Information‐Seeking as a Precaution Behavior: Exploring the Role of Decision‐Making Stages

The Planned Risk Information Seeking Model (PRISM) was employed to explain people's information‐seeking intentions in the context of hydraulic fracturing. Stages from the Precaution Adoption Process Model (PAPM) were included in the analysis as a moderator. The PRISM fit the data well. Moreover, results showed overall model differences among people who have not decided to take action on hydraulic fracturing, people who have decided to take action, and people who have decided not to take action. Findings provided justifications for tailored messages to encourage information seeking among the varying publics.     

Openness, fluid intelligence, and crystallized intelligence: Toward an integrative model

Many studies are concerned with the bivariate relationships between Openness, fluid intelligence (Gf), and crystallized intelligence (Gc). Results suggest an influence of Gf and Openness on Gc. However, the overlap between Gf and Openness is rarely controlled for. Moreover, interaction effects or longitudinal influences are also often neglected. The present two studies aimed to elucidate exactly these interactions and longitudinal influences. Besides a main effect of Gf on Gc, Study 1 (N = 180) revealed an interaction effect between Openness and Gf. Study 2 utilized longitudinal data (N = 172) and identified an effect of Openness on the development of Gf. Gf and Openness predicted Gc 6 years later. A model integrating the results and providing a theoretical framework and outlook is proposed.     

Ecosystem Dynamics: a Natural Middle

Conflicts between science and religion revolve about fundamental assumptions more often than they do facts or theories. The key postulates that have guided science since the Enlightenment appear to be wholly inadequate to describe properly the development of ecosystems. An emended set of tenets adequate to the ecological narrative also significantly ameliorates the adversarial nature of the dialogue between scientists and theists.     

Evolution and Process Thought

Five topics arising from evolutionary biology open new possibilities for fruitful dialogue between scientists and proponents of the process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. These topics (with the main authors whose views are discussed) are: (1) Contingency and Teleology, Stephen Jay Gould, Simon Conway Morris; (2) The Baldwin Effect and Interiority, Bruce Weber and David DePew, Daniel Dennett, Terrence Deacon, Susan Oyama; (3) Complexity and Design, Michael Behe, David Griffin; (4) Hierarchical Levels and Downward Causation, Theo Meyering, Charles Hartshorne; and (5) Self-organization and Emergence, Terrence Deacon, Philip Clayton. In the final section, I look at the relation of science and metaphysics and ask whether the subjectivity postulated by process philosophy is accessible to scientific investigation.     

The implicit learning of metrical and nonmetrical temporal patterns

Implicit learning (IL) occurs unintentionally. IL of temporal patterns has received minimal attention, and results are mixed regarding whether IL of temporal patterns occurs in the absence of a concurrent ordinal pattern. Two experiments examined the IL of temporal patterns and the conditions under which IL is exhibited. Experiment 1 examined whether uncertainty of the upcoming stimulus identity obscures learning. Based on probabilistic uncertainty, it was hypothesized that stimulus-detection tasks are more sensitive to temporal learning than multiple-alternative forced-choice tasks because of response uncertainty in the latter. Results demonstrated IL of metrical patterns in the stimulus-detection but not the multiple-alternative task. Experiment 2 investigated whether properties of rhythm (i.e., meter) benefit IL using the stimulus-detection task. The metric binding hypothesis states that metrical frameworks guide attention to periodic points in time. Based on the metric binding hypothesis, it was hypothesized that metrical patterns are learned faster than nonmetrical patterns. Results demonstrated learning of metrical and nonmetrical patterns but metrical patterns were not learned more readily than nonmetrical patterns. However, abstraction of a metrical framework was still evident in the metrical condition. The present study shows IL of auditory temporal patterns in the absence of an ordinal pattern.     

Conflict,metacognition, and analytic thinking

One hundred and three participants solved conflict and non-conflict versions of four reasoning tasks using a two-response procedure: a base rate task, a causal reasoning task, a denominator neglect task, and a categorical syllogisms task. Participants were asked to give their first, intuitive answer, to make a Feeling of Rightness (FOR) judgment, and then were given as much time as needed to rethink their answer. They also completed a standardized measure of IQ and the actively open-minded thinking questionnaire. The FORs of both high- and low-capacity reasoners were responsive to conflict, such that FORs were lower for conflict relative to non-conflict problems. Consistent with the quantity hypothesis, high-capacity reasoners made a greater distinction between conflict and non-conflict items on measures of Type 2 thinking, namely, rethinking time and probability of changing answers. In contrast to the quality hypothesis, however, this rethinking time did not advantage the ability of the high-capacity group to produce normative answers, except for the base rate task. Indeed, we observed that the correlation between capacity and the probability of normative answers emerged at the initial response, rather than after rethinking.     

Team adaptation: A fifteen-year synthesis (1998–2013) and framework for how this literature needs to “adapt” going forward

Organizations increasingly operate within dynamic environments that require them to adapt. To respond quickly and effectively to acute or on-going change, many organizations use teams to help them remain competitive. Accordingly, the topic of team adaptation has become more prominent within the broader organizational team literature. Given the wealth of knowledge that has been accumulated, we consider what has been learned to date. However, even with the increased attention to team adaptation within the literature, not all teams are created equal in terms of their capacity for adaptability. Thus, we review factors that serve as antecedents of team adaptation, the process of adaptation, and the resulting adaptive outcomes. Finally, we suggest future directions for research and practice as we introduce a conceptual framework, whereby the focus of a team’s adaptation process is impacted by the type and severity of the disruption or trigger that gives rise to the need for adaptation.