The on-line voyeur: Promises and pitfalls of observing electronic interaction

Studies that compare objective data on communication activity to data provided in verbal reports have indicated that verbal report data are not as accurate as one might hope. Researchers of communication have used verbal reports as their primary source of data because it presents a cheap and easy way to collect the data. This paper presents an easy alternative involving the study ofelectronic communication: a method that allows the collection of objective information on electronic communication, thus avoiding the problems associated with self-reports. The paper reviews the available literature on the accuracy of self-reports of communication, presents the instrument used to collect the objective electronic communication data, and discusses some of the difficulties and limitations encountered in implementing a study using the instrument.     

Feigned insanity in nineteenth-century America: Tactics,trials, and truth

Feigned insanity in nineteenth-century America is appraised through a review of the medical and legal literature. The authors focus on the explanations for feigning, procedures used in uncovering feigning, and the role of feigning in the courtroom. This discussion of feigned insanity demonstrates the remarkable consistency of approach to this form of malingering over the past 200 years.     

Correction of errors in scientific research

Four ways to reduce scientific errors are by tests of equipment and programs, examination of results, peer review, and replication. This article describes various types of errors that may occur and procedures available for the prevention and correction of both unintentional and intentional errors in experiments that use computer programs to generate the stimuli, record the responses, or analyze the data. We describe a case study of a particular experiment that produced a result that has been found to be erroneous. The case study provides additional evidence of the essential importance of replication for the identification and elimination of scientific error.     

The deliverance of the administrative state: deep state conspiracism,charismatic demonology,and the post-truth politics of American Christian nationalism

ABSTRACT

This article uses discourse analysis to explore the intersection of spiritual warfare demonology and Christian nationalism among Trump-supporting neo-charismatic evangelicals. Analysing public materials produced during and after the 2016 US presidential campaign, it demonstrates how demonologies operate discursively to categorise, comprehend, and contest understandings of American identity and destiny. Situating spiritual warfare demonology in relation to narratives of ‘post-truth politics’ as the destabilisation of neoliberal consensus reality, the article explores how charismatic evangelicals position Trump’s election as a divine assault on a demoniac status quo, epitomised in the conspiratorial figure of the ‘Deep State.’ Examining demonologies of the ‘state’ and ‘border’ as joint arenas of epistemic and societal contestation, the article shows how spiritual warfare discourses seek to (re)define sociocultural notions of truth and falsity and thereby (de)legitimise specific gendered, sexualised, and racialised forms of being and belonging.     

Mental simulation inflates performance estimates for physical abilities

In five experiments, we examined how mental simulation of physical activities affected estimates of one's ability to perform the same activities. In Experiment 1, participants who simulated lifting aheavy object estimated that they could lift more weight than did participants who did not perform the simulation. In Experiment 2A, the frequency with which participants performed the simulation exercises was manipulated. In Experiments 2B and 2C, we manipulated the amount of weight that people simulated lifting in order to address potential alternative explanations of the inflation effect. In Experiment 3, mental simulations were manipulated within subjects. In all the experiments, the simulated events showed inflated estimates, as compared with nonsimulated events. These results were interpreted in the context of the misattribution-of-familiarity account of imagination inflation.     

Self-Efficacy as a Mediator of Caregiver Coping: Development and Testing of an Assessment Model

Development and utilization of two self-efficacy measures thought to be relevant to stressed family caregivers, Caregiver Self-Care Self-Efficacy and Caregiver Problem-Solving Self-Efficacy, are described. Data obtained in the context of a psychoeducational intervention program are available for 217 caregivers of frail and/or cognitively impaired elders. Analyses of psychometric properties of the efficacy measures demonstrate good internal consistency and test-retest reliability for both measures. In addition, both measures of self-efficacy are related to depression as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory and caregiver distress as measured by the Zarit Burden Scale. Problem-Solving Self-efficacy also is related to subjective caregiver burden as measured by Zarit's Memory and Behavior Problem Checklist. Results are promising in terms of the utility of the measure and the application of self-efficacy theory to the caregiving situation. Limitations of these measures are discussed and suggestions made for improved second-generation self-efficacy scales.     

Self-reflection and feelings of self-worth: When Rosenberg meets Heisenberg

The more people think about their attitude toward some issue, the stronger their attitude becomes. The present research examined whether this strengthening effect also applies to self-evaluative attitudes. In four studies, we had some participants complete a self-evaluation measure before rating their momentary feelings of self-worth (Studies 1, 2, and 4) or implicit self-feelings (Study 3). In all four studies, evaluative self-reflection led low self-esteem participants to feel worse about themselves and high self-esteem participants to feel better about themselves. We did not find this self-esteem polarization effect when more general emotions of happiness and sadness were measured (Study 2) or when participants reflected on non-evaluative aspects of themselves (Study 4). These findings suggest that evaluative self-reflection has different consequences for low self-esteem people than for high self-esteem people, and that order effects in personality research may represent actual changes in self-feelings rather than methodological confounds.     

Teenagers,behavioral problems,and preferences for heavy metal and rap music: A case study of a southern middle school

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between musical preference, commitment to popular music and behavior problems of teenagers in an optional middle school.

This research tested three hypotheses. 1) Musical preference is related to race, 2) Musical preference can predict behavior problems, and, 3) Commitment to popular music, measured in hours, can predict behavior problems.

Data were gathered from a survey distributed to 80 students, school records, and participant observation. Results indicated that musical preference can predict race but can not predict identification as a behavior problem. Commitment to particular types of popular music did not predict behavior problems.