The influence of anxiety on action-specific perception

Abstract

Recent empirical research suggests that performance modulates perception. For example, baseball players judge the ball to be bigger when performing well as compared to when performing less successfully. Yet, the underlying processes that mediate the emergence of action-specific effects on perception are still largely unknown. To this end, we aimed to examine the impact of anxiety on the action-specific influence on perception as anxiety has been shown to affect both performance and perception. Thirty participants threw darts at a circle-shaped target and were then asked to judge the size of the target. The task was performed under conditions of low and high anxiety. Results replicated previously reported action-specific effects on perception under levels of low anxiety. However, these effects vanished in the high anxiety condition. Results seem to suggest that anxiety has a direct influence on the relation between performance and perception. Attentional control theory is discussed to explain the current findings.     

Does cost–benefit analysis or self‐control predict involvement in bullying behavior by male prisoners?

The main aim of this study is to assess whether lack of self-control or the perceived costs and benefits of aggression provide the better predictors of bullying behavior and victimization, and direct aggression perpetration, in a sample of 122 male British prisoners. We also assessed whether bullying was associated with height and weight. Zero-order correlations showed that perceived benefits, self-control, and perceived costs were most closely associated with perpetration of bullying, and that lack of self-control was weakly associated with victimization. Height and weight were unrelated to bullying or victimization. In a standard regression analyses, perceived benefits was the strongest predictor of bullying perpetration, with lack of self-control contributing further; all three variables made a significant contribution when direct aggression was the criterion. Mediation analysis showed that a combined cost-benefit measure partially mediated the association between self-control and both bullying and direct aggression. The findings are discussed in relation to explanations of aggression based on impulse control or a cost-benefit analysis.     

Do Jews Feel Like Outsiders in America? The Impact of Anti‐Semitism,Friendships, and Religious Geography

While once the archetypical outsiders, most Jews today do not feel like outsiders in the United States. Using the 2001 National Jewish Population Survey, we examine the factors that differentiate those who feel like outsiders from those who do not. We find that feeling like an outsider is largely associated with having experienced anti‐Semitism, the number of Jews living nearby, the proportion of a respondent's friends’ that are Jewish, and whether Jews identify with some branch of Judaism versus those who identify as ethnic Jews. Although the effects of discrimination on feeling like an outsider are unsurprising, the smaller but persistent effect of geographic context deserves more attention. Jews feel less like outsiders when they live in places where they can and do have more contact with other Jews. The increased within‐group ties that are possible in areas of greater Jewish concentration appear to facilitate psychological integration into the larger community.     

从效应量应有的性质看中介效应量的合理性

效应量的作用有两个方面, 一是弥补了统计检验的不足, 二是使得效应有可比性。结合统计显著性和效应量, 才能得出适当的统计结论。效应量应当具有一些基本性质, 包括与测量单位无关、单调性、不受样本容量的影响。国际上流行的中介效应量κ平方就是因为缺乏单调性而引发质疑和研究, 从而被彻底终结了其作为中介效应量的合法性。R平方型中介效应量同样有缺乏单调性的问题。文末讨论了如何报告中介效应量以及有待研究的问题。     

心理学研究方法中“质”与“量”的整合

心理学研究方法中“质”与“量”的分歧由来已久。虽然“质”与“量”的研究方法各有其优势,但是也不可避免地存在一些弱点。如果将质与量的方法进行整合,使之进行优势互补,从而更大可能地揭示心理现象发生和发展的规律是我们所面临的课题。要对质的研究方法与量的研究方法进行整合,首先必须“去范式”,将研究的重点聚焦于研究问题,而非范式;其次必须将质性的资料与定量的资料放在同一个层面上进行比较。该文通过一个案例,向读者介绍如何进行“质”与“量”的研究方法的整合     

字体大小和呈现位置对多媒体课件文字理解的影响

本研究通过多媒体教室现场实验和实验室实验,以判断成语的感情色彩为测试任务,探讨字体大小和位置对多媒体课件文字理解的影响。结果表明,字体尺寸大于0．26°视角时,位于多媒体教室不同座位区域的被试都能较好地理解多媒体课件呈现的文字内容,而文字呈现位置对多媒体课件文字理解的影响较小。     

A Unified Approach to Power Calculation and Sample Size Determination for Random Regression Models

The underlying statistical models for multiple regression analysis are typically attributed to two types of modeling: fixed and random. The procedures for calculating power and sample size under the fixed regression models are well known. However, the literature on random regression models is limited and has been confined to the case of all variables having a joint multivariate normal distribution. This paper presents a unified approach to determining power and sample size for random regression models with arbitrary distribution configurations for explanatory variables. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the usefulness of the proposed method and Monte Carlo simulation studies are also conducted to assess the accuracy. The results show that the proposed method performs well for various model specifications and explanatory variable distributions. The author would like to thank the editor, the associate editor, and the referees for drawing attention to pertinent references that led to improved presentation. This research was partially supported by National Science Council grant NSC-94-2118-M-009-004.     

Skull size and intelligence, and King Robert Bruce's IQ

An estimate of someone's IQ is a potentially informative personal datum. This study examines the association between external skull measurements and IQ scores, and uses the resulting regression equation to provide an estimate of the IQ of King Robert I of Scotland (Robert Bruce, 1274–1329). Participants were 48 relatively healthy Caucasian men (age 71–76 years) resident in Scotland. Using magnetic resonance imaging data, intracranial volume estimated from external skull length and width correlated greater than .5 (p < .001) with measured intracranial area, which correlates very highly with brain volume. IQ scores estimated from the National Adult Reading Test (NART) correlated .56 (p < .001) with measured intracranial area, and .49 (p < .01) with estimated intracranial volume based on external skull width and length. The partial correlation coefficient of this latter association was .25 (p = .09) after adjustment for measured intracranial area. Thus, actual intracranial area accounts for about 74% of the variance shared by NART and estimated intracranial volume. A cast of the skull of Robert Bruce was measured and its intracranial volume estimated. A regression equation between IQ and estimated intracranial volume, based on data from the 48 subjects, estimated the IQ of Robert Bruce at about 128 (95% confidence interval 106 to  130), i.e. almost two standard deviations above the mean. NART scores show a ceiling effect, so this estimated IQ might be an underestimate. Robert Bruce's estimated high IQ is congruent with his military, political and other intellectual achievements.     

权力相关词语的判断的大小效应及其可控性

采用Stroop干扰实验范式,证实权力词语判断的大小效应,并探索采用意识性干预和试次偏差分布策略是否会使大小效应得到控制。实验1中试次类型变量主效应极其显著。实验2中试次类型变量与提示条件变量的交互作用边缘显著。实验3中试次类型变量与提示条件变量的交互作用显著;试次类型变量与试次分布变量的交互作用显著。结果表明,权力相关词语的判断中存在大小效应,提示信息使大小效应得到控制,试次偏差分布使大小效应发生反转。     

The relationship between feeding rate and patch choice.

Rats in a laboratory foraging simulation searched for sequential opportunities to feed in two patches that differed in the rate at which food pellets were delivered (controlled by fixed-interval schedules) and in the size of the pellets. The profitability of feeding in each patch was calculated in terms of time (grams per minute) and in terms of effort (grams per bar press). These values were the result of the imposed fixed interval, the size of the pellets, and the rate at which the rats pressed the bar in each condition. The rats ate more food and larger meals, but not more frequent meals, at the patch offering the higher rate of food consumption, calculated as grams per minute. The relative intake at any patch was a function of the relative rate of intake during meals at that patch compared to the other patch. Rats respond to explicit manipulations of feeding time in the same manner as they respond to manipulations of feeding effort.