784 registered reports
When processing an object, the human cognitive system instantaneously produces a latent experience of processing fluency that has been shown to influence a wide variety of judgments (e.g., liking, beauty, truth, safety, trustworthiness, etc.). The majority of findings revolve around the idea that fluent processing is hedonically positive and shifts evaluative judgments in the positive direction (the “Hedonic Fluency Model”). However, other findings indicate that fluency can intensify existing judgmental tendencies in the positive and negative directions (the “Fluency Amplification Model”). In two exploratory studies and three confirmatory studies submitted as a registered report, the present paper examines whether fluency hedonically upshifts evaluative judgments or whether it bidirectionally amplifies them. All five studies indicate that both mechanisms seem to be at work simultaneously. These findings challenge the previously assumed unidimensional nature of fluency and call for an advancement of the current theories of processing fluency.
We investigate the effects of perceivers’ impressions of others’ personality traits on their social attraction, after a brief encounter face-to-face or via Facebook. We first examine the main effects of perceived personality traits. Next, we compare and contrast the effects of perceived- and actual- personality similarity through polynomial regressions with response surface analysis (RSA) accounting for dyads’ respective levels of personality traits. Results suggest that RSA yield estronger effects of perceived similarity (vs. actual) on attraction. Perceivers are more attracted to targets who are “better versions” of themselves, yet too much discrepancy impede attraction, more so when face-to-face.
This paper explores the measurement of individual music feature preference using human- and computer-rated music excerpts. In the first of two studies, we correlated human ratings of song excerpts with computer-extracted music features and found good accordance, as well as similar criterion validity with preference for musical styles (the MUSIC model, mean r = 0.88). In a second online study (N = 2118), using PCA and Procrustes analysis, we found that measured music preference showed the same established three-component structure from previous research (Arousal, Valence, Depth), regardless of whether the music pieces were rated by humans or the ESSENTIA music analysis software. Our results suggest that computer-extracted music features can be used to assess individual music preference.
The primary goal of the current article is to “take stock” of the “other” relationships of self-assessed intelligence (SAI). The current article groups the relationships of SAI into four categories: constructs associated with intelligence (openness, emotional intelligence), tendencies and opportunities to develop intelligence (conscientiousness, education, age, SES, prior IQ test experience), constructs associated with biased self-assessments (extraversion, neuroticism, narcissism, honesty-humility, race), and positive states and life achievements (positive self-regard, psychological well-being, academic achievement). The meta-analytic results demonstrate that almost all variables from these four categories significantly relate to SAI, with the exception of prior IQ test experience. These relationships are also consistent when accounting for psychometric intelligence, and no studied moderator variables consistently influence the magnitude of these results.
People with higher levels of executive control, relative to low levels, should be more capable of responding to the problems and stressors of their lives, yet we know very little concerning this lab-to-life interface. Two studies (total N=254) sought to speak to questions of this type using the Stroop task, a classic measure of executive control. Individual differences in Stroop costs were assessed in the laboratory, following which the same people completed daily diary protocols for two weeks. Consistent with neurocognitive theories of executive control, both studies found that people capable of overriding the Stroop effect tended to recruit self-control in response to the stressful circumstances of their lives. By contrast, people with high Stroop costs did not exhibit this problem-focused form of recruitment. The findings extend our knowledge of individual differences in executive control and the manner in which they operate in daily life.
Personality traits such as conscientiousness and impulsivity correlate with temporal discounting, the degree to which individuals discount the value of future relative to present rewards. These variables have, in turn, been hypothesized to relate to income inequality in the United States. A key but untested assumption of this hypothesis is that the association among these variables is distinct across socioeconomic classes. The purpose of the present research is to test that assumption. N = 1100 adults with annual income ranging from at or below the poverty line ($0–$20,000) to upper-middle class ($200,000+) completed personality measures and a measure of temporal discounting. The results of our preregistered analyses indicated a positive association of income with trait planfulness, and a negative association with trait impulsivity and one parameter of temporal discounting that captures a bias to prefer sooner rewards to a greater degree if they are delivered that day. Our results can inform psychological theories of inequality and a broader conversation about effective public policy.
In the present report, we describe two planned direct replications of studies on the relationship between social class and prosocial behavior. In the original studies, individuals with higher socioeconomic status have been shown to behave less prosocially across a variety of domains. This finding continues to influence both research and the public debate on the psychological correlates of social class. At the same time, the validity of the original findings has been contested. Against this background, pre-registered direct replication studies with sufficient statistical power are warranted to test the robustness of these influential findings. We conducted two replication studies to provide valuable diagnostic information with regard to the relationship between social class and prosocial behavior. Our results indicate that the generalizability of the original findings may be much more limited than suggested. In addition, they highlight the need for an increased reliance on psychometrically established measures to facilitate cumulative research on the relationship between social class and prosocial behavior.
Is the subjective well-being (SWB) of high-achieving students generally higher compared to low achieving students? In this meta-analysis, we investigated the association between SWB and academic achievement by synthesizing 151 effect sizes from 47 studies with a total of 38,946 participants. The correlation between academic achievement and SWB was small to medium in magnitude and statistically significant at r = 0.164, 95% CI [0.113, 0.216]. The correlation was stable across various levels of demographic variables, different domains of SWB, and was stable across alternative measures of academic achievement or SWB. Overall, the results suggest that low-achieving students do not necessarily report low well-being, and that high-achieving students do not automatically experience high levels of well-being.
Neuroticism has been linked to typical levels of affect, affect reactivity to negative events, and variability in affect over time. However, the intercorrelations among these characteristics make it unclear whether neuroticism reflects unique variance in each of these aspects of emotional life. Data from two daily-diary samples revealed that neuroticism was associated with average levels and variability of positive and negative affect and reactivity of negative affect to stressors, but was only uniquely related to mean levels of positive and negative affect. Findings highlight the substantial overlap in affect indices, suggesting that mean levels of affect, at the very least, are at the core of neuroticism, and reveal the need for further research using more nuanced approaches.
Forgetting involves the loss of information over time; however, we know little about what form this information loss takes. Do memories become less precise over time, or do they instead become less accessible? Here we assessed memory for word–location associations across four days, testing whether forgetting involves losses in precision versus accessibility and whether such losses are modulated by learning a generalizable pattern. We show that forgetting involves losses in memory accessibility with no changes in memory precision. When participants learned a set of related word–location associations that conformed to a general pattern, we saw a strong trade-off; accessibility was enhanced, whereas precision was reduced. However, this trade-off did not appear to be modulated by time or confer a long-term increase in the total amount of information maintained in memory. Our results place theoretical constraints on how models of forgetting and generalization account for time-dependent memory processes.
Self-objectification has been claimed to induce numerous detrimental consequences for women at the individual level (e.g., sexual dysfunction, depression, eating disorders). Additionally, at the collective level, it has been proposed that self-objectified women might themselves contribute to the maintenance of the patriarchal status quo, for instance, by participating less in collective action. In 2013, Calogero found a negative link between self-objectification and collective action, which was mediated by the adoption of gender-specific system justification. Here, we report two preregistered direct replications (PDRs) of Calogero’s original study. We conducted these PDRs after three failures to replicate the positive relation between self-objectification and gender-specific system-justification belief in correlational studies. Results of the two PDRs, in which we used a Bayesian approach, supported the null hypothesis. This work has important theoretical implications because it challenges the role attributed to self-objectified women in the maintenance of patriarchy.
Shalvi, Eldar, and Bereby-Meyer (2012) found across two studies (N = 72 for each) that time pressure increased cheating. These findings suggest that dishonesty comes naturally, whereas honesty requires overcoming the initial tendency to cheat. Although the study’s results were statistically significant, a Bayesian reanalysis indicates that they had low evidential strength. In a direct replication attempt of Shalvi et al.’s Experiment 2, we found that time pressure did not increase cheating, N = 428, point biserial correlation (rpb) = .05, Bayes factor (BF)01 = 16.06. One important deviation from the original procedure, however, was the use of mass testing. In a second direct replication with small groups of participants, we found that time pressure also did not increase cheating, N = 297, rpb = .03, BF01 = 9.59. These findings indicate that the original study may have overestimated the true effect of time pressure on cheating and the generality of the effect beyond the original context.
Dijksterhuis and van Knippenberg (1998) reported that participants primed with a category associated with intelligence (“professor”) subsequently performed 13% better on a trivia test than participants primed with a category associated with a lack of intelligence (“soccer hooligans”). In two unpublished replications of this study designed to verify the appropriate testing procedures, Dijksterhuis, van Knippenberg, and Holland observed a smaller difference between conditions (2%–3%) as well as a gender difference: Men showed the effect (9.3% and 7.6%), but women did not (0.3% and −0.3%). The procedure used in those replications served as the basis for this multilab Registered Replication Report. A total of 40 laboratories collected data for this project, and 23 of these laboratories met all inclusion criteria. Here we report the meta-analytic results for those 23 direct replications (total N = 4,493), which tested whether performance on a 30-item general-knowledge trivia task differed between these two priming conditions (results of supplementary analyses of the data from all 40 labs, N = 6,454, are also reported). We observed no overall difference in trivia performance between participants primed with the “professor” category and those primed with the “hooligan” category (0.14%) and no moderation by gender.
How did anxiety influence vote choice in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, when both major candidates faced substantial voter disapproval? Drawing from the model of affective intelligence (Marcus et al. 2000), I argue that anxious voters will base their vote choice more strongly on issues and candidate qualities and less on partisanship relative to non-anxious voters. This study uses a registered report as part of the 2016 Election Research Preacceptance Competition, wherein a complete analysis plan was submitted for review prior to the 2016 American National Election Study’s release. In so doing, it serves as a model for other preregistered and potentially preaccepted research. Consistent with past findings, this study shows that anxious voters in 2016 were less likely to rely on past partisanship and more likely to base decisions on personal qualities. However, anxiety did not condition the effect of issues in the election. Further, Donald Trump faced no more anxiety among Republican voters than Mitt Romney did in 2012 due to a rise of in-party enthusiasm. The non-conditional effect of issues and a relatively narrow gap in partisan anxiety served as unique features of the 2016 election.
Prior research has provided initial evidence that thinking about being excluded by God lowers self-reported well-being in a Dutch sample of Christian students. The current research sought to replicate this finding in two studies. The first experiment recruited a USA sample of Christian students from a secular and religious school. The second experiment recruited a USA online sample of Christians contacted via Mechanical Turk. Results of these two studies replicated the initial finding that thinking about being excluded by God lowers self-reported well-being relative to thinking about being included by God, or contemplating that God created the earth. Overall, these results show how people’s perceived relationship with God may influence their quality of life.
Challenging the prevailing consensus that leader humility is uniformly beneficial we investigate circumstances where leader humility behaviors are positively perceived and yet negatively received due to attributions of impression management. Arising from potential inconsistencies in perceptions and attributions, we argue that followers may evaluate leader humility behavioral displays as either genuine or hypocritical. We conducted two studies, in different contexts, to test followers' reactions to leader humility displays. In Study 1 (Confucian Asian cluster), we used a survey methodology to test our theoretical model. Due to the validity problems with our instrumental variables, we were unable to draw conclusions from the results of study 1. In Study 2 (Anglo cluster), we used a scenario-based experimental design. While the hypothesized mediating effect via perceptions of leader hypocrisy was not supported by the results, we found support for the hypothesis that the interaction of leader humility and impression management positively influenced hypocrisy.
An embodied sense of self allows individuals to acquire moment-to-moment insight regarding the relationship between themselves and their environment. Fundamental to this experience is information regarding body ownership and self-location, which can inform both intrapersonal and interpersonal functioning. Although it is well documented that variation in mental health symptoms can impact the accuracy of bodily self-perception, little research has, to date, explored the influence of social anxiety on the embodied self. To address this issue, here we propose to examine the impact of social anxiety on the rubber hand illusion (RHI), a procedure which can distort perceptions of body location and ownership. Related literature points to competing predictions relative to how symptoms of social anxiety potentially impact susceptibility to the RHI. In the current manuscript we present the results of a pilot study indicating a positive relationship between the strength of the RHI and social anxiety, and detail a proposed registered report that seeks to replicate and extend this experiment.
Despite the considerable amount of research devoted to understanding fraud, few studies have examined how the physical environment can influence the likelihood of committing fraud. One recent study found a link between room brightness and occurrence of human fraud behaviors. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate how temperature may affect fraud. Based on a power analysis using the effect size observed in a pilot study, we recruited 105 participants and randomly divided them into three temperature groups (warm, medium, and cool). We then counted fraud behaviors in each group and tested for potential significant differences with a Kruskal–Wallis test. Additionally, we used a correlation analysis to determine whether the perceived temperature affected fraud. As a result, regardless of participants’ subjective sensory experience or their physical environment, we did not find that temperature-related factors influence the incidence of fraud. We discussed the potential reason for the results and suggested directions for future research.
Two exploratory studies demonstrate, for the first time, that narrative persuasion can diminish the stigma attached to social groups featured in journalistic narratives. Study 1 shows narrative format improves stigma toward Syrian refugees indirectly through narrative engagement, perceived similarity, and meaningful affect. Decreases in stigma also improved attitudes toward refugees. Study 2 replicates these findings against a separate participant pool, an additional story topic, and compares changes in engagement, stigma, and attitude to a non-narrative fact sheet and a control condition. A preregistered third study seeks to validate the finding that narratives can elicit destigmatization and disentangle the roles of story exemplars from story structure.
Objective To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of transdermal alcohol content (TAC) data (i.e. index test) collected with wearable alcohol monitors for assessment of alcohol use or any other alcohol related outcome (e.g., excessive alcohol use) among adults 18 and older. Methods We will systematically search MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI, Web of Science) for TAC validation studies. The reference standards for this systematic review study are alcohol use data collected through self-reports, breathalyzers, or blood samples. If enough studies are available to conduct a meta-analysis, we will use a hierarchical regression approach to pool the results and obtain summary point estimates.
Two opposing views define the debate on the moral principles underlying human behavior. One side argues a central role for five moral foundations (care, fairness, loyalty, authority, sanctity), while the other argues that two of these (care, fairness) capture the essence of human moral concerns. In an experiment comparing these two views, Wright and Baril (2011) found that conservatives under cognitive load devalue loyalty, authority and sanctity, and become more liberal. Their finding of common intuitive concern with care and fairness supports the two-foundation perspective. In two high-powered preregistered experiments (N = 3275), we used time-pressure to induce intuitive thinking and tested Wright and Baril's finding that “we are all liberals at heart.” Although the manipulations worked as intended, Study 1 failed to identify an effect on the moral foundations questionnaire (MFQ). We conjectured that familiarity with standard survey items may weaken intuition manipulations by eliciting stable opinions. In Study 2, we therefore used not only the MFQ but also novel moral foundations vignettes. Study 2 failed to find an effect of time-pressure on either questionnaire type. An internal Bayesian meta-analysis indicated strong evidence against an effect of intuitive thinking on moral foundations.
How can we maximize what is learned from a replication study? In the creative destruction approach to replication, the original hypothesis is compared not only to the null hypothesis, but also to predictions derived from multiple alternative theoretical accounts of the phenomenon. To this end, new populations and measures are included in the design in addition to the original ones, to help determine which theory best accounts for the results across multiple key outcomes and contexts. The present pre-registered empirical project compared the Implicit Puritanism account of intuitive work and sex morality to theories positing regional, religious, and social class differences; explicit rather than implicit cultural differences in values; self-expression vs. survival values as a key cultural fault line; the general moralization of work; and false positive effects. Contradicting Implicit Puritanism's core theoretical claim of a distinct American work morality, a number of targeted findings replicated across multiple comparison cultures, whereas several failed to replicate in all samples and were identified as likely false positives. No support emerged for theories predicting regional variability and specific individual-differences moderators (religious affiliation, religiosity, and education level). Overall, the results provide evidence that work is intuitively moralized across cultures.
Terror management theory (TMT) posits that mortality salience (MS) leads to more negative perceptions of persons who oppose one's worldview and to more positive perceptions of persons who confirm one's worldview. Recent failed replications of classic findings have thrown into question empirical validity for this established idea. We believe, that there are crucial methodological and theoretical aspects that have been neglected in these studies which limit their explanatory power; thus, the studies of this registered report aimed to address these issues and to directly test the worldview defense hypothesis. First, we conducted two preregistered lab studies applying the classic worldview defense paradigm. The stimulus material (worldview-confirming and -opposing essays) was previously validated for students at a German university. In both studies, the MS manipulation (between-subjects) was followed by a distraction phase. Then, in Study 1 (N = 131), each participant read both essays (within-subjects). In Study 2 (N = 276), the essays were manipulated between-subjects. Credibility attribution towards the author was assessed as the dependent variable. In both studies, the expected interaction effects were not significant. In a third highly powered (registered) study (N = 1356), we used a previously validated worldview-opposing essay. The five classic worldview defense items served as the main dependent measure. The MS effect was not significant. Bayesian analyses favored the null hypothesis. An internal meta-analysis revealed a very small (Hedges' g = 0.09) but nonsignificant (p = .058) effect of MS. Altogether, the presented studies reveal challenges in providing convincing evidence for this established idea.
Religions promote cooperation, but they can also be divisive. Is religious cooperation intuitively parochial against atheists? Evidence supporting the social heuristics hypothesis (SHH) suggests that cooperation is intuitive, independent of religious group identity. We tested this prediction in a one-shot prisoner’s dilemma game, where 1,280 practising Christian believers were paired with either a coreligionist or an atheist and where time limits were used to increase reliance on either intuitive or deliberated decisions. We explored another dual-process account of cooperation, the self-control account (SCA), which suggests that visceral reactions tend to be selfish and that cooperation requires deliberation. We found evidence for religious parochialism but no support for SHH’s prediction of intuitive cooperation. Consistent with SCA but requiring confirmation in future studies, exploratory analyses showed that religious parochialism involves decision conflict and concern for strong reciprocity and that deliberation promotes cooperation independent of religious group identity.
Ambidextrous leadership theory proposes that a leader's interplay between opening behaviors and closing behaviors enhances followers' exploration and exploitation behaviors, which ultimately increases innovative outcomes. Unfortunately, previous research suffers from problems with causal interpretation and endogeneity concerns threatening the validity of the theory. Our aim was to constructively replicate previous research with an experimental design, more rigorous measures, and state-of-the-art data analytical approaches (2SLS). In two randomized experiments (Study 1: N = 395, Study 2: N = 229), we manipulated four leadership styles (opening, closing, ambidextrous, and transformational leadership) and tested their effects on participants' exploration/exploitation behaviors as well as objective innovation outcomes. We only found partial support for the hypotheses from ambidextrous leadership theory. We discuss implications in terms of refining central concepts of the theory and offering more accurate assumptions about timing. We also elaborate on more general insights from our constructive replication studies for the leadership field.
In 2016, as part of the Reproducibility Project: Cancer Biology, we published a Registered Report (Vanden Heuvel et al., 2016), that described how we intended to replicate selected experiments from the paper ‘Systematic identification of genomic markers of drug sensitivity in cancer cells’ (Garnett et al., 2012). Here we report the results. We found Ewing’s sarcoma cell lines, overall, were more sensitive to the PARP inhibitor olaparib than osteosarcoma cell lines; however, while the effect was in the same direction as the original study (Figure 4C; Garnett et al., 2012), it was not statistically significant. Further, mouse mesenchymal cells transformed with either the EWS-FLI1 or FUS-CHOP rearrangement displayed similar sensitivities to olaparib, whereas the Ewing’s sarcoma cell line SK-N-MC had increased olaparib sensitivity. In the original study, mouse mesenchymal cells transformed with the EWS-FLI1 rearrangement and SK-N-MC cells were found to have similar sensitivities to olaparib, whereas mesenchymal cells transformed with the FUS-CHOP rearrangement displayed a reduced sensitivity to olaparib (Figure 4E; Garnett et al., 2012). We also studied another Ewing’s sarcoma cell line, A673: A673 cells depleted of EWS-FLI1 or a negative control both displayed similar sensitivities to olaparib, whereas the original study reported a decreased sensitivity to olaparib when EWS-FLI1 was depleted (Figure 4F; Garnett et al., 2012). Differences between the original study and this replication attempt, such as the use of different sarcoma cell lines and level of knockdown efficiency, are factors that might have influenced the outcomes. Finally, where possible, we report meta-analyses for each result.
In 2016, as part of the Reproducibility Project: Cancer Biology, we published a Registered Report (Fiehn et al., 2016), that described how we intended to replicate selected experiments from the paper "The common feature of leukemia-associated IDH1 and IDH2 mutations is a neomorphic enzyme activity converting alpha-ketoglutarate to 2-hydroxyglutarate" (Ward et al., 2010). Here, we report the results of those experiments. We found that cells expressing R172K mutant IDH2 did not display isocitrate-dependent NADPH production above vector control levels, in contrast to the increased production observed with wild-type IDH2. Conversely, expression of R172K mutant IDH2 resulted in increased alpha-ketoglutarate-dependent consumption of NADPH compared to wild-type IDH2 or vector control. These results are similar to those reported in the original study (Figure 2; Ward et al., 2010). Further, expression of R172K mutant IDH2 resulted in increased 2HG levels within cells compared to the background levels observed in wild-type IDH2 and vector control, similar to the original study (Figure 3D; Ward et al., 2010). In primary human AML samples, the 2HG levels observed in samples with mutant IDH1 or IDH2 status were higher than those observed in samples without an IDH mutation, similar to what was observed in the original study (Figure 5C; Ward et al., 2010). Finally, we report meta-analyses for each result.
As part of the Reproducibility Project: Cancer Biology, we published a Registered Report (Blum et al., 2015), that described how we intended to replicate selected experiments from the paper ‘Transcriptional amplification in tumor cells with elevated c-Myc’ (Lin et al., 2012). Here we report the results. We found overexpression of c-Myc increased total levels of RNA in P493-6 Burkitt’s lymphoma cells; however, while the effect was in the same direction as the original study (Figure 3E; Lin et al., 2012), statistical significance and the size of the effect varied between the original study and the two different lots of serum tested in this replication. Digital gene expression analysis for a set of genes was also performed on P493-6 cells before and after c-Myc overexpression. Transcripts from genes that were active before c-Myc induction increased in expression following c-Myc overexpression, similar to the original study (Figure 3F; Lin et al., 2012). Transcripts from genes that were silent before c-Myc induction also increased in expression following c-Myc overexpression, while the original study concluded elevated c-Myc had no effect on silent genes (Figure 3F; Lin et al., 2012). Treating the data as paired, we found a statistically significant increase in gene expression for both active and silent genes upon c-Myc induction, with the change in gene expression greater for active genes compared to silent genes. Finally, we report meta-analyses for each result.
Despite the popularity of the Ancient Greek maxim ‘know thyself’, the importance of self-insight for adjustment, or effective psychological functioning, remains unclear. Here we examined four perspectives about how cognitive and emotional abilities and self-views about these abilities relate to adjustment. We administered tests of cognitive and emotional abilities and assessed self-views about these abilities. Participants then completed daily diaries for a week to report multiple self-reported indicators of adjustment. We analysed data using polynomial regression and response surface analysis. We found no support for benefits of self-insight. The conditions to infer support for linear or curvilinear associations between abilities or self-views about these abilities and adjustment were also not met. The findings suggest that giving employees and students feedback about their cognitive and emotional abilities in organizations and in schools may not enhance their adjustment. We discuss the limitations of our study and offer suggestions for future research.
Shackelford and colleagues (2004) found that men, compared to women, are more distressed by sexual than emotional infidelity, and this sex difference continued into older age. We conducted four hig...
Cryptocurrencies are among the largest unregulated markets in the world. We find that approximately one-quarter of bitcoin users are involved in illegal activity. We estimate that around $76 billion of illegal activity per year involve bitcoin (46% of bitcoin transactions), which is close to the scale of the U.S. and European markets for illegal drugs. The illegal share of bitcoin activity declines with mainstream interest in bitcoin and with the emergence of more opaque cryptocurrencies. The techniques developed in this paper have applications in cryptocurrency surveillance. Our findings suggest that cryptocurrencies are transforming the black markets by enabling “black e-commerce.”Received June 1, 2017; editorial decision December 8, 2018 by Editor Andrew Karolyi. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online.
. The Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) has been forwarded as one of the most promising alternatives to the Implicit Association Test and the evaluative-priming task for measuring attitudes such as prejudice indirectly. We investigated whether the AMP is indeed able to detect an evaluative out-group bias. In contrast to recent conclusions about the robustness of AMP effects, six out of seven pilot studies indicated that participants did not show any prejudice effects in the AMP. Yet, these pilot studies were not fully conclusive with regard to our research question because they investigated different domains of prejudice, used small sample sizes, and employed a modified AMP version. In a preregistered, high-powered AMP study, we therefore examined whether the standard AMP does reveal prejudice against Turks, the biggest minority in Germany, and found a significant, albeit very small prejudice effect. We discuss possible reasons for the AMP’s weak sensitivity to evaluations in socially sensitive domains.
. Deviant as well as changing auditory distractors interfere with short-term memory. According to the duplex model of auditory distraction, the deviation effect is caused by a shift of attention while the changing-state effect is due to obligatory order processing. This theory predicts that foreknowledge should reduce the deviation effect, but should have no effect on the changing-state effect. We compared the effect of foreknowledge on the two phenomena directly within the same experiment. In a pilot study, specific foreknowledge was impotent in reducing either the changing-state effect or the deviation effect, but it reduced disruption by sentential speech, suggesting that the effects of foreknowledge on auditory distraction may increase with the complexity of the stimulus material. Given the unexpected nature of this finding, we tested whether the same finding would be obtained in (a) a direct preregistered replication in Germany and (b) an additional replication with translated stimulus materials in Sweden.
This study examines the relation between management forecasts and analysts' forecasts to determine whether a moderating role exists for credibility. Management credibility is evaluated by management's prior forecasting ability and the firm's underlying corporate governance structure. Analyst credibility on the other hand is assessed using their prior forecasting ability only. Using Structural Equation Modelling, we find management credibility affects how much reliance analysts place upon information contained in management initial earnings forecasts when making their own forecasts. We also show a moderating role for analyst credibility in the relation between analysts' consensus initial forecasts and management forecast revisions. Our findings highlight the importance of reputation in the dissemination of earnings information.
The theory of healthy neuroticism, that neuroticism can impact health through both negative and positive pathways, often relies on descriptions of vigilance to illustrate beneficial effects. The current study is among the first to describe the relationship of neuroticism to body vigilance and test the degree to which this relationship impacts health. In an online participant panel (N = 1055), neuroticism was associated with one factor of vigilance: sensation awareness belief. This factor had a suppression effect on the relationship between neuroticism and healthy behavior, such that the effect of neuroticism through vigilance was healthy, whereas the direct effect was unhealthy. We discuss the implications of these findings and caution against using vigilance to explain the heterogeneity in neuroticism-health relationships.
In this study, we examine the wealth effects associated with the announcement of the Australian Carbon Pricing Scheme (the “carbon tax”), made by the then Prime Minster Julia Gillard on 24 February 2011. Building on studies that use the event study method originally developed by Fama et al. (1969) and Ball and Brown (1968), we propose a novel approach to analyzing announcements with unresolved uncertainty. With this approach, we separate out the news effect and the value effect associated with the announcement of the Australian Carbon Pricing Scheme. Our findings show that the average news effect associated with the announcement is 1.11% (A$254 million dollars), indicating that the market was favorably disposed towards the news that the government was taking action on climate change. The average value effect was −4.46% (−A$1.12 billion dollars), indicating that the scheme destroyed significant value for existing firms. The announcement of the Australian Carbon Pricing Scheme was more value-destructive for carbon-intensive firms (−6.97%) than for the other firms (−3.67%). The method presented in this study can be applied to any policy announcements with unresolved uncertainty
The current study examined whether reliance on more adaptive defense mechanisms throughout early adulthood may help explain previously documented relationships between childhood nurturance and better midlife functioning. Utilizing a unique longitudinal study, data were from age 18 through midlife (age 63) on 135 males. Childhood nurturance was assessed upon study entry and defense mechanism usage was assessed throughout earlier adulthood. Percentage of ‘engaging’ (more adaptive) vs. ‘avoidant’ (less adaptive) defenses mediated the relationship between childhood nurturance and 3 midlife outcomes: participants’ relationship quality with their children, marriage stability, and maximum earned income. Results suggest that greater childhood nurturance relates to more adaptive defensive styles in early adulthood, which is then associated with healthier midlife functioning at work and in relationships.
A pre-registered experiment was conducted to examine psychophysiological responses to being lied to. Bridging research on social cognition and deception detection, we hypothesized that observing a liar compared to a truth-teller would decrease finger skin temperature of observers. Participants first watched two targets while not forewarned that they would later be asked to judge (direct and indirect) veracity, and then watched another two targets while forewarned about this. During both these phases finger skin temperature was measured. Findings pertaining to temperature partly confirmed our main hypothesis. When participants were observing a liar, irrespective of being forewarned, on average finger skin temperature declined over time. In the forewarned phase, temperature trajectories of truth-tellers were higher than those of liars, however, in the not forewarned phase, this pattern was reversed. Results confirmed our further hypotheses that participants judge liars as less likeable and less trustworthy than truth-tellers—an indication of indirect deception detection. Our hypothesis that the effect size for trustworthiness would be bigger than that of liking was not supported by the data. Additionally, and also confirming our hypothesis, participants performed around chance level when directly judging whether the target person was lying. Exploratory analyses are reported with regard to truth bias and dependency between direct and indirect veracity judgments. Limitations and directions for future work related to the existence of psychophysiological indicators of deception detection are discussed.
Road crashes are a leading cause of death worldwide. In many countries, it is common to see spontaneous roadside memorials constructed in response to road fatalities. These memorials are controversial and are explicitly banned in many jurisdictions. Advocates argue that the presence of memorials improves safety by making other drivers aware of an especially dangerous road where others have died, whereas opponents argue that they are distracting and decrease safety by diverting drivers’ attention away from the road. However, there has been almost no research examining the effects of roadside memorials on road user behavior and safety. In this study, 40 drivers viewed videos of road scenes with and without memorials, to examine how the presence of roadside memorials influences drivers’ attentional allocation (indicated by eye movements to the roadside area) and safety-related behaviors (indicated by perceived risk ratings and preferred travel speeds for the road). The findings indicate memorials do capture visual attention, as participants were more likely to fixate on memorials compared with a comparison object placed on the roadside. However, fixations on the memorials, and to the roadside area in general, were relatively brief. The presence of memorials did not affect perceived risk and did not produce a clear systematic effect on preferred travel speed. Nearly all drivers in our study supported permitting roadside memorials, but a small number strongly opposed memorials on the belief they are distracting and/or distressing.
Cognitive offloading refers to the act of reducing the mental processing requirements of a task through physical actions like writing down information or storing information on a cell phone or computer. Offloading can lead to improved performance on ongoing tasks with high cognitive demand, such as tasks where multiple pieces of information must be simultaneously maintained. However, less is known about why some individuals choose to engage in offloading and under what conditions they might choose to do so. In the present study, offloading behavior is investigated in a short-term memory task requiring memory for letters. The present study is a replication and extension of a previous study conducted by Risko and Dunn, and tests the new prediction that individuals with lower working memory capacity will be more likely to offload. Here, we find that offloading information confers a performance advantage over relying on internal memory stores, particularly at higher memory loads. However, we fail to observe that those with poorer memory abilities have a greater propensity for offloading or benefit more from it. Instead, our findings suggest that cognitive offloading may be a valid compensatory strategy to improve performance of memory-based tasks for individuals with a wide range of memory ability.
We proposed an integration hypothesis of mind wandering in which the tendency of mind wandering is only related to working memory capacity (WMC) when a self-regulation process is required (i.e., under a high task load); however, this tendency is related to mindfulness regardless of task load. A within-group experiment with 160 participants was conducted. Task load was manipulated as high or low using modified 0-back and 2-back tasks, during which participants’ self-caught mind wanderings and the types of mind wandering (aware vs. unaware; intentional vs. unintentional) were measured. The results supported our hypothesis that WMC was negatively associated with mind wandering only in demanding tasks, and mindfulness scores were negatively associated with mind wandering across tasks. Furthermore, we also determined how WMC and the mindfulness trait were related to different types of mind wandering. Theoretical implications were discussed.
We tested psychometric properties of the Markers of Adulthood (MoA) importance scale and a revised Inventory of the Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood (IDEA-8) in a large, diverse multisite and multinational sample the Emerging Adulthood Measured at Multiple Institutions 2 project. We used multilevel confirmatory factor analyses and multilevel alphas to examine external validity and internal consistency of the scales. We also performed correlational and exploratory multilevel analyses to determine the extent to which emerging adulthood dimensions overlap across scales. The IDEA-8 subscales demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties. Our research suggests that recent approaches to combine the MoA markers provide four modestly reliable factors, but perceptions of adulthood varied considerably as a function of sample. We recommend that the structure of these marker items be examined for any given sample, since their relative importance seems to vary, not just across time but also sample location.
The 2016 U.S. presidential election was marked by hostile political discourse, often on social media, where users were exposed to divergent, and potentially distressing, political discourse. This research explores the effects of this election on the well-being of emerging adults who receive the majority of their news via social media. Using data from the Emerging Adulthood Measured at Multiple Institutions 2 Study, we expected greater social media use to be associated with greater perceived stress, and lower well-being, among emerging adults who are more politically extreme, and expected these relationships would be moderated by social support and social media use. Our preregistered analysis did not support our hypotheses. Although there were some effects of extremity on stress and well-being, overall the direction of the effects were inconsistent and neither social media use nor social support was found to moderate the effects of extremity on stress and well-being.
There is fundamental debate about the nature of forgetting: some have argued that it represents the decay of the memory trace, others that the memory trace persists but becomes inaccessible because of retrieval failure. These different accounts of forgetting lead to different predictions about savings memory, the rapid re-learning of seemingly forgotten information. If forgetting is because of decay, then savings requires re-encoding and should thus involve the same mechanisms as initial learning. If forgetting is because of retrieval failure, then savings should be mechanistically distinct from encoding. In this registered report, we conducted a preregistered and rigorous test between these accounts of forgetting. Specifically, we used microarray to characterize the transcriptional correlates of a new memory (1 d after training), a forgotten memory (8 d after training), and a savings memory (8 d after training but with a reminder on day 7 to evoke a long-term savings memory) for sensitization in Aplysia californica (n = 8 samples/group). We found that the reactivation of sensitization during savings does not involve a substantial transcriptional response. Thus, savings is transcriptionally distinct relative to a newer (1-d-old) memory, with no coregulated transcripts, negligible similarity in regulation-ranked ordering of transcripts, and a negligible correlation in training-induced changes in gene expression (r = 0.04 95% confidence interval (CI) [–0.12, 0.20]). Overall, our results suggest that forgetting of sensitization memory represents retrieval failure.
Agreeableness is one of the major domains included within prominent hierarchical models of personality like the five–factor model. (Low) agreeableness is the strongest correlate of a variety of antisocial behaviours relative to the other five–factor model domains. Although there is substantial evidence that (low) agreeableness is arguably the most important personality correlate of various antisocial behaviours, this evidence is descriptive and provides little information on the direction or processes underlying the relation. Process–related research has started to provide more insight into how agreeableness–related traits give rise to various antisocial and prosocial behaviours. The proposed study looked to first replicate previous research on some of the potential cognitive–emotional processes related to agreeableness and then conduct exploratory analyses to identify which, if any, of the empirically identified facets of agreeableness bear specific relations to the processes under study. Overall, we were unable to replicate the primary effects of interest in regard to processes of agreeableness and found little support for our preregistered confirmatory and exploratory hypotheses despite having high power (≥.94) to detect these effects. Nonetheless, process models of personality remain at the vanguard of personality research, and we discuss how the current results can inform future work in this area. © 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology
Accurately assessing others' reputation, and developing a reputation as a competent, honest, fair individual—a good epistemic and moral reputation—are critical skills. In six online experiments (N = 2811), replicated with English and Japanese participants, we found that one way to improve our epistemic reputation is to display our competence by sharing valuable ideas, especially if we appropriate these ideas—i.e. present them as being our own, and not someone else's, whether that is the case or not (H1). But idea appropriation also entails some risks, otherwise it would lose its quality as a reliable signal. In particular, appropriating a bad idea damages one's epistemic reputation (H2), and being caught appropriating someone else's idea damages one's moral reputation (H3). As a consequence, people are more likely to appropriate good ideas when they are motivated to display their competence (H4), and less likely to do so when the odds of getting caught increase (H5). The way people negotiate the tradeoffs of reputation management as they communicate can help explain the spread of information, as well as misinformation.
. This registered report aims at replicating the so-called “mnemonic time-travel” effect. Aksentijevic, Brandt, Tsakanikos, and Thorpe (2019) reported that memory was improved when their participants experienced backward motion before a memory test in comparison to when they experienced forward motion or no motion. This finding was interpreted as suggesting that backward motion brought individuals back to the moment of encoding. In the original study, the mnemonic time-travel effect was robustly found with various types of backward motion (real, simulated, and imagined). Such a spectacular finding calls for a preregistered replication. To determine the robustness of the effect, we performed a close replication of Experiment 4 of Aksentijevic et al. in which the mnemonic time-travel effect was most pronounced. Despite sufficient statistical power to detect an even considerably smaller effect than the one reported by Aksentijevic et al., we found no significant differences among the different motion conditions. The present results thus disconfirm the idea that experiencing backward motion improves memory which suggests that the empirical robustness of the mnemonic time travel effect should be further scrutinized before any conclusions about mnemonic space and time can be drawn.
Background: Differences in descriptions can influence people’s evaluations and behaviors. A previous study by Bryan and colleagues suggested that subtle linguistic differences in ethical reminders can differentially prevent readers’ unethical behavior. The present study tried to replicate the previous finding in the Japanese context (Experiment 1); additionally, we explored the influence of unfamiliar Japanese instruction words that captured participants’ attention (Experiment 2). Methods: In two online experiments, participants were asked to make 10 coin-tosses and report the number of “heads” results, which would indicate the amount of money that they could earn. In Experiment 1, we analyzed the difference in the number of “heads” results as reported by 768 participants under three conditions with different instructions (“Don’t cheat” vs. “Don’t be a cheater” vs. baseline as a control). In Experiment 2, we conducted an extended experiment with an additional task in which more attention was directed toward the text. Results: In Experiment 1, we successfully replicated the results of the original experiment. The results of Experiment 2 showed no evidence that the results in Experiment 1 were influenced by attentional factors. Conclusions: In conclusion, the results of the present study supported the hypothesis that self-identity-related words of moral reminder curb unethical behaviors more effectively. Stage 1 report: https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.20183.4
According to Kaplan's Theory of Attention Restoration (ART), spending time in a natural environment can restore depleted cognitive resources. If this is true, then nature exposure may modulate the error-related negativity (ERN), a component of the event-related brain potential (ERP) that is related to cognitive control and attentional allocation. ART suggests that cognitive resources are restored because the cognitive control networks of the brain are less engaged in nature, suggesting that the ERN may decrease in nature. In the present study, we completed a registered report, examining whether or not spending time in nature would reduce the size of the ERN compared to outdoor testing. Instead, we found that nature significantly increased the amplitude of the ERN. The implications of these results are discussed within the ART framework.
It is well established that manipulations of low-level stimulus properties unrelated to mass can impact perception of heaviness, the most famous example being the size-weight illusion whereby small objects feel heavier than equally-weighted larger objects. Interestingly, manipulations of high-level cues such as material have also induced weight illusions, highlighting that cognitive expectations alone are enough to create illusory weight differences. Less is known, however, about what type of cognitive expectations can influence perception of heaviness. As labels are often used to signify the heaviness of objects, this study examined whether semantic cues could induce a novel weight illusion. Participants lifted equally-sized and equally-weighted sets of objects labelled as ‘light’ and ‘heavy’ and reported their perceived heaviness both prior to and after lifting. Fingertip forces were also measured to understand how semantic cues may influence sensorimotor prediction. The labels clearly affected pre-lift-off expectations of heaviness. By contrast, we found no effect of these labels on the perceived heaviness of objects, nor on the forces used to grip and lift them on early trials. In other words, we find no evidence that semantic cues affect perception or action enough to induce a novel weight illusion. These findings suggest that the explicit expectations created by the labels did not dominate the implicit expectations created by the equal sizes of the objects, highlighting the segregated nature of cognitive expectations and their variable influences on perception and action.