Thursday, October 4, 2018

Privileged students shouldn’t be allowed to speak in class at all and should just listen and learn in silence; they would benefit from experiential reparations (sitting on the floor, wearing chains, or intentionally being spoken over


The Grievance Studies Scandal: Five Academics Respond. Quillete, October 1, 2018.https://quillette.com/2018/10/01/the-grievance-studies-scandal-five-academics-respond/

Excerpts:

The flagship feminist philosophy journal, Hypatia, accepted a paper (not yet published online) arguing that social justice advocates should be allowed to make fun of others, but no one should be permitted to make fun of them. The same journal invited resubmission of a paper arguing that “privileged students shouldn’t be allowed to speak in class at all and should just listen and learn in silence,” and that they would benefit from “experiential reparations” that include “sitting on the floor, wearing chains, or intentionally being spoken over.” The reviewers complained that this hoax paper took an overly compassionate stance toward the “privileged” students who would be subjected to this humiliation, and recommended that they be subjected to harsher treatment. Is asking people of a certain race to sit on the floor in chains better than asking them to wear a yellow star? What exactly is this leading to?

Now, three academics have submitted twenty spoof manuscripts to journals chosen for respectability in their various disciplines. Seven papers were accepted before the experiment stopped; more are surviving peer review. This new raid on screamingly barmy pseudo-scholarship is the Alan Sokal Opening, weaponised. Like dedicated traceurs in a Parkour-fest, the trio scrambled over the terrain of what they call Grievance Studies. And they dropped fire-crackers. One published paper proposed that dog parks are “rape-condoning spaces.” Another, entitled “Our Struggle is My Struggle: Solidarity Feminism as an Intersectional Reply to Neoliberal and Choice Feminism” reworked, and substantially altered, part of Mein Kampf. The most shocking, (not published, its status is “revise and resubmit”) is a “Feminist Approach to Pedagogy.” It proposes “experiential reparations” as a corrective for privileged students. These include sitting on the floor, wearing chains, or being purposely spoken over. Reviewers have commented that the authors risk exploiting underprivileged students by burdening them with an expectation to teach about privilege.

When I grew up something like the following order of badness prevailed: murder (the worst), followed by serious physical violence, cheating and lying, nasty shouting, nasty speaking and at the milder end, nasty thinking. This has changed. There is evidence that many scholars favour punitive thought-reform.

The dog-park hoax paper, honoured by the journal as exemplary scholarship, contains gems like this: “Dog parks are microcosms where hegemonic masculinist norms governing queering behavior and compulsory heterosexuality can be observed in a cross-species environment.” It looks like a case of reviewers asleep at the wheel.

Occasionally, however, unintentional absurdities of feminist thinking have crept into much better philosophical journals than Hypatia. A good example is an article from the Australasian Journal of Philosophy in which a feminist describes a “phallic drama” involving two statements, p and ~p (the negation of p):
There is really only one actor, p, and ~p is merely its receptacle. In the representation of the Venn diagram, p penetrates a passive, undifferentiated universal other which is specified as a lack, which offers no resistance, and whose behavior it controls completely.

Rolf Degen summarizing: A high sex ratio (scarcity of women compared to men) leads to higher marriage rates, fewer divorces, greater fertility, women choosing higher quality mates & being happier in their marriages

Does Mate Scarcity Affect Marital Choice and Family Formation? The Evidence for New and Classic Formulations of Sex Ratio Theory. Emily A. Stone. Marriage and Family Review, https://doi.org/10.1080/01494929.2018.1501789

Abstract: Guttentag and Secord pioneered research on the social consequences of imbalances in the numbers of men and women—the sex ratio. Since then, sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, and even biologists have investigated its effects on marriage and reproduction. I review the three prevailing theories to explain why sex ratio should affect marriage and reproduction, along with the evidence that it does. I also review the growing evidence that sex ratio imbalances are associated with mate choice. Sex ratio reveals contradictory relationships with mate preferences and actual partner choice, however, raising a conundrum for future research. Overall, there is strong experimental and correlational support for the patterns of marriage and reproduction associated with sex ratio. What emerges is the necessity for future research to distinguish among the perspectives to explain why.

Keywords: fertility, marriage, mate choice, sex ratio

Optimized technologies emerge through the selective retention of small improvements across generations without requiring explicit understanding of how these technologies work; we don't spontaneously create multidimensional causal theories but instead mainly produce simplistic models

Derex, Maxime, Jean-François Bonnefon, Robert Boyd, and Alex Mesoudi. 2018. “Causal Understanding Is Not Necessary for the Improvement of Culturally Evolving Technology.” PsyArXiv. September 3. doi:10.31234/osf.io/nm5sh

Abstract: Highly-optimized tools are common in traditional populations. Bows and arrows, dogsleds, clothing, houses, and kayaks are just a few examples of the complex, exquisitely designed tools that humans produced and used to colonize new, demanding environments. Because there is much evidence that humans’ cognitive abilities are unparalleled, many believe that such technologies resulted from our superior causal reasoning abilities. However, others have stressed that the high dimensionality of human technologies make them very hard to understand causally. Instead, they argue that optimized technologies emerge through the selective retention of small improvements across generations without requiring explicit understanding of how these technologies work. Here, we find experimental support for the latter view by showing that a physical artifact becomes progressively optimized across generations of social learners in the absence of explicit causal understanding. We find that participants do not spontaneously create multidimensional causal theories but instead mainly produce simplistic models related to a specifically salient dimension. Finally, we show that the transmission of these simplistic theories constrain exploration in subsequent generations of learners and has negative downstream effects on their understanding. These results indicate that highly optimized technologies do not necessarily result from evolved reasoning abilities but instead can emerge from the blind accumulation of many small improvements made across generations linked by cultural transmission, and demand a focus on the cultural dynamics underlying technological change as well as individual cognition.

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Of the 56 participants who received a theory... 15 received an inertia-related theory, 17 received an energy-related theory, 6 received a full theory and 18 received diverse, irrelevant theories

...inherited theories strongly affected participant's understanding of the wheel system. Participants who did not inherit any theory (“Configurations” treatment) scored similarly (and better than chance) on questions about inertia and questions about energy (Fig. 3I). In comparison, participants who inherited an inertia- or energy- related theory showed skewed understanding patterns. Inheriting an inertia-related theory increased their understanding of inertia, but decreased their understanding of energy; symmetrically, inheriting an energy-related theory increased their understanding of energy, but decreased their understanding about inertia. One explanation for this pattern is that inheriting a unidimensional theory makes individuals focus on the effect of one parameter while blinding them to the effects of others. However, participants’ understanding may also result from different exploration patterns. For instance, participants who received an inertia-related theory mainly produced balanced wheels (Fig. 3F), which could have prevented them from observing the effect of varying the position of the wheel’s center of mass.

...These results suggest that the understanding patterns observed in participants who received unidimensional theories is likely the result of the canalizing effect of theory transmission on exploration. Note that in the present case, this canalizing effect is performance-neutral: with our 2-dimensional problem, better understanding of one dimension and worse understanding of one dimension simply compensate each other. For a many-dimensional problem, though, better understanding of one dimension is unlikely to compensate for worse understanding of all the others.

Experimental research suggests that high power and leadership result in the experience of more positive and less negative emotions; we don't find relation with power and subjective well-being or job satisfaction

Small and negligible? Evidence on the Relation Between Individuals’ Power in the Job Situation and their Satisfaction with Life and Job. Herbert Bless & Nadia Granato. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1080/01973533.2018.1510779

Abstract: Experimental research suggests that high power and leadership result in the experience of more positive and less negative emotions. Extending these findings of experimental manipulations, we investigated relations between power and subjective well-being in a representative national survey. Defining power as the capability to administer resources or punishments, we inferred power from the number of people whom respondents supervise in their job. The results reflect a very small relation between this operationalization and individuals’ life and job satisfaction. The results suggest that prior experimental findings on the relation between power and satisfaction judgments cannot be applied directly to job situations.

Working in occupations with higher percentages of male workers is associated with higher levels of unpleasantness and lower levels of meaningfulness at work for women

Men and Women at Work: Occupational Gender Composition and Affective Well-Being in the United States. Yue Qian, Wen Fan. Journal of Happiness Studies, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10902-018-0039-3

Abstract: Most adults spend almost half their waking hours at work. How people feel during work can have far-reaching consequences for their quality of life. This study traces male and female workers’ affective experiences at work to the gender composition of their occupations. To do this, we draw on nationally representative time diary data on affective experiences at work from the 2010, 2012, and 2013 well-being modules of the American Time Use Surveys, as well as data on occupational gender composition from the Current Population Surveys. Our analytic sample contains 5216 activity records of working at main jobs from 4486 non-self-employed workers. We find significant gender differences in the relationship between occupational gender composition and affective well-being: Working in occupations with higher percentages of male workers is associated with higher levels of unpleasantness and lower levels of meaningfulness at work for women but these associations are not significant for men. We discuss the implications of our findings for gender inequality in work-related well-being and for the stalled progress towards gender integration in occupations.

Keywords: Affective well-being Gender Occupational gender segregation Time use Quality of life United States

Before recovering traumatic memories, 10% had attempted/thought about suicide; after, 67%; before, 7% had been hospitalized; after, 37%; before, 3% had engaged in self-mutilation, after, 27%; many remembered being abused in satanic rituals

Invasion of the Mind Snatchers: A Nation Full of Traumatic Memories. Elizabeth F. Loftus, Jennifer Teitcher. Clinical Psychological Science, https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702618797107

Abstract: The new national survey by Patihis and Pendergrast (this issue) suggests that millions of people may have recovered traumatic memories that they spent large parts of their lives not thinking about. We wondered whether they are better off and suggest that more than a few may be worse off rather than better. Given this risk of therapy, should therapists be warning patients of the potential risks before conducting therapy? The answer is not clear as warning about risks can be risky itself. Overall, we propose that with so many people living with “recovered” memories, future research now needs to address whether they are indeed better off and which methods would help achieve that goal.

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Before recovering traumatic memories, 10% had attempted/thought about suicide; after, 67%; before, 7% had been hospitalized; after, 37%; before, 3% had engaged in self-mutilation, after, 27%; many remembered being abused in satanic rituals, although corroboration was lacking; sizable numbers lost their jobs, lost children custody & were estranged from their extended families

Strugglers who gave advice, compared with those who received it, were more motivated to save money, control their tempers, lose weight, and seek employment; people erroneously predicted the opposite, expecting themselves & others to be less motivated

Dear Abby: Should I Give Advice or Receive It? Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, Ayelet Fishbach, Angela L. Duckworth. Psychological Science, https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797618795472

Abstract: Typically, individuals struggling with goal achievement seek advice. However, in the present investigation (N = 2,274), struggling individuals were more motivated by giving advice than receiving it. In a randomized, controlled, double-blind field experiment, middle-school students who gave motivational advice to younger students spent more time on homework over the following month than students who received motivational advice from expert teachers (Experiment 1). This phenomenon was replicated across self-regulatory domains: Strugglers who gave advice, compared with those who received expert advice, were more motivated to save money, control their tempers, lose weight, and seek employment (Experiments 2 and 3). Nevertheless, across domains, people erroneously predicted the opposite, expecting themselves and others to be less motivated by giving advice than receiving it (Experiments 2 and 3). Why are people blind to the motivational power of giving? Giving advice motivated givers by raising their confidence—a reality that predictors fail to anticipate (Experiment 4).

Keywords: giving, advice, motivation, goal achievement, misprediction, open data, open materials, preregistered

The language of liberal & conservative extremists was more negative & angry in its emotional tone than that of moderates; contrary to previous research, liberal extremists’ language was more negative than that of conservative ones

Frimer, Jeremy A., Mark J. Brandt, Zachary J. Melton, and Matt Motyl. 2018. “Extremists on the Left and Right Use Angry, Negative Language.” OSF Preprints. October 3. doi:10.31219/osf.io/ufd2s

Abstract: We propose that political extremists use more negative language than moderates. Previous research found that conservatives report feeling happier than liberals and yet liberals “display greater happiness” in their language than do conservatives. However, some of the previous studies relied on questionable measures of political orientation and affective language; and no studies have examined whether political orientation and affective language are non-linearly related. Revisiting the same contexts (Twitter, U.S. Congress), and adding three new ones (political organizations, news media, crowdsourced Americans), we found that the language of liberal and conservative extremists’ was more negative and angry in its emotional tone than that of moderates. Contrary to previous research, we found that liberal extremists’ language was more negative than that of conservative extremists. Additional analyses supported the explanation that extremists feel threatened by the activities of political rivals, and their angry, negative language represents efforts to communicate as much to others.

Extremists on the Left and Right Use Angry, Negative Language

Scholarly culture: How books in adolescence enhance adult literacy, numeracy and technology skills in 31 societies

Scholarly culture: How books in adolescence enhance adult literacy, numeracy and technology skills in 31 societies. Joanna Sikora, M. D. R. Evans, Jonathan Kelley. Social Science Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2018.10.003

Abstract: A growing body of evidence supports the contention of scholarly culture theory that immersing children in book-oriented environments benefits their later educational achievement, attainment and occupational standing. These findings have been interpreted as suggesting that book-oriented socialization, indicated by home library size, equips youth with life-long tastes, skills and knowledge. However, to date, this has not been directly assessed. Here, we document advantageous effects of scholarly culture for adult literacy, adult numeracy, and adult technological problem solving. Growing up with home libraries boosts adult skills in these areas beyond the benefits accrued from parental education or own educational or occupational attainment. The effects are loglinear, with greatest returns to the growth in smaller libraries. Our evidence comes from regressions with balanced repeated replicate weights estimated on data from 31 societies which participated in the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) between 2011 and 2015.

Women: Falling in love is associated with immune system gene regulation; the changes are independent of changes in physical illness or sexual contact, & are consistent with facilitation of sexual reproduction

Falling in Love is Associated with Immune System Gene Regulation. Damian R. Murray et al. Psychoneuroendocrinology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.09.043

Highlights
•    Falling in love is associated with up-regulation of Type I interferon response genes.
•    Falling in love is associated with a reciprocal down-regulation of α-defensin-related transcripts.
•    These changes are independent of changes in physical illness or sexual contact.
•    Changes are consistent with selective up-regulation of innate immune responses to viral infections.
•    Changes also consistent with dendritic cell facilitation of sexual reproduction.

Abstract: Although falling in love is one of the most important and psychologically potent events in human life, the somatic implications of new romantic love remain poorly understood. Psychological, immunological, and reproductive perspectives offer competing predictions of the specific transcriptional regulatory shifts that might accompany the experience of falling in love. To characterize the impact of romantic love on human genome function, we conducted genome-wide transcriptome profiling of 115 circulating immune cell samples collected from 47 young women over the course of a 2-year longitudinal study. Analyses revealed a selective alteration in immune cell gene regulation characterized by up-regulation of Type I interferon response genes associated with CD1C+/BDCA-1+ dendritic cells (DCs) and CLEC4C+/BDCA-2+ DCs, and a reciprocal down-regulation of α-defensin-related transcripts associated with neutrophil granulocytes. These effects emerged above and beyond the effects of changes in illness, perceived social isolation, and sexual contact. These findings are consistent with a selective up-regulation of innate immune responses to viral infections (e.g., Type I interferons and DC) and with DC facilitation of sexual reproduction, and provide insight into the immunoregulatory correlates of one of the keystone experiences in human life.