The Concept of Voluntary Motor Control in the Recent Neuroscientific Literature

Synthese - The concept of voluntary motor control(VMC) frequently appears in the neuroscientific literature, specifically in the context of cortically-mediated, intentional motor actions. For...     

examining the role of differential association and techniques of neutralization in explaining corporate crime

A limited number of studies have examined white-collar offending decision making patterns and virtually none have focused on testing Differential Association or Techniques of Neutralization theory in particular. This study evaluates the offending decisions of MBA students to commit corporate offending in the promotion/sales of a hypothetical pharmaceutical drug. The sample consisted of 133 MBA students enrolled at a university in the United States. Findings supported predictions that anticipated agreement of coworkers and the board of directors would be positively associated with decisions to further market and produce a hypothetical drug that was about to be recalled by the Food and Drug Administration. However, results also showed that the decision to commit corporate crime was inversely related to perceptions that close friends and business professors agree with the decision, which went against predictions based on differential association theory. Several neutralizing techniques—especially the beliefs that government exaggerates dangers to the consumer and profit is the most important priority—predicted the decision to further market the drug. Subsequent analyses showed that older respondents were more likely to employ techniques of neutralization in decisions to commit corporate crime, especially techniques relating to profits. Future research directions are outlined.     

Sex-role stereotyping in the lower grades: Part of the solution

Twenty-one boys and twenty-one girls in grades 1, 2, 3 and 4 were tested on sex-role attitudes. The results demonstrated that the thinking of young children is typically sexist-oriented. However, evidence also indicates that children will accept the concept of people in nontraditional roles if models are visible in these roles.     

The interactive effects of low self-control and commitment to school on substance abuse among college students

This study examined the combined influence of two predicting factors-low self-control and commitment to schooling-that research has shown have independent effects on substance abuse. In a sample of 598 college students, this study tested the interactive effects of these factors while controlling for other established predictors of binge drinking and drug use. Analysis showed that participants who had both low self-control and low schooling commitment had significantly higher scores on substance abuse than would be expected from the independent influences of the component factors, which suggests that the combined effects of these predictors on substance abuse have a greater influence than their direct influences.     

Gender Differences in Criminal Intent: Examining the Mediating Influence of Anticipated Shaming

Research finds males to have a higher likelihood of offending than females. Dominant explanations of the gender/crime relationship tend to invoke strain, learning, and control theories, but we propose that part of the relationship is attributable to differences in anticipated shaming. We test this argument using data collected from a sample of 439 young adults. Results of both Tobit regressions and path analyses support our hypothesis, suggesting that anticipated shaming may actually mediate more of the gender/crime relationship than do variables derived from alternative perspectives. Implications for understanding and controlling crime are discussed.     

Social experience drives the development of holistic face processing in paper wasps

Animal Cognition - Most recognition is based on identifying features, but specialization for face recognition in some taxa relies on a different mechanism, termed ‘holistic processing’...     

A biosocial interaction in predicting early onset of offending

Research has shown several factors increase the likelihood of early onset of offending; however, interactions among prenatal risk factors and sociological factors in predicting early onset have been a neglected area of research. The purpose of this study was to test the interactive effect of material cigarette smoking during pregnancy and the absence of the father from the household in predicting early onset of offending. The longitudinal data utilized for this study of 215 inner-city, African-American youth offenders were taken from the Philadelphia portion of the Collaborative Perinatal Project. A logistic regression analysis indicated that the combined effect of maternal cigarette smoking and absence of father from the household had a significant influence in predicting early onset of offending beyond the direct effects of the independent variables while controlling for sex of youth.