Likable co-witnesses increase eyewitness accuracy and decrease suggestibility

This study examines the impact of likability on memory accuracy and memory conformity between two previously unacquainted individuals. After viewing a crime, eyewitnesses often talk to one another and may find each other likable or dislikable. One hundred twenty-seven undergraduate students arrived at the laboratory with an unknown confederate and were assigned to a likability condition (i.e., control, likable or dislikable). Together, the pair viewed pictures and was then tested on their memory for those pictures in such a way that the participant knew the confederate's response. Thus, the participant's response could be influenced both by his or her own memory and by the answers of the confederate. Participants in the likable condition were more accurate and less influenced by the confederate, compared with the other conditions. Results are discussed in relation to research that shows people are more influenced by friends than strangers and in relation to establishing positive rapport in forensic interviewing.     

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.     

Eye-Hand Coordination in Rhythmical Pointing

The authors investigated the relation between hand kinematics and eye movements in 2 variants of a rhythmical Fitts's task in which eye movements were necessary or not necessary. P. M. Fitts's (1954) law held in both conditions with similar slope and marginal differences in hand-kinematic patterns and movement continuity. Movement continuity and eye—hand synchronization were more directly related to movement time than to task index of difficulty. When movement time was decreased to fewer than 350 ms, eye—hand synchronization switched from continuous monitoring to intermittent control. The 1:1 frequency ratio with stable π/6 relative phase changed for 1:3 and 1:5 frequency ratios with less stable phase relations. The authors conclude that eye and hand movements in a rhythmical Fitts's task are dynamically synchronized to produce the best behavioral performance.     

Decision Strategies and the Confidence–Accuracy Relationship in Face Recognition

The decision strategy used to select a choice set from an array of alternative options is known to affect the composition of the final choice set. Specifically, individuals incorporate more answers into their choice set when it is created by eliminating implausible items than when the set is created through the inclusion of plausible options. This difference is accounted for in a decision framework that posits a general reluctance to change the status quo (i.e., actively include or exclude an item). We extended this work to investigate, not only the decisions themselves, but also metacognitive judgments (i.e., confidence in the accuracy of the choice set). In two face recognition experiments, we tested the impact of decision strategy (Experiment 1) and confidence judgment strategy (Experiment 2) on the confidence–accuracy relationship. In Experiment 1, participants completed two blocks of recognition trials, one under inclusion (marking previously seen faces) and one under elimination (marking previously unseen faces) instructions. We observed superior resolution (i.e., discrimination between correct and incorrect) for inclusion trials, but only when they were completed prior to use of the elimination strategy. In Experiment 2, all participants completed face recognition trials under inclusion instructions, but we manipulated the strategy used to assess confidence. Again, we observed a significant impact of strategy on confidence–accuracy resolution. Thus, we observed that both the strategy employed to reach a decision and that employed to assess confidence affected the confidence–accuracy relationship. We discuss theoretical and applied (particularly for eyewitness identification and multiple‐choice testing) implications. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Verbal Memory Deficits in Children with Less than 750 g Birth Weight

Numerous studies have documented memory deficits in very low birthweight (VLBW, &lt; 1500 g) children, yet we know little about the nature of these memory problems. To clarify memory sequelae and examine memory deficits in relation to the degree of low birth weight, we administered the California Verbal Learning Test–Children’s Version (CVLT-C) to a regional sample of 57 &lt; 750 g birthweight children and to groups of 53 750–1499 g birthweight children and 49 term-born controls. Group comparisons revealed significant differences between the &lt; 750 g birthweight group and term-born children on measures of list learning, delayed recall, and inaccurate recall. In addition, the percentage improvement in correct recognitions relative to long-term delayed recall was greater in the &lt; 750 g group than in the term-born controls. Similar differences were observed between VLBW children with and without abnormal neonatal cerebral ultrasounds (high- and low-risk groups). Differences in learning rate between the VLBW and term-born groups, and between high- and low-risk VLBW children, were evident even when vocabulary skill was covaried or when children with neurosensory deficits or IQ &lt; 80 were excluded from analysis. The findings document deficits in verbal memory in the subset of VLBW children at greatest biological risk, and suggest that acquisition processes are selectively impaired.     

对信息源的正向跟随倾向对决策效果的影响*

采用实验研究的方法,检验了二元选择情形下高准确率信息源(准确率x >50%)和低准确率信息源(准确率为1?x)对决策者预测效果的影响。尽管从逻辑上二者从准确率层面具有完全相等的信息价值,然而研究结果显示,决策者更倾向于采用正向跟随而非逆向跟随的方式处理来自信息源的信息。这导致低准确信息源的价值未能得以充分利用。学习和信息源的规范性对该信息处理倾向起到调节作用。     

Monitoring and meta-metacognition in the own-race bias

Although there is a great deal of research focused on identification issues related to own-versus other-race faces very few experiments have explored whether metacognitive monitoring contributes to the own-race bias. In the current experiment the typical own-race bias paradigm was modified so that type-2 signal detection measures (e.g.  and ) could be used to directly measure metacognitive monitoring at retrieval. A second goal of the experiment was to explore whether self-reported confidence ratings differed depending on whether they were directed at answer accuracy (e.g., judging a face as “studied”) versus at decisions about that answer (e.g., volunteering vs. withholding that answer). Overall the results demonstrated that monitoring does contribute to the own-race bias, in that participants were better at monitoring their memory for own-race faces. Further, there was a significant difference between the two confidence measures, and the pattern of this difference depended on whether responses had been volunteered or withheld.     

Imprecise Epistemic Values and Imprecise Credences

A number of recent arguments purport to show that imprecise credences are incompatible with accuracy-first epistemology. If correct, this conclusion suggests a conflict between evidential and alethic epistemic norms. In the first part of the paper, I claim that these arguments fail if we understand imprecise credences as indeterminate credences. In the second part, I explore why agents with entirely alethic epistemic values can end up in an indeterminate credal state. Following William James, I argue that there are many distinct alethic values that a rational agent can have. Furthermore, such an agent is rationally permitted not to have settled on one fully precise value function. This indeterminacy in value will sometimes result in indeterminacy in epistemic behaviour—that is, because the agent’s values aren’t settled, what she believes might not be.     

人格判断的准确性:特质特性的作用

特质特性是影响人格判断准确性的重要调节变量。已有的研究表明,可观察性高的特质容易判断,判断的准确性和一致性也更高;特质的可评估性干扰了自我知觉的准确性,与中性特质相比,可评估性特质的自我—他人一致性更低;与清晰特质相比,模糊特质的自我—同伴判断间的一致性更低,且随特质模糊性的增加而递减。不仅如此,特质特性经常与其他因素如熟悉度交互作用于人格判断的准确性,在考查特质特性的作用时,必须提高研究的生态效度,将该变量与特性匹配、特质分类、个体差异及文化差异等因素综合起来考虑。     

具有类属知识性的思维:群体区别判断过程中的复杂性、有效性、有用性和实质性

类属性思维(stereotypes)在一定的程度上是对群体区别正确反映的类属信仰.类属性思维比我们一般假想的更为复杂.首先,我们在本论文中探讨了在立体性的类属性思维EPA理论框架之下的多维度,即类属性思维的三维度:评估、激活和准确度.同时还特别讨论了类属性思维与具体集体共识的表征特点的图腾信仰之间的密切关系.其次,对于作为人类信仰一部分的类属性思维准确性莫衷一是的研究,我们进行了全面综述,并且本文还仔细考查文化类属性思维,个体类属性思维,个体与群体的判断,准确性评判的标准,和原分析的数据等等,同时进一步表明类属性思维和客观现实性有密不可分的关系.最后,我们指出类属性思维对解释群体和民族的区别非常重要,特别是人的感知的实质性寓于实在的客观群体本身(“感知的同一性”).我们认为,类属性思维的过程,对于高度的实体性和感知的实质性的群体来说,具有深刻影响,况且群体或部落(民族)的图腾也是其群体或民族的实体性的外在表现.尽管我们不可能解决同类属性思维的过程有关的所有争论,但我们所强调的观点是:类属性思维是人类相互影响和生存的有效类属性识别.