Motivationally selective risk judgments: Do fear and curiosity boost the boons or the banes?

Recent theories of judgment and decision-making have focused increasingly on the role of motivation, affect, and other drive states. The current research examined whether specific motivational orientations associated with approach versus avoidance might be linked selectively to judgments of positive versus negative decision outcomes and future events. Findings from three studies suggest that fear—an emotion intrinsically linked to threat avoidance—was more strongly associated with judgments of negative outcomes than judgments of positive outcomes. In contrast, curiosity—a motivational orientation associated with approaching desired information and experiences—was more strongly associated with judgments of positive outcomes than judgments of negative outcomes. Findings are discussed with respect to functionalist theories of motivation and selective cognition.     

Neurocognitive Functioning in AD/HD,Predominantly Inattentive and Combined Subtypes

The Predominantly Inattentive (PI) and Combined (CB) subtypes of AD/HD differ in cognitive tempo, age of onset, gender ratio, and comorbidity, yet a differentiating endophenotype has not been identified. The aim of this study was to test rigorously diagnosed PI, CB, and typical children on measures selected for their potential to reveal hypothesized differences between the subtypes in specific neurocognitive systems (anterior vs. posterior attentional systems) and processes (arousal vs. activation). Thirty-four CB and 26 PI children meeting full DSM-IV criteria for subtype both in school and at home, without confounding reading disability or emotional disorder, were enrolled along with 20 typically developing children. Neurocognitive functions measured included attention, inhibitory control, working memory, learning, and executive functions. Tasks included the Stroop, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Continuous Performance Test (CPT). Buschke Selective Reminding Test, ad the Tower of London (TOL), as well as instruments developed by Posner and Sternberg, and tasks assessing the impact on reaction time of [corrected] varying preparatory intervals and stimulus/response complexity. After co-varying for IQ, subtypes differed primarily on measures of impulsivity during tests of vigilance (CPT) and executive function (TOL), with the CB group showing greater impulsivity than both other groups. In addition, the PI group showed worse performance than CB and control groups on the WISC-III Processing Speed Index. Whether analyzed with or without an IQ co-variate, there was no support in the data for hypothesized differences between subtypes in functioning of the anterior vs. posterior attentional systems, nor in involvement of arousal vs. activation processes. The results indicate that the PI and CB subtypes are best differentiated by ratings, observations and tests of cognitive tempo and behavioral impulsivity. Neuropsychological methods have yet to identify critical neuropsychological [corrected] substrates of these differences.     

Risk and protective factors for urban African-American youth

The present study investigated risk and resilience processes in a sample of urban African-American youth. Risk and protective factors were assessed across ecological levels including individual, family and community. Both externalizing and internalizing symptomatology were included as measures of child adjustment. Youth and parental reports as well as various methods, such as the Experience Sampling Method, were used to capture the daily experiences of the adolescents from different perspectives. Poverty, hassles, and exposure to violence predicted higher rates of externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Individual and family protective variables emerged as powerful sources of resilience. An inner sense of confidence and helpful family support were associated with reductions in the deleterious effects of community poverty. Two main patterns, protective-stabilizing and overwhelming-risk, seemed to characterize most of the risk by protective factor interactions. The present findings are important for understanding the complex experiences of urban youth and furthering the literature on sources of risk and protection for African-Americans.     

Social neuroscience of child and adolescent depression

The social neuroscience of child and adolescent depression is inherently multidisciplinary. Depressive disorders beginning early in life can have serious developmental and functional consequences. Psychopathology research has described depression's defining clinical and contextual features, and intervention research has characterized its response to treatment and prevention programs. Neuroendocrine, electrophysiological, and neuroimaging studies have identified core neurobiological aspects of early-onset mood disorders. These areas are reviewed using a developmental social neuroscience perspective for integrating disparate observations. The paper introduces a dynamic adaptive systems framework, and it discusses hedonic capacity, stress sensitivity, ruminative self-focus, and attentional impairments as fundamental components of mood disorders.     

Eating disorder pathology among overweight treatment-seeking youth: clinical correlates and cross-sectional risk modeling

Preliminary research suggests that pediatric overweight is associated with increased eating disorder pathology, however, little is known about which overweight youth are most vulnerable to eating disorder pathology. We therefore investigated 122 overweight treatment-seeking youth to describe eating disorder pathology and mental health correlates, and to identify psychopathological constructs that may place overweight youth at increased risk for eating disorder pathology. Youth participated in a comprehensive assessment of eating disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, general psychopathology, and risk variables involving semi-structured clinical interviews and self- and parent-report questionnaires prior to the initiation of weight-loss treatment. Ten youth met criteria for an eating disorder, and over one-third endorsed recent binge eating. Eating disorder pathology was associated with depressive and anxious symptoms (p's<0.001). Structural equation modeling indicated increased negative affect, teasing experience, and thin-ideal internalization, and decreased perfectionism were associated with increased eating disorder pathology. Findings corroborate earlier work indicating that eating disorder pathology is elevated and clinically significant in overweight treatment-seeking youth, bolstering the need for mental health assessment of such individuals. Cross-sectional modeling proposed key variables that relate to eating disorder pathology in overweight treatment-seeking youth, which following prospective replication, may inform the development of effective interventions for overweight and eating disorders.     

Nanotoxicology and Ethical Conditions for Informed Consent

While their strength, electrical, optical, or magnetic properties are expected to contribute a trillion dollars in global commerce before 2015, nanomaterials also appear to pose threats to human health and safety. Nanotoxicology is the study of these threats. Do nanomaterial benefits exceed their risks? Should all nanomaterials be regulated? Currently nanotoxicologists cannot help answer these questions because too little is known about nanomaterials, because their properties differ from those of bulk materials having the same chemical composition, and because they differ so widely in their applications. Instead, this paper answers a preliminary ethical question: What nanotech policies are likely to contribute to society’s ability to give or withhold free informed consent to the potential risks associated with production and use of nanomaterials? This paper argues that at least four current policies appear to jeopardize the risk-disclosure condition that is required for informed consent. These are the funding problem, the conflict-of-interest problem, the labeling problem, and the extrapolation problem. Apart from future decisions on how to ethically make, use, and regulate nanomaterials, this paper argues that, at a minimum, these four policies must be modified. Government must spend greater monies on nanotoxicology; ensure independent nanotoxicology research; label consumer products containing nanomaterials; and avoid assuming that nanotoxicological properties are based merely on mass and chemical composition. Otherwise free informed consent to these new technologies and materials may be jeopardized.     

Accumulation of Risk and Promotive Factors Among Young Children in US Military Families

In the families of the new cohort of war veterans now entering the civilian population in the United States are over two million young children (Cozza, Haskins & Lerner, 2013; Institute of Medicine, 2013). Several noteworthy studies have shown that children exposed to separation from a parent due to combat‐related deployment are at elevated risk for a variety of negative consequences (Lester & Flake, 2013). Cozza et al. (2013) argue that existing studies of military children focus too much on the stresses or deficits they experience, failing to give sufficient attention to their strengths, the strengths of their families, or the supports around them. In the current study we focus on risk and promotive factors in the lives of children aged 0–10 in military families. We examine the likelihood of negative outcomes as functions of additive, cumulative, and interactive relationships between risk and promotive factors and children's outcomes. Risk factors, particularly parental depression, community poverty, and cumulative risk, were more strongly associated with children's outcomes than promotive factors. There was, however, a significant risk‐protective relationship between accumulations of risk and promotive factors, consistent with promotive conditions operating in a protective fashion under conditions of elevated risk.     

Flux and permanence of risk perceptions: Tourists' perception of the relative and absolute risk for various destinations

The present investigation is a cross‐sectional, multi‐national, quantitative, and quasi‐experimental comparison of tourists’ risk perceptions regarding different destinations throughout the past decade. Over 10,000 tourists to Norway from 89 different countries filled in a questionnaire rating the perceived risk for various destinations. Data were collected during 2004, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015 and allow for a comparison of perceived risk across time, place and nationality. Results show that while absolute risk judgments for different destinations fluctuate somewhat over the years, relative risk judgments remain constant. Findings also reveal a “home‐is‐safer‐then‐abroad‐bias” with tourists consistently perceiving their home country among the safest destinations. The current investigation is rare because it looks at more than one destination at a time. Insights gained from the present findings diverge from what would have been concluded from employing case studies, that is, looking at one destination at a time.     

Preference for human or algorithmic forecasting advice does not predict if and how it is used

Past research has found that people treat advice differently depending on its source. In many cases, people seem to prefer human advice to algorithms, but in others, there is a reversal, and people seem to prefer algorithmic advice. Across two studies, we examine the persuasiveness of, and judges' preferences for, advice from different sources when forecasting geopolitical events. We find that judges report domain-specific preferences, preferring human advice in the domain of politics and algorithmic advice in the domain of economics. In Study 2, participants report a preference for hybrid advice, that combines human and algorithmic sources, to either one on it's own regardless of domain. More importantly, we find that these preferences did not affect persuasiveness of advice from these different sources, regardless of domain. Judges were primarily sensitive to quantitative features pertaining to the similarity between their initial beliefs and the advice they were offered, such as the distance between them and the relative advisor confidence, when deciding whether to revise their initial beliefs in light of advice, rather than the source that generated the advice.     

飞行员风险知觉：概念、测量及研究理论取向

风险知觉是飞行员进行正确风险管理的核心,对保证航空安全具有重要作用。本文首先对不同研究者对飞行员风险知觉的概念进行综述,又与传统的知觉和危险知觉进行了区分。其次,文章简明地介绍了飞行员风险知觉的测量方法,包括外显的主观评价法、飞行模拟器测验、内隐联想测验等方法,分析各种方法的内容与其优缺点。最后,本文分别从认知理论取向和组织文化理论取向两个方面来探讨飞行员风险知觉的研究,并针对两种理论取向,提出相应的未来研究方向。