2013
Comparing the Perceived
Size of 9 with 221 and with 2143:
Biasing Effects of Inferred Context in a Between-Subjects Design
Stuart J. McKelvie,
David R. Juillet, Jo-Anne V.
Longtin
Bishop's
University
To investigate
whether decision-making can be biased by context, different
participants judged the size of different numbers that had been
hypothesized to induce different contexts. To measure these contexts,
the Juillet Measure of Inferred Context (JMIC) was proposed, validated
and then employed to compare contexts invoked by the numbers. In Study
1, where 9 was rated as greater than 221 on a numerical scale but
similar to 221 on a continuous line (McKelvie, 2001), JMIC scores were
smaller for 9 than for 221 in both cases. However, the difference was
reduced on the line compared to the numerical scale. In Study 2
(reported here), 9 was rated as similar in size to 2143 on both scales.
However, from the JMIC scores, the context invoked by 9 was smaller
than the context invoked by 2143 on both scales. The JMIC results show
that between-subjects designs do not eliminate context effects.
Moreover, in conjunction with the context size priming model of number
judgment (proposed here), according to which (a) induced context is a
positive function of the target number and (b) the numerical scale has
a priming effect on this context, the JMIC results help to explain the
anomalous findings that 9 was judged to be larger or similar to 221
(Study 1) and similar to 2143 (Study 2).
Click
here for full text "Comparing the Perceived
Size of 9 with 221 and with 2143: Biasing Effects of Ingerred Context
in a Between-Subjeccts Design by Stuart J. McKelvie, David R. Juillet,
and Jo-Anne V. Longtin.
The Business Wisdom of Montgomery Brewster's
Uncle A review of Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success
by Adam Grant
Robert D. Mather1,
Kathryn Ayers2
1University
of Central Oklahoma;
2Webster University
In George Barr
McCutcheon's 1902 novel "Brewster's Millions," Montgomery Brewster inherits a
fortune from his grandfather. However, his uncle did not like the selfish
practices with which the grandfather made his fortune, and offers to leave
Montgomery a larger fortune if he spends all of his grandfather's money without
telling anyone about the deal. This creates a situation in which Brewster must
spend his money against the advice of his friends, who believe they are acting
in his best interest. Ultimately, Brewster finds that when he spends his money
generously, his generosity is rewarded by making even more money, thus making it
extraordinarily difficult for him to spend the initial inheritance in order to
access the larger one.
Adam Grant's "Give and Take" promotes a similar notion of karmic generosity in the business
world. Ultimately, it promotes the Golden Rule in the workplace--Treat others as
you wish to be treated. It also promotes the 100-hour rule of volunteering,
which is 2 hours per week. This optimal number of hours keeps individuals at
peak happiness, life satisfaction, and livelihood. Indeed, this book can be
considered the infiltration of business by positive psychology (i.e., Seligman,
1998), which is a paradigm in psychology that seeks to enhance the human
condition.
Click here for full text "The
Business Wisdom of Montgomery Brewster's Uncle A review of Give and
Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success by Adam Grant" by
Robert D. Mather, and Kathryn Ayers.
|
Evolutionary Forensic
Psychology: Perspectives on Child Abductions and Child Homicides
Robert D. Mather1,
Adrienne M. Martinez1, Wayne
D. Lord1,
Monique C. Boudreaux2
1University
of Central Oklahoma;
2Nicholls State University
In North America, recent cases of alleged
child abductions/alleged homicides garner intense media attention and consume
law enforcement resources.
Daly and Wilson (1988) outlined a compelling argument
that evolutionary psychology is the paradigm from which to examine homicide.
Recent work in evolutionary forensic psychology (cf.
Duntley & Shackelford, 2008a) has elaborated on this, suggesting that an
evolutionary perspective is important for examining all criminal behavior.
Given that child homicide is best considered as a
successional, life course process of victimization, Lord et al. (2002) proposed
that evolutionary psychology can explain patterns of child abductions and
homicides, addressing not only human data but also comparative species.
The current paper outlines specific hypotheses derived
from evolutionary frameworks that will facilitate the criminal investigations of
child abductions and child homicides.
Policy implications of this perspective for child abduction and homicide
reduction are discussed along with social cognitive methods of hypothesis
testing.
Click here for full text "Evolutionary
Forensic Psychology: Perspectives on Child Abduction and Child Homicides?" by
Robert D. Mather, Adrienne M. Martinez, Wayne D. Lord, and Monique C. Boudreaux.
|
Are Attitude Towards Capital Punishment and Right-Wing Authoritarianism Related
to Capital and Non-Capital Sentencing?
Stuart J. McKelvie
Bishop's University
Having
completed measures of attitude towards capital punishment and of right-wing
authoritarianism, 807 undergraduates read a murder scenario and made judgments
about offender punishment. People were more likely to recommend the death
penalty if they had a positive rather than a negative attitude towards capital
punishment, if they were higher than lower on right-wing authoritarianism, and
if they were male rather than female. Men also chose a more severe method of
execution. Importantly, people with a positive attitude towards capital
punishment recommended longer prison sentences than those with a negative
attitude. Practically, this implies that attitude towards capital punishment can
be an extralegal factor that biases prison sentences. Theoretically, the results
show that attitudes have a stronger relationship to behavior to which they are
more closely related, but they do not support the contention that attitude
towards capital punishment is based on right-wing authoritarianism.
Click here for full text "Are Attitude Towards Capital Punishment and Right-Wing
Authoritarianism Related to Capital and Non-Capital Sentencing?" by Stuart J.
McKelvie.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|