ABSTRACT
The nature and existence of free will and its relationship with moral reasoning and behavior have been debated by philosophers, theologians, and scientists for centuries, with no resolution in sight. More recently, proponents of "Experimental Philosophy" (Nichols, 2011) have sought to bypass the challenges of ontology by applying the tools and methods of the behavioral and mental sciences to the study of issues such as the structure and role of free will beliefs (FWBs) in prosocial and moral reasoning and behavior. One of these approaches involves the use of experimental manipulation of FWBs via text passages, statements, articles, and videos endorsing or refuting free will, to measure its effects on moral attitudes and behaviors such as conformity, punishment, and cheating behaviors (e.g. Alquist et al., 2013;Shariff et al., 2014;Vohs & Schooler, 2008). The present study, a videoconference-based online study developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, seeks to shed further insight into the role of FWBs in moral behavior by combining experimental manipulations of FWBs and descriptive moral norms (moral behaviors we observe in the world around us). We manipulated FWBs by randomly assigning participants to read and contemplate 15 pro- or anti-free will statements, and manipulated moral norms by pairing participants with a research confederate pretending to be a second participant but randomly assigned to behave either honestly or dishonestly in a tracing task involving unsolvable shapes, which participants were led to believe they could earn a prize for solving. Participants were also asked to complete a number of psychometric scales and single item questions for purposes of manipulation checking and exploratory analyses. Results showed that participants paired with dishonest confederates cheated more frequently than participants paired with honest confederates, and that participants in the pro-free will condition reported stronger FWBs than participants in the anti-free will condition. No main effect of FWB manipulation was observed on cheating behaviors, nor was any interaction effect observed between FWB manipulation and confederate honesty condition on cheating behaviors. These findings contribute to our understanding of the influences and limitations of FWBs, moral norms, and experimental manipulations thereof for cheating behaviors and moral behaviors in general, suggesting potential directions for future research approaches and paradigms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Implementation intentions are self-regulatory strategies that increase the probability that desired goals will be achieved. While their effectiveness in the short term is well established in the literature, the long-term effects are not. The present study, which was conducted in France during the COVID-19 lockdown, aimed to test whether reminders could support the effects of forming implementation intentions over time. It proposed to help people adopt a new behavior: to set themselves three daily goals for four weeks and send the results to a dedicated website. A total of 118 participants (from an initial sample of 194) sent their three daily goals at least once and constituted our final sample. A 2 (implementation intention: with vs. without), x2 (reminders: with vs. without), and x4 (week: 1-4) repeated measures ANOVA was conducted. The results showed significant main effects for all three factors, from small to medium to large. However, no significant interaction emerged. Hence, text message reminders did not seem to intensify the effect of forming implementation intentions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
As COVID-19 becomes endemic it is important to understand individual differences in motivation and adherence to mask wearing policies and recommendations. Mask wearing appears to be one way to protect communities, slow the spread, and save lives when COVID-19 rates spike in communities The main study aim was to examine how Moral Foundations Theory and Theory of Planned Behavior, specifically subjective norms, may explain individual differences in mask wearing to slow the spread of COVID-19. Understanding the psychological correlates of why and how often individuals wear a mask to slow the spread of COVID-19 can help community leaders, public health professionals, and medical experts construct better messaging to encourage more people to wear masks when needed. Results suggest a need for greater consistency in messaging and norms regarding mask wearing to slow the spread of COVID-19. In the case of COVID-19, people were exposed to an injunctive norm that people should wear masks to protect themselves;however, for many people, descriptive norms were in conflict with the injunctive norm. There must be consistent messaging at every level when a public health crisis emerges-in this case, consistent messaging that brought injunctive and descriptive norms into alignment at every level of government would likely have resulted in higher rates of pro-mask wearing norms to slow the spread of COVID-19. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Conspiratorial beliefs can endanger individuals and societies by increasing the likelihood of harmful behaviors such as the flouting of public health guidelines. While scholars have identified various correlates of conspiracy beliefs, one factor that has received scant attention is depressive symptoms. We use three large surveys to explore the connection between depression and conspiracy beliefs. We find a consistent association, with the extent of the relationship depending on individual and situational factors. Interestingly, those from relatively advantaged demographic groups (i.e., White, male, high income, educated) exhibit a stronger relationship between depression and conspiracy beliefs than those not from such groups. Furthermore, situational variables that ostensibly increase stress-such as having COVID-19 or parenting during COVID-19-exacerbate the relationship while those that seem to decrease stress, such as social support, vitiate it. The results provide insight about the development of targeted interventions and accentuate the need for theorizing about the mechanisms that lead depression to correlate with conspiracy beliefs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Threats to survival from predators and hostile conspecifics have led all species to possess cognitive architecture for predator management. Some animals display a curiosity for predators, engaging in behaviors such as predator inspection. The costs associated with learning about predators and other threats are high in most of the animal kingdom. In humans, the ability to imaginatively simulate threatening situations has drastically reduced the cost of learning about threats. This cost reduction has resulted in an explosion of what I call morbid curiosity, or the motivation to learn about potential threats. Humans often engage in morbid curiosity for entertainment, deriving pleasure from safe exposure to hypothetical threats. Historically, scholars have referred to the popularity of frightening entertainment as the paradox of horror. In this dissertation, I provide a theoretical and empirical foundation for the psychological study of morbid curiosity. I argue that morbid curiosity derives from an evolved cognitive architecture for predator management, is powered by curiosity, and, in humans, is amplified by the capacity for imagination. After presenting a theoretical framework for morbid curiosity, I present a set of studies in which I develop and validate the Morbid Curiosity Scale, a measure of individual differences in morbid curiosity. I then present two studies looking at how individual differences in morbid curiosity predict information gathering and psychological resilience during a novel threat - the COVID-19 global pandemic. I conclude by discussing the implications of the present research, offering suggestions for future research, and proposing that a clear understanding of morbid curiosity can dissolve the paradox of horror. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Acceptance of fake news is probably modulated by an intricate interplay of social, cultural, and political factors. In this study, we investigated whether individual-level cognitive factors related to thinking and decision making could influence the tendency to accept fake news. A group of volunteers responded to a COVID19-related fake news discrimination scale as well as to questionnaires assessing their thinking style (reflective vs. intuitive) and thinking disposition (actively open-mindedness). Furthermore, they completed a computerized contingency learning task aimed at measuring their tendency to develop a causal illusion, a cognitive bias leading to perceive causal connections between non-contingent events. More actively open-minded and more reflective individuals presented higher fake news discrimination scores. In addition, those who developed weaker causal illusions in the contingency learning task were also more accurate at differentiating between fake and legitimate news. Actively open-minded thinking was the main contributor in a regression model predicting fake news discrimination. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Is an option especially tempting when it is both immediate and certain? To study the effect of risk on present bias, my first chapter presents an online experiment in which workers allocate about thirty minutes of real-effort tasks between two weeks. I compare choices made two days before the first workday against choices made when work is imminent. In baseline treatments, one choice is randomly implemented;meanwhile, one treatment implements a particular allocation with certainty. By assuming that effort costs are not affected by the mechanism (and thus independent of risk preferences), my novel design permits estimation of present bias using a decision with a consequence both immediate and certain. I find the average intensity of present bias is far greater under certainty than under risk. I find no evidence that present bias is more pervasive among individuals, suggesting instead that present-biased individuals become more myopic.COVID-19 vaccination has both private and public benefits. The second chapter, co-authored with Gary Charness and David Levine, asks whether social preferences-concerns for the well-being of other people-influence one's decision regarding vaccination. We measure these social preferences for 549 online subjects: We give each subject $4 to play a public-goods game and make contributions to public welfare. To the extent that one gets vaccinated out of concern for the health of others, contribution in this game is analogous to an individual's decision to obtain COVID-19 vaccination. We collect COVID-19 vaccination history separately to avoid experimenter-demand effects. We find a strong result: Contribution in the public-goods game is associated with greater demand to voluntarily receive a first dose, and thus also to vaccinate earlier. Compared to a subject who contributes nothing, one who contributes the maximum ($4) is 48% more likely to obtain a first dose voluntarily in the four-month period that we study (April through August 2021). People who are more pro-social are indeed more likely to take a voluntary COVID-19 vaccination.Widespread vaccination is certainly a critical element in successfully fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. The third chapter, co-authored with Gary Charness and David Levine, applies theories of social identity to design targeted messaging to reduce vaccine hesitancy among groups with low vaccine uptake, such as African Americans and political conservatives. We conducted an online experiment from April 7th to 27th, 2021, that oversampled Black, Latinx, conservative, and religious U.S. residents. We first solicited the vaccination status of over 10,000 individuals. Of the 4,609 individuals who reported being unvaccinated, 4,190 enrolled in our covariate-adaptive randomized trial. We provided participants messages that presented the health risks of COVID-19 to oneself and others;they also received messages about the benefits of a COVID-19 vaccine and an endorsement by a celebrity. Messages were randomly tailored to each participant's identities-Black, Latinx, conservative, religious, or being a parent. Respondents reported their intent to obtain the vaccine for oneself and, if a parent, for one's child. We report results for the 2,621 unvaccinated respondents who passed an incentivized manipulation check. We find no support for the hypothesis that customized messages or endorsers reduce vaccine hesitancy among our segments. A post hoc analysis finds evidence that a vaccine endorsement from Dr. Fauci reduces stated intent to vaccinate among conservatives. We find no evidence that tailoring public-health communication regarding COVID-19 vaccination for broad demographic groups would increase its effectiveness. We recommend further research on communicators and endorsers, as well as incentives. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
People are motivated to maintain consistency between importantly held identities, preferences, and judgments. In political contexts, motivated reasoning can help explain a wide range of political phenomena, including extremism, polarization, and misperceptions. However, recent findings in psychology have challenged this account. These perspectives emphasize the role of cognitive sophistication (e.g., analytical reasoning, numerical literacy) in political attitudes, but differ in terms of whether it is expected to attenuate or exacerbate politically motivated reasoning and belief in conspiracy theories. Yet prior investigations have not examined the relative and independent effects of both political and cognitive sophistication. Using data from two samples, including one sampled to approximate representativeness in the U.S., we demonstrate that both types of sophistication have independent and (at times) countervailing effects on belief in COVID-19 conspiracy theories and other political attitudes. Our results are critical for theories of cognitive sophistication, political cognition, and attitudes, and the psychology of conspiracy theories. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
This dissertation explored how factors such as knowledge (i.e., general, domain-specific), trust in experts, and local context affect cognitive conflict and decision making. The COVID-19 pandemic was used as a case to explore cognitive conflict experienced during decision making because the pandemic was marked by rapidly changing information, allowing for the comparison of decisions based on prior knowledge (i.e., information shared at the outset of the pandemic) and new knowledge (i.e., up-to-date information informed by empirical evidence about the pandemic). Across the three studies presented here, results suggest the more contextualized knowledge an individual had (e.g., more mask knowledge, greater trust in experts, living in areas with higher incidence rates), the more likely they were to make final decisions in line with accurate, up-to-date information. These accurate final decisions were also less likely to be marred by cognitive conflict, particularly when individuals had more trust in scientific and medical experts (Manuscript 1, 2), greater quantitative reasoning (Manuscript 1), and more decision-specific knowledge (mask knowledge - Manuscript 1, 2;health education - Manuscript 3). These findings were in direct support of hypotheses informed by the contextualized deficit model (CDM, Allum et al., 2008) and accuracy-by-recall heuristic (Pachur et al., 2012), which highlight the importance of an individual's local context in making accurate decisions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Across 2 experiments, I examined the effects of the establishment of English Incidental Bidirectional Naming (Inc-BiN) on the transformation of stimulus function from English to Spanish Inc-BiN for novel familiar stimuli. A total of 10 preschool-aged participants with disabilities were selected across both experiments, as none demonstrated incidental learning for listener and speaker responses. Participants were categorized as either a Monolingual (ML) or Dual Language Learner (DLL), based on the language they were exposed to outside the educational setting. Further, I conducted pre-experimental screenings to determine participants' initial strength of Inc-BiN stimulus control and paired them into dyads consisting of 1 student from each language community. In the pilot study, I used a pre-test post-test simultaneous treatment design across 2 dyads to test the effects of Brief and Prolonged Naming Exposures on the establishment of English Inc-BiN. Across all phases of the intervention, I provided visual match-to-sample Naming experiences followed by tests for the acquisition of untaught listener and speaker English responses for novel familiar stimuli. Upon completing any given phase to the intervention, I assessed for the transformation of stimulus function using the same set of Naming experiences and tests in Spanish. Results showed that English Inc-BiN was established for both DLLs, 1 of whom also acquired Spanish Inc-BiN while the other demonstrated Spanish Incidental-Unidirectional Naming (Inc-UniN) without intervention. However, this developmental capability was not established for any ML participants, as the intervention was interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In Experiment II, I utilized a multiple probe design across 3 dyads to conduct a systematic replication of the pilot study. Overall, English Inc-BiN was established across all participants. Brief Naming Exposures were effective in establishing the capability for 4 participants while the remaining 2 required additional Prolonged Naming Exposures. The intervention was also effective in establishing the transformation of stimulus function across listener and speaker responses of different languages, with the acquisition of Spanish Inc-BiN for 3 participants and Spanish Inc-UniN for 2 participants. Reported differences in the number of Naming exposures required to establish English Inc-BiN further indicate that Inc-BiN may be acquired at varying rates across members of different language communities. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of establishing incidental language repertoires in order to improve DLLs rate of learning and long-term educational success. These results further pose question on the effectiveness of our nation's current bilingual education system, as there may be a need to shift focus from language of instruction to quality of instruction. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Teacher self-efficacy is a construct that continues to be extensively researched. With the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, the learning environment has shifted dramatically and has had an impact on Jewish educators' sense of efficacy. This study examined the pre- and post-test scores for self-efficacy of Jewish educators who engaged in either an online psychodrama-based professional development workshop, a hevruta-based workshop, or an integrated session using both psychodrama and hevruta study. The participants were 28 Jewish educators from around the United States who were split into one of six groups. Two psychodrama-based groups and two integrated groups met online for 3-hours, and two hevruta-based groups met for 2-hours. Participants filled out a participant information form which provided demographic data and all participants filled out the TSES-short form at the start of their respective sessions. Only 22 participants filled out the post-TSES survey sent one week after the session. Data analysis consisted of ANOVA to compare the means of the three groups with the respect to the TSES subfactors of Student Engagement, Instructional Efficacy, and Classroom Management. Due to the small sample size, statistically significant results were not expected, and the data were examined through a lens of program evaluation. Of interest was the higher post-scores of the psychodrama-based groups and the lower scores for the hevruta-based groups. Expanding the sample size could be a way to rectify some of the study's limitations. This study contributes to knowledge on the practice of psychodrama and expressive arts in an online format as it relates to teacher training and could help support the growth of expressive arts pedagogy in Jewish education, both as teacher professional development training and as a methodology for classroom teaching. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of background sounds (rap music and rock music specifically) on the speed of an adult's ability to problem solve. These two popular genres of music within the adult population carry a negative relationship between rap and rock music on the listener in previous studies. For this study, participants were recruited from around the world via social media. There were no statistically significant findings in problem solving speed across all conditions (classical, rap, rock, background conversations, and silence), likely due to a small sample size as a result of Covid-19. Those who listened to rock music performed on average the fastest of the music genres. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Mental health concerns and resource utilization has greatly increased on college campuses in recent years (ACHA - NCHA, 2017, AUCCCD, 2012, Bourdon et al., 2018). Campus counseling centers are concerned about their ability to meet the sheer volume of students with severe mental health concerns though (AUCCCD, 2012). Drum and colleagues (2009) proposed that college campuses should expand their interventions to address the mental health needs for students across the distress continuum. Sense of coherence (SOC), theorized by Aaron Antonovsky (1987), is a protective factor in which students will be better equiped to handle a variety of life stressors through internal and external coping strategies. Previous research suggests that mindfulness training can increase SOC levels in diverse populations (Karlsson et al., 2000, Volanen et al., 2004). The "Take a Breath" study assessed if the online mindfulness intervention, "Headspace," can impact college students' SOC levels, perceived stress, mindfulness skills, and help-seeking intentions. Results indicate that the mindfulness skills and SOC levels influence perceived stress and help-seeking intentions. However, the "Headspace" intervention did not significantly impact the dependent variables in comparison to the control group. The COVID-19 pandemic occurred during data collectino and emphasized the importance of protective factors and mentalh health resource accessibility. Although the results did not indicate "Headspace" to have a significant influence on the variables of interest, college campuses should continue to research accessible mental health resources for students at all levels of distress in light of the recent pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
Reports the retraction of "The impact of inducing troubleshooting strategies via visual aids on performance in a computerized digital network task" by Martin Bordewieck and Malte Elson (Applied Cognitive Psychology, Advanced Online Publication, Mar 31, 2021, np). The original article has been withdrawn by agreement among the authors, the Journal Editor-in-Chief Graham Davies and John Wiley & Sons Inc. The article was published in error. The authors are updating the proposed methods in this Stage 1 Registered Report, partly due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on conducting research. The revised Stage 1 Registered Report can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3809. (The following of the original article appeared in record 2021-33029-001). Summary Troubleshooting is a particular problem-solving process comprising error detection, fault diagnosis, and system restoration. Since automation of systems has become increasingly complex and ubiquitous, troubleshooting skills are crucial to maintain safety and security in a variety of contexts. The planned study aims at examining troubleshooting strategies and how to induce them by means of simple visual aids and concise instructions. To this end, a computerized task consisting of network troubleshooting problems will be employed in an experimental study with repeated measures. Indicators of strategy use and performance will be tested for their relation to availability and differential use of visual aids, to cognitive styles that affect how individuals deal with challenges or system information, and to cognitive processes that are involved in metacognition and executive function. The planned research is expected to help gain insights into the cognitive determinants of troubleshooting, reverse engineering, and their links to computational thinking. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)