Choosing what to choose from: Preference for inclusion over exclusion when constructing consideration sets from large choice sets

Decision making is a two‐stage process, consisting of, first, consideration set construction and then final choice. Decision makers can form a consideration set from a choice set using one of two strategies: including the options they wish to further consider or excluding those they do not wish to further consider. The authors propose that decision makers have a relative preference for an inclusion (vs. exclusion) strategy when choosing from large choice sets and that this preference is driven primarily by a lay belief that inclusion requires less effort than exclusion, particularly in large choice sets. Study 1 demonstrates that decision makers prefer using an inclusion (vs. exclusion) strategy when faced with large choice sets. Study 2 replicates the effect of choice set size on preference for consideration set construction strategy and demonstrates that the belief that exclusion is more effortful mediates the relative preference for inclusion in large choice sets. Studies 3 and 4 further support the importance of perceived effort, demonstrating a greater preference for inclusion in large choice sets when decision makers are primed to think about effort (vs. accuracy; Study 3) and when the choice set is perceived as requiring more effort because of more information being presented about each alternative (vs. more alternatives in the choice set; Study 4). Finally, Study 5 manipulates consideration set construction strategy, showing that using inclusion (vs. exclusion) in large choice sets leads to smaller consideration sets, greater confidence in the decision process, and a higher quality consideration set.     

Partial Knowledge of Word Meanings: Thematic and Taxonomic Representations

The type of information (taxonomic or thematic) available at different levels of knowledge was investigated. Following extensive norming to identify taxonomic and thematic associates of low-frequency nouns, participants determined if taxonomic or thematic associates were meaningfully related to target words at three levels of knowledge: target words they correctly defined (known), recognized as familiar (frontier), or mistakenly denied as part of the language (unknown). In another experiment, participants reported which type of relationship (taxonomic or thematic) was preferred. Results indicated that both types of information were available at all levels of knowledge. However, accuracy and preference were greater for taxonomic associates across word levels. A differential increase in available thematic information relative to taxonomic information was found. Implications for the acquisition and representation of word meanings are discussed.     

Infants’ responses to objects representing levels of word knowledge and categorical information

The effects of differing levels of word knowledge on infants’ sequential touching behaviors were investigated in two studies. In both, parent report was used to assess three levels of word knowledge: known, frontier, and unknown. In the first study, 14-month-old infants sequentially touched objects consistent with parents’ reports of their word knowledge. In the second study, 20-month-old infants sequentially touched objects by both conceptual category and reported level of word knowledge. It appears that even infants, like adults, can make distinctions among objects on the basis of their knowledge about the objects’ labels.     

Data versus Spock: lay theories about whether emotion helps or hinders

The android Data from Star Trek admired human emotion whereas Spock viewed emotion as irrational and maladaptive. The theory that emotions fulfil adaptive functions is widely accepted in academic psychology but little is known about laypeople’s theories. The present study assessed the extent to which laypeople share Data’s view of emotion as helpful or Spock’s view of emotion as a hindrance. We also assessed how help and hinder theory endorsement were related to reasoning, emotion regulation, and well-being. Undergraduates (N?=?630) completed a stressful timed reasoning task and questionnaires that assessed their theories of emotion, emotion regulation strategies, happiness, and social support. Overall, participants viewed emotion more as a help than a hindrance. The more they endorsed the view that emotion helps, the better their reasoning scores. Endorsing a help theory also predicted the use of reappraisal which, in turn, predicted greater happiness and social support. In contrast, endorsing the view that emotion hinders was associated with emotion suppression and less social support. Thus, people’s theories about the functionality of emotion may have important implications for their reasoning and emotional well-being.     

Meaning-making and resilience: case studies of a multifaceted process

Explanations of meaning-making generally prioritise intrapersonal processes. Although making meaning is an intrapersonal process, it is also strongly influenced by person-context interactions and cultural positioning. Nevertheless, the meaning-making literature has paid scant attention to how such interactivity and positioning shape meaning-making. In this article, we highlight the compound character of resilience-promoting meaning-making. To this end, we recount the instrumental cases of Ntando's and Sipho's resilience. The accounts of these black South African students’ positive adjustment to adversity richly illustrate how their lived experiences of a social ecology stimulated multifaceted meaning-making processes. In particular, Ntando's and Sipho's interpersonal experiences and Africentric worldviews gave rise to and/or moderated positive re-appraisal, revisioned goals, purposeful direction, application of spiritual beliefs, identification of benefits, sense-making and reflective problem-solving. Although both their stories drive an understanding of meaning-making as a helix-like process with inter-, intrapersonal and cultural strands, the differences in their accounts of meaning-making stimulate the need for deeper exploration into the complexity of resilience-promoting meaning-making processes.     

An essentialism perspective on intercultural processes

Essentialist theories are the beliefs that there are immutable essences underlying observed differences between social groups (e.g. racial group, cultural group). This paper reviews the intergroup dynamics and intrapersonal processes associated with essentialism. It also explores the interplay between the two. By explicating the intricate relationship between these psychological processes, the current paper aims to advance our understanding of intergroup relations and identify their implications for the study of multiculturalism. We posit that although the commonly observed negative intergroup outcomes, such as prejudices and biases, can be the byproducts of basic cognitive processes associated with essentialist theories, the social power dynamics in a given society also play important roles in shaping the relationships between essentialism and intergroup outcomes. We then discuss the implications of this understanding to our increasingly multicultural world.     

Productive Misunderstanding in the Early Reformation Revisited: The Case of Lazarus Spengler's A Consoling Christian Instruction and Medicine in All Adversities (1521)

Abstract

This article revisits Bernd Moeller's concept of ‘productive misunderstanding’ as a way of explaining the early appeal and success of the Reformation among some of Luther's most important supporters. It does so through a case study of a consolation pamphlet by the secretary of Nuremberg City Council, Lazarus Spengler, whom Luther credited with planting the evangelical faith in this prominent imperial city. Spengler was one of the Wittenberg reformer's most important lay supporters: he authored the earliest pro-Luther lay pamphlet and his name was subsequently appended to the papal bull Exsurge Domine. However, in his consolation pamphlet Spengler espoused a view of suffering that Luther had firmly rejected because it contradicted his evangelical soteriology. This important difference suggests that while Spengler did a great deal to promote Luther's cause, and at great personal risk, he acted on the basis of an incorrect understanding of the Wittenberg reformer's theology, at least in the late 1510s and early 1520s. This article explores the reasons for Spengler's productive misunderstanding and suggests that it was likely shared by other evangelical burghers. By examining Moeller's concept from a novel vantage point, that of suffering and consolation, this article seeks to shed new light on the reception of Luther's ideas in the early German Reformation.     

《周易》象喻发微──以《姤》为例

《周易》中大量运用象喻。正确地理解卦义,离不开对喻象文化意蕴的准确把握。本文以《姤》卦为例,从文字、文化的角度对其中的豕、鱼、瓜、（羊）角等象喻的象征意义进行深入发掘,并以此对《姤》进行了全面解释,认为本卦围绕“姤”这一主题,就婚育过程中的择偶、乞子、怀孕、生子等方面而占,因而在一定程度上反映了古人的婚育观念。     

The Argument from Design: What Is at Stake Theologically?

This article offers a brief overview of the argument for God's existence grounded in the evidence of design. It gives particular attention to the way the argument has evolved over time and in relation to changing scientific perspectives. The argument from de-sign has in fact been formulated and reformulated in response to the discoveries and challenges it has encountered from the field of science. The conclusion of the article explores the theological importance of this argument—its extent and its limits.