The cultural mediation hypothesis: A critical examination

A fascinating hypothesis has been proposed by Woodley (2010, Intelligence, 38: 471–480) to explain why intelligence, in contemporary Western countries, appears to be positively associated with left wing political attitudes. According to the hypothesis, the current Western ‘norm’ is relatively left-wing values, the intelligent are better at norm-mapping and better at perceiving the benefits of conforming to the dominant set of values and this explains why they are more likely, in this context, to be relatively left wing. This article will critically examine this hypothesis. It will argue that the evidence for it is questionable and open to different interpretations, there is evidence that contradicts it, and it leaves key questions unanswered. The article will propose that a simpler explanation for the association is that intelligence is positively associated with openness-intellect, low time preference and agreeableness.     

Anticipatory reaching of seven- to eleven-month-old infants in occlusion situations

The present study examined 7- to 11-month-old infants’ anticipatory and reactive reaching for temporarily occluded objects. Infants were presented with laterally approaching objects that moved at different velocities (10, 20, and 40 cm/s) in different occlusion situations (no-, 20 cm-, and 40 cm-occlusion), resulting in occlusion durations ranging between 0 and 4 s. Results show that except for object velocity and occlusion distance, occlusion duration was a critical constraint for infants’ reaching behaviors. We found that the older infants reached more often, but that an increase in occlusion duration resulted in a decline in reaching frequency that was similar across age groups. Anticipatory reaching declined with increasing occlusion duration, but the adverse effects for longer occlusion durations diminished with age. It is concluded that with increasing age infants are able to retain and use information to guide reaching movements over longer periods of non-visibility, providing support for the graded representation hypothesis (Jonsson &; von Hofsten, 2003) and the two-visual systems model (Milner &; Goodale, 1995).     

Student Preference for Explicit Timing and Interspersal Procedures as a Function of Math Problem Completion Rates: Testing the Discrete Task Completion Hypothesis

A within-subjects design was used to compare explicit timing and interspersal with college students. Students were given 3 minutes to complete problems on the explicit timing assignment (25 problems, 3 digits –3 digits) and the interspersal assignment (25 similar problems and 10 problems, 1 digit –1 digit). Results indicated that: (a) students completed more total problems during interspersal for both trials, (b) students completed more target problems during explicit timing for the second trial, and (c) students only preferred interspersal for the first trial. The data from trial one fit the discrete task completion hypothesis and matching law, yet the data from trial two do not match as closely (Skinner, 2002). Discussion focuses on continued need for more research on academic interventions, comparing academic interventions, the discrete task completion hypothesis, and the matching law.     

An Empirical Analysis of Interspersal Research: Evidence, Implications, and Applications of the Discrete Task Completion Hypothesis

Because assignment completion is often reinforced, researchers have posited that when students work on assignments with many discrete tasks (e.g., 20 mathematics problems), that each completed discrete task may be a conditioned reinforcer (e.g., Skinner et al., 1999). If the discrete task completion hypothesis is accurate, then relative task completion rates should influence choice behavior in the same manner as relative rates of reinforcement. In the current study, previous interspersal research was combined across experiments and regression analysis revealed a linear relationship between relative problem completion rates (RPCR) and choice in accordance with the matching law (Herrnstein, 1961, 1970). These results support the discrete task completion hypothesis and suggest that interspersing additional brief tasks enhances interval schedules of reinforcement. Theoretical and applied implications of the current study and the discrete problem completion hypothesis are discussed and directions for future research are provided.     

Theory as metaphor: clinical knowledge and its communication

Abstract :  This paper investigates the relationship between clinical knowledge and psychological theory and considers the implications for clinical writing. I argue that clinical knowledge is a way of understanding rather than a body of facts and compare clinical material to 'texts' that generate multiple and indeterminate meanings. Analytic theories, which represent the crystallization of ways of understanding clinical phenomena, have an inherently metaphorical 'as if' quality since they are derived from and adapted to the clinical process of making meaning by representing psychic states in symbolic form. Thus good clinical writing demonstrates an integration of theory and clinical material into a unified network of symbolic meanings. Redfearn's paper, 'The captive, the treasure, the hero and the "anal" stage of development' (1979), is discussed as an exemplar of such integration. It is suggested that clinical knowledge is equivalent to the skill of making effective interpretations.     

Examining Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis as One of the Main Views on the Relationship Between Language and Thought

One of those features that set human societies apart from animal societies is the use of language. Language is a vital part of every human culture and is a powerful social tool that we master at an early age. A second feature of humans is our ability to solve complex problems. For centuries philosophers have questioned whether these two abilities are related and, if so, what the nature of the relationship between language and thought is. At the beginning of the last century psychologists joined this debate and it is a topic that is currently generating a lot of research. Another factor in the study of language and thought is the role of culture. When we study a language from another country we see that it is not just the words and grammar that are different but the customs and traditions as well. Even the ideas of that culture and the way of dealing with life can be different. There are a number of views on the nature of the relationship between language and thought. But here we are going to explore one of those views, the linguistic relativity hypothesis (LRH), concerning that the language a speaker uses influences the way the speaker thinks.     

Rushton’s contributions to the study of mental ability

This essay describes Rushton’s contribution to examining the nexus of intelligence, race, and genetics, specifically what I termed “Spearman’s hypothesis”. It states that Black–White differences are “most marked in just those [tests] which are known to be saturated with g”. I (Jensen) had confirmed this hypothesis using large data sets in the 1970s and 1980s and also found that Black–White differences were most marked on the more heritable rather than the more cultural subtests. Rushton confirmed and extended these findings in many highly innovative ways and demonstrated Spearman’s hypothesis applied among samples of Gypsy Roma in Serbia, and East Asian, European, South Asian, Colored and Black samples in South Africa. He has not only documented group differences in brain size, intelligence, life span, family structure, infant mortality, developmental precocity, personality, and temperament, and rates of two egg twinning, and crime among East Asians, Europeans, and Africans, but also provided a life history theory that explains them.     

The P-psychopathy continuum: Facets of Psychoticism and their associations with psychopathic tendencies

Eysenck proposed that psychopathy is at the extreme end of the Psychoticism (P) personality dimension (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1976). This study examined (i) whether psychopathy-relevant P items of the EPQ-R can form psychometrically valid facets that map onto the conceptualization of the two-, three- or four-factor models of psychopathy using confirmatory factor analysis (N = 577) in a normal population; and (ii) whether those P-facets have criteria-related validity in associations with self-reported primary and secondary psychopathy, impulsivity (subsample N = 306), and measures of trait empathy and aggression (subsample N = 212). The four-factor model incorporating affective, interpersonal, impulsive, and antisocial facets of P was superior to the two-factor model; however, the three-factor conceptualization excluding the antisocial P-facet was the best fit. The facets show predicted divergent associations with primary and secondary self-reported psychopathy and trait measures. Findings are discussed in light of Eysenck’s P-psychopathy continuity hypothesis and the applicability of facet approaches to the prediction of psychopathic and antisocial tendencies.     

More of myself: Manipulating interoceptive awareness by heightened attention to bodily and narrative aspects of the self

Psychology distinguishes between a bodily and a narrative self. Within neuroscience, models of the bodily self are based on exteroceptive sensorimotor processes or on the integration of interoceptive sensations. Recent research has revealed interactions between interoceptive and exteroceptive processing of self-related information, for example that mirror self-observation can improve interoceptive awareness. Using heartbeat perception, we measured the effect on interoceptive awareness of two experimental manipulations, designed to heighten attention to bodily and narrative aspects of the self. Participants gazed at a photograph of their own face or at self-relevant words. In both experimental conditions interoceptive awareness was significantly increased, compared to baseline. Results show that attention to narrative aspects of self, previously regarded as relying on higher-order processes, has an effect similar to self-face stimuli in improving interoceptive awareness. Our findings extend the previously observed interaction between the bodily self and interoception to more abstract amodal representations of the self.     

Two‐year‐olds’ understanding of self‐symbols

This study investigated 48 2.5‐year‐olds’ ability to map from their own body to a two‐dimensional self‐representation and also examined relations between parents’ talk about body representations and their children's understanding of self‐symbols. Children participated in two dual‐representation tasks in which they were asked to match body parts between a symbol and its referent. In one task, they used a self‐symbol and in the other they used a symbol for a doll. Participants were also read a book about body parts by a parent. As a group, children found the self‐symbol task more difficult than the doll‐task; however, those whose parents explicitly pointed out the relation between their children's bodies and the symbols in the book performed better on the self‐symbol task. The findings demonstrate that 2‐year‐old children have difficulty comprehending a self‐symbol, even when it is two‐dimensional and approximately the same size as them, and suggest that parents’ talk about self‐symbols may facilitate their understanding.