bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Negative priming from the non‐selected meaning of the homograph
Authors: Nievas Francisco , Marí‐Beffa Paloma
Published: February 2003

In this article we address the question of whether semantic ambiguity resolution involves the central inhibition of the non‐selected meaning of a homograph. Most previous studies on this topic have either not clearly required semantic selection, or have induced this disambiguation by manipulating the context. These studies have not observed clear inhibitory effects on the non‐selected meaning of the type studied in negative priming. We suggest that this kind of central inhibition may depend on task demands, and will be more easily observed in tasks where meaning selection is clearly required and is not made easier by cueing or context. In this study, participants had to perform a semantic judgment task in the prime display. Semantic priming from both the selected and the non‐selected meaning of homographs was measured by showing facilitation for the selected meaning and inhibitory effects of the non‐selected meaning. Participants with slow but accurate performance during the task were mainly responsible for this semantic negative priming effect, reflecting the role of inhibition on task‐oriented control. The ‘negative priming’ effect is discussed in relation to current theories of attentional selection.
Conceptualization and measurement of celebrity worship
Authors: McCutcheon Lynn E. , Lange Rense , Houran James
Published: February 2003

Celebrity worship has been conceptualized as having pathological and nonpathological forms. To avoid problems associated with item‐level factor analysis, ‘top‐down purification’ was used to test the validity of this conceptualization. The respondents (N = 249) completed items modelled after existing celebrity worship questionnaires. A subset of 17 unidimensional and Rasch scalable items was discovered (the local reliability ranged from .71 to .96), which showed no biases related to age and gender. This subset was dubbed the Celebrity Worship Scale (CWS). The items also showed no celebrity bias, indicating that CWS applies equally to acting, music, sports, and ‘other’ celebrities. The Rasch nature of the items defines celebrity worship as consisting of three qualitatively different stages. Low worship involves individualistic behaviours such as watching and reading about a celebrity. At slightly higher levels, celebrity worship takes on a social character. Lastly, the highest levels are characterized by a mixture of empathy with the celebrity's successes and failures, over‐identification with the celebrity, compulsive behaviours, as well as obsession with details of the celebrity's life. Based on these findings, the authors propose a model of celebrity worship based on psychological absorption (leading to delusions of actual relationships with celebrities) and addiction (fostering the need for progressively stronger involvement to feel connected with the celebrity).
The determinants of spoken and written picture naming latencies
Authors: Bonin Patrick , Chalard Marylène , Méot Alain , Fayol Michel
Published: February 2003

The influence of nine variables on the latencies to write down or to speak aloud the names of pictures taken from Snodgrass and Vanderwart (1980) was investigated in French adults. The major determinants of both written and spoken picture naming latencies were image variability, image agreement and age of acquisition. To a lesser extent, name agreement was also found to have an impact in both production modes. The implications of the findings for theoretical views of both spoken and written picture naming are discussed.
Visual search within and across dimensions: A case for within‐dimension grouping
Authors: Linnell Karina J. , Humphreys Glyn W.
Published: February 2003

We used a visual search task in which participants searched for the presence of either both members or just one member of pairs of spatially separated simple visual features. Pairs of target features could be drawn either from within the same dimension (two colours, or two orientations) or from across two different dimensions (one colour and one orientation). In Experiment 1, display items carrying target and non‐target features (target and distractor items respectively) were presented at interspersed spatial locations. Reaction times (RTs) to find both of two feature targets were generally slower than to find one feature target for within‐ and across‐dimension target pairs alike. This slowing was approximately constant across display set sizes, with one exception: for within‐dimension targets, two features could be detected as fast as single features when there were just two items in displays. Experiment 2 replicated the finding across all display set sizes when target items were always spatially adjacent rather than interspersed with distractor items. We interpret these data in terms of grouping between target features within the same dimension, and argue against there being any qualitative limit on visual processing or selection when target features come from a single dimension relative to when they come from separate dimensions.
An analogue study of attributional complexity, theory of mind deficits and paranoia
Authors: Taylor Jayne L. , Kinderman Peter
Published: February 2003

Recent research suggests that the tendency of paranoid individuals to attribute negative events to external personal factors and positive events to internal factors may be associated with difficulties in understanding the mental states of others, referred to as theory of mind (ToM). The present study aimed to investigate the relationship of these factors with attributional complexity and motivation. In an analogue sample, a relative ToM impairment was associated with an increased tendency to attribute negative events to external personal factors but not with differences in attributional complexity. This indicates that paranoid tendencies and mentalizing deficits are not associated with attributional simplicity, but may be related to schematic patterns of cognition.
Homesickness among students in two cultures: Antecedents and consequences
Authors: Stroebe Margaret , Van Vliet Tony , Hewstone Miles , Willis Hazel
Published: February 2003

Review of the theoretical and empirical literature on homesickness showed that despite recent advances, scientific understanding of the impact on students of leaving home for college is still limited. Furtherempirical investigation using standardized measures, structural equation models and including additional mediating/moderating variables is needed. Two studies were thus conducted, one in the Netherlands, and one in the UK. Homesickness was investigated among recent‐intake students, using a newly developed instrument, the Utrecht Homesickness Scale. Variables investigated in relationship to homesickness included depression, personality factors (self‐liking, competence, self‐esteem) and family situation (attachment to family). Homesickness was found to be a common though differentially prevalent phenomenon (approximately 50% in the Netherlands; 80% in the UK). Structural equation models showed that students missed family and friends and had difficulties adjusting to college life. These difficulties were associated with ruminations about home and loneliness, which themselves were associated with depression. There were differences in intensity (UK students were more homesick) and there were gender differences (UK females experienced more homesickness). Both the personality and family situation factors had an impact on homesickness. The results supported the conceptualization of homesickness as a ‘mini‐grief’, to be viewed from theoretical perspectives in the field of loss and bereavement.
Probability misjudgment, cognitive ability, and belief in the paranormal
Authors: Musch Jochen , Ehrenberg Katja
Published: February 2003

According to the probability misjudgment account of paranormal belief (Blackmore & Troscianko, 1985), believers in the paranormal tend to wrongly attribute remarkable coincidences to paranormal causes rather than chance. Previous studies have shown that belief in the paranormal is indeed positively related to error rates in probabilistic reasoning. General cognitive ability could account for a relationship between these two variables without assuming a causal role of probabilistic reasoning in the forming of paranormal beliefs, however. To test this alternative explanation, a belief in the paranormal scale (BPS) and a battery of probabilistic reasoning tasks were administered to 123 university students. Confirming previous findings, a significant correlation between BPS scores and error rates in probabilistic reasoning was observed. This relationship disappeared, however, when cognitive ability as measured by final examination grades was controlled for. Lower cognitive ability correlated substantially with belief in the paranormal. This finding suggests that differences in general cognitive performance rather than specific probabilistic reasoning skills provide the basis for paranormal beliefs.
An experimental investigation of some properties of individual iconic gestures that mediate their communicative power
Authors: Beattie Geoffrey , Shovelton Heather
Published: February 2003

It has been hypothesized that the iconic hand gestures that accompany talk communicate important semantic information. This research tests whether some gestures, in the absence of speech, are more communicative than others and considers what properties of gestures might affect their communicative power. Our research found that the communicative power of gestures does vary greatly, and that this is significantly affected by the viewpoint from which a gesture is generated, with character viewpoint gestures being more communicative than observer viewpoint gestures. It has also been suggested that gesture viewpoint is connected with the transitivity of the clause that it accompanies, and it was found in our study that respondents appeared to obtain syntactic information about the associated clause from the gesture. This conclusion was based on the observation that when respondents attempted to report what information was contained in gestures, viewed in the absence of speech, there was a significantly higher proportion of transitive structures in their answers after they had watched character viewpoint gestures compared with observer viewpoint gestures. Communication about the syntax of the accompanying clause might thus be a critical, but thus far neglected, aspect of the role of gestures in everyday talk.
Switching imagined viewpoints: The effects of viewing angle and layout size
Authors: Tlauka Michael
Published: February 2003

The study examined the cognitive processes involved in switching from familiar to novel points of observation. Participants studied a single view of a small (table‐top model) or large (laboratory) spatial display that was presented from a horizontal or vertical viewing angle. In a reaction‐time task, spatial judgments were then made from imagined perspectives that were either the original perspective or a parallel, novel perspective. Familiar views resulted in decreased response latencies relative to novel views only for those participants who had been presented with a horizontal viewing angle, an effect that was independent of display size. The results indicate that viewing angle is a variable influencing people's ability to switch imagined perspectives.
Sex‐typed preferences in three domains: Do two‐year‐olds need cognitive variables?
Authors: Campbell Anne , Shirley Louisa , Caygill Lisa
Published: February 2003

Gender schema theory proposes that sex‐typed behaviour flows from the child's ability to ‘tag’ incoming information in terms of gender categories leading to heightened attention, recall and performance of sex‐congruent behaviour. We investigate three questions in relation to this proposal: (1) the order of emergence of the child's ability to apply gender labels in each of three domains (social behaviour, same‐sex peer preference and sex‐congruent toy preference) and its impact upon sex‐typed behaviour, (2) the role of the child's knowledge of his or her own sex in sex‐typed preferences, and (3) the generality versus specificity of sex‐typed behaviour across three domains. Participants were 56 two‐year old children. Correct labelling of gender was achieved by 67% of children for self, by 54% for other children, by 23% for toys and by 13% for activities. There was a significant preference for sex‐congruent toys and boys engaged in significantly more negative social interaction behaviours than did girls, but same‐sex peer preference was not found. There was no effect of domain‐specific labelling ability on corresponding sex‐typed behaviour nor did sex‐of‐self knowledge explain sex‐typed preference. There was no evidence of domain generality in sex‐typed behaviours. The findings suggest that the impact of cognitive variables may have been overestimated.
Sharing humour and laughter in autism and Down's syndrome
Authors: Reddy Vasudevi , Williams Emma , Vaughan Amy
Published: February 2003

Everyday humour and laughter can tell us about children's ability to engage with and understand others. A group of 19 pre‐school children with autism and 16 pre‐school children with Down's syndrome, matched on non‐verbal mental age, participated in a cross‐sectional study. Parental reports revealed no group differences in overall frequencies of laughter or laughter at tickling, peekaboo or slapstick. However, in the autism group, reported laughter was rare in response to events such as funny faces or socially inappropriate acts, but was common in strange or inexplicable situations. Reported responses to others‘laughter also differed: children with autism rarely attempted to join in others’ laughter and rarely attempted to re‐elicit it through acts of clowning or teasing. Analysis of videotaped interactions also showed no group differences in frequencies of child or adult laughter. However, the children with autism showed higher frequencies of unshared laughter in interactive situations and lower frequencies of attention or smiles in response to others' laughter. Humour is an affective and cultural phenomenon involving the sharing of affect, attention and convention; children with autism show problems in some simple affective and mutual as well as joint attentional and cultural aspects of humorous engagement.
Misremembering Bartlett: A study in serial reproduction
Authors: Ost James , Costall Alan
Published: February 2003

According to much of the recent psychological literature on memory, Bartlett should be credited with the insight that remembering can never be accurate but is, instead, more or less of a distortion (a view to which many modern authors themselves seem to subscribe). In the present paper, we argue that Bartlett did not himself provide such an unqualified account of remembering. Although he sought to challenge the idea that remembering is largely an accurate record of past events, he did not maintain that it is always inaccurate. Despite unqualified claims by Bartlett to the contrary, neither his own experiments nor his theoretical position warrant the conclusion that remembering is inherently unreliable. Indeed, as we explain, Bartlett himself provides several examples of impressively detailed and accurate recall, and sought to explain them within the framework of his schema theory.
It's easy to like or dislike Tony Blair: Accessibility experiences and the favourability of attitude judgments
Authors: Haddock Geoffrey
Published: February 2003

The present study investigated the circumstances under which accessibility experiences would impact the favourability of political attitudes. Participants who were either interested or uninterested in British politics generated either two (or five) positive (or negative) attributes about Tony Blair before indicating their attitude toward him. The results revealed that politically uninterested participants rated Blair more favourably when they had accessed either a small number of positive attributes or a large number of negative attributes. The favourability ratings of politically interested participants were unaffected by the number and type of accessed attributes. Implications of the findings on the nature of accessibility experiences and attitudes are discussed.
The effects of familiarity, orthographic neighbourhood density, letter‐length and graphemic complexity on children's reading accuracy
Authors: Laxon Veronica , Gallagher Alison , Masterson Jackie
Published: February 2003

Six to seven year‐old children, divided into two groups according to reading ability, read items designed to examine the effect of orthographic characteristics on reading accuracy. Two experiments were carried out using familiar words and nonwords as stimuli. The words and nonwords had comparable orthographic structures, and the number of orthographic neighbours was manipulated. Both reader groups participated in Expt 1, which involved three‐letter items, but only the more‐skilled group participated in Expt 2, which involved four‐letter items. The results showed that familiar words were read more accurately than nonwords. In addition, the children were more accurate with the three‐letter items than the four‐letter items, and neighbourhood density affected only three‐letter items. Expt 2 allowed comparisons between simple and complex graphemes. Complex vowels were more difficult than simple, and also posed more problems than common complex consonants. The results are discussed in relation to descriptions of orthographic development outlined in models of reading acquisition.
Memory for centrally attended changing objects in an incidental real‐world change detection paradigm
Authors: Levin Daniel T. , Simons Daniel J. , Angelone Bonnie L. , Chabris Christopher F.
Published: February 2003

People often have difficulty detecting visual changes in scenes, a phenomenon referred to as ‘change blindness’. Although change blindness is usually observed in pictures of objects that are not the focus of attention, it also occurs for attended objects in the real world. Here, we further explore the finding that many participants fail to detect the unexpected substitution of one conversation partner for another. We show that change blindness for a conversation partner occurs in a variety of situations. Furthermore, when tested with a photographic lineup following the change, participants who noticed the substitution showed better memory for both pre‐ and post‐change experimenters than participants who did not detect the change. We conclude that change blindness in this case is associated with relatively ineffective or inaccessible representations of previously attended objects, and we contrast these results with others indicating that change blindness arises from a failure to compare the original and changed object.
An application of judgment analysis to examination marking in psychology
Authors: Elander James , Hardman David
Published: February 2003

Statistical combinations of specific measures have been shown to be superior to expert judgment in several fields. In this study, judgment analysis was applied to examination marking to investigate factors that influenced marks awarded and contributed to differences between first and second markers. Seven markers in psychology rated 551 examination answers on seven ‘aspects’ for which specific assessment criteria had been developed to support good practice in assessment. The aspects were: addressing the question, covering the area, understanding, evaluation, development of argument, structure and organization, and clarity. Principal‐components analysis indicated one major factor and no more than two minor factors underlying the seven aspects. Aspect ratings were used to predict overall marks, using multiple regression to ‘capture’ the marking policies of individual markers. These varied from marker to marker in terms of the numbers of aspect ratings that made independent contributions to the prediction of overall marks and the extent to which aspect ratings explained the variance in overall marks. The number of independently predictive aspect ratings, and the amount of variance in overall marks explained by aspect ratings, were consistently higher for first markers (question setters) than for second markers. Co‐markers’ overall marks were then used as an external criterion to test the extent to which a simple model consisting of the sum of the aspect ratings improved on overall marks in the prediction of comarkers marks. The model significantly increased the variance in co‐markers' marks accounted for, but only for second markers, who had not taught the material and had not set the question. Further research is needed to develop the criteria and especially to establish the reliability and validity of specific aspects of assessment. The present results support the view that, for second markers at least, combined measures of specific aspects of examination answers may help to improve the reliability of marking.
A factor‐analytic investigation of computer ‘addiction’ and engagement
Authors: Charlton John P.
Published: February 2003

Evidence supporting the application of Brown's (1991, 1993) conception of behavioural addiction to computing behaviour is presented. Questionnaire items tapping Brown's addiction criteria were factor‐analysed along with others, including computer apathy—engagement and computer anxiety—comfort items of Charlton and Birkett (1995). Items relating to some of Brown's criteria (tolerance, euphoria, and cognitive salience) were found to be complex, an Addiction factor loading upon them but an Engagement factor loading more highly. Items tapping other criteria (conflict, withdrawal, behavioural salience, and relapse and reinstatement) were shown to be factor pure, with only the addiction factor loading highly upon them. It is concluded that Brown's conception of behavioural addiction can be applied to computer‐related behaviour, although the relationship of milder facets of addiction, which are also merely indicative of high engagement, to computer‐related addictions is non‐unique. It is also concluded that classifying individuals as exhibiting pathological computer use using checklists based upon adaptations of DSM criteria for pathological gambling is likely to overestimate the number of people addicted to computing activities.
Deductive reasoning from uncertain conditionals
Authors: Politzer Guy , Bourmaud Gaëtan
Published: February 2003

This paper begins with a review of the literature on plausible reasoning with deductive arguments containing a conditional premise. There is concurring evidence that people presented with valid conditional arguments such as Modus Ponens and Modus Tollens generally do not endorse the conclusion, but rather find it uncertain, in case (1) the plausibility of the major conditional premise is debatable, (2) the major conditional premise is formulated in frequentist or probabilistic terms, or (3) an additional premise introduces uncertainty about the major conditional premise. This third situation gives rise to non‐monotonic effects by a mechanism that can be characterized as follows: the reasoner is invited to doubt the major conditional premise by doubting the satisfaction of a tacit condition, which is necessary for the consequent to occur. Three experiments are presented. The first two aim to generalize the latter result using various types of conditionals and the last shows that performance in conditional reasoning is significantly affected by the representation of the task. This third point is discussed along with various other issues: we propose a pragmatic account of how the tacit conditions mentioned earlier are treated in plausible reasoning; the relationship of this account with the conditional probability view on conditional sentences is examined; an application of the same account to the Suppression Effect (Byrne, 1989) is proposed and compared with the counter‐example availability explanation; and finally, some suggestions on how uncertainty could be implemented in a mental logic system are presented.
Some long‐term effects of emotion on cognition
Authors: Moore Simon C. , Oaksford Mike
Published: February 2003

This study explored the long‐term effects of emotion on cognition and over a 12‐day period. Two divergent tasks were employed: a word association task and a visual learning task. Over the initial 4 days of the study, participants went through a mood‐induction procedure then subsequently completed both tasks. Both tasks showed a reduction in reaction time consistent with the power law of learning across the first 4 consecutive days, and there was no significant change in reaction time between day 4 and day 5 (1 week later), suggesting that the change in reaction time was robust. The slopes of the power curves are discussed in relation to attentional and mnemonic systems that may underlie the observed differences in the exponents of the power curves by emotion group.
Age variations in judgments of ‘great’ art works
Authors: North Adrian C. , Hargreaves David J.
Published: February 2003

This paper reports the results of two large‐scale surveys concerning nominations of ‘greatness’ in the arts. In Study 1, 1088 respondents to a national newspaper survey nominated the greatest art works of the past 1000 years. Analyses indicated that there was some, albeit limited, evidence that older respondents nominated older art works, but no evidence of a tendency to nominate works produced during the participants' adolescence/early adulthood. In Study 2, a very brief questionnaire distributed through a CD retail chain, a national newspaper, and a national TV station asked 12,502 participants to nominate up to three of the greatest pop musicians of all time. Analyses indicated a tendency to nominate musicians who were successful while the participants themselves were in adolescence/early adulthood. These results are discussed in terms of the extent to which age can explain judgments of artistic ‘greatness’ within different art forms.
A comparison of reported levels and expression of anger in everyday and driving situations
Authors: Lawton Rebecca , Nutter Amanda
Published: February 2003

Incidents of road rage are frequently reported in the media, yet despite claims that aggression on congested roads is a serious social problem, little empirical research has explored the question of whether people really do become more aggressive behind the wheel. This study compares levels and expression of anger in everyday and driving situations with the aim of testing some of the commonly held beliefs about aggression on the roads. A survey questionnaire presented 15 short scenarios describing frustrating situations and included a measure of anger and three levels of expression, outward, displaced, and suppressed. The questionnaire was posted on the Internet and received 226 responses during a 3‐month period. Analysis revealed that people were no more likely to report experiencing anger while driving than in non‐driving situations. However, the expression of anger did differ in the two contexts. In response to the driving scenarios, respondents were significantly more likely to report displacing their anger than in non‐driving situations. Those individuals who reported high levels of anger were also more likely to be outwardly aggressive while driving than they were in non‐driving situations. Although males and females reported very similar levels of anger, their expression of anger did differ. For females, the largest difference is between outwardly expressing anger and the other two forms, displacing and suppressing, whereas for men, the differences between these three forms are more alike. The paper concludes with a discussion of the practical implications of these findings.
Judgments under uncertainty: Representativeness or potential surprise?
Authors: Fisk John E.
Published: February 2003

Tversky and Kahneman's (1983) account of conjunctive probability judgment in terms of the representativeness heuristic is questioned. Instead, potential surprise (Shackle, 1969) is proposed as an important mechanism underlying subjective probability judgment. Study 1 reveals that, consistent with Shackle's theory, probabilities assigned to conjunctions are predominantly determined by the magnitude of the smaller component event probability. Also consistent with Shackle, Study 2 shows that for disjunctions, this role is performed by the larger component. Study 3 again contrasts the relative roles played by the component events in determining the value assigned to the conjunction. The results of the study are consistent with two reasoning processes: one analytically based, in which due account is taken of both component events, the other heuristic in nature and consistent with Shackle's theory of potential surprise. The implications of these results for a range of different types of judgment, e.g. with regard to person perception, stereotyping, categorization, and typicality, are evaluated.
The role of masculinity and distinctiveness in judgments of human male facial attractiveness
Authors: Little Anthony C. , Hancock Peter J. B.
Published: February 2003

Masculinity and distinctiveness have been found to influence the attractiveness of human male faces. The relationship between masculinity and distinctiveness, however, has received little attention. In Expt 1, we examine how current averaging techniques and manipulated sexual dimorphism influence ratings of attractiveness, masculinity, and distinctiveness. In agreement with previous studies, composite faces were found to be more attractive than individual faces. Averaging resulted in increased ratings of attractiveness but decreased ratings of masculinity and distinctiveness. This supports both that attractiveness is related to averageness and findings showing a preference for feminine traits in male faces. When controlling for attractiveness, no significant relationship was found between masculinity and distinctiveness. Manipulating sexual dimorphism did not alter distinctiveness ratings, indicating that feminized and masculinized faces are equally distinctive. These results are suggestive that masculinity and distinctiveness are separable components in face perception. In Expt 2, we look to improve on previous studies utilizing composite faces by examining how averaging in texture‐only or shape‐only changes perceptions of attractiveness, masculinity, and distinctiveness. Averaging in both shape and texture were found to increase attractiveness independently, showing that the increased attractiveness of composites is due to the combined action of these two manipulations.
Does performance on theory of mind tasks decline in old age?
Authors: Maylor Elizabeth A. , Moulson Jane M. , Muncer Ann‐Marie , Taylor Louise A.
Published: February 2003

In the first reported study of theory of mind (ToM; the ability to attribute mental states) in old age, Happeá, Winner, and Brownell (1998) observed better performance on ToM tasks in older participants (mean age 73 years) than in young participants (mean age 21 years). We present two experiments exploring the generality of this finding. Experiment 1 compared young, young‐old, and old‐old age groups (mean ages 19, 67, and 81 years, respectively) on their understanding of ToM stories both with and without the need to remember the information, and control studies that did not require the ability to attribute mental states. For ToM stories with a memory load, the young group performed significantly better than both the young‐old and old‐old groups; without a memory load, the young and young‐old groups performed significantly better than the old‐old group. In Experiment 2, young and old‐old age groups (mean ages 21 and 81 years, respectively) were compared on their understanding of ToM and control stories without the need to remember the information. Again, the young group performed significantly better than the old‐old group on ToM stories. There were no significant age differences in performance on the control stories in either experiment. The age deficit on ToM stories remained significant after taking account of measures of vocabulary and processing speed (Experiments 1 and 2), and measures of executive functioning (Experiment 2).
The Mind Machine: A mass participation experiment into the possible existence of extra‐sensory perception
Authors: Wiseman Richard , Greening Emma
Published: February 2003

This paper describes a mass participation experiment examining the possible existence of extra‐sensory perception (ESP). The Mind Machine consisted of a specially designed steel cabinet containing a multi‐media computer and large touch‐screen monitor. The computer presented participants with a series of videoclips that led them through the experiment. During the experiment, participants were asked to complete an ESP task that involved them guessing the outcome of four random electronic coin tosses. All of their data were stored by the computer during an 11‐month tour of some of Britain's largest shopping centres, museums, and science festivals. A total of 27,856 participants contributed 110,959 trials, and thus, the final database had the statistical power to detect the possible existence of a very small ESP effect. However, the cumulated outcome of the trials was consistent with chance. The experiment also examined the possible relationship between participants' ESP scores and their gender, belief in psychic ability, and degree of predicted success. The results from all of these analyses were non‐significant. Also, scoring on ‘clairvoyance’ trials (where the target was selected prior to the participant's choice) was not significantly different from ‘precognitive’ trials (where the target was chosen after the participants had made their choice). Competing interpretations of these findings are discussed, along with suggestions for future research.
Conditional reasoning and the Tower of Hanoi: The role of spatial and verbal working memory
Authors: Handley Simon J. , Capon A. , Copp C. , Harper C.
Published: February 2003

This paper reports a study that investigated the relationships between verbal and spatial measures of working memory capacity and performance on the Tower of Hanoi and a conditional reasoning task. Four working memory measures were included, a simple word span, a simple spatial span, a complex verbal span and a complex spatial span. The participants were 70 undergraduate students. Solution time on the Tower of Hanoi task correlated highly with both measures of spatial memory capacity, but not with the verbal working memory spans. In contrast, logical performance on the conditional reasoning task correlated highly with the complex verbal working memory span, but not with the spatial spans. A confirmatory factor analysis of the data elicited a best‐fit model comprising a correlated spatial and verbal factor. The results are interpreted in the context of recent work that suggests a dissociation between spatial and verbal resources at the level of the central executive.
Do cultural factors affect causal beliefs? Rational and magical thinking in Britain and Mexico
Authors: Subbotsky Eugene , Quinteros Graciela
Published: February 2003

In two experiments, unusual phenomena (spontaneous destruction of objects in an empty wooden box) were demonstrated to adult participants living in rural communities in Mexico. These were accompanied by actions which had no physical link to the destroyed object but could suggest either scientifically based (the effect of an unknown physical device) or non‐scientifically based (the effect of a ‘magic spell’) causal explanations of the event. The results were compared to the results of the matching two experiments from the earlier study made in Britain. The expectation that scientifically based explanations would prevail in British participants' judgments and behaviours, whereas Mexican participants would be more tolerant toward magical explanations, received only partial support. The prevalence of scientific explanations over magical explanations was evident in British participants' verbal judgments but not in Mexican participants' judgments. In their behavioural responses under the low‐risk condition, British participants rejected magical explanations more frequently than did Mexican participants. However, when the risk of disregarding the possible causal effect of magic was increased, participants in both samples showed an equal degree of credulity in the possible effect of magic. The data are interpreted in terms of the relationships between scientific and ‘folk’ representations of causality and object permanence.
Sex differences in general knowledge, semantic memory and reasoning ability
Authors: Lynn Richard , Irwing Paul
Published: February 2003

This paper has the three objectives of attempting to replicate a previous study in which it was found that males have substantially greater general knowledge in most fields or domains than females, and of determining how far sex differences in general knowledge are a function of differences in either Gf (fluid intelligence), or experience. The results confirmed the previous study to the effect that males have higher means in a general knowledge factor of approximately .50 d (half a standard deviation). It was found further that there was no significant sex difference in Gf measured by Baddeley's Grammatical Reasoning Test, and only a low correlation between general knowledge and Gf. Analysis of covariance showed that differential experience as indicated by ‘A’‐level points and socio‐economic status had only a marginal impact on the observed sex difference. The results are interpreted as showing that sex differences in general knowledge cannot be explained as a function of differences in either Gf or experience. It is proposed further that general knowledge should be regarded as a new second‐order factor and designated as semantic memory.
Visuospatial abilities of chess players
Authors: Waters Andrew J. , Gobet Fernand , Leyden Gerv
Published: February 2003

The extent to which the acquisition of expertise in knowledge‐rich domains, such as chess, can be influenced by general individual characteristics, such as intelligence, has remained unclear. Some previous studies with children have documented significant correlations between chess skill and performance on some psychometric tests, such as performance IQ. However, we found no evidence for a correlation between chess skill and visual memory ability in a group of adult chess players (N = 36, age = 28.4 years). This finding, together with other data in the literature, suggests that there is surprisingly little evidence that chess skill and visuospatial ability are associated in adults. Thus, visual memory ability, and perhaps visuospatial intelligence, may be relatively unimportant factors in the long‐term acquisition of chess skill.
The ability of odours to serve as state‐dependent cues for real‐world memories: Can Viking smells aid the recall of Viking experiences?
Authors: Aggleton John P. , Waskett Louise
Published: February 2003

This study determined the extent to which re‐exposure to the unique combination of odours present in a museum (the Jorvik Viking Centre in York) aids the recall of a previous visit to the museum, which had typically taken place several years earlier. To test this, three groups of participants completed questionnaires about the contents of the museum, but in different conditions. One group completed the questionnaire in the presence of exactly the same distinctive odours as those present in the museum at the time of their original visit. Those in two other groups were given either a different (control) set of odours or no odours at all. After a brief delay, the same questionnaire was presented again to participants in all three groups. Those who had initially been given a novel (control) set of odours were now tested in the presence of the genuine Jorvik museum odours, while the group that had received the Jorvik odours were now tested with the control odours. The third group received no odours on either test. Only the novel odour‐Jorvik odours condition led to a highly significant improvement in performance. This interaction showed that the museum odours could act as effective retrieval cues for this incidentally acquired, real‐world episode.
Using the Internet for psychological research: Personality testing on the World Wide Web
Authors: Buchanan Tom , Smith John L.
Published: February 2003

The Internet is increasingly being used as a medium for psychological research. To assess the validity of such efforts, an electronic version of Gangestad & Snyder's (1985) revised self‐monitoring questionnaire was placed at a site on the World Wide Web. In all, 963 responses were obtained through the Internet and these were compared with those from a group of 224 undergraduates who completed a paper‐and‐pencil version. Comparison of model fit indices obtained through confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the Internet‐mediated version had similar psychometric properties to its conventional equivalent and compared favourably as a measure of self‐monitoring. Reasons for possible superiority of Internet data are discussed. Results support the notion that Web‐based personality assessment is possible, but stringent validation of test instruments is urged.
Gender differences in the reliability of the EPQ? A bootstrapping approach
Authors: Miles Jeremy N. V. , Shevlin Mark , Mcghee Patrick C.
Published: February 2003

Reliability indicates the degree of stability or homogeneity of a measurement, but also places an upper limit on the degree of association with other variables. Various methods are available to estimate the reliability of a measurement scale. However, an issue that has rarely been examined is that the reliability of a measurement, as estimated by coefficient alpha, may differ between groups. If a measurement has a different reliability for groups within a sample, spurious moderator effects may occur. The present study examines the reliability of the four subscales of a widely used psychological measurement instrument, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire‐Revised (EPQ‐R), across gender. A bootstrapping methodology is employed which allows empirically derived standard errors to be calculated, and therefore tests of significance of difference to be computed. No significant differences were found in the reliability of the EPQ‐R across sexes.
Some further observations concerning Sir Cyril Burt
Authors: Butler Brian E. , Petrulis Jennifer
Published: February 2003

Sir Cyril Burt was posthumously accused of fraud when it was noted that his 1966 paper on separated twins contained the same correlation values as his 1955 paper on twins, even though the sample sizes differed. We have found a new version of his 1955 paper which was reprinted in a book of readings but was ‘abridged and revised’ by Burt. The changes that Burt made in the reprinted paper make it difficult to determine when the extra twin data was collected and show that Burt was willing to misrepresent his own work. It would appear that Burt recycled old text to produce a new paper using a ‘cut and paste’ technique. The alleged fraud probably occurred when Burt extended these methods from text to data.
Music and on‐hold waiting time
Authors: North Adrian C. , Hargreaves David J. , Mckendrick Jennifer
Published: February 2003

Members of the general public called a special telephone number in response to a newspaper advertisement asking for research volunteers. They were placed on hold, and the nature of the on‐hold stimuli was manipulated. The principal measures were actual waiting time, estimated waiting time and adjectival ratings of the on‐hold stimuli. These indicated that on‐hold waiting time is influenced positively by stimuli that are liked and those which ‘fit’ callers' expectations. Furthermore, variations in actual waiting time cannot be attributed to the distorting effect of on‐hold stimuli on callers internal timing mechanisms.
Experimental tests of prospective remembering: The influence of cue‐event frequency on performance
Authors: Ellis Judi , Kvavilashvili Lia , Milne Alan
Published: February 2003

During recent years there has been an upsurge of interest in the processes underlying success or failure of intentions to perform an action in the future e.g. carry out an errand for a friend. Much of this research focuses on simulating these delayed‐intention or prospective‐memory tasks in the laboratory. A currently popular variant of these tasks is a repeated‐instance event‐based one in which the same action should be performed whenever a particular (repeated) event‐cue occurs during an ongoing activity (e.g. a word in a running memory test of word recall). We report two experiments that investigated important dimensions of this task design, along which recent experimental tasks differ considerably, and explored their influence on prospective remembering. The results revealed that the variations in the event‐cue frequencies explored here did not influence overall performance: relatively high event‐cue frequency did not improve prospective remembering. However, performance was lower when event‐cues were embedded in a general knowledge test than when a prose‐reading task was used. Moreover, when remembering was compared for the first and final set of event‐cues there was evidence for improvement over presentations during the general knowledge task and a contrasting decline using the prose task, under high event‐cue frequency conditions only. The results have important repercussions for current experimental design and the development of tests of prospective remembering skills in particular population subgroups.
Collective memories, political violence and mental health in Northern Ireland
Authors: Cairns Ed , Lewis Christopher Alan
Published: February 2003

In 1987 one of the most salient incidents in Northern Ireland, involving mass casualties, occurred when a bomb exploded in a building near the war memorial in the centre of Enniskillen. A total of 63 people were injured and 11 were killed. The main aim of the present study was to investigate how salient this event was in present day Enniskillen and in a neighbouring town, known here as Lowtown, some 8 years after the original incident. The second aim was to examine how memories of that particular bomb are related to current psychological well‐being. Based on interviews with a quota sample of 282 people it was found that relatively few people (68) included the Enniskillen bomb when asked to mention two Northern Irish events or changes that had taken place over the past 50 years that ‘come to mind as important to you. The majority of those who did mention the Enniskillen bomb came from Enniskillen and were Protestants. In addition, Protestants who mentioned the bomb and those respondents who lived in Lowtown and mentioned the bomb scored at a significantly higher level on the General Health Questionnaire (indicating poorer mental health).