bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
How to Avoid the Sins of Questionnaire Abridgement - guideline
Authors: Kleka Paweł , Soroko Emilia
Published: July 2018

The creation of abridged versions of research tools is a common, justifiable process, but unfortunately it is often carried out without due methodological care and regard for the consequences. Smith and collaborators (2000) have already written about the mistakes that can be made, but their article has not had much practical impact. There are two main mistakes commonly made by researchers: assuming the transferability of validity and reliability between the full and shortened versions and using less stringent criteria to assess the validity and reliability of short forms. These two problems manifest as nine sins committed during the construction of short forms. Here we present procedures designed to allow researchers to avoid these mistakes and create abridged versions of research tools that are as reliable as possible and to assess the costs of the various methods of abridging questionnaires. To this end we determine the expected length of the tool and weight the benefits of reduced questionnaire completion time against the loss of reliability. We also estimate the shared variance of the full and short versions and classification accuracy of the new, short version. We compared quality of short form obtained from three most common statistical techniques for abridging questionnaires. We analysed data from a sample of 519 persons; 309 (59.5%) completed the paper version of the Self-Narrative Inclination Questionnaire (IAN-R), and 210 (40.5%) participated in online tests. Abridgements based on factor loadings and Cronbach’s # were similarly effective and these two methods had a slight advantage over a method based on item response theory-based analyses of difficulty and discriminatory power.
The effects of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation on conditioned fear extinction in humans
Authors: Burger Andreas Michael , Verkuil Bart , Van Diest Ilse , van der Does Willem , Thayer Julian , Brosschot Jos F.
Published: July 2018

After fear conditioning participants were randomly assigned to receive tVNS or sham stimulation during a fear extinction phase. Retention of extinction memory was tested 24 hours later. tVNS accelerated explicit fear extinction learning (US expectancy ratings), but did not lead to better retention of extinction memory 24 hours later. We did not find a differential physiological conditioning response during the acquisition of fear and thus were unable to assess potential effects of tVNS on the extinction of physiological indices of fear.
Are Women More Likely to Wear Red or Pink at Peak Fertility? Close and Conceptual Replications with Novel Clothing Color Measures
Authors: Hone Liana Senneth Elliott , McCullough Michael E.
Published: July 2018

Evolutionarily minded researchers have hypothesized that women advertise their ovulatory status by wearing red or pink. Many of these studies have been based on samples of women who have self-reported their clothing choices, a practice that raises questions about accuracy . In two studies, we evaluated the relationship between women’s fertility and self-reports of clothing choices, in addition to three a purely non-self-reports including trained raters’ judgments of garment colouration in outfits that women drew onto mannequins to represent what they would wear to a party with attractive men in attendance; automated colour coding of the mannequins; and trained raters’ judgments of garment colouration as evinced in photographs that participants took of themselves. We found no evidence that women are particularly inclined to wear red or pink during peak fertility using these measures and a binary measure of women’s fertility. However, we discuss issues of statistical power in our interpretation of null effects and report exploratory analyses using these measures and a continuous measure of women’s fertility (in which found tentative evidence that women are wear red or pink during peak fertility).
Examining overlap in behavioral and neural representations of morals, facts, and preferences.
Authors: Theriault Jordan E. , Waytz Adam , Heiphetz Larisa , Young Liane
Published: July 2018

Moral objectivists generally believe that moral claims are akin to facts, whereas moral subjectivists generally believe that moral claims are more akin to preferences. Evidence from developmental and social psychology has generally favored an objectivist view; however, this work has typically relied on few examples, and analyses have disallowed statistical generalizations beyond these few stimuli. The present work addresses whether morals are represented as fact-like or preference-like, using behavioral and neuroimaging methods, in combination with statistical techniques that can a) generalize beyond our sample stimuli, and b) test whether particular item features are associated with neural activity. Behaviorally, and contrary to prior work, morals were perceived as more preference-like than fact-like. Neurally, morals and preferences elicited common magnitudes and spatial patterns of activity, particularly within dorsal-medial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC), a critical region for social cognition. This common DMPFC activity for morals and preferences was present across whole-brain conjunctions, and in individually localized functional regions of interest (targeting the Theory of Mind network). By contrast, morals and facts did not elicit any neural activity in common. Follow-up item analyses suggested that the activity elicited in common by morals and preferences was explained by their shared tendency to evoke representations of mental states. We conclude that morals are represented as far more subjective than prior work has suggested. This conclusion is consistent with recent theoretical research, which has argued that morality is fundamentally about regulating social relationships.
Class, Cognition and Cultural Change in Social Class
Authors: Santos Henri C. , Varnum Michael E. W. , Grossmann Igor
Published: July 2018

We discuss how differences in social class affect a variety of psychological processes and outcomes. In particular, we discuss how relatively higher class individuals are more likely to focus on the self – that is, emphasizing personal goals, feelings, and interests – compared to working class individuals, who pay greater attention to the social context and their relationships with close others. In support of this claim, we discuss evidence of social class differences in values, neural processes, and higher level reasoning. We also explore the dynamic nature of the social class construct, looking at the difficulties people encounter when shifting to a relatively higher class and the historical trends that suggest global shifts in social class structure within societies. Taken together, these findings highlight the importance of understanding social class when looking at various psychological outcomes. At the same time, they challenge researchers to consider the complexity of social class when studying its effects.
Behavioral and neural foundations of multisensory face-voice perception in infancy
Authors: Hyde Daniel C. , Flom Ross , Porter Chris L.
Published: July 2018

In this paper we describe behavioral and neurophysiological evidence for infants’ multimodal face-voice perception. We argue that the behavioral development of face-voice perception, like multimodal perception more broadly, is consistent with the intersensory redundancy hypothesis (IRH). Furthermore, we highlight that several recently observed features of the neural responses in infants converge with the behavioral predictions of the intersensory redundancy hypothesis. Finally, we discuss the potential benefits of combining brain and behavioral measures to study multisensory processing, as well as some applications of this work for atypical development.
Anchoring and Adjustment
Authors: Lieder Falk , Griffiths Tom , Huys Quentin J.M. , Goodman Noah D.
Published: July 2018

This technical report compares alternative computational models of numerical estimation using Bayesian model selection. We find that people's estimates are best explained by a resource-rational model of anchoring and adjustment according to which the number of adjustments increases with error cost but decreases with time cost so as to achieve an optimal speed-accuracy tradeoff.
Revealed Traits: A Novel Method for Estimating Cross-Cultural Similarities and Differences in Personality
Authors: Costello Cory Kennedy , Wood Dustin , Tov William
Published: July 2018

Cross-cultural research on personality has often led to surprising and counter-theoretical findings, which have led to concerns over the validity of country-level estimates of personality (e.g., Heine, Buchtel, & Norenzayan, 2008). The present study explores how cross-cultural differences can be indexed via revealed trait estimates, which index the personality traits of individuals or groups indirectly through their likelihood of responding in particular ways to particular situations. In two studies, we measure self-reports of personality, revealed traits, and revealed preferences for different expected effects (e.g., experiencing excitement) of two cultural groups (U.S. and Singaporean participants). We found typical East-West differences in personality using self-report scales, such as lower levels of Conscientiousness- and Extraversion-related characteristics among Singaporean participants relative to U.S. participants. We found evidence of scale use extremity differences in self-report personality scales, but not in revealed trait estimates. Using revealed traits, we found evidence of strikingly high levels of similarity in terms of overall action endorsement, revealed trait estimates, and revealed preferences. However, this was qualified by consistent differences in revealed trait estimates of Extraversion-related characteristics, and less consistent differences in revealed trait estimates of Conscientiousness-related characteristics. We also found consistent differences in preferences for different expected effects; for example, Singaporean participants reported lower likelihood of performing actions expected to result in experiencing stimulation or excitement than U.S. participants. Results suggest that similarities in action endorsements and revealed traits may be driven by common preferences for social inclusion and benevolence, and differences may be driven by differing preferences for expending effort, experiencing stimulation, and social attention.
Perceptions of microaggressive behavior across the ideological spectrum
Authors: Harper Craig A.
Published: July 2018

Microaggressions–subtle slights that communicate implicit bias–have become a widespread concern in recent years.However, the empirical credibility of microaggression theory has been questioned due to a lack of conceptual clarity and the prevalence of methodological biases within microaggression research. Challenging the empirical validity of the traditional demographics-based microaggression concept, this study examined the potential for cross-spectrum microaggression perception being a method for derogating opposition viewpoints, consistent with existing work on ideological prejudice. Using an experimental online survey (N= 404), there was a significant association between participants’ ideological orientation and their judgements of the ‘perpetrators’and ‘victims’of microaggressions when ‘victims’were associated with leftist causes, but not right-wing causes. These associations were not moderated by emotional investment in ideological orientation (i.e., collective narcissism). Implications for microaggression theory, diversity training programs, and the study of politically-salient individual differences are subsequently discussed.
In Search of the Catbird Seat: Evaluating the Predictive Validity of Personality Trait Judgments Using a Naturalistic Behavioral Criterion
Authors: BEER ANDREW
Published: July 2018

To examine manifestations of personality in the course of natural daily life, we tracked 87 participants over a two-day period using the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR). Coded variables included moods, amount of talking under various conditions (e.g., with one other person, with a group, with a friend, etc.), locations, and a behavioral measurement model of the Five-Factor Model (FFM). The collection of self-, informant-, and stranger-ratings on markers of the FFM allowed for a unique test of the Self-Other Knowledge Asymmetry (SOKA) model. Although effect sizes were typically modest, there was evidence for the validity of both self- and informant-ratings across most major trait dimensions. Stranger ratings only showed evidence of validity in the domain of Extraversion.
The influence of age on the take-over of vehicle control in highly automated driving
Authors: Körber Moritz , Gold Christian , Lechner David , Bengler Klaus
Published: July 2018

The growing proportion of older drivers in the population plays an increasingly relevant role in road traffic that is currently awaiting the introduction of automated vehicles. In this study, it was investigated how older drivers (⩾60 years) compared to younger drivers (⩽28 years) perform in a critical traffic event when driving highly automated. Conditions of the take-over situation were manipulated by adding a verbal non-driving task (20 questions task) and by variation of traffic density. Two age groups consisting of 36 younger and 36 older drivers drove either with or without a non-driving task on a six-lane highway. They encountered three situations with either no, medium or high traffic density where they had to regain vehicle control and evade an obstacle on the road. Older drivers reacted as fast as younger drivers, however, they differed in their modus operandi as they braked more often and more strongly and maintained a higher time-to-collision (TTC). Deterioration of take-over time and quality caused by increased traffic density and engagement in a non-driving task was on the same level for both age groups. Independent of the traffic density, there was a learning effect for both younger and older drivers in a way that the take-over time decreased, minimum TTC increased and maximum lateral acceleration decreased between the first and the last situation of the experiment. Results highlight that older drivers are able to solve critical traffic events as well as younger drivers, yet their modus operandi differs. Nevertheless, both age groups adapt to the experience of take-over situations in the same way.
We need reproducible health behavior change interventions to help adults with severe mental illness
Authors: Bernard Paquito , St-Amour Samuel , Kingsbury Celia , Romain Ahmed Jerome
Published: July 2018

In conclusion, future HB change interventions for adults with severe metal illness should require more interdisciplinary collaboration between behavioral medicine, health psychology and psychiatry.
Do current statistical learning capture stable individual differences in children? An investigation of task reliability across modalities
Authors: Arnon Inbal
Published: July 2018

Do commonly used statistical learning measures capture stable individual differences in children? Infants, children and adults are capable of using statistical learning to extract information about their environment. While most studies look at group-level performance, a growing literature examines individual differences in SL and their relation to language learning outcomes: individuals who are better at SL are expected to show better linguistic abilities. Accordingly, studies have found positive correlations between SL performance and language outcomes in both children and adults. However, these studies often use tasks designed to explore group-level performance without modification, resulting in psychometric shortcomings (Siegelman et al. 2017a). In particular, they use relatively few testing trials, repeat items during testing, and assess learning using forced choice trials, all of which impact task reliability in adults (Siegelman et al. 2017b). Even though similar measures are used to assess individual differences in children, no study to date has examined their reliability in development. We examine the reliability of common SL measures in children, and ask if they are similarly reliable in children and adults. We assess the reliability of three SL tasks (two auditory and one visual) in children (mean age 8;2) and adults two months apart. While the tasks showed moderate reliability in adults, they did not capture stable individual variation in children where test-retest and split-half reliability fell well below psychometric standards. These findings raise significant concerns about the use of current SL measures to predict and explain individual differences in development.
Moving ahead through time?
Authors: Raw Rachael
Published: July 2018

To whom it may concern,Please find out manuscript titled "Moving ahead through time?" attached. Abstract below:Miles, Nind and Macrae (2010) reported findings to suggest that our ability to mentally represent the past and future might be represented in the sensorimotor systems that govern human motor control. They ran an experiment showed participants to lean forward when thinking of the future and lean backward when thinking of the past. We aimed to explore this phenomenon further; firstly by exploring whether the knee would move in the opposite direction to the head when participants were standing (i.e. an automatic counterbalancing movement to avoid instability). We also applied the same methodology as reported by Miles et al. (2010) in an attempt to replicate their results. Findings demonstrated that found that the head does indeed move in the opposite direction to the knee, but more interestingly, our second experiment actually failed replicate Miles et al's (2010) original findings. Our data strongly suggest that the sensorimotor system prioritises the maintaining of postural control postural maintenance even when a standing individual is engaged in abstract thought processes. This strategy seems the most conducive to survival, given that this approach reduces the likelihood of falls.
Atheists on the Santiago Way: Examining Motivations to go on Pilgrimage
Authors: Farias Miguel , Coleman Thomas Joseph , Bartlett James Edward
Published: July 2018

In the past thirty years the camino to Santiago de Compostela has been recreated as an eclectic pilgrimage, open to both religious and atheist travellers. Following previous work on motivational orientations and religion (Farias and Lalljee 2008), we conducted a study examining atheist vs. religious pilgrims’ motivations to walk the Santiago way. We assessed pilgrims (N = 360) at various parts of the northern Spanish camino using a questionnaire that measured motivations to go on pilgrimage. In addition, we measured levels of positive and negative affect, physical exertion and emotional problems. Atheists scored significantly lower on Community and Religious types of motivations. However, in several measures no differences were found between groups. We suggest that both atheist and religious pilgrims are exploring forms of horizontal and vertical transcendence characterised by a desire to connect to nature and one’s deeper self.
Working Memory Capacity Mediates the Relationship between Removal and Fluid Intelligence
Authors: Singh Kris , Gignac Gilles , Brydges Christopher , Ecker Ullrich K. H.
Published: July 2018

A process of active, item-wise removal of information from working memory (WM) has been proposed as the core component process of WM updating. Consequently, we investigated the associations between removal efficiency, WM capacity, and fluid intelligence (gF) in a series of three individual-differences studies via confirmatory factor analysis. In each study, participants completed a novel WM updating task battery designed to measure removal efficiency. In Study 1, participants additionally completed a WM capacity task battery. In Study 2, participants completed a battery of well-established measures of gF in addition to the updating battery. In Study 3, participants completed the updating, WM capacity, and gF task batteries. The results suggested that removal efficiency was related to both WM capacity and gF. Furthermore, based on a mediation analysis, the relationship between removal efficiency and gF was found to be entirely indirect via removal’s influence on WM capacity. The results were interpreted to suggest that removal ability may contribute to performance in reasoning tasks effectively through increasing WM capacity, presumably through reducing interference from distracting information.
Understanding and Using the Implicit Association Test: 1. An Improved Scoring Algorithm
Authors: Greenwald Anthony G. , Nosek Brian A. , Banaji Mahzarin R.
Published: July 2018

In reporting Implicit Association Test (IAT) results, researchers have most often used scoring conventions described in the first publication of the IAT (A. G. Greenwald, D. E. McGhee, & J. L. K. Schwartz, 1998). Demonstration IATs available on the Internet have produced large data sets that were used here to evaluate alternative scoring procedures. Candidate new algorithms were examined in terms of their (a) correlations with parallel self- report measures, (b) resistance to an artifact associated with speed of responding, (c) internal consistency, (d) sensitivity to known influences on IAT measures, and (e) resistance to known procedural influences. The best-performing measure incorporates data from the IAT’s practice trials, uses a metric that is calibrated by each respondent’s latency variability, and includes a latency penalty for errors. This new algorithm strongly outperforms the earlier (conventional) procedure.
Applying the generalized logistic model in single case designs
Authors: Verboon Peter , Peters Gjalt - Jorn Ygram
Published: July 2018

Many analytical approaches to single-case data assume either linear effects (regression-based methods) or instant effects (mean-based methods). Neither assumption is realistic, and therefore these approaches’ assumptions are often violated. In the present paper, we propose modelling curvilinear effects to appropriately parametrize the characteristics of singe-case data. Specifically, we introduce the generalized logistic function as adequate function for this situation. The merits of the proposed procedure are demonstrated using data previously used in single case research that represent typical single case data. We provide the function with auxiliary graphical options to demonstrate the model parameters. The function is freely available in the R package “userfriendlyscience”. The proposed procedure is a new way to analyse single case data, which may provide applied single case researchers with a new tool to better understand their data and avoid applying methods with violated assumptions
Peer Group Cohesion and Prosocial Behavior
Authors: van den Bos Wouter , Crone Eveline , Güroğlu Berna
Published: July 2018

Adolescence is a key period of social development at the end of which individuals are expected to take on adult social roles. The school class, as the most salient peer group, becomes the prime environment that impacts social development during adolescence. Using social network analyses, we investigated how individual and group level features are related to prosocial and social captial (generalized trust). We mapped the social networks within 22 classrooms (N=611) of adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years, and collected data on social behaviors towards peers. Our results indicate that individuals with high centrality show both higher levels of prosocial behavior and relational aggression. Importantly, greater social cohesion was associated with (1) reduced levels of antisocial behavior towards peers and (2) increased generalized trust. These results provide novel insights in the relationship between social structure and social behavior, and stress the importance of the school environment in the development of not only intellectual but also social capital.
Explaining contentious political issues promotes open-minded thinking
Authors: Elnakouri Abdo , Huynh Alex , Grossmann Igor
Published: July 2018

Cognitive scientists suggest that inviting people to explain contentious political issues might reduce intergroup toxicity because it exposes people to how poorly they understand the issue. However, whether providing explanations can result in more open-minded political thinking remains unclear. On one hand, inviting people to explain a political issue might make them more impartial and open-minded in their thinking. On the other hand, an invitation to explain a contentious political issue might lead to myside bias—rationalization of one’s default position. Here, we address these contrasting predictions in five experiments (N = 1,884; three pre-registered), conducted across a variety of contexts: with graduate students interacting with an actor in a laboratory setting, with US residents at the peak of the 2012 and 2016 U.S. presidential elections, with UK residents before the highly polarized 2019 Brexit vote, and with gun-control partisans. Across studies, we found that explaining politically contentious topics resulted in more open-minded thinking, an effect that generalized across coded (Studies 1-4) and self-report (Studies 3-4) measures. We also observed that participants who were made to feel like their explanations were welcomed felt closer to their discussion partner (Studies 3-4), an effect that generalized to all outgroup members with whom they disagreed with about the politically contentious issue (Study 4). We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings, and the potential for explanations to foster open-minded political engagement.
Headphone screening to facilitate web-based auditory experiments
Authors: Woods Kevin Jing Poh , Siegel Max H , Traer James , Mcdermott Josh
Published: July 2018

Psychophysical experiments conducted remotely over the internet permit data collection from large numbers of participants, but sacrifice control over sound presentation, and therefore are not widely employed in hearing research. To help standardize online sound presentation, we introduce a brief psychophysical test for determining if online experiment participants are wearing headphones. Listeners judge which of three pure tones is quietest, with one of the tones presented 180° out of phase across the stereo channels. This task is intended to be easy over headphones but difficult over loudspeakers due to phase-cancellation. We validated the test in the lab by testing listeners known to be wearing headphones or listening over loudspeakers. The screening test was effective and efficient, discriminating between the two modes of listening with a small number of trials. When run online, a bimodal distribution of scores was obtained, suggesting that some participants performed the task over loudspeakers despite instructions to use headphones. The ability to detect and screen out these participants mitigates concerns over sound quality for online experiments, a first step toward opening auditory perceptual research to the possibilities afforded by crowdsourcing.
Good Advice is Beyond All Price, but What if it Comes from a Machine?
Authors: Hertz Nicholas , Wiese Eva
Published: July 2018

As nonhuman agents become integrated into the workforce, the question becomes whether humans are willing to consider their advice, and to what extent advice-seeking depends on the perceived agent-task fit. To examine this, participants performed social and analytical tasks and received advice from human, robot, and computer agents in two conditions: in the Agent First condition, participants were first asked to choose advisors and were then informed which task to perform; in the Task First condition, they were first informed about the task and then asked to choose advisors. In the Agent First condition, we expected participants to prefer human to non-human advisors, and to subsequently trust their advice more if they were assigned the social as opposed to the analytical task. In the Task First condition, we expected advisor choices to be guided by stereotypical assumptions regarding the agents’ expertise for the tasks, accompanied by higher trust in their suggestions. The findings indicate that in the Agent First condition, the human was chosen significantly more often than the machines, while in the Task First condition advisor choices were calibrated based on perceived agent-task fit. Trust was higher in the social task, but only showed variations with the human partner.
Psychophysics with children: Investigating the effects of attentional lapses on threshold estimates
Authors: Manning Catherine
Published: July 2018

When assessing the perceptual abilities of children, researchers tend to use psychophysical techniques designed for use with adults. However, children’s poorer attentiveness might bias the threshold estimates obtained by these methods. Here, we obtained speed discrimination threshold estimates in 6- to 7-year-old children in UK Key Stage 1 (KS1), 7- to 9-year-old children in Key Stage 2 (KS2) and adults using three psychophysical procedures: QUEST, a 1-up 2-down Levitt staircase, and Method of Constant Stimuli (MCS). We estimated inattentiveness using responses to ‘easy’ catch trials. As expected, children had higher threshold estimates and made more errors on catch trials than adults. Lower threshold estimates were obtained from psychometric functions fit to the data in the QUEST condition than the MCS and Levitt staircases, and the threshold estimates obtained when fitting a psychometric function to the QUEST data were also lower than when using the QUEST mode. This suggests that threshold estimates cannot be compared directly across methods. Differences between the procedures did not vary significantly with age group. Simulations indicated that inattentiveness biased threshold estimates particularly when threshold estimates were computed as the QUEST mode or the average of staircase reversals. In contrast, thresholds estimated by post-hoc psychometric function fitting were less biased by attentional lapses. Our results suggest that some psychophysical methods are more robust to attentiveness, which has important implications for assessing the perception of children and clinical groups.
Predictive validity of the AUDIT for a Tanzanian general population
Authors: Vissoci Joao Ricardo Nickenig
Published: July 2018

We aimed to improve upon previous research by validating the AUDIT in both the general population and the injury population of Moshi, Tanzania in order to increase the external validity and inclusivity of previous validation attempts. This study includes measures of validity, internal structure, and reliability. Our objectives were to 1) validate the AUDIT in the general population 2) validate the AUDIT in the injury population and 3) perform predictive modeling to evaluate the usefulness of the tool. These three aims will allow for better assessment of the utility of the AUDIT to screen for mild to severe AUDs in the population of Moshi, Tanzania in an emergency room setting.
Infants’ prospective control during object manipulation in an uncertain environment
Authors: Gottwald Janna M. , Gredebäck Gustaf
Published: July 2018

This study investigates how infants use visual and sensorimotor information to prospectively control their actions. We gave 14-month-olds two objects of different weight and observed how high they were lifted, using a Qualisys Motion Capture System. In one condition, the two objects were visually distinct (different color condition) in another they were visually identical (same color condition). Lifting amplitudes of the first movement unit were analyzed in order to assess prospective control. Results demonstrate that infants lifted a light object higher than a heavy object, especially when vision could be used to assess weight (different color condition). When being confronted with two visually identical objects of different weight (same color condition), infants showed a different lifting pattern than what could be observed in the different color condition, expressed by a significant interaction effect between object weight and color condition on lifting amplitude. These results indicate that (a) visual information about object weight can be used to prospectively control lifting actions and that (b) infants are able to prospectively control their lifting actions even without visual information about object weight. We argue that infants, in the absence of reliable visual information about object weight, heighten their dependence on non-visual information (tactile, sensorimotor memory) in order to estimate weight and pre-adjust their lifting actions in a prospective manner.
Fast and Slow Strategies in Multiplication
Authors: Hofman Abe Dirk , Visser Ingmar , Jansen Brenda , Marsman Maarten , van der Maas Han
Published: July 2018

In solving multiplication problems, children use both fast, retrieval-based, processes, and, slower computational processes. In the current study, we applied a tree-based item response-modeling framework to disentangling these strategies using information contained in the observed response latencies. Results showed qualitative differences between the fast and the slow strategies. Building on these results, both item and person characteristics, resulting from substantive models of multiplication, were differently related to fast and slow processes.
What have labels ever done for us? The linguistic shortcut in conceptual processing
Authors: Connell Louise
Published: July 2018

How does language affect cognition? Is it important that most of our concepts come withlinguistic labels, such as car or number? The statistical distributions of how such labels co-occur in language offers a rich medium of associative information that can support conceptual processing in a number of ways. In this article, I argue that the role of language in conceptual processing goes far beyond mere support, and that language is as fundamental and intrinsic a part of conceptual processing as sensorimotor-affective simulations. In particular, because linguistic association tends to be computationally cheaper than simulation (i.e., faster, less effortful, but still information-rich), it enables an heuristic mechanism that can provide adequate conceptual representation without the need to develop a detailed simulation. I review the evidence for this key mechanism – the linguistic shortcut – and propose that it allows labels to sometimes carry the burden of conceptual processing by acting in place of simulated referent meanings, according to context, available resources, and processing goals.
Stability and Change in the Big Five and Big Six: New Tests of the Maturity and Cumulative Continuity Principles
Authors: Costello Cory Kennedy , Srivastava Sanjay , Saucier Gerard
Published: July 2018

The maturity principle and cumulative continuity principle have been fundamental in understanding adult development of personality traits. We tested new predictions derived from both principles for Honesty-Propriety, a factor from the newer Big Six model, as well as for the original Big Five domains. We also tested hypotheses about lower-order Big Five aspects, gender differences in change, and a plateau in rank-order stability in early and middle adulthood. Data came from a national sample of U.S. adults (N = 858) who were assessed via both self- and informant reports in an accelerated longitudinal design with four annual waves. Consistent with the maturity principle, self-reports of Honesty-Propriety increased with age; changes in informant reports were directionally similar but nonsignificant. We also replicated previous findings supporting the maturity principle: Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Emotional Stability all increased with age. Analyses of lower-order aspects showed largely similar patterns of change at a different level of the personality taxonomy. Women increased in Emotional Stability more than men did. In tests of the cumulative continuity principle, we did not find evidence of increasing rank-order stability from age 18 to 58. This suggests a modification to the cumulative continuity principle in which rank-order stability is relatively unchanging across this period of life, what we term the working years plateau.
Reading Fluency Matters: NIH R21 HD090460-01A1
Authors: Braze David , Gong Tao , Nam Hosung
Published: July 2018

Fluency is an essential feature of skilled reading. Reading speed is an overt reflection of automaticity in decoding and similarly deft control over other component skills. There is considerable support for oral reading speed as a valid and reliable indicator of general reading skill. In fluent reading, whether oral or silent, processes of word recognition, comprehension, and eye movement control must be tightly coordinated, as characterized in several implemented models of eye movements over print (Reichle et al., 2013; Reilly & Radach, 2006; Engbert et al., 2005). Oral reading, in addition to those requirements shared with silent reading, places an additional demand on the reader: the need to produce accurate, prosodically appropriate speech in conjunction with the reading process itself. Both oral and silent reading rely not only on good control of component processes, but also on facile coordination of those processes (Berninger et al., 2001; Breznitz, 2003). Rapid automatized naming (RAN) is another fluencylike predictor of reading skills (see Bowey, 2005; Kirby et al., 2010; Hulme & Snowling, 2012; Cutting & Scarborough, 2006; Wolf et al., 2000). RAN’s task demands overlap considerably with reading, especially oral reading (Denckla & Rudel, 1974). Yet, the nature of the connections between the two capabilities remains uncertain. This research exploits commonalities between reading and RAN to help resolve uncertainties in their causes. We do so by working toward a unified, theoretical account of performance across tasks. Our main purpose is not to explain RAN as such, but a model of reading fluency that explicitly handles RAN will have distinct advantages over one that does not. It will be constrained by the need to accommodate both tasks, and so may provide insight into relationships between the two that will prove helpful in refining practical uses of RAN as a reading assessment. Our approach is two-fold. First, we will assess relationships among oral and silent reading, and standard indicators of reading skillin three critical periods in the development of skilled reading: a learning-to-read group (7-8yo), a transition-to-fluency group (10-11yo), and a full-literacy group (17-18yo). We will evaluate developmental differences between groups and individual differences within groups. We will apply new ways to investigate RAN performance and oral and silent reading fluency derived from analysis of gaze behavior, and of asynchronies in gaze and speech behaviors produced during these tasks (Jones et al., 2008). We make novel use of speech processing technology to facilitate alignment of speech and gaze signals to accommodate the large volume of speech data generated by the project. Second, we will implement a unified model of coordination among component processes for oral and silent reading(Reichle et al., 2009; Reichle, Pollatsek, et al., 2012). A successful unified model will serve as a testbed for investigating structural relationships among oral and silent reading, RAN and component skills.
The effort paradox: Effort is both costly and valued
Authors: Inzlicht Michael , Shenhav Amitai , Olivola Christopher
Published: July 2018

According to prominent models in cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and economics, effort—be it physical or mental—is costly: when given a choice, humans and non-human animals alike tend to avoid effort. Here, we suggest that the opposite is also true and review extensive evidence that effort can also add value. Not only can the same outcomes be more rewarding if we apply more (not less) effort, sometimes we select options precisely because they require effort. Given the increasing recognition of effort’s role in motivation, cognitive control, and value-based decision-making, considering this neglected side of effort will not only improve formal computational models, but also provide clues about how to promote sustained mental effort across time.
When power analyses based on pilot data are biased: Inaccurate effect size estimators and follow-up bias
Authors: Lakens Daniel , Albers Casper J
Published: July 2018

When designing a study, the planned sample size is often based on power analyses. One way to choose an effect size for power analyses is by relying on pilot data. A-priori power analyses are only accurate when the effect size estimate is accurate. In this paper we highlight two sources of bias when performing a-priori power analyses for between-subject designs based on pilot data. First, we examine how the choice of the effect size index (η2, ω2 and ε2) affects the sample size and power of the main study. Based on our observations, we recommend against the use of η2 in a-priori power analyses. Second, we examine how the maximum sample size researchers are willing to collect in a main study (e.g. due to time or financial constraints) leads to overestimated effect size estimates in the studies that are performed. Determining the required sample size exclusively based on the effect size estimates from pilot data, and following up on pilot studies only when the sample size estimate for the main study is considered feasible, creates what we term follow-up bias. We explain how follow-up bias leads to underpowered main studies.Our simulations show that designing main studies based on effect sizes estimated from small pilot studies does not yield desired levels of power due to accuracy bias and follow-up bias, even when publication bias is not an issue. We urge researchers to consider alternative approaches to determining the sample size of their studies, and discuss several options.
Observations of Toddlers’ Sensory-based Exploratory Behaviors with a Novel Food
Authors: Momin Shabnam , Hughes Sheryl O , Elias Cindy V. , Papaioannou Maria , Phan Mimi , Vides David , Wood Alexis
Published: July 2018

Background: Food neophobia hinders the acceptance of healthy food in young children, and may be overcome by repeated food exposure. The prevalent literature states that children exhibit 5 sensory-based exploratory behaviors (SBEBs): smelling, licking, spitting, manipulating and / or swallowing as they progress towards accepting a novel food, yet there is a paucity of research on these. This study aimed to use direct observations of SBEBs across first-time exposures to hummus (1) determine the prevalence of five SBEBs (smelling, licking, spitting, manipulating and swallowing) in 12-35 month olds, (2) quantify the psychometric properties of the SBEB assessment; and (3) examine the association of SBEBs with parent-assessed food fussiness, and consumption of the novel food.Methods: Direct observations of SBEBs during a 15-20 minute snack time were conducted by trained staff members for 55 hummus-naïve toddlers ages 12-35 months, across 16 exposures to a novel food (hummus). Parents completed the child eating behavior questionnaire. Hummus consumption was measured using digital plate waste method. Results: A very low base rates of spitting (.06%), smelling (.97%) and licking (1.95%) were observed but manipulation (26.36%) and swallowing (62.15%) were more prevalent. Observation data on two behaviors over 16 occasions gave rise to a reliability coefficient of r = 0.65. SBEBs did not significantly associate with parent-assessed food fussiness, nor hummus consumption.Conclusions: Although literature refers to the prevalence of SBEBs, we did not observe this for three proposed behaviors. We did observe manipulation, but more research is needed to determine if there are additional SBEBs not noted in the literature, and to better delineate the process that leads to acceptance/rejection of novel food.
Does the left hair part look better (or worse) than the right?
Authors: Frimer Jeremy Abraham
Published: July 2018

This paper provides the first experimental tests of whether the side of the head on which a person parts his/her hair affects the person’s appearance and perceived character. The popular culture view is that the left hair part makes a person appear more competent and masculine, and the right part warmer and more feminine. Participants judged the appearance of a portrait with a hair part on one side, or a digitally altered version in which the hair part was reversed (while the face remained the same). Three studies (total N = 3819) found that hair part does not alter appearance. The null results generalized to male and female models, smiling and neutral expressions, and hair parts flowing with or against the hair whorl. The popular belief that hair part alters one’s appearance may either be a myth of underspecified.
Stigmatized Beliefs: Conspiracy Theories, Anticipated Negative Evaluation of the Self, and Fear of Social Exclusion
Authors: Lantian Anthony , Muller Dominique , Nurra Cécile , Klein Olivier , Berjot Sophie , Pantazi Myrto
Published: July 2018

Can conspiracy theories be a source of social stigma? If it is true, it would follow that people may expect to be socially excluded when they express endorsement of conspiracy theories. This effect should be partially explained by the knowledge of the negative perceptions associated with conspiracy theories. In Study 1, inducing French internet users to write a text endorsing (vs. criticizing) conspiracy theories about the Charlie Hebdo shooting, led them to anticipate fear of social exclusion. This effect was mediated by anticipated negative evaluation of the self. In Study 2, inducing French internet users to imagine defending (vs. criticizing) conspiracy theories about the Charlie Hebdo shooting in front of an audience, led them to anticipate fear of social exclusion. The effect was again mediated by anticipated negative evaluation of the self. To conclude, our findings demonstrate that conspiracy theories can be viewed as a source of social stigma.Keywords:
The Judgment Bias Task: A flexible method for assessing individual differences in social judgment biases
Authors: Axt Jordan , Nguyen Helen , Nosek Brian A.
Published: July 2018

Many areas of social psychological research investigate how social information may bias judgment. However, most measures of social judgment biases are [1] low in reliability because they use a single response, [2] not indicative of individual differences in bias because they use between-subjects designs, [3] inflexible because they are designed for a particular domain, and [4] ambiguous about magnitude of bias because there is no objectively correct answer. We developed a measure of social judgment bias, the Judgment Bias Task, in which participants judge profiles varying in quality for a certain outcome based on objective criteria. The presence of ostensibly irrelevant social information provides opportunity to assess the extent to which social biases undermine the use of objective criteria in judgment. The JBT facilitates measurement of social judgment biases by [1] using multiple responses, [2] indicating individual differences by using within-subject designs, [3] being adaptable for assessing a variety of judgments, [4] identifying an objective magnitude of bias, and [5] taking six minutes to complete on average. In nine pre-registered studies (N> 9,000) we use the JBT to reveal two prominent social judgment biases: favoritism towards more physically attractive people and towards members of one’s ingroup. We observe that the JBT can reveal social biases, and that these sometimes occur even when the participant did not intend or believe they showed biased judgment. A flexible, objective, efficient assessment of social judgment biases will accelerate theoretical and empirical progress.