The psychological cost of waiting

The study of any problem involving waiting situations invariably assumes that people dislike having to wait. The analysis of queueing problems usually prescribes that some costs should be associated with the time people spend waiting to be served. These are usually considered to be of an economic nature, though the existence of other costs of a psychological nature is accepted. It is generally accepted that after having to wait for a certain amount of time, anxiety and stress start to build up in an individual, due both to the sense of waste and the uncertainty involved in a waiting situation. This work provides a theoretical basis for analysing this building up process as it occurs during the waiting period. It is proved that, under very general conditions, the resulting psychological stress accumulated during the process is a marginal increasing function of the waiting time, and some strategies to minimise it are developed. The results obtained give theoretical support to the usual assumptions underlying the development of systems to provide “real time” information to people in waiting situations. This is especially important in the operation of public transportation systems. The results also provide theoretical support to the “convex” treatment usually given to the waiting cost function in queueing problems.     

Social influence matters: We follow pandemic guidelines most when our close circle does

Why do we adopt new rules, such as social distancing? Although human sciences research stresses the key role of social influence in behaviour change, most COVID-19 campaigns emphasize the disease’s medical threat. In a global data set (n = 6,675), we investigated how social influences predict people’s adherence to distancing rules during the pandemic. Bayesian regression analyses controlling for stringency of local measures showed that people distanced most when they thought their close social circle did. Such social influence mattered more than people thinking distancing was the right thing to do. People’s adherence also aligned with their fellow citizens, but only if they felt deeply bonded with their country. Self-vulnerability to the disease predicted distancing more for people with larger social circles. Collective efficacy and collectivism also significantly predicted distancing. To achieve behavioural change during crises, policymakers must emphasize shared values and harness the social influence of close friends and family.     

Recollecting the Religious: Augustine in Answer to Meno’s Paradox

Studies in Philosophy and Education - Philosophers of education often view the role of religion in education with suspicion, claiming it to be impossible, indoctrinatory or controversial unless...     

Keyboard dynamics discrepancies between baseline and deceptive eyewitness narratives

Information manipulation and cognitive load imposition make the production of deceptive narratives difficult. But little is known about the production of deception, and how its mechanisms may help distinguish truthful from deceitful narratives. This study focuses on the measurement of keystroke dynamics while typing truthful and deceptive eyewitness testimonies after a baseline assessment. While typing their narrative, some participants would undergo an auditory cognitive load. Results show that liars typed their story slower, and in less time than the truthful participants when compared to their respective baselines. The imposition of the auditory cognitive load showed adverse results, enhancing the amount of keystrokes and the time necessary to type the narrative. Classification shows better results for deceptive narrative when no auditory cognitive load is imposed. These results are discussed in terms of expanding current models to include the cognition of linguistic production and writing strategies.     

Bullying Victimization and Use of Substances in High School: Does Religiosity Moderate the Association?

Alcohol, tobacco and other drug use continue to pose serious public health concerns among youth. Bullying victimization has been identified as a risk factor and religiosity a protective factor for adolescent substance use. No previous research has examined the potential moderating role of religiosity. We explore the association between bullying victimization and substance use in adolescents with low and high levels of religiosity. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a representative sample of high school students in greater Beirut. Binary and multinomial logistic models were used, adjusting for demographics, and stratified by level of religiosity. Of the 986 students responding to the survey, 65% were females; 48% had experienced some form of bullying; and 52% self-rated as low in religiosity. Between 10 and 30% were current users of alcohol or tobacco. Students of lower religiosity levels who had been bullied were more likely to use substances than those who self-rated as high religiosity. Religiosity may be a potential moderator of the association between being bullied and substance use, but the exact mechanisms and underlying reasons need further investigation.

     

Attachment and resource sharing

In three studies we examined the associations between resource sharing (RS) and attachment, and the enhancement of RS using attachment security primes. In Study 1, we showed that attachment avoidance was negatively associated with RS. We also identified differences and similarities between RS and pro‐sociality. In Studies 2 and 3, we showed that research participants were more likely to share their monetary resources after they were primed with attachment security. Study 3 further revealed that security priming affected mainly people low on state attachment anxiety. Our findings extend previous work on pro‐sociality into the specific realm of RS, provide behavioral evidence, and tie attachment and close relationships in with game theory and research on economic decision making.     

Extension of Luria's Psycholinguistic Studies in Poland

One of Luria's basic interests was the organization of human cognitive processes, and thinking in particular. He believed that language and thought are closely related, and hence the manner in which we speak reflects the way we think. To verify this assumption, he and his collaborators performed a number of interesting psycholinguistic experiments with subjects of various ages and cultural backgrounds. The tasks used made the evaluation of both receptive and expressive language possible. The Narrative Ability Test described here stems from Luria's observations to a considerable degree. The test was administered to preschool children (N = 106), schoolchildren (N = 143), adolescents (N = 89), adults (N = 126), and older persons (N = 175). Findings of the 20-year studies with normal and deviant populations indicate close relationships among thought, language, and self-control. It was found that difficulty in developing narratives corresponds with a disability to process complex information. Correlations between narrative skills and age, sex, and social background were also noted.     

Mediating role of coping in the dispositional optimism-posttraumatic growth relation in breast cancer patients

The aim of the present study was to examine if coping strategies mediate dispositional optimism-posttraumatic growth relation in postoperative breast cancer patients. The data were collected from 90 patients in two hospitals. Regression analyses revealed that problem-focused coping fully mediated dispositional optimism-posttraumatic growth relation, but emotion-focused coping did not. That is, postoperative breast cancer patients who were optimistic were more likely to use problem-focused coping strategies that, in turn, led to the development of posttraumatic growth. The findings were congruent with the literature in which problem-focused coping was mostly highlighted as compared to emotion-focused coping, and in which optimism and problem-focused coping relationship was emphasized in the path of posttraumatic growth.     

Anticipatory and compensatory postural adjustments in sitting in children with cerebral palsy

The aim of this study was to examine postural control in children with cerebral palsy performing a bilateral shoulder flexion to grasp a ball from a sitting posture. The participants were 12 typically developing children (control) without cerebral palsy and 12 children with cerebral palsy (CP). We analyzed the effect of ball mass (1 kg and 0.18 kg), postural adjustment (anticipatory, APA, and compensatory, CPA), and groups (control and CP) on the electrical activity of shoulder and trunk muscles with surface electromyography (EMG). Greater mean iEMG was seen in CPA, with heavy ball, and for posterior trunk muscles (p < .05). The children with CP presented the highest EMG and level of co-activation (p < .05). Linear regression indicated a positive relationship between EMG and aging for the control group, whereas that relationship was negative for participants with CP. We suggest that the main postural control strategy in children is based on corrections after the beginning of the movement. The linear relationship between EMG and aging suggests that postural control development is affected by central nervous disease which may lead to an increase in muscle co-activation.