The Effects of Onset and Offset Responsibility on Affects and Helping Judgments1

Attributional studies of helping have examined perceivers affective responses and helping intentions as a function of responsibility (controllability) for the onset of a problem. This study extended the analysis to a responsibility for the solution (offset) of a problem and examined how the cause of both the onset and the offset of a problem determined perceivers' affective responses and helping intentions. One hundred and eighty subjects participated in the study. The subjects read one of three stories regarding the target person's behavior at the onset of falling behind in school (“sick” vs. “effort” vs. “no effort”) and reported their perceptions of the cause of the problem, affective responses, and helping intentions. Then they read one of three stories regarding the target person's behavior for the offset of the problem (“sick” vs. “effort” vs. “no effort”:' and responded again to the previously administered scales. Results indicated (a) that the final responses were strongly determined by the offset information. and (b) that sickness at the time of the onset led to negative affect and less helping intention when the offset information was “no effort.” The latter effect is discussed within the context of the moral judgment. Furthermore, structural equation analyses for the responses after the offset information revealed (a) that Weiner's “attribution-emotion-helping” model was applicable. and (b) that the effect of the effort perception on the helping intention was mediated by anger and pity.     

Social Identification and a Solution to Social Dilemmas

The study explored whether cooperation could be promoted by identification with an in-group. A game was used to create two groups independent of each other. Thirty-six Japanese undergraduate students participated in the game, followed by a social dilemma game. Analysis revealed a two-factor structure of social identification: identification with the group and identification with its members. As predicted from social identity theory, subjects showed a significantly higher level of cooperation when the dilemma game was played with in-group members than with out-group members. Furthermore, identification with the group affected both in-group bias and cooperative behavior in the social dilemma game, but this effect was not found for identification with members.     

Selective learning enabled by intention to learn in sequence learning

This study investigated whether a target sequence that people intend to learn is learned selectively when it is interleaved with another (non-target) sequence. Three experiments used a serial reaction time task in which different spatial and color stimuli occurred alternately. Each of the two interleaved sequences had structural regularity. Participants in an intentional learning group were instructed to learn the target (spatial) sequence whereas those in an incidental learning group were not. In Experiments 1 and 2 spatial and color sequences were correlated. Results showed that the intentional group learned the spatial sequence better than the incidental group and learned it independently of the color sequence, whereas the incidental group learned the two sequences as a combined sequence. In Experiment 3 the sequences were uncorrelated. Results showed that the intentional group was no longer superior in learning the spatial sequence. Findings indicate that the intention to learn a target sequence enables selective learning of it only when it is correlated with a non-target sequence.     

Transmitting pro‐environmental behaviours to the next generation: A comparison between Germany and Japan

The present study examined the processes by which children acquire pro‐environmental behaviours in different cultures. Our focus was on parental influence. Several studies have been conducted on adults' environmental behaviours; however, we know little about how children's environmental attitudes and behaviours are formed. We conducted a questionnaire survey with elementary school children and one of their parents in Germany and Japan. Two hundred and twenty‐one pairs participated in Germany and 365 in Japan. The results of structural equation modelling showed that parents' behaviours affected children's environmental behaviours directly and also via the subjective norm (the children's experienced expectations of their parents). A comparison of the two countries revealed that hypothesized cultural differences between the impact of personal norms and subjective norms were clearer for adults. The results also showed that the effects of subjective norms were stronger for children, indicating that children are more likely to be influenced by expectations of others. The results of the study suggest that for promoting children's environmental behaviours, showing the behaviours in daily life would be most effective.     

Evidence for model-based action planning in a sequential finger movement task

In this article, the authors examine whether and how humans use model-free, reflexive strategies and model-based, deliberative strategies in motor sequence learning. They asked subjects to perform the grid-sailing task, which required moving a cursor to different goal positions in a 5 × 5 grid using different key-mapping (KM) rules between 3 finger keys and 3 cursor movement directions. The task was performed under 3 conditions: Condition 1, new KM; Condition 2, new goal position with learned KM; and Condition 3, learned goal position with learned KM; with or without prestart delay time. The performance improvement with prestart delay was significantly larger under Condition 2. This result provides evidence that humans implement a model-based strategy for sequential action selection and learning by using previously learned internal model of state transition by actions.     

Measures of Mentoring,Department Climate,and Graduate Student Preparedness in the Responsible Conduct of Psychological Research

Drawing upon two independent national samples of 201 and 241 psychology graduate students, this article describes the development and psychometric evaluation of 4 Web-based student self-report scales tapping student socialization in the responsible conduct of research (RCR) with human participants. The Mentoring the Responsible Conduct of Research Scale (MRCR) is composed of 2 subscales assessing RCR instruction and modeling by research mentors. The 2 subscales of the RCR Department Climate Scale (RCR-DC) assess RCR department policies and faculty and student RCR practices. The RCR Preparedness scale (RCR-P) and the RCR Field Integrity scale (RCR-FI) measure respectively students' confidence in their ability to conduct research responsibly and their belief in the RCR integrity of psychology as a discipline. Factor analysis, coefficient alphas, correlations, and multiple regression analyses demonstrated each of the scales had good internal consistency and concurrent and construct validity.     

Gettier Across Cultures1

In this article, we present evidence that in four different cultural groups that speak quite different languages (Brazil, India, Japan, and the USA) there are cases of justified true beliefs that are not judged to be cases of knowledge. We hypothesize that this intuitive judgment, which we call “the Gettier intuition,” may be a reflection of an underlying innate and universal core folk epistemology, and we highlight the philosophical significance of its universality.     

Characterization and sociocultural predictors of neuropsychological test performance in HIV+ Hispanic individuals

Hispanic individuals in the U.S. have been disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS, yet little is known regarding the neuropsychological sequelae of HIV within the Hispanic population. This study characterized neuropsychological (NP) test performance of HIV+ English-speaking Hispanic participants (n = 51) and investigated the combined roles of sociocultural factors (e.g., ethnicity, socioeconomic status [SES] proxy, and reading level) on NP test performance among our HIV+ Hispanic and non-Hispanic White participants (n = 49). Results revealed that the pattern of NP impairment in HIV+ Hispanic participants is consistent with the frontal-striatal pattern observed in HIV-associated CNS sequelae, and the overall prevalence of global NP impairment was high compared to previous reports with more ethnically homogeneous, non-Hispanic White cohorts. Multivariate prediction models that considered both sociocultural factors and CD4 count revealed that reading level was the only unique predictor of global NP functioning, learning, and attention/working memory. In contrast, ethnicity was the only unique predictor of abstraction/executive functioning. This study provides support for the use of neuropsychological evaluation in detecting HIV-associated NP impairment among HIV+ Hispanic participants and adds to the growing literature regarding the importance of considering sociocultural factors in the interpretation of NP test performance.     

Support for Returning to Work for a Patient of Social Behavior Disorder with Impaired Self-awareness

Social behavioral disorders and impaired self-awareness, which are sequelae of brain injuries, have negative effects on interpersonal relationships and employment. In this study, we performed a long-term client-centered approach to help the patient diagnosed with a social behavior disorder and impaired self-awareness return to work. Cognitive rehabilitation, cognitive-behavioral treatment, and positive behavioral support were provided while assessing the self-awareness using the Japanese version of the Self-Regulation Skills Interview. This patient exemplifies the importance of establishing methods for self-monitoring and rebuilding a positive self-identity while considering the complexities of self-awareness when helping patients with impaired self-awareness. The patient took the initiative in managing problematic behaviors due to social behavior disorder, and as a result, was able to achieve stable self-awareness. The strategies described in this patient can be used in the future to treat patients with social behavior disorder due to inadequate self-awareness. In order to practice a client-centered approach while assessing the patient's level of self-awareness, it is important to build a trusting relationship over a long period. To assess the level of self-awareness, existing interviews, questionnaires, and work to express one's mental and physical state as seen by the patient may be effective.

     

The Automatic Activation of Retributive Motive When Determining Punishment

This study sought to test the hypothesis that an individual’s retributive motive is activated automatically when he or she is presented with an opportunity to determine appropriate punishment. Fifty-one undergraduate students were subjected to one of two conditions: one in which an video clip of a brutal crime was presented (crime video condition) and another in which a sports documentary video clip was presented (sports video condition). Participants were asked to complete the Implicit Association Test before and after being presented with the video. It was predicted that the activation of retributive motive would strengthen the association with a balanced combination of these factors as compared to the association with an unbalanced combination of factors and increase the IAT effect accordingly. The IAT effect increased in the crime video condition but did not change in the sports video condition. This result supported the hypothesis, indicating that decision making regarding punishment is carried out automatically and outside of conscious awareness, as the IAT reflects automatic cognitive processes such as implicit attitudes.