Age-related differences in effectiveness of item restudy choices: the role of value

We examined the effect of value on effectiveness of restudy choices in younger and older adults by using an honor or dishonor procedure. In the honor condition, participants restudied the half of the items that they selected for restudy. In the dishonor condition, participants restudied the half of the items that they did not select for restudy. The results showed that younger adults restudied more low-value (1-point) items that they had rated as least-well learned, while older adults restudied more high-value (5-point) items. For younger adults, 1-point-value item performance in the honor condition was reliably higher than it was in the dishonor condition. For older adults, 5-point-value items performance in the honor condition was reliably higher than it was in the dishonor condition. These results suggest that older adults can exert effective restudy choices like younger adults when item value is manipulated.     

A topographical map approach to representing treatment efficacy: a focus on positive psychology interventions

A recent meta-analysis by Bolier et al. indicated that positive psychology interventions have overall small to moderate effects on well-being, but results were quite heterogeneous across intervention trials. Such meta-analytic research helps condense information on the efficacy of a broad psychosocial intervention by averaging across many effects; however, such global averages may provide limited navigational guidance for selecting among specific interventions. Here, we introduce a novel method for displaying qualitative and quantitative information on the efficacy of interventions using a topographical map approach. As an initial prototype for demonstrating this method, we mapped 50 positive psychology interventions targeting well-being (as captured in the Bolier et al. [2013] meta-analysis, [Bolier, L., Haverman, M., Westerhof, G. J., Riper, H., Smit, F., & Bohlmeijer, E. (2013). Positive psychology interventions: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies. BMC Public Health, 13, 83]). Each intervention domain/subdomain was mapped according to its average effect size (indexed by vertical elevation), number of studies providing effect sizes (indexed by horizontal area), and therapist/client burden (indexed by shading). The geographical placement of intervention domains/subdomains was determined by their conceptual proximity, allowing viewers to gauge the general conceptual “direction” in which promising intervention effects can be found. The resulting graphical displays revealed several prominent features of the well-being intervention “landscape,” such as more strongly and uniformly positive effects of future-focused interventions (including, goal-pursuit and optimism training) compared to past/present-focused ones.     

可以兼顾策略、认知状态和能力的CD-CAT选题方法

当CD-CAT测验需要同时诊断被试的解题策略、认知状态并评估被试的宏观能力时,就需要在选题过程中兼顾这三个测量目标。用两种不同方式将多策略香农熵(MSSHE)指标与Fisher信息量相结合,提出多策略情境中的DWI指标MSDWI)选题法与“先用MSSHE后用Fisher信息量”的两步选题法。基于多策略RRUM模型(MS-RRUM),将这两种方法与随机选题法在不同属性数量条件下进行模拟比较,结果表明：当属性数量为4个或6个时,两步选题法在策略判准率、认知状态判准率和能力估计三个方面都有最佳的效果。     

四种新的基于属性平衡的CD-CAT选题策略开发研究

基于属性平衡的CD-CAT选题策略能够保证每个认知属性被相当数量的题目测量,从而提高被试属性判准率,传统的基于属性平衡的选题策略包括MMGDI法和MGCDI法。本文针对传统的基于属性测量次数平衡选题策略进行改进,提出4种新的基于属性平衡的选题策略：RMGDI、RMCDI、SE-RMGDI、SE-RMCDI,前两种为基于属性测量次数平衡,后两种为基于属性测量精度平衡的选题策略。模拟研究表明：（1）定长CD-CAT条件下,短测验中,MMGDI表现最好,而长测验中,SE-RMGDI和SE-RMCDI的表现优于传统的属性平衡选题策略。（2）不定长CD-CAT条件下,RMGDI在判准率指标上表现优于传统的属性平衡选题策略,4种新的属性平衡策略在测量效率和综合指标上的表现均优于传统的选题策略。     

Comprehensive Behavioral (ComB) Treatment of Trichotillomania: A Randomized Clinical Trial

ObjectiveThis study is the first controlled trial of comprehensive behavioral (ComB) treatment of trichotillomania (TTM). ComB provides individualized treatment based on factors triggering and maintaining hair pulling. Method: Participants (N = 36) were adults (M = 34.08 years old, SD = 12.26) meeting DSM5 criteria for TTM. A majority were female (80%) and Caucasian (75%), whereas 17% were African American and 19% Hispanic/Latinx. In a parallel-group design, participants were randomly assigned to (a) Immediate ComB (12 sessions) or (b) Minimal Attention Control (MAC), followed by delayed ComB after week 12. Follow-up continued through week 38. Primary outcomes were self-report (Massachusetts General Hospital Hair pulling Scale; MGH-HPS) and interviewer-rated (NIMH-Trichotillomania Impact Scale and Trichotillomania Severity Scale; TIS/TSS) TTM symptom severity, as well as diagnosis (Trichotillomania Diagnostic Interview).ResultsImmediate efficacy of ComB (vs. MAC) was statistically significant (p = .03) for self-reported symptoms, with an effect size d = −.78, but not significant for interviewer-rated symptoms or diagnostic status. Immediate ComB was significantly more likely than MAC (27% vs. 0%) to lead to complete abstinence from hair pulling at week 12. Follow-ups showed good maintenance of effects.ConclusionsEfficacy of ComB was established for self-reported symptoms. Future research is needed to establish whether the lack of more widespread effects stems from limitations of the model or to a need for more extensive therapist training, as secondary analyses suggested stronger results among therapists with more TTM experience.     

On Interim Cognitive Diagnostic Computerized Adaptive Testing in Learning Context

Interim assessment occurs throughout instruction to provide feedback about what students know and have achieved. Different from the current available cognitive diagnostic computerized adaptive testing (CD-CAT) design that focuses on assessment at a single time point, the authors discuss several designs of interim CD-CAT that are suitable in the learning context. The interim CD-CAT differs from the current available CD-CAT designs primarily because students’ mastery profile (i.e., skills mastery) changes due to learning, and new attributes are added periodically. Moreover, hierarchies exist among attributes taught sequentially and such information could be used during item selection. Two specific designs are considered: The first one is when new attributes are taught in Stage II, but the student mastery status of the previously taught attributes stays the same. The second design is when both new attributes are taught, and previously taught attributes can be further learned or forgotten in Stage II. For both designs, the authors propose an individual prior, which considers a person’s learning history and population learning model, to start an interim CD-CAT. Simulation results show that the Stage II CD-CAT using individual prior outperforms the methods using population priors. The GDINA (generalized deterministic inputs, noisy, “and” gate) diagnostic index (GDI) is extended to accommodate item hierarchies, and analytic results are provided to further illustrate the types of items that are most popular during item selection. As the first study that focuses on the application of CD-CAT in a learning context, the methods and results present herein showed the great promise of using CD-CAT to monitor learning.