Adventitious control by the location of comparison stimuli in conditional discriminations.

In a conditional discrimination procedure, samples appeared in a center key, and comparisons appeared in two of four outer keys. The location of comparison keys varied from trial to trial. Separate learning curves for each of the six possible pairs of comparison keys were plotted in a signal-detection space, revealing different patterns of progress on each pair. Also, when learned conditional discriminations were disrupted, pairs of keys differed in their patterns of disruption. Varying the location of comparison stimuli among six different pairs of keys had not eliminated key position as a controlling aspect of the stimuli. The variations simply increased the number of stimulus compounds--key position and experimental stimuli--that the subject learned. Plotting conditional-discrimination learning curves in a signal-detection space reveals relations among hits, false alarms, accuracy, and comparison preference that help to define a subject's progress.     

THE BEHAVIORAL THEORY OF TIMING: TRANSITION ANALYSES

Gibbon and Church (1990, 1992) have recently confirmed an important, parameter-free prediction of the behavioral theory of timing (Killeen & Fetterman, 1988): The times of exiting from a bout of activity are positively correlated with the times of entrance to it. The correlations were slightly less than predicted, however, and the correlations between the start of an activity and the time spent engaged in that activity were negative, rather than zero. We adapted their serial model as an augmented (one-parameter) version of the behavioral theory, positing a lag between the receipt of a pulse from the pacemaker and transition into the next class of responses. The augmented version of the behavioral theory further improved the correspondence between the theory and the correlational data reported by Gibbon and Church. It also accounts for previously unpublished data from our laboratory derived from a new timing technique, the “peak choice” procedure. We show that the measured variance of movement times from one key to another closely approximates the estimated variance of transition times recovered from fits of the augmented model to the data. Such correspondence both attests to the correct identification of this source of variance and suggests ways to remove it, both from behavior and from our models of behavior.     

Good Enough for an Affair. Self‐Enhancement of Attractiveness,Interest in Potential Mates and Popularity as a Mate

Using data from the Berlin Speed Dating Study, we tested rival hypotheses concerning the effects of self‐enhancement of attractiveness on dating outcomes. Three hundred eighty‐two participants took part in one of the 17 speed‐dating sessions. After each speed‐dating interaction, participants indicated how interesting they found the respective person as a long‐term and short‐term partner. Using social relations analyses, we computed perceiver effects (being more or less choosy) and target effects (being rated as more or less interesting) of long‐term and short‐term partner ratings. Self‐enhancement was operationalized as the discrepancy between self‐rated attractiveness and four components of actual attractiveness (observer‐rated facial and vocal attractiveness, height and body mass index). Results indicated that self‐enhancers were less choosy with respect to their interest for short‐term partners, which was especially true for men, but more choosy with respect to long‐term partners. With regard to popularity as a mate, potential partners indicated that they found self‐enhancers more interesting as short‐term partners but not as long‐term partners. As self‐enhancement is a key component of narcissism, these results are consistent with findings that narcissists perceive many sexual affairs as an achievement, while preferring selected ‘trophy’ long‐term partners, and narcissists have a charming appeal for short‐term, but not lasting, social relationships. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology     

ROC analyses in eyewitness identification research

There has been a recent surge of interest in analyzing the results of eyewitness identification experiments using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves. Proponents of this approach have argued not only that ROC analyses are useful but that more traditional approaches are deficient and should not be used. Three arguments might be made for why researchers would prefer ROC approaches over other techniques. The first is that ROC analyses can provide an index of underlying memory discriminability. The second is that ROC analyses provide useful information about the practical utility of identification procedures. The third is that ROC analyses are useful for testing theory. In this article, I critically examine each of these arguments and conclude that recent claims that ROC methods provide the only justifiable method of comparing identification procedures are overstated.     

Measuring stress in clinical and nonclinical subjects using a German adaptation of the Perceived Stress Scale

Background/Objective: Stress is perceived differently across individuals, which might be particularly true for nonclinical and clinical subjects. For this reason, we tested a German adaption of the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) for model fit and measurement invariance in a big nonclinical and clinical sample. Method: We (1) conducted multiple confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in 1,248 nonclinical subjects and 575 outpatients, (2) measurement invariance with multigroup CFA, (3) assessed correlations with relevant constructs and (4) calculated internal consistencies for overall stress and the subscales Helplessness and Self-efficacy. Results: In both samples, CFA revealed a robust two-factorial structure with an excellent model fit. Group comparisons revealed strict measurement invariance. Correlations with associated measures support validity. Internal consistencies were good to very good. Conclusions: We show highly satisfactory psychometric properties of the German PSS-10 for nonclinical and clinical individuals. Measurement invariance analyses demonstrated that varying stress levels of people with a different mental health status are due to true interindividual differences.     

Is there space for time in social psychology publications? A content analysis across five journals

To what extent can social psychology study individuals within social contexts without strengthening theories and methods appropriate for the analysis of individual development within changing societies? Theoretical and epistemological arguments stressing the centrality of a temporal dimension are reviewed. In order to generate an objective picture of the current research practices, a standardized content analysis was carried out on 699 empirical studies published around 2000 in the European Journal of Social Psychology (EJSP), the British Journal of Social Psychology (BJSP), the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JPSP), the Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology (JCASP) and Social Psychology Quarterly (SPQ). This corpus was completed by a four‐point longitudinal analysis—1972/1986/1993/2000—of BJSP, EJSP and JPSP publications. Findings reveal that most empirical studies are carried out on student samples and do not include time‐ or age‐related explanatory variables, particularly in European mainstream publications. Structural analyses taking into account research methods, research topics, journals, and countries of the first authors suggest two oppositions that organize the field of research: a laboratory versus contextualized approach and a developmental versus monographic approach of social psychology. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamics of visuo-spatial remembering: a study of information structuring in memory

We studied the process by which learning a pattern of motor activity reaches a steady-state characterized by a reduction in fluctuations. The stimuli consisted of eight visually presented dots that appeared sequentially. In a 20-trial learning phase, participants reproduced the positions of the eight dots after each presentation. Next, they reproduced the pattern 40 times without renewed presentation. In one condition, spatial distances between the dots were proportional to the intervals between their appearances; in the other they were not proportional. We analyzed how the reproduction stabilized at the configuration and dot levels. In proportional as well as non-proportional conditions, stabilization occurs at different time scales for the configuration and dot levels. The stabilization rate differed between proportional and non-proportional conditions. These results are discussed in the framework of dynamical systems.     

组织气氛与员工参与的关系

员工参与是提高组织绩效的重要一环 ,也是组织提高运作效率和使员工产生积极心态的关键 ;组织气氛是影响员工参与的一个重要因素。文章探讨了组织气氛与员工参与之间的关系 ,对全国各地区共 14 8家企业的90 4份调查问卷进行了单因素方差分析和逐步回归分析。研究结果表明 ,员工参与变量有显著的所有制差异和地区差异 ;低科层性的、创新性的和支持性的组织气氛会显著地提高员工参与水平 ;企业的科层式管理体制 ,是影响员工参与水平的最显著因素。研究结果对我国企业管理者有重要的启示     

Variability in the early development of visual self-recognition

A study was conducted to evaluate the (1) developmental course and (2) the temporal sequencing of visual (mirror, photo) and verbal (personal pronoun use) measures of self-recognition as well as the ability to locate a toy from its mirror image in relation to the child's own mirror image. A microgenetic approach was adopted to assess 10 toddlers biweekly between 15 and 23 months of age and for comparison, a cross-section of children tested once across the same age range. Longitudinal data indicated that visual self-recognition emerged gradually and showed wide variability in expression prior to becoming stable, a finding masked in the cross-sectional data where performance appeared to improve abruptly. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal data confirmed that mirror self-recognition was the earliest precursor of the indices of self-recognition to emerge followed by the use of personal pronouns and photo identification. Implications for the emergence and integration of the self are discussed.     

Variability in infant motor behavior: A hallmark of the healthy nervous system

Application of the concepts of the Neuronal Group Selection Theory (NGST) may shed a new light on motor development. According to NGST, normal motor development is characterized by two phases of variability. Variation is not random, but determined by criteria set by genetic information. Development starts with the phase of primary variability, during which variation in motor behavior is not geared to external conditions. At function-specific ages secondary variability starts, during which motor performance can be adapted to specific situations. In both forms of variability selection on the basis of afferent information plays a significant role. From the NGST point of view, children with pre- or perinatally acquired brain damage suffer from stereotyped motor behavior produced by a limited repertoire of primary (sub)cortical neuronal networks. These children also have problems in selecting the most efficient neuronal activity due to deficits in the processing of sensory information.