The role of self-esteem in the experience of envy

It is the thesis of this paper that although analysts have always recognized that narcissistic injury may trigger envious feelings, the significance of self-esteem as both a motivator and response to envious feelings has not yet been sufficiently explored. Traditional drive-defense or object instinctual explanations tend to diminish awareness of the importance of self-esteem in the experience of envy. The focus on drives or repetition of early patterns of object relations does not always take into account the significance of the cycle in which damaged self-esteem leads to envy, the component parts of which may cause further damage to self-esteem, leading to more envy, and so on. I am suggesting that it is often an attempt to avoid painful injury to one's self-esteem, as well as the related attempt to maintain a positively colored sense of self, and not a repression of drives or a repetition of some aspect of early object relationships which must be understood in order to fully comprehend both feelings of envy and the need to keep such feelings out of conscious awareness.     

Ventral scent marking in Meriones unguiculatus may contribute to thermoregulation

Three experiments were conducted with adult male Meriones unguiculatus in an attempt to demonstrate that ventral scent marking can act to transfer body heat to the object marked. Experiment 1 showed that surgical removal of the ventral gland pad reduced the amount of heat transferred by 50%, even though intact and glandless animals did not differ in the average frequency of scent marking. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the difference in heat transfer due to the presence or absence of the scent pad was not due to differential pressure applied to the substrate during marking. Experiment 3 showed that the pattern of ventral hair spread that occurs as an animal moves over an object is different between intact and glandless animals but that this difference does not account for the difference in heat transfer. It is suggested that heat transfer to the environment with ventral scent marking may increase thermoregulatory competence and also may function to volatilize sebum used in chemocommunication.     

Components of reward in social dilemmas

A social dilemma (Dawes, 1980) may be defined as a situation in which a collection of individuals is faced with a conflict between maximizing selfish interests and maximizing collective interests. The dilemma is based on the fact that if all choose to maximize selfish interests, all are worse off than if all choose to maximize collective interests. In a decomposed social dilemma (Pruitt, 1967), the outcomes are divided into two components: one component is based on one's own choice and the second component is based on the choices made by the others. Using 3-person decomposed games, two types of incentives were contrasted: a positive incentive (bonus) for cooperative choices and a negative incentive (penalty) for noncooperative choices. Two experiments were conducted using male college students. The results of both experiments showed that the positive incentive evoked a higher level of cooperation than the negative incentive. The results are discussed in terms of nonadditive utility components, Pruitt's motivational interpretation, and Kelley and Thibaut's (1978) theory of interdependence.     

Validity of post-proline splitting dipeptidyl aminopeptidase activities in the cerebrospinal fluid for neurologic and psychiatric diagnosis

The dipeptidyl-peptidase activity of 650 liquores cerebrospinalis was obtained by means of the substrate Gly-Pro-NHNp (Gly-Pro-4-nitroanilid) at pHs of 5.5 and 7.4. In comparison with a reference collective, the suitability of the method as a supplementary liquor parameter in neurological psychiatric diagnosis was examined. The introduction of the measurement at pH 7.4 can be particularly recommended for the distinguishing of bacterial and nonbacterial meningitis.     

An inexpensive real-time microcomputer-based cognitive laboratory system

A computer system, based on the Radio Shack Color Computer, for running experiments in cognitive psychology is described. The system was designed according to the following principles: first, all of the equipment should consist of inexpensive, off-the-shelf components; second, the language used to implement experiments should have real-time commands embedded within the character strings to be displayed, and these real-time commands should be interpreted at run time; third, the system should serve multiple subjects, yet one host should be able to run display terminals for several subjects on independent experiments; and fourth, the system should be able to interface to other display devices and other response-recording devices. Two examples of other devices are discussed: an oscilloscope for rapid visual display and an Apple Macintosh for display of pictures.     

A model of visual spatio-temporal memory: The icon revisited

With a minimal set of assumptions resulting from considerations about the perception of temporal structure, we argue for the existence of a spatio-temporal memory established by the mapping of time into simultaneous physical properties. The important point of this model is the distinction between external, physical time and the internal representation of time. An immediate consequence of such a structure is the emergence of properties usually associated with the concept of iconic memory or informational persistence. Some of these properties may hence be regarded as epiphenomena produced by the testing of a spatio-temporal system with tachistoscopic spatial stimuli. The model can explain properties of the immediate memory span, the lack of effect of exposure duration on tachistoscopic report, the partial-report superiority, the decay of iconic memory, and effects of a backward mask. It does not only avoid the incompatibility problems of the frozen-image concept in dynamic vision, but also provides an adequate basis for the processing of time-varying scenes.     

Preference for Human (vs. Robotic) Labor is Stronger in Symbolic Consumption Contexts

Advances in robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence increasingly enable firms to replace human labor with technology, thereby fundamentally transforming how goods and services are produced. From both managerial and societal points of view, it is therefore important to understand demand‐side incentives for firms to employ human labor. We begin to address this question by examining for which products and services consumers are more likely to favor human (vs. robotic) labor. In six studies, we demonstrate that consumers prefer human (vs. robotic) labor more for products with higher (vs. lower) symbolic value (e.g., when expressing something about one's beliefs and personality is of greater importance). We theorize that this is because consumers have stronger uniqueness motives in more (vs. less) symbolic consumption contexts (and associate human labor more strongly with product uniqueness). In line with this account, we demonstrate that individual differences in need for uniqueness moderate the interaction between production mode and symbolic motives and that a measure of uniqueness motives mediates the effect of consumption context on preferences for human (vs. robotic) production.     

Subgroup differences in situational judgment test scores: Evidence from large applicant samples

To promote diversity in organizations it is important to have accurate knowledge about subgroup differences associated with selection procedures. However, current estimates of subgroup differences in situational judgment tests (SJTs) are overwhelmingly based on range‐restricted incumbent samples that are downwardly biased. This study provides much‐needed applicant level estimates of SJT subgroup differences (N = 37,530). As a key finding, Black‐White differences (d = 0.66) were higher than in incumbent samples (d = 0.38). Overall, sex differences were small. Females scored higher for management jobs (d = ?0.13) and males scored higher for administrative jobs (d = 0.15). By analyzing applicant samples that do not suffer from range restriction, this study adds knowledge about subgroup differences in SJTs.     

Towards Transparency by Design for Artificial Intelligence

Science and Engineering Ethics - In this article, we develop the concept of Transparency by Design that serves as practical guidance in helping promote the beneficial functions of transparency...     

Children's reasoning about the causal significance of the temporal order of events

Four experiments examined children's ability to reason about the causal significance of the order in which 2 events occurred (the pressing of buttons on a mechanically operated box). In Study 1, 4-year-olds were unable to make the relevant inferences, whereas 5-year-olds were successful on one version of the task. In Study 2, 3-year-olds were successful on a simplified version of the task in which they were able to observe the events although not their consequences. Study 3 found that older children had difficulties with the original task even when provided with cues to attend to order information. However, 5-year-olds performed successfully in Study 4, in which the causally relevant event was made more salient.