A processing fluency explanation of bias against migrants

This research investigated whether people are biased against migrants partly because they find migrants more difficult to cognitively process than nonmigrants. In Study 1, 181 undergraduate students evaluated migrant and nonmigrant members of two minimal groups and reported the difficulty that they experienced in thinking about each type of target. Participants rated migrants less positively than nonmigrants, and difficulty ratings partially mediated this effect. Study 2 (N = 191) replicated these findings and demonstrated similar findings for individuals who had been excluded from minimal groups. This evidence implies that migrant bias can be explained partly in terms of the difficulty that people have in processing information about migrants, and that it is related to migrants’ exclusion from their original group.     

The central tendency of a social group can affect ratings of its intragroup variability in the absence of social identity concerns

People report less variability within in-groups than within out-groups when they make their ratings on traits on which the in-group has a higher central tendency than the out-group. [Simon, 1992a] and [Simon, 1992b] proposed that this effect is motivated by the need to protect a positive social identity. The present research tested the necessity of the social identity motive by using participants who were not members of any of the target groups that they judged. In Study 1 (N = 60), psychology undergraduate students reported significantly less intragroup variability on positive traits among a group of fashion designers that won a fashion competition than among a group that lost. Study 2 (N = 75) found a reverse effect on negative traits and confirmed the mediating role of perceived central tendency. These results demonstrate that the social identity motive is not necessary to explain the effect of central tendency on ratings of intragroup variability, and that the effect is more general than previously reported.     

Social group norms,school norms,and children's aggressive intentions

This study examined whether the effect of social group norms on 7‐ and 10‐year‐old children's aggression can be moderated or extinguished by contrary school norms. Children (n=384) participated in a simulation in which they were assigned membership in a social group for a drawing competition against an outgroup. Participants learnt that their group had a norm of inclusion, exclusion, or exclusion‐plus‐relational aggression, toward non‐group members, and that the school either had a norm of inclusion, or no such norm. Findings indicated that group norms influenced the participants' direct and indirect aggressive intentions, but that the school norm moderated the group norm effect, with the school's norm effect tending to be greater for indirect vs. direct aggression, males vs. females, and younger vs. older participants. Discussion focused on how school norms can be developed, endorsed, and presented so that they have their most lasting effect on children. Aggr. Behav. 36:195–204, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

早期目标血糖管理下严重脓毒症患者HMGB1的变化及其临床意义

探讨早期目标血糖管理对严重脓毒症患者HMGB1变化的影响.严重脓毒症患者随机分为血糖控制A（4.4mmol/L~6.1mmol/L）、B（6.2mmol/L~8.3mmol/L）、C（8.4mmol/L~10.0mmol/L）三组.给予早期目标血糖管理,入ICU后0d、1d、3d、5d、7d采血测TNF-α、HMGB1浓度.三组TNF-α、HMGB1浓度及APACHEⅡ评分均呈下降趋势,A组HMGB1浓度及APACHEⅡ评分在第7d较B、C组明显降低（P＜0.05）.A组28d病死率较B、C组降低（P＆gt;0.05）.严重脓毒症患者在早期目标血糖管理下,显著降低HMGB1浓度,降低病死率和改善预后,HMGB1可用来评价脓毒症的严重程度及预后.     

How the disadvantaged appraise group-based exclusion: The path from legitimacy to illegitimacy

Although many forms of differential treatment based on group membership are perceived to be legitimate, disadvantaged group members’ responses to discrimination have been studied primarily in contexts in which such treatment is appraised as illegitimate. This has resulted in an impoverished understanding of differential group-based treatment and a failure to illuminate the processes by which discrimination can shift from being seen as legitimate to being viewed as illegitimate. We discuss the determinants of disadvantaged group members’ legitimacy appraisals and the de-legitimisation process, whereby forms of discrimination appraised as legitimate come to be increasingly perceived as illegitimate. Whether group-based exclusion is addressed collectively or individually depends on socio-structural factors such as the pervasiveness of discrimination, impermeability of intergroup boundaries, and the availability of cognitive alternatives to the status quo. We conclude that understanding the antecedents and consequences of legitimacy appraisals is necessary to develop a comprehensive account of disadvantaged group members’ experiences of group-based discrimination.     

Network Hubs and Opportunity for Complex Thinking Among Young British Muslims

This study examines whether individuals in a network esteem peers who think in integratively complex ways about religious issues in the context of a small‐group educational course comprised of young British Muslims. Integrative complexity (IC) measures the degree to which an individual's information processing is characterized by (a) rigid, black‐and‐white thinking or (b) ability to recognize the validity of, and integrate, multiple perspectives. A novel measurement procedure was developed for this research called the Social Field Generator. Results from seven groups (n = 55) showed that (a) participants with levels of IC were described by their peers with more positive sentiment than their low‐IC counterparts; (b) the higher the IC scores of participants, the closer peers felt toward them; and (c) the highest IC individuals were consistently selected as sources of advice, whereas the lowest IC individuals were not viewed as sources of advice. This research shows that within an educational environment aimed at promoting complex thinking, group processes and grassroots religious leadership can encourage higher levels of IC as a group norm.     

Variability and Determinism in Motor Behavior

In investigations into perception-action systems, variability of observable behavior may be considered to (a) interfere with inquiry, (b) be neither detrimental nor particularly useful to inquiry, or (c) play a crucial role in inquiry. The authors underscore recent suggestions that alternative (c) is a preferred strategy for the study of many motor behaviors. In tutorial fashion, the authors review the concepts of variability and determinism with respect to postural and rhythmic movements. Study of the variability of those behaviors has revealed crucial features suggestive of underlying mechanisms and control, such as particular blends of noise and determinism (piecewise determinism). It has also revealed general lessons (for example, more variable does not mean more random and more controllable does not mean more deterministic) that may extend to other classes of perceptual-motor behavior.     

Force Control Is Greater in the Upper Compared With the Lower Extremity

The authors investigated whether force control is similar between the upper and lower limbs and between contractions that involve 1 or 2 joints. Six volunteers (27.5 ± 11.2 years of age) attempted to produce consistent discrete rapid force responses of 30, 60, and 90 N by using 6 different body postures, 3 with the upper and 3 with the lower limb. One of the postures for each limb involved 2 joints. The standard deviation of peak force and impulse (aggregate of the force-time curve) was significantly greater (?25%) for the lower limb than for the upper limb (p < .01). Contractions that involved 1 or 2 joints within a limb had similar variability. Therefore, the upper limb might have better control of force than the lower limb because of its extensive use in fine motor tasks in daily activities.     

Monocular and Binocular Vision in the Control of Goal-Directed Movement

In the present research the authors examined the time course of binocular integration in goal-directed aiming and grasping. With liquid-crystal goggles, the authors manipulated vision independently to the right and left eyes of 10 students during movement preparation and movement execution. Contrary to earlier findings reported in catching experiments (I. Olivier, D. J. Weeks, K. L. Ricker, J. Lyons, & D. Elliott, 1998), neither a temporal nor a spatial binocular advantage was obtained in 1 grasping and 2 aiming studies. That result suggests that, at least in some circumstances, monocular vision is sufficient for the precise control of limb movements. In a final aiming experiment involving 3-dimen- sional spatial variability and no trial-to-trial visual feedback about performance, binocular vision was associated with greater spatial accuracy. Binocular superiority appeared to be most pronounced when participants were unable to adjust their limb control strategy or procedure on the basis of terminal feedback about performance.     

Directional Variability of the Isometric Force Vector Produced by the Human Hand in Multijoint Planar Tasks

Numerous studies have examined control of force magnitude, but relatively little research has considered force direction control. The subjects applied isometric forces to a handle and the authors compared within-trial variability when force is produced in different directions. The standard deviation of the force parallel to the prescribed direction of force production increased linearly with the targeted force level, as did the standard deviation of the force perpendicular to the instructed direction. In contrast, the standard deviation of the angle of force production decreased with increased force level. In the 4 (of 8) instructed force directions where the endpoint force was generated due to a joint torque in only 1 joint (either the shoulder or elbow) the principal component axes in force space were well aligned with the prescribed direction of force production. In the other directions, the variance was approximately equal along the 2 force axes. The variance explained by the first principal component was significantly larger in torque space compared to the force space, and mostly corresponded to positive correlation between the joint torques. Such coordinated changes suggest that the torque variability was mainly due to the variability of the common drive to the muscles serving 2 joints, although this statement needs to be supported by direct studies of muscle activation in the future.