bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Rural status, suicide ideation, and telemental health: Risk assessment in a clinical sample
Authors: Tarlow Kevin , Johnson Tina , McCord Carly
Published: July 2018

Objective: Individuals living in rural areas die by suicide at higher rates than those living in metropolitan areas. Telemental health interventions provide rural residing individuals with access to needed care. Identifying telemental health clients at risk for suicide is an important task for clinicians and policymakers. The present study evaluated to what degree rural status and other demographic variables predicted suicide ideation in clients seeking services at a telemental health clinic.Methods: Study participants included 457 low-income clients residing in the medically underserved, geographically diverse Brazos Valley region of Texas. Clients completed the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) during their initial counseling appointment, which assessed depression severity and suicide ideation in the 2 weeks prior to assessment. Results: Suicide ideation was common among telemental health clients, with approximately 40% of clients in all demographic groups reporting some recent thoughts of suicide. Rates of suicide ideation did not significantly differ by geographic designation (ie, rural/metropolitan status), gender, or race/ethnicity. However, depression was a strong predictor of recent suicide ideation.Conclusions: Telemental health programs can effectively connect clinicians with rural residing clients who are otherwise isolated from health care services. However, clinicians working in high-need, historically underserved areas should be prepared to encounter a high prevalence of suicide ideation and depression. In these regions, clinical and diagnostic features may be better indicators of suicide ideation than demographic variables.
Comment on Wilson et al. (2014). Just think: The challenges of the disengaged mind. Science, 345, 75-77
Authors: Weiss Alexander
Published: July 2018

This piece challenges the interpretation of the findings in Wilson et al.'s paper "The challenges of the disengaged mind are not uniquely human and may have nothing todo with thinking: Comment on Wilson et al. (2014). Just think: The challenges of the disengaged mind. Science, 345, 75-77.
On the Roles of Stereotype Activation and Application in Diminishing Implicit Bias
Authors: Rivers Andrew M , Sherman Jeff , Rees Heather , Reichardt Regina , Klauer Karl Christoph
Published: July 2018

Stereotypes can influence social perception in undesirable ways. However, activated stereotypes are not always applied in judgments. The present research investigated how stereotype activation and application processes impact social judgments as a function of available resources for control over stereotypes. Specifically, we varied the time available to intervene in the stereotyping process, and used multinomial modeling to independently estimate stereotype activation and application. As expected, social judgments were less stereotypic when participants had more time to intervene. In terms of mechanisms, stereotype application, and not stereotype activation, corresponded with reductions in stereotypic biases. With increasing time, stereotype application was reduced, reflecting the fact that controlling application is time-dependent. In contrast, stereotype activation increased with increasing time, apparently due to increased engagement with stereotypic material. Thus, stereotype activation was highest when judgments were least stereotypical. Thus, reduced stereotyping may coincide with increased stereotype activation if stereotype application is simultaneously decreased.
Using spectral and cross-spectral analysis to identify patterns and synchrony in couples' sexual desire.
Authors: Vowels Matthew J , Mark Kristen P , Vowels Laura Marika , Wood Nathan D
Published: July 2018

Sexual desire discrepancy and low sexual desire are two of the most frequently reported sexual concerns for individuals and couples and both have been shown to be negatively associated with sexual and relationship satisfaction. Sexual desire has increasingly been examined as a state like construct that ebbs and flows, but little is known about whether there are patterns in the fluctuation of sexual desire. Utilizing spectral and cross-spectral analysis, we transformed 30 days of dyadic daily diary data for perceived levels of sexual desire for 133 couples (266 individuals) into the frequency domain to identify shared periodic state fluctuations in sexual desire. Spectral analysis is a technique commonly used in physics and engineering that allows time series data to be analyzed for the presence of regular cycles of fluctuation. Cross spectral analysis allows for dyadic data to be analyzed for shared rates of fluctuation between partners as well as the degree of (a)synchrony (or phase shift) between these fluctuations. Men and women were found to exhibit fluctuations in sexual desire at various frequencies including rates of once and twice per month, and to have sexual desire that was unlikely to fluctuate over periods of three days or less and therefore exhibited persistence. Similar patterns of fluctuation were exhibited within couples and these patterns were found to be largely synchronous. The results have important implications for researchers, clinicians, and educators in that they corroborate the supposition that sexual desire ebbs and flows and suggest that it does so with predictable regularity. Further, while instances of desire discrepancy may arise due to differences in rates of sexual desire fluctuation, such instances may be normal for romantic relationships.
Pathways to conspiracy: the social and linguistic precursors of involvement in Reddit's conspiracy theory forum
Authors: Klein Colin , Clutton Peter , Dunn Adam G.
Published: July 2018

Conspiracy beliefs are common, and can cause harm to individuals and their communities. Our aim was to examine the social and linguistic characteristics of forum users who became active participants in a large online conspiracy forum. The study is a retrospective case-control study using a large dataset from the online forum network Reddit, comparing users who would go on to post comments in a conspiracy forum with a group of control users. The analyses show that prior to posting in conspiracy forums, these users consistently exhibited anger and used third person pronouns disproportionately more often than the control group. A community structure analysis of these users revealed substantial heterogeneity---users from different communities varied in both linguistic characteristics and in the topics of the forums in which they were involved. The results suggest that a desire to belong to an in-group and mechanisms for reinforcing opinions through peer feedback appeared to create social spaces in which conspiracy beliefs were normalised, and these social spaces were not specific to ideologies and interests traditionally associated with conspiracy belief.
The forward effect of testing: Behavioral evidence for the reset-of-encoding hypothesis using serial position analysis
Authors: Pastötter Bernhard , Engel Miriam , Frings Christian
Published: July 2018

The forward effect of testing refers to the finding that retrieval practice of previously studied information increases retention of subsequently studied other information. It has recently been hypothesized that the forward effect (partly) reflects the result of a reset-of-encoding (ROE) process. The proposal is that encoding efficacy decreases with an increase in study material, but testing of previously studied information resets the encoding process and makes the encoding of the subsequently studied information as effective as the encoding of the previously studied information. The goal of the present study was to verify the ROE hypothesis on an item level basis. An experiment is reported that examined the effects of testing in comparison to restudy on items’ serial position curves. Participants studied three lists of items in each condition. In the testing condition, participants were tested immediately on non-target lists 1 and 2, whereas in the restudy condition, they restudied list 1 and 2. In both conditions, participants were tested immediately on target list 3. Influences of condition and items’ serial learning position on list 3 recall were analyzed. The results showed the forward effect of testing and furthermore that this effect varies with items’ serial list position. Early target list items at list primacy positions showed a larger enhancement effect than middle and late target list items at non-primacy positions. The results are consistent with the ROE hypothesis on an item level basis. The generalizability of the ROE hypothesis across different experimental tasks, like the list-method directed-forgetting task, is discussed.
Psychobiological determinants of ‘Blue Whale Suicide Challenge’ victimization: A proposition for the agency mediated mental health risk in new media age
Authors: Kumar A. Etiologically Elusive Disorders Research Network
Published: July 2018

Background: An internet game called Blue Whale Suicide Challenge (BWSC) has driven scores of teenagers and young adults to commit suicide globally. The challenge preferably runs through closed social media networks and has gained notoriety for its mysterious modus operandi. Methods: Descriptions of these cases, published online by credible news media around the world, were collected using combinations of keywords, viz., ‘blue whale suicide challenge’, ‘self-infliction’, ‘rescue’ etc. A comprehensive review of both, the reported descriptions and the scientific literature, was undertaken to evaluate the mental status of the victims and curators of the game, and to construct a psychobiological perspective of the victimization.Results and discussion: BWSC victimization cases were reported from different parts of the world, particularly from Russia, Europe and India. The victims of the challenge were largely teenagers and young adults with infrequent cases in other age groups. Teenagers with complicated upbringing and negative life experiences have a higher propensity to be easier targets. Analysis of instructions used in the game reveal a motivational program that exploits fear psychology and contains elements of induction, habituation and self-infliction. All in order to mentally groom the victim for eventual suicide. Conclusions: BWSC victimization seems to imply predatory and self-inflictive psychobiological mechanisms on the part of its curators and participants, respectively. This online agency mediated modus operandi uniquely exploits principles of psychology and could mischievously be applied to target individuals or masses in different settings.
Stepwise methods can limit power for hypothesis tests of cross-level interactions
Authors: King Kevin Michael , Kim Dale S. , McCabe Connor , Lane Sean P.
Published: July 2018

In multilevel models, stepwise methods are commonly used to test cross-level interactions, where a cluster level variable explains differences in the effect of an observation level variable on the outcome.Researchers often wish to establish that there is between cluster variance in slopes before testing whether an observed cluster level variable explains between cluster variance in slopes.In the stepwise method, between cluster slope variance (i.e. random slopes) is required before a cross-level interaction is tested.We argue that this requirement unnecessarily reduces the power to detect true cross-level interactions, because it imposes an unnecessary constraint on the power to detect valid interactions.In short, the stepwise approach would only be valid if, in the same data, the stepwise approach always identifies true interactions that are also identified by a direct test of the interaction model. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we demonstrate that this is not the case.The power to detect a true interaction was especially low when the residual slope variance (i.e. variance unexplained by the interaction), the variance of the moderator, the number of observations per cluster, or the number of clusters was small.We recommend that researchers directly test interactions that are of interest, regardless of the presence of random slope variance.
Self-focused Motives Undermine the Emotional Rewards of Recalled Prosocial Behavior
Authors: Wiwad Dylan , Aknin Lara Beth
Published: July 2018

Past research has demonstrated that engaging in and reflecting upon past instances of prosocial behavior promote happiness. Yet, people provide help for a myriad of reasons. Do the motives for giving impact its emotional consequences? In three experiments (N > 680), we compared the emotional outcomes of recalling a past instance of prosocial behavior motivated by self-focused and other-focused concerns. Using both between and within subjects designs, we find that recalling an instance of other-focused helping leads to higher positive affect than recalling an instance of self-focused helping. This finding was mediated by feelings of morality. The present work suggests that not all acts of kindness offer equivalent well-being benefits and that selfish motives may undermine the emotional rewards that typically follow prosocial behavior.
Quantifying gesture-speech synchrony: Exploratory data report and pre-registration
Authors: Pouw Wim , Dixon James A.
Published: July 2018

Spontaneously occurring speech is often seamlessly accompanied by hand gestures. Detailed observations of video data suggest that speech and gesture are tightly synchronized in time, consistent with a dynamic interplay between body and mind. However, spontaneous gesture-speech synchrony has rarely been objectively quantified beyond analyses of video data, which do not allow for identification of kinematic properties of gestures. Consequently, the point in gesture which is held to couple with speech, the so-called moment of “maximum effort”, has been variably equated with the peak velocity, peak acceleration, peak deceleration, or the onset of the gesture. In the current pre-registered report, we provide novel evidence from motion-tracking and acoustic data that peak velocity is closely aligned, and shortly leads, the peak pitch (F0) of speech. We further propose to reproduce key findings with a large-scale quantification of gesture-speech synchrony in a to-be-collected open dataset (N = 50).
Dialecticism across the Lifespan: Towards a Deeper Understanding of the Ontogenetic and Cultural Factors Influencing Dialectical Thinking and Emotional Experience
Authors: Grossmann Igor
Published: July 2018

Before dialecticism became a topic of empirical inquiry in cultural psychology, scholars in related disciplines has discussed dialecticism as a model of human development, as an essential component of maturity and wisdom. This review chapter bridged these two perspectives, comparing conceptualizations of dialecticism in developmental and cultural psychology. After reviewing historical portrayals of dialecticism in various philosophical traditions, this chapter provides comparison of historical characterizations with the contemporary treatment of dialecticism in human development and cultural psychology. Both streams -- developmental and cross-cultural -- are proposed as essential for an integral understanding of the construct. Subsequently, the chapter discusses the emerging developmental models of dialecticism across the lifespan and reviews the accompanying empirical evidence, situating it in a cross-cultural context. It concludes with an outline of future directions of research on dialectical thought, with attention to psychological and socio-cultural processes engendering dialecticism across the lifespan.
The retrosplenial-parietal network and reference frame coordination for spatial navigation
Authors: Clark Benjamin J , Simmons Christine M. , Berkowitz Laura , Wilber Aaron A.
Published: July 2018

The retrosplenial cortex is anatomically positioned to integrate sensory, motor, and visual information and is thought to have an important role in processing spatial information and guiding behavior through complex environments. Anatomical and theoretical work has argued that the retrosplenial cortex participates in spatial behavior in concert with its primary input, the parietal cortex. Although the nature of this interactions is unknown, the central position is that the functional connectivity is hierarchical with egocentric spatial information processed at parietal cortex, and higher-level allocentric mappings generated in the retrosplenial cortex. Here, we review the evidence supporting this proposal. We begin by summarizing the key anatomical features of the retrosplenial-parietal network, and then review studies investigating the neural correlates of these regions during spatial behavior. Our summary of this literature suggests that the retrosplenial-parietal circuitry does not represent a strict hierarchical parcellation of function between the two regions, but instead a heterogeneous mixture of egocentric-allocentric coding and integration across frames of reference. We also suggest that this circuitry should be represented as a gradient of egocentric-to-allocentric information processing from parietal to retrosplenial cortices, with more specialized encoding of global allocentric frameworks within the retrosplenial cortex and more specialized egocentric and local allocentric representations in parietal cortex. We conclude by identifying the major gaps in this literature and suggest new avenues of research.
When money talks: Judging risk and coercion in high-paying clinical trials
Authors: Leuker Christina , Samartzidis Lasare , Hertwig Ralph , Pleskac Timothy Joseph
Published: July 2018

Millions of volunteers take part in clinical trials every year. This is unsurprising, given that clinical trials are often much more lucrative than other types of unskilled work. When clinical trials offer very high pay, however, some people consider them repugnant. To understand why, we asked 1,428 respondents to evaluate a hypothetical medical trial for a new Ebola vaccine offering three different payment amounts. Some respondents (27%) used very high pay (£10,000) as a cue to infer the potential risks the clinical trial posed. These respondents were also concerned that offering £10,000 was coercive—simply too profitable to pass up. Both perceived risk and coercion in high-paying clinical trials shape how people evaluate these trials. This result was robust within and between respondents. The link between risk and repugnance may generalize to other markets in which parties are partially remunerated for the risk they take and contributes to a more complete understanding of why some market transactions appear repugnant.
Capturing Ordinal Theoretical Constraint in Psychological Science
Authors: Haaf Julia M. , Klaassen Fayette , Rouder Jeffrey N.
Published: July 2018

Most theories in the social sciences are verbal and provide ordinal-level predictions for data. For example, a theory might predict that performance is better in one condition than another, but not by how much. One way of gaining additional specificity is to posit many ordinal constraints that hold simultaneously. For example a theory might predict an effect in one condition, a larger effect in another, and none in a third. We show how common theoretical positions naturally lead to multiple ordinal constraints. To assess whether multiple ordinal constraints hold in data, we adopt a Bayesian model comparison approach. The result is an inferential system that is custom-tuned for the way social scientists conceptualize theory, and that is more intuitive and informative than current linear-model approaches.
Pseudo-learning effects in reinforcement learning model-based analysis: A problem of misspecification of initial preference
Authors: Katahira Kentaro , Yu Bai , Nakao Takashi
Published: July 2018

In this study, we investigate a methodological problem of reinforcement-learning (RL) model-based analysis of choice behavior. We show that misspecification of the initial preference of subjects can significantly affect the parameter estimates, model selection, and conclusions of an analysis. This problem can be considered to be an extension of the methodological flaw in the free-choice paradigm (FCP), which has been controversial in studies of decision making. To illustrate the problem, we conducted simulations of a hypothetical reward-based choice experiment. The simulation shows that the RL model-based analysis reports an apparent preference change if hypothetical subjects prefer one option from the beginning, even when they do not change their preferences (i.e., via learning). We discuss possible solutions for this problem.
Anti-social motives explain risk aversion for others in decisions from experience
Authors: Olschewski Sebastian , Dietsch Marius , Ludvig Elliot Andrew
Published: July 2018

When deciding for others based on explicitly described odds and outcomes, people often havedifferent risk preferences for others than for themselves. In two pre-registered experiments, we examine risk preference for others where people learn about the odds and outcomes by experiencing them through sampling. In both experiments, on average, people were more risk averse for others than for themselves, but only when the risky option had a higher expected value. Furthermore, based on a separate set of choices, we classified people as pro- or anti- social. Only those people classified as anti-social were more risk averse for others, whereas those classified as prosocial chose similarly for themselves and others. When the uncertainty was removed, however, all participants exhibited less anti-social behavior. Together, these results suggest that anti-social motives contribute to the observed limited risk-taking for others and that outcome uncertainty facilitates the expression of these motives.
Person-Focused Effort Praise: "Hard Worker" Has Negative Effects for Adults After a Failure
Authors: Reavis Rachael Dianna , Miller Stephanie E. , Grimes Jordyn A. , Fomukong Abou-Nica
Published: July 2018

Although work with children demonstrates a benefit of process-focused praise relative to person-focused praise on post-failure motivation, few studies have examined this result in adults. We tested the effect of three types of praise on adults’ post-failure outcomes: person-focused intelligence (“high intelligence”), person-focused effort (“hard worker”), and process-focused effort (“worked hard”) in a sample of 156 adults recruited from Amazon’s MTurk. Participants completed a set of easy visual pattern recognition problems and were told that they performed better than most adults and were given one of the three types of feedback. They then completed more difficult problems and were told that they had not performed well. Participants in the “hard worker” condition (compared to “worked hard”) were more likely to endorse intelligence as a reason for failure. They also reported lower perceived success and less enjoyment than participants in other conditions. Participants in the “high intelligence” condition were more likely to attribute their failure to intelligence than participants in the “worked hard” condition. The results suggest that the benefit of process-focused praise typically found in children (worked hard compared to intelligent) was mostly not replicated in adults, and person-focused effort praise was detrimental in a non-college student adult sample.
The partisan brain: An Identity-based model of political belief
Authors: Van Bavel Jay Joseph , Pereira Andrea
Published: July 2018

Democracies assume accurate knowledge by the populace, but the human attraction to fake and untrustworthy news poses a serious problem for healthy democratic functioning. We articulate why and how identification with political parties–known as partisanship–can bias information processing in the human brain. There is extensive evidence that people engage in motivated political reasoning, but recent research suggests that partisanship can even alter memory, implicit evaluation, and even perceptual judgments. We propose an identity-based model of belief for understanding the influence of partisanship on these cognitive processes. This framework helps explain why people place party loyalty over policy, and even truth. Finally, we discuss strategies for de-biasing information processing to help create a shared reality across partisan divides.
Open Science: What, Why, and How
Authors: Spellman Bobbie , Gilbert Elizabeth Ann , Corker Katherine S.
Published: July 2018

Open Science is a collection of actions designed to make scientific processes more transparent and results more accessible. Its goal is to build a more replicable and robust science; it does so using new technologies, altering incentives, and changing attitudes. The current movement towards open science was spurred, in part, by a recent “series of unfortunate events” within psychology and other sciences. These events include the large number of studies that have failed to replicate and the prevalence of common research and publication procedures that could explain why. Many journals and funding agencies now encourage, require, or reward some open science practices, including pre-registration, providing full materials, posting data, distinguishing between exploratory and confirmatory analyses, and running replication studies. Individuals can practice and encourage open science in their many roles as researchers, authors, reviewers, editors, teachers, and members of hiring, tenure, promotion, and awards committees. A plethora of resources are available to help scientists, and science, achieve these goals.
Statistically Small Effects of the Implicit Association Test can Have Societally Large Effects
Authors: Greenwald Anthony G. , Banaji Mahzarin R. , Nosek Brian A.
Published: July 2018

in press, JPSP. Abstract: Greenwald, Poehlman, Uhlmann, and Banaji (2009; GPUB) reported an average predictive validity correlation of r =.236 for Implicit Association Test (IAT) measures involving Black–White racial attitudes and stereotypes. Oswald, Mitchell, Blanton, Jaccard, and Tetlock (2013; OMBJT) reported a lower aggregate figure for correlations involving IAT measures ( r =.148). The difference between the estimates of the two reviews was due mostly to their use of different policies for including effect sizes. GPUB limited their study to findings that assessed theoretically expected attitude–behavior and stereotype–judgment correlations along with others that authors expected to show positive correlations. OMBJT included a substantial minority of correlations for which there was no theoretical expectation of a predictive relationship. Regardless of inclusion policy, both meta-analyses estimated aggregate correlational effect sizes that were large enough to explain discriminatory impacts that are societally significant either because they can affect many people simultaneously or because they can affect single persons repeatedly.
Entrainment and Modulation of Gesture-Speech Synchrony under Delayed Auditory Feedback
Authors: Pouw Wim , Dixon James A.
Published: July 2018

Gesture-speech synchrony re-stabilizes when hand movement or speech is disrupted by a delayed feedback manipulation, suggesting strong bidirectional coupling between gesture and speech. Yet, it has also been argued from case studies in perceptual-motor pathology, that hand gestures are a special kind of action that do not require closed-loop re-afferent feedback to maintain synchrony with speech. In the current pre-registered within-subject study, we used motion tracking to conceptually replicate McNeill’s (1992) classic study on gesture-speech synchrony under normal and 150ms delayed auditory feedback of speech conditions (NO DAF vs. DAF). Consistent with, and extending McNeill’s original results, we obtain strong evidence that: a) gesture-speech synchrony is more stable under DAF versus NO DAF (i.e., increased coupling effect), b) that gesture and speech variably entrain to the external auditory delay as indicated by a consistent shift in gesture-speech synchrony offsets (i.e., entrainment effect), and c) that the coupling effect and the entrainment effect are co-dependent. We suggest, therefore, that gesture-speech synchrony provides a way for the cognitive system to stabilize rhythmic activity under interfering conditions.
Optimizing text for an individual’s visual system: The contribution of crowding to reading difficulties
Authors: Joo Sung Jun , White Alex L. , Strodtman Douglas , Yeatman Jason D.
Published: July 2018

Reading is a complex process that involves low-level visual processing, phonological processing, and higher-level semantic processing. Given that skilled reading requires integrating information among these different systems, it is likely that reading difficulty—known as dyslexia—can emerge from impairments at any stage of the reading circuitry. To understand contributing factors to reading difficulties within individuals, it is necessary to diagnose the function of each component of the reading circuitry. Here, we investigated whether adults with dyslexia who have impairments in visual processing respond to a visual manipulation specifically targeting their impairment. We collected psychophysical measures of visual crowding and tested how each individual’s reading performance was affected by increased text- spacing, a manipulation designed to alleviate severe crowding. Critically, we found that many individuals with dyslexia showed elevated crowding, and that these individuals read faster when text was rendered with increased letter-, word- and line-spacing. Our findings point to a subtype of dyslexia involving elevated crowding and demonstrate that individuals with dyslexia benefit from interventions personalized to their specific impairments.
Learning Non-Adjacent Dependencies Embedded in Sentences of an Artificial Language: When Learning Breaks Down (in press, JEP: LMC)
Authors: Wang Felix Hao , Mintz Toben Herbert
Published: July 2018

The structure of natural languages give rise to many dependencies in the linear sequences of words, and within words themselves. Detecting these dependencies is arguably critical for young children in learning the underlying structure of their language. There is considerable evidence that human adults and infants are sensitive to the statistical properties of sequentially adjacent items. However, the conditions under which learners detect non-adjacent dependencies (NADs) appears to be much more limited. This has resulted in proposals that the kinds of learning mechanisms learners deploy in processing adjacent dependencies are fundamentally different from those deployed in learning NADs. Here we challenge this view. In four experiments, we show that learning both kinds of dependencies is hindered in conditions when they are embedded in longer sequences of words, and facilitated when they are isolated by silences. We argue that the findings from the present study and prior research is consistent with a theory that similar mechanisms are deployed for adjacent and non-adjacent dependency learning, but that NAD learning is simply computationally more complex. Hence, in some situations NAD learning is only successful when constraining information is provided, but critically, that additional information benefits adjacent dependency learning in similar ways.
When fiction is just as real as fact: No differences in reading behavior between stories believed to be based on true or fictional events
Authors: Hartung Franziska , Withers Peter , Hagoort Peter , Willems Roel
Published: July 2018

Experiments have shown that compared to fictional texts, readers read factual texts faster and have better memory for described situations. Reading fictional texts on the other hand seems to improve memory for exact wordings and expressions. Most of these studies used a ‘newspaper’ versus ‘literature’ comparison. In the present study, we investigated the effect of reader’s expectation to whether information is true or fictional with a subtler manipulation by labelling short stories as either based on true or fictional events. In addition, we tested whether narrative perspective or individual preference in perspective taking affects reading true or fictional stories differently. In an online experiment, participants (final N=1742) read one story which was introduced as based on true events or as fictional (factor fictionality). The story could be narrated in either 1st or 3rd person perspective (factor perspective). We measured immersion in and appreciation of the story, perspective taking, as well as memory for events. We found no evidence that knowing a story is fictional or based on true events influences reading behavior or experiential aspects of reading. We suggest that it is not whether a story is true or fictional, but rather expectations towards certain reading situations (e.g. reading newspaper or literature) which affect behavior by activating appropriate reading goals. Results further confirm that narrative perspective partially influences perspective taking and experiential aspects of reading.
Rethinking the nature of cruelty: The role of identity leadership in the Stanford Prison Experiment
Authors: Haslam S. Alexander , Reicher Stephen , Van Bavel Jay Joseph
Published: July 2018

The Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) is one of the most famous studies in the history of psychology. For nearly a half century it has been understood to show that assigning people to a toxic role will, on its own, unlock the human capacity to treat others with cruelty. In contrast, principles of identity leadership argue that roles are unlikely to elicit cruelty unless leaders encourage potential perpetrators to identify with what is presented as a noble ingroup cause and to believe their actions are necessary for the advancement of that cause. Although identity leadership has been implicated in behaviour ranging from electoral success to obedience to authority, researchers have hitherto had limited capacity to establish whether role conformity or identity leadership provides a better account of the cruelty observed in the SPE. Through examination of material in the SPE archive, we present comprehensive evidence that, rather than Guards conforming to role of their own accord, Experimenters directly encouraged them to adopt roles and act tough in a manner consistent with tenets of identity leadership. Implications for the analysis of conformity and cruelty as well as for interpretation of the SPE are discussed.
A multidimensional approach to perfectionism and self-compassion
Authors: Linnett Rebecca J. , Kibowski Fraenze
Published: July 2018

Research suggests that maladaptive perfectionism impedes the development of self-compassion, a self-attitude with numerous biopsychosocial benefits. The precise relationship between these constructs remains unclear, but accurate modelling could foster an understanding of the barriers that perfectionists experience to self-compassion, enabling focused interventions to be developed.This study used structural equation modelling within a convenience-sampled, general, population (n=428; mean age=34.3 yrs, SD=12.1) to analyze how multidimensional perfectionism related to multidimensional self-compassion. The maladaptive perfectionism dimensions (Concern over Mistakes; Discrepancy) predicted lower levels of self-compassion and its positive dimensions (Self-kindness; Common Humanity; Mindfulness). Adaptive perfectionism also predicted higher levels of Self-judgment.Findings were discussed theoretically, and their utility for developing population-tailored, dual-focused, interventions aimed at reducing perfectionism and increasing self-compassion was explored.
The impact of P-hacking on "Redefine statistical significance"
Authors: Crane Harry
Published: July 2018

A recent proposal to "redefine statistical significance" (Benjamin, et al. Nature Human Behaviour, 2017) claims that false positive rates "would immediately improve" by factors greater than two and replication rates would double simply by changing the conventional cutoff for 'statistical significance' from P<0.05 to P<0.005. I analyze the veracity of these claims, focusing especially on how Benjamin, et al neglect the effects of P-hacking in assessing the impact of their proposal. My analysis shows that once P-hacking is accounted for the perceived benefits of the lower threshold all but disappear, prompting two main conclusions: (i) The claimed improvements to false positive rate and replication rate in Benjamin, et al (2017) are exaggerated and misleading. (ii) There are plausible scenarios under which the lower cutoff will make the replication crisis worse.
Connecting the dots without top-down knowledge: Evidence for rapidly-learned low-level associations that are independent of object identity
Authors: Sadil Patrick , Potter Kevin , Huber David E. , Cowell Rosemary
Published: July 2018

Knowing the identity of an object can powerfully alter perception. Visual demonstrations of this – such as Gregory’s (1980) hidden Dalmatian – affirm the existence of both top-down and bottom-up processing. We consider a third processing pathway: lateral connections between the parts of an object. Lateral associations are assumed by theories of object processing and hierarchical theories of memory, but little evidence attests to them. If they exist, their effects should be observable even in the absence of object identity knowledge. We employed Continuous Flash Suppression (CFS) while participants studied object images, such that visual details were learned without explicit object identification. At test, lateral associations were probed using a part-to-part matching task. We also tested whether part-whole links were facilitated by prior study using a part-naming task, and included another study condition (“Word”), in which participants saw only an object’s written name. The key question was whether CFS study (which provided visual information without identity) would better support part-to-part matching (via lateral associations) whereas Word study (which provided identity without the correct visual form) would better support part-naming (via top-down processing). The predicted dissociation was found, and confirmed by state-trace analyses. Thus, lateral part-to-part associations were learned and retrieved independently of object identity representations. This establishes novel links between perception and memory, demonstrating that (1) lateral associations at lower levels of the object identification hierarchy exist and contribute to object processing, and (2) these associations are learned via rapid, episodic-like mechanisms previously observed for the high-level, arbitrary relations comprising episodic memories.
Psychological responses to natural patterns in architecture
Authors: Coburn Alexander , Kardan Omid , Kotabe Hiroki , Steinberg Jason , Hout Michael C. , Robbins Arryn , MacDonald Justin , Hayn-Leichsenring Gregor , Berman Marc
Published: July 2018

Exposure to natural environments, compared to built spaces, has been shown to confer important psychological benefits. Furthermore, people generally exhibit preferences for natural landscapes over man-made buildings. However, some forms of architectural design draw inspiration from natural systems and thus exhibit similar sensory qualities as nature itself. Can these natural features be measured, and are buildings which exhibit these features inherently preferred? Here, we examined whether subjective perceptions of naturalness in architectural scenes are driven by objective visual patterns, and we investigated whether natural patterns influence similarity evaluations and preference ratings of architectural scenes. Experiment 1 revealed that low-level spatial and color features of architectural scenes explained over half of the variance in scene naturalness ratings. Scaling and Contrast-related features were especially strong predictors of naturalness for both interior and exterior scenes. In Experiment 2, participants completed an image arrangement task and multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis was performed on the data to determine the underlying aesthetic dimensions that drove scene similarity judgements. Naturalness ratings explained over half of the variance in MDS Dimension 1 weights, suggesting that people relied on latent perceptions of naturalness to evaluate the similarity of architectural scenes. In the final experiment, participants rated architectural scenes on aesthetic preference. Nature-like patterns of Scaling and Contrast significantly predicted preference ratings. Furthermore, the effects of Scaling and Contrast on preference were mediated by latent perceptions of naturalness, indicating that these architectural patterns are preferred because they evoke intuitive associations with sensory features of nature. Collectively, these studies suggest that people may be innately attuned to naturalistic features of the built environment, and that these features can be measured using computational methods of image analysis.
Reference-point centering and range-adaptation enhance human reinforcement learning at the cost of irrational preferences
Authors: Bavard Sophie , Lebreton Maël , Khamassi Mehdi , Coricelli Giorgio , Palminteri Stefano
Published: July 2018

In economics and in perceptual decision-making contextual effects are well documented, where decision weights are adjusted as a function of the distribution of stimuli. Yet, in reinforcement learning literature whether and how contextual information pertaining to decision states is integrated in learning algorithms has received comparably little attention. Here, in an attempt to fill this gap, we investigated reinforcement learning behavior and its computational substrates in a task where we orthogonally manipulated both outcome valence and magnitude, resulting in systematic variations in state-values. Over two experiments, model comparison indicated that subjects’ behavior is best accounted for by an algorithm which includes both reference point-dependence and range-adaptation – two crucial features of state-dependent valuation. In addition, we found state-dependent outcome valuation to progressively emerge over time, to be favored by increasing outcome information and to be correlated with explicit understanding of the task structure. Finally, our data clearly show that, while being locally adaptive (for instance in negative valence and small magnitude contexts), state-dependent valuation comes at the cost of seemingly irrational choices, when options are extrapolated out from their original contexts.
Disgust sensitivity and moral judgments of purity: The role of transgression weirdness
Authors: Wagemans Fieke Maria Antoinet , Brandt Mark John , Zeelenberg Marcel
Published: July 2018

Disgust sensitivity is more strongly related to moral judgments in the purity domain than to moral judgments in other moral domains. While this finding highlights the distinctiveness of moral domains, anti-modularity accounts suggest that the relationship is caused by the relative weirdness of purity transgressions and come to the conclusion that moral domains do not represent distinct mechanisms. In two studies (total N = 2,307), we test whether transgression weirdness accounts for disgust sensitivity’s stronger association with moral judgments of the purity as compared to other moral domains, but find little evidence for this claim. The relationship between disgust sensitivity and moral judgments of purity even remains when taking into account both (perceived) weirdness and (perceived) harmfulness of moral transgressions. These studies show that transgression weirdness and harmfulness cannot explain the disgust sensitivity–purity link, contradicting predictions following from popular anti-modularity accounts.
Investigating the Proximity Effect in a Competitive Food Environment: A study protocol
Authors: Knowles Daniel , Brown Kyle , Aldrovandi Silvio
Published: July 2018

Obesity and overweight levels are rising nationally, despite recent governmental advertising campaigns being implemented to tackle the prevalence rise at a population level. Therefore, alternative approaches should be investigated in an effort to reduce obesity prevalence rises. One such approach modifies the external cues and the environment where decisions about food are made, and it is commonly known as Choice Architecture (CA). The proximity effect is a strategy within CA that could reduce overall calorie consumption by placing healthier foods at relatively closer distances compared to unhealthy foods. Amongst studies examining the proximity effect, only one so far has explored the simultaneous presentation of healthy and unhealthy foods, referred to as a competitive food environment. As unhealthy foods are often preferred over healthy foods, the current study aims to investigate whether food choice can be overridden by varying degrees of proximity effect and whether key factors such as visual salience, perceived effort, BMI, age, food preference, and executive function moderate this effect. A sample of 48 undergraduate students will participate in a laboratory experiment, believing they are taking part in a relaxation study. Participants will be simultaneously presented with two bowls of food: A healthier fruit selection and an unhealthier chocolate option, each varying according to proximity (either 20cm or 70cm). The participants will be asked to complete a questionnaire measuring multiple factors that may influence food consumption, such as perceived effort and hunger level. The primary outcome of the study is the amount of each food consumed (in grams) depending on relative proximity, with the secondary outcome exploring whether the effect of the latter is influenced by the key moderators. The proposed study explores the proximity effect in a competitive food environment, an area rarely explored in research but high in real-world applicability. If a greater amount of the most proximal food is consumed in each condition, regardless of food healthiness, the intervention can be scaled up to a novel field experiment to further evaluate the effectiveness of the proximity effect in reducing calorie intake.
Adventure therapy effects on self-concept – A meta-analysis
Authors: Fleischer Corinna , Doebler Philipp , Bürkner Paul - Christian , Holling Heinz
Published: July 2018

Purpose: Self-concept change has been proposed as a key driver of behavioral change through adventure therapy (Hans, 2000). Through exploratory moderator analysis we tried to identify process variables that influence the effect of adventure therapy on self-concept to contribute to a deeper understanding of why and when adventure therapy works. Methods: This meta-analysis includes thirty studies (53 effect sizes, 1802 subjects) that report effects of adventure therapy programs on three constructs concerning self-concept: locus of control, self-efficacy, and self-esteem. Participants were either at risk or in treatment for behavioral or mental health issues. Results: Short-term effect sizes of the impact of adventure therapy on self-concept were moderate for both uncontrolled effects (g = 0.51) and controlled effects (g = 0.56). There was no evidence for a difference between the effects on locus of control, self-efficacy or self-esteem. The revealed high heterogeneity of effect sizes could not be explained by any of the examined moderating variables. The follow-up effects confirmed a lasting self-concept change. No publication bias was found, but limitations and alternative explanations of the results are discussed. Conclusions: Future research needs to focus on psychological processes involved in adventure therapy and strive towards high methodological quality.