Arguably this is causal evidence that teacher expectations affect students' educational attainment

Teacher Expectations Matter. Nicholas W. Papageorge, Seth Gershenson, Kyung Min Kang. NBER Working Paper No. 25255, Nov 2018. https://www.nber.org/papers/w25255

Abstract: We develop and estimate a joint model of the education and teacher-expectation production functions that identifies both the distribution of biases in teacher expectations and the impact of those biases on student outcomes via self-fulfilling prophecies. Our approach leverages a unique feature of a nationally representative dataset: two teachers provided their educational expectations for each student. Identification of causal effects exploits teacher disagreements about the same student, an idea we formalize using lessons from the measurement error literature. We provide novel, arguably causal evidence that teacher expectations affect students' educational attainment: Estimates suggest an elasticity of college completion with respect to teachers' expectations of about 0.12. On average, teachers are overly optimistic about students' ability to complete a four-year college degree. However, the degree of over-optimism of white teachers is significantly larger for white students than for black students. This highlights a nuance that is frequently overlooked in discussions of biased beliefs: less biased (i.e., more accurate) beliefs can be counterproductive if there are positive returns to optimism or if there are socio-demographic gaps in the degree of teachers' optimism; we find evidence of both.

Greater frequency of group sex is associated with buying sex, sex with an injection drug user, being high during sex, condomless vaginal sex, victimization history, & sexually transmitted infection incidence

Frequency of Group Sex Participation and Risk for HIV/STI Among Young Adult Nightclub Scene Participants. Mance E. Buttram, Maria E. Pagano & Steven P. Kurtz. International Journal of Sexual Health, Volume 30, 2018 - Issue 1, Pages 12-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/19317611.2017.1385561

ABSTRACT: Objectives: This study examines frequency of group sex participation and associated characteristics and behaviors among a sample of heterosexual young adult participants in Miami's nightclub scene (n = 498).

Methods: Baseline survey assessments were analyzed using zero-inflated binomial regression.

Results: Forty-one percent of the sample reported group sex participation history. Greater frequency of group sex is associated with buying sex, sex with an injection drug user, being high during sex, condomless vaginal sex, victimization history, and sexually transmitted infection incidence (p < .02).

Conclusions: Sexually transmitted infection prevention and intervention efforts should address risks associated with group sex participation.

KEYWORDS: Group sex, heterosexual, STI, HIV, substance use

Orgasm Range and Variability in Humans: Among others, exercise, sleep, drug use, riding in vehicles & rollercoasters, breastfeeding, eating, reading, defecating, auditory stimulation, childbirth, getting tattoed or pierced

Orgasm Range and Variability in Humans: A Content Analysis. Debby Herbenick, Katie Barnhart, Karly Beavers & Dennis Fortenberry. International Journal of Sexual Health, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19317611.2018.1491920

Abstract: Orgasm frequently occurs from sexual and/or genital stimulation but has been documented outside these contexts and may be better conceptualized as a set of neuropsychological processes.

Objective: To document a range of orgasm experiences.

Methods: A content analysis of 687 anonymously posted online comments related to nonsexual orgasms.

Results: Orgasm types include those related to exercise, sleep, drug use, riding in vehicles, breastfeeding, eating, auditory stimulation, and childbirth, among others.

Conclusions: Orgasm is experienced in association with varied forms of sensory stimulation. This study provides information about the diversity of human orgasm, informing sex education, therapy, and practice.

Keywords: Non-genital orgasm, spontaneous orgasm, orgasm, exercise-induced orgasm

Participants were provided with a list of racist behaviors that purportedly were enacted from a fellow student but in fact were based on the participants’ own behaviors; consistently evaluated themselves as less racist

Examining the asymmetry in judgments of racism in self and others. Angela C. Bell, Melissa Burkley & Jarrod Bock. The Journal of Social Psychology, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224545.2018.1538930

ABSTRACT: Across three experiments, participants were provided with a list of racist behaviors that purportedly were enacted from a fellow student but in fact were based on the participants’ own behaviors. People consistently evaluated themselves as less racist than this comparison other, even though this other’s racist behaviors were identical to their own. Studies 2a and 2b demonstrate this effect is quite robust and even occurs under social pressure and social consensus conditions in which participants were free to express their racial biases. Thus, it appears that people are less likely to base their racist trait ratings on behavioral evidence when evaluating themselves compared to when they are evaluating another. Taken together, this work provides evidence for the consistency and robustness of self-enhanced social comparisons as applied to the trait domain of racism. Further, this work sheds insight into why people deny they are racist when they act racist.

KEYWORDS: Better than average effect, racism, self-enhancement, self-perception, self-other differences

The effects of parental divorce on individuals’ commitment to same-sex relationships

The effects of parental divorce on individuals’ commitment to same-sex relationships. Lisa M. Godfrey, Amanda D. Kuryluk & Sarah W. Whitton. Marriage & Family Review, Volume 54, 2018 - Issue 8, Pages 806-818. https://doi.org/10.1080/01494929.2018.1503988

Abstract: Research on the intergenerational transmission of divorce has demonstrated that individuals who come from divorced families have reduced commitment to the institution of marriage, which may translate to reduced commitment to one’s current relationship. We tested the association between two components of relationship commitment (dedication and constraint) and parental divorce in a sample of 251 adults in same-sex relationships. Results demonstrated that parental divorce was significantly associated with lower dedication commitment among women, but not men. Parental divorce was not associated with constraint commitment for either gender. These findings suggest that, consistent with research on individuals in different-sex relationships, women in same-sex relationships who come from divorced families may feel less dedicated to their own relationships, putting them at greater risk for relationship instability and divorce.

Keywords: parental divorce, relationship commitment, same-sex couples

When given an opportunity to release the robots from restrainers, as they do for conspecifics, we found that rats did release the robots, & moreover, were significantly more likely to release helpful than unhelpful robots

Quinn, L. K., Schuster, L. P., Aguilar-Rivera, M., Arnold, J., Ball, D., Gygi, E., Heath, S., Holt, J., Lee, D. J., Taufatofua, J., Wiles, J., & Chiba, A. A. (2018). When rats rescue robots. Animal Behavior and Cognition, 5(4), 368–379. https://doi.org/10.26451/abc.05.04.04.2018

Abstract: Robots are increasingly being used to monitor and even participate in social interactions with animals in their own environments. Robotic animals enable social behaviors to be observed in natural environments, or specifically elicited under the control of an experimenter. It is an open question to what extent animals will form positive social connections with such robots. To test this, we familiarized rats to two rat-sized robots, one exhibiting “social” behaviors, including helping, while the other was also mobile but not helpful. When given an opportunity to release the robots from restrainers, as they do for conspecifics, we found that rats did release the robots, and moreover, were significantly more likely to release the helpful than the unhelpful robot. These findings indicate that robots can elicit helpful behavior from rats, and that rats will even discriminate between robots on the basis of their behaviors.

Keywords: Rat, Robot, Reciprocity, Pro-social

Gender differences were smaller than previously theorized, with 10.3% of men and 7.0% of women endorsing clinically relevant levels of distress or impairment associated with difficulty controlling sexual feelings, urges, & behavior

Prevalence of Distress Associated With Difficulty Controlling Sexual Urges, Feelings, and Behaviors in the United States. Janna A. Dickenson et al. JAMA Netw Open. 2018;1(7):e184468. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.4468

Key Points

Question  What is the prevalence among US men and women of the primary feature of compulsive sexual behavior disorder, distress and impairment associated with having difficulty controlling one’s sexual feelings, urges, and behaviors?

Findings  In this survey study, we found that 8.6% of the nationally representative sample (7.0% of women and 10.3% of men) endorsed clinically relevant levels of distress and/or impairment associated with difficulty controlling sexual feelings, urges, and behaviors.

Meaning  The high prevalence of such symptoms has major public health relevance as a sociocultural problem and indicates a significant clinical problem that should be recognized by health care professionals.

Abstract

Importance  The veracity, nomenclature, and conceptualizations of sex addiction, out-of-control sexual behavior, hypersexual behavior, and impulsive or compulsive sexual behavior are widely debated. Despite such variation in conceptualization, all models concur on the prominent feature: failing to control one’s sexual feelings and behaviors in a way that causes substantial distress and/or impairment in functioning. However, the prevalence of the issue in the United States is unknown.

Objective  To assess the prevalence of distress and impairment associated with difficulty controlling sexual feelings, urges, and behaviors among a nationally representative sample in the United States.

Design, Setting, and Participants  This survey study used National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior data to assess the prevalence of distress and impairment associated with difficulty controlling sexual feelings, urges, and behaviors and determined how prevalence varied across sociodemographic variables. Participants between the ages of 18 and 50 years were randomly sampled from all 50 US states in November 2016.

Main Outcomes and Measures  Distress and impairment associated with difficulty controlling sexual feelings, urges, and behavior were measured using the Compulsive Sexual Behavior Inventory–13. A score of 35 or higher on a scale of 0 to 65 indicated clinically relevant levels of distress and/or impairment.

Results  Of 2325 adults (1174 [50.5%] female; mean [SD] age, 34.0 [9.3] years), 201 [8.6%] met the clinical screen cut point of a score of 35 or higher on the Compulsive Sexual Behavior Inventory. Gender differences were smaller than previously theorized, with 10.3% of men and 7.0% of women endorsing clinically relevant levels of distress and/or impairment associated with difficulty controlling sexual feelings, urges, and behavior.

Conclusions and Relevance  The high prevalence of this prominent feature associated with compulsive sexual behavior disorder has important implications for health care professionals and society. Health care professionals should be alert to the high number of people who are distressed about their sexual behavior, carefully assess the nature of the problem within its sociocultural context, and find appropriate treatments for both men and women.

Strategies people spontaneously use in their everyday lives to regulate their persistence during aversive activities; trait self-control & strategy use appear to represent separate routes to good self-regulation

Hennecke, Marie, Thomas Czikmantori, and Veronika Brandstätter. 2018. “Doing Despite Disliking: Self-regulatory Strategies in Everyday Aversive Activities.” PsyArXiv. November 7. doi:10.31234/osf.io/ps7fk > https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/per.2182

Abstract: We investigated the self-regulatory strategies people spontaneously use in their everyday lives to regulate their persistence during aversive activities. In pilot studies (pooled N = 794), we identified self-regulatory strategies from self-reports and generated hypotheses about individual differences in trait self-control predicting their use. Next, deploying ambulatory assessment (N = 264, 1940 reports of aversive/challenging activities), we investigated predictors of the strategies’ self-reported use and effectiveness (trait self-control, demand types). The popularity of strategies varied across demands. In addition, people higher in trait self-control were more likely to focus on the positive consequences of a given activity, set goals, and use emotion regulation. Focusing on positive consequences, focusing on negative consequences (of not performing the activity), thinking of the near finish, and emotion regulation increased perceived self-regulatory success across demands, whereas distracting oneself from the aversive activity decreased it. None of these strategies, however, accounted for the beneficial effects of trait self-control on perceived self-regulatory success. Hence, trait self-control and strategy use appear to represent separate routes to good self-regulation. By considering trait- and process-approaches, these findings promote a more comprehensive understanding of self-regulatory success and failure during people’s daily attempts to regulate their persistence.


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Study Identifies The Most Effective Mental Strategies That People Use To Get Through Aversive Challenges. BPS Research Digest, Jan 14 2019. https://digest.bps.org.uk/2019/01/14/study-identifies-the-most-effective-mental-strategies-that-people-use-to-get-through-aversive-challenges/

Thoughts about the present were common during social interaction, felt pleasant, but lacked to meaningfulness; about the past were relatively unpleasant and involuntary

Baumeister, Roy. 2018. “Everyday Thoughts in Time: Experience Sampling Studies of Mental Time Travel.” PsyArXiv. October 2. doi:10.31234/osf.io/3cwre

Abstract: Time is an important yet mysterious aspects of human conscious experience. We investigated time in everyday thoughts. Two community samples, contacted at random points for three (Study 1; 6,686 reports) and 14 days (Study 2; 2,361 reports), reported on their most recent thought. Both studies found that thoughts about the present and future were frequent, whereas thoughts about the past were rare. Thoughts about the present were common during social interaction, felt pleasant, but lacked to meaningfulness. Thoughts about the future included desires to satisfy goals and usually involved planning. Thoughts about the past were relatively unpleasant and involuntary. Subjective experiences of past and future thoughts often were similar and differed from present focus, consistent with views that memory and prospection use similar mental structures. Taken together, the present work provides unique insights into the conscious experience of time highlights the pragmatic utility of future thought.

Though women are generally more liberal than men, on marijuana legalization are more conservative; best explanations are women's greater religiosity and men's greater drug use

Gender and the Politics of Marijuana. Laurel Elder, Steven Greene. Social Science Quarterly, https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12558

Abstract

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to understand why, even though women are more liberal than men on a broad range of issues, when it comes to the increasingly prominent issue of marijuana legalization, the direction of the gender gap is reversed, with women more conservative than men.

Methods: Relying on a 2013 Pew survey—unique for the extensiveness of its marijuana questions, including marijuana usage—we explore and attempt to explain the nature of this unusual gender gap. We test several hypotheses rooted in the different life experiences of women and men.

Results: We find that women's role as mothers cannot explain this gap, and that mothers are in fact no different from those without children in terms of their support for marijuana policy, as well as their reported use of marijuana. The greater religiosity of women does play a prominent role in the gender gap on marijuana policy, but does not account for the full difference of opinion between women and men. Our findings suggest that men's greater propensity relative to women to use marijuana is a major driver behind the gender gap.

Conclusions: Not only are attitudes on marijuana legalization likely to continue to liberalize, but as marijuana legalization and marijuana use become normalized, rather than viewed as immoral and dangerous behavior, the existing gender gap should shrink.

Rats prefer social interaction to drug addiction

Volitional social interaction prevents drug addiction in rat models. Marco Venniro, Michelle Zhang, Daniele Caprioli, Jennifer K. Hoots, Sam A. Golden, Conor Heins, Marisela Morales, David H. Epstein & Yavin Shaham. Nature Neuroscience, volume 21, pages1520–1529 (2018). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-018-0246-6

Abstract: Addiction treatment has not been appreciably improved by neuroscientific research. One problem is that mechanistic studies using rodent models do not incorporate volitional social factors, which play a critical role in human addiction. Here, using rats, we introduce an operant model of choice between drugs and social interaction. Independent of sex, drug class, drug dose, training conditions, abstinence duration, social housing, or addiction score in Diagnostic & Statistical Manual IV-based and intermittent access models, operant social reward prevented drug self-administration. This protection was lessened by delay or punishment of the social reward but neither measure was correlated with the addiction score. Social-choice-induced abstinence also prevented incubation of methamphetamine craving. This protective effect was associated with activation of central amygdala PKCδ-expressing inhibitory neurons and inhibition of anterior insular cortex activity. These findings highlight the need for incorporating social factors into neuroscience-based addiction research and support the wider implantation of socially based addiction treatments.

Pet dogs, like all other tested animals, appear to be unable to learn a seemingly simple lesson: That less can mean more

Any reward will do: Effects of a reverse-reward contingency on size preference with pet dogs (Canis lupus familiaris). Jonathan K. Fernand, Haleh Amanieh, David J. Cox, Nicole R. Dorey. Learning & Behavior, https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13420-018-0343-0

Abstract: The reverse-reward contingency (RRC) task involves presenting subjects with a choice between one plate containing a large amount of food and a second plate containing a small amount of food. Subjects are then required to select the smaller of the two options in order to receive the larger-magnitude reward. The RRC task is a commonly used paradigm for assessing complex cognition, such as inhibitory control, in subjects. To date, the RRC task has not been tested with pet dogs as subjects, and it may provide insights to their ability to perceive quantities of differing magnitudes. Nine dogs were tested in an RRC task involving three conditions. In Condition 1, plates of food were presented, and the dogs were allowed to consume their choice. In Condition 2, plates with different-sized symbols resembling the quantities of food in Condition 1 were presented, and dogs received food quantities of the same size as their choice (e.g., a larger-magnitude reward for selecting the plate with the larger shape). In Condition 3, the same plates were presented, but dogs received a reverse-sized quantity of food, relative to their choice (e.g., a smaller-magnitude reward for selecting the plate with the larger shape). A novel addition here to the traditional RRC task was the inclusion of a third, empty (control) plate that was present throughout all conditions, and no programmed consequences were provided when that plate was selected. Our results were consistent with the previous RRC literature: All dogs developed and maintained a preference for the larger stimulus option across conditions. The use of symbolic representations did not ameliorate performance on the RRC task. Applied implications are discussed.

Keywords: Contingency reversal Reverse-reward contingency Visual discrimination

This evidence supports the view that financial cycles are a recurrent and inherent feature of the financial system, strengthening the case for macroprudential and monetary policies that lean against the wind

Measuring financial cycle time. Andrew Filardo, Marco Jacopo Lombardi and Marek Raczko. BIS Working Papers, No 755, Nov 14 2018. https://www.bis.org/publ/work755.htm

Summary

Focus: Even though the Great Financial Crisis sparked interest in financial cycles, researchers and policymakers have yet to forge a workhorse model. One reason is the disagreement about key factors leading to the crisis. While some argue it resulted from a unique set of developments that exposed weaknesses in the financial regulatory system, others point to broad similarities across past boom-bust experiences. They infer from these similarities that cycles are an inherent feature of financially liberalised economies. We look at broad historical swings in financial cycles to weigh up these views.

Contribution: This paper adds a new perspective to the literature on empirical financial cycles. It highlights the recurring and inherent nature of swings in financial conditions, which result in costly booms and busts. However, this characterisation does not appear so obvious when looking at conventionally plotted historical data (that is, observed in calendar time). We shed light on the facts by distinguishing between financial cycles in calendar time and in what we call "financial cycle time".

Findings: Extending the methods pioneered by James Stock (1987) in his study of business cycles, we find that historical swings in the financial cycle exhibit statistical time deformation, which is time-varying. Changes in this gap between calendar time and financial cycle time are strongly associated with time-varying macrofinancial risk perceptions. Key risk indicators include the long-term real interest rate, inflation volatility and corporate credit spreads. The implications for statistical modelling, endogenous risk-taking economic behaviour and policy are highlighted. This evidence supports the view that financial cycles are a recurrent and inherent feature of the financial system, strengthening the case for macroprudential and monetary policies that lean against the wind.

Abstract: Motivated by the traditional business cycle approach of Burns and Mitchell (1946), we explore cyclical similarities in financial conditions over time in order to improve our understanding of financial cycles. Looking back at 120 years of data, we find that financial cycles exhibit behaviour characterised by recurrent, endogenous swings in financial conditions, which result in costly booms and busts. Yet the recurrent nature of such swings may not appear so obvious when looking at conventionally plotted time-series data (that is, observed in calendar time). Using the pioneering framework developed by Stock (1987), we offer a new statistical characterisation of the financial cycle using a continuous-time autoregressive model subject to time deformation, and test for systematic differences between calendar and a new notion of financial cycle time. We find the time deformation to be statistically significant, and associated with levels of long-term real interest rates, inflation volatility and the perceived riskiness of the macro-financial environment. Implications for statistical modelling, endogenous risk-taking economic behaviour and policy are highlighted.

JEL classification: E32, G01, F32, F34, E58, E71, D80
Keywords: financial cycles, continuous-time autoregressive models, time deformation, behavioural economics, endogenous risk-taking behaviour, central banking

More attractive faces—especially of the other sex—were looked at longer; the more sociosexually unrestricted participants who were single had the highest attractiveness-attention correlation

How relationship status and sociosexual orientation influence the link between facial attractiveness and visual attention. Aleksandra Mitrovic, Juergen Goller, Pablo P. L. Tinio, Helmut Leder. PLOS One, Nov 14, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0207477

Abstract: Facial attractiveness captures and binds visual attention, thus affecting visual exploration of our environment. It is often argued that this effect on attention has evolutionary functions related to mating. Although plausible, such perspectives have been challenged by recent behavioral and eye-tracking studies, which have shown that the effect on attention is moderated by various sex- and goal-related variables such as sexual orientation. In the present study, we examined how relationship status and sociosexual orientation moderate the link between attractiveness and visual attention. We hypothesized that attractiveness leads to longer looks and that being single as well as being more sociosexually unrestricted, enhances the effect of attractiveness. Using an eye-tracking free-viewing paradigm, we tested 150 heterosexual men and women looking at images of urban real-world scenes depicting two people differing in facial attractiveness. Participants additionally provided attractiveness ratings of all stimuli. We analyzed the correlations between how long faces were looked at and participants’ ratings of attractiveness and found that more attractive faces—especially of the other sex—were looked at longer. We also found that more sociosexually unrestricted participants who were single had the highest attractiveness-attention correlation. Our results show that evolutionary predictions cannot fully explain the attractiveness-attention correlation; perceiver characteristics and motives moderate this relationship.

People who were either not religious at all or very religious were the ones who most supported the killing of animals; belief in God in itself was related to less support for killing animals

Religiosity and Support for Killing Animals: Evidence of a Curvilinear Relationship. Uri Lifshin, Jeff Greenberg & Daniel Sullivan. Anthrozoös, Pages 695-709. https://doi.org/10.1080/08927936.2018.1529352

ABSTRACT: Prior research shows that the correlation between religiosity and support for animal rights can be positive, negative, or zero. We hypothesized that this relationship may actually be curvilinear, where a moderate degree of religiosity may reduce support for killing animals (compared with non-religiosity or atheism), but a very high degree of religiosity (e.g., fundamentalism) might increase support for killing animals. We tested this hypothesis in a large sample of American undergraduate students, using a correlational study design with self-report measures of religiosity and of support for killing animals in different domains. The results indicated that, in support of our hypothesis, the relationship between religiosity and support for killing animals is curvilinear, as moderate levels of religiosity were related to less support for killing animals. People who were either not religious at all or very religious were the ones who most supported the killing of animals. Belief in God in itself was related to less support for killing animals. We then replicated the curvilinear relationship between religiosity and support for killing animals using data from four experiments from a previously published article on support for killing animals. We briefly consider possible explanations for these findings, the limitations of the study, and propose directions for future research. Overall, we believe that this study helps clarify the complex relationship between religiosity and support for killing animals, and advances the scientific understanding of the psychological forces that motivate people to support or object to the killing of animals.

Keywords: attitudes, belief in God, human–animal interaction, killing, religiosity

The 2000s should be seen as an exceptional period in the global economy during which multinational firms benefitted from reduced labour costs through offshoring, while capitalising on existing firm-specific intangibles (brand names) at little marginal cost

Factor Incomes in Global Value Chains: The Role of Intangibles. Wen Chen, Bart Los, Marcel P. Timmer. NBER Working Paper No. 25242, https://www.nber.org/papers/w25242

Abstract: Recent studies document a decline in the share of labour and a simultaneous increase in the share of residual (‘factorless’) income in national GDP. We argue the need for study of factor incomes in cross-border production to complement country studies. We define a GVC production function that tracks the value added in each stage of production in any country-industry. We define a new residual as the difference between the value of the final good and the payments to all tangibles (capital and labour) in any stage. We focus on GVCs of manufactured goods and find the residual to be large. We interpret it as income for intangibles that are (mostly) not covered in current national accounts statistics. We document decreasing labour and increasing capital income shares over the period 2000-14. This is mainly due to increasing income for intangible assets, in particular in GVCs of durable goods. We provide evidence that suggests that the 2000s should be seen as an exceptional period in the global economy during which multinational firms benefitted from reduced labour costs through offshoring, while capitalising on existing firm-specific intangibles, such as brand names, at little marginal cost.

Altruistic indulgence: people voluntarily consume high-calorie foods to make other people feel comfortable and pleasant instead of guilty

Altruistic indulgence: people voluntarily consume high-calorie foods to make other people feel comfortable and pleasant. Youjae Yi, Jacob C. Lee & Saetbyeol Kim. Social Influence, https://doi.org/10.1080/15534510.2018.1546616

ABSTRACT: We explored a novel phenomenon where people in certain social contexts voluntarily consume high-calorie foods with the altruistic motive of making other people feel comfortable and pleasant. We hypothesized that people are likely to choose a high-calorie food, especially around others with whom they have communal relationships (e.g., friends), because of the desire to induce in others feelings of pleasantness rather than guilt. A field study at a café shows that this phenomenon emerges in the real world, and a scenario-based experiment supports our altruistic account with mediation analyses. The alternative explanation of a social acceptance account is ruled out.

KEYWORDS: Indulgence, altruism, decision making for others, social eating, social influence

Aging and Decision-Making: A Conceptual Framework for Future Research

Aging and Decision-Making: A Conceptual Framework for Future Research - A Mini-Review. C E Löckenhoff. Gerontology 2018;64:140-148. https://doi.org/10.1159/000485247

Abstract: Age differences in decision-making are of theoretical interest and have important practical implications, but relevant lines of work are distributed across multiple disciplines and often lack integration. The present review proposes an overarching conceptual framework with the aim of connecting disjointed aspects of this field of research. The framework builds on process models of decision-making and specifies potential mechanisms behind age effects as well as relevant moderators including task characteristics and contextual factors. After summarizing the extant literature for each aspect of the framework, compensatory mechanisms and ecological fit between different components of the model are considered. Implications for real-life decision-making, remaining research gaps, and directions for future research are discussed.

Psychoanalytic as well as cognitive-behavioural long-term treatments lead to significant and sustained improvements of depressive symptoms of chronically depressed patients exceeding effect sizes of other international outcome studies

Outcome of Psychoanalytic and Cognitive-Behavioural Long-Term Therapy with Chronically Depressed Patients: A Controlled Trial with Preferential and Randomized Allocation. Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber et al. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, https://doi.org/10.1177/0706743718780340

Abstract

Objective: For chronic depression, the effectiveness of brief psychotherapy has been limited. This study is the first comparing the effectiveness of long-term cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) and long-term psychoanalytic therapy (PAT) of chronically depressed patients and the effects of preferential or randomized allocation.

Methods: A total of 252 adults met the inclusion criteria (aged 21-60 years, major depression, dysthymia, double depression for at least 24 months, Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptoms [QIDS] >9, Beck Depression Inventory II [BDI] >17, informed consent, not meeting exclusion criteria). Main outcome measures were depression self-rating (BDI) and rating (clinician-rated QIDS [QIDS-C]) by independent, treatment-blinded clinicians. Full remission rates (BDI ≤12, QIDS-C ≤5) were calculated. An independent center for data management and biostatistics analyzed the treatment effects and differences using linear mixed models (multilevel models and hierarchical models).

Results: The average BDI declined from 32.1 points by 12.1 points over the first year and 17.2 points over 3 years. BDI overall mean effect sizes increased from d = 1.17 after 1 year to d = 1.83 after 3 years. BDI remission rates increased from 34% after 1 year to 45% after 3 years. QIDS-C overall effect sizes increased from d = 1.56 to d = 2.08, and remission rates rose from 39% after 1 year to 61% after 3 years. We found no significant differences between PAT and CBT or between preferential and randomized allocation.

Conclusions: Psychoanalytic as well as cognitive-behavioural long-term treatments lead to significant and sustained improvements of depressive symptoms of chronically depressed patients exceeding effect sizes of other international outcome studies.

Keywords: chronic, treatment-resistant depression, psychoanalytic psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioural therapy, long-term psychotherapy, remission, outcome

Propaganda & Nation Building: Those exposed to government propaganda have lower salience of ethnicity, increased inter-ethnic trust & show more willingness to interact face-to-face with members of another ethnic group

Arthur Thomas Blouin and Sharun W. Mukand, "Erasing Ethnicity? Propaganda, Nation Building and Identity in Rwanda," Journal of Political Economy, https://doi.org/10.1086/701441

Abstract: This paper examines whether propaganda broadcast over radio helped to change inter-ethnic attitudes in post-genocide Rwanda. We exploit variation in exposure to the government’s radio propaganda due to the mountainous topography of Rwanda. Results of lab-in-the-field experiments show that individuals exposed to government propaganda have lower salience of ethnicity, increased inter-ethnic trust and show more willingness to interact face-to-face with members of another ethnic group. Our results suggest that the observed improvement in inter-ethnic behavior is not cosmetic, and reflects a deeper change in inter-ethnic attitudes. The findings provide some of the first quantitative evidence that the salience of ethnic identity can be manipulated by governments.

Popular derogatory terms are associated with trait Antagonism, as well as other behaviors that comprise Antagonism’s nomological network (bullying, psychopathy, etc.)

The anatomy of an insult: Popular derogatory terms connote important individual differences in Agreeableness/Antagonism. Courtland S. Hyatt, Jessica L. Maples-Keller, Chelsea E. Sleep, Donald R. Lynam, Joshua D. Miller. Journal of Research in Personality, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2018.11.005

Highlights
•    Insults are commonly used, but less is known about what they connote.
•    Asshole, dick, and bitch are the most commonly used insults.
•    Self-endorsement of insults is associated with trait Antagonism.
•    Insult endorsement is also related to antisocial behavior (e.g,. aggression).
•    Colloquial phrases appear to convey important personality-related information.

Abstract: In the current series of studies, we investigate the psychosocial connotations of common insults. In Studies 1 and 2, we investigated the most frequently used insults to denigrate men and women (asshole, dick, bitch), and generated trait profiles that can be considered prototypical of each insult. In Studies 3 and 4, we examined how these insults are relevant to other key indicators of interpersonal functioning, including aggression, social information processing, personality disorders, and substance use. We also gathered thin-slice and informant reports. Each of the insults was associated with trait Antagonism, as well as other behaviors that comprise Antagonism’s nomological network (e.g., bullying, psychopathy, etc.). Results are discussed in terms of the importance of everyday language to psychological research.

White dreams (feeling of having had a dream experience without being able to specify this experience any further): What studying contentless dreams can teach about the neural basis of dreaming & conscious experiences

White dreams are made of colours: What studying contentless dreams can teach about the neural basis of dreaming and conscious experiences. Peter Fazekas, Georgina Nemeth, MortenOvergaard. Sleep Medicine Reviews, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2018.10.005

Summary: Reports of white dreams, the feeling of having had a dream experience without being able to specify this experience any further, make up almost one third of all dream reports, yet this phenomenon—until very recently—had not yet been in the focus of targeted investigations. White dreams are typically interpreted as forgotten dreams, and are sidelined as not being particularly informative with regard to the nature of dreaming. In this review article, we propose a paradigm shift with respect to the status of white dreams arguing that focusing on this phenomenon can reveal fundamental insights about the neural processes that occur in the dreaming brain. As part of this paradigm shift, we propose a novel interpretation of what white dreams are. This new interpretation is made possible by recent advancements in three different though interrelated fields focusing on dreaming, mental imagery, and wakeful perception. In this paper, we bring these different threads together to show how the latest findings from these fields fit together and point towards a general framework regarding the neural underpinnings of conscious experiences that might turn out to be highly relevant not just for dream research but for all aspects of studying consciousness.

Use investigative powers to dramatize how policy rollbacks on clean air and water are hurting children’s health, leading to thousands more deaths and increased chronic pulmonary and heart disease

House Democrats Must Be Strategic To Win on Energy and Climate Change

By Paul Bledsoe, PPI Strategic Advisor

By all accounts, House Democrats return to Washington this week to begin planning their priorities for 2019 in an aggressive frame of mind. But on climate change and energy issues, rather than simply responding to Trump’s latest provocation (like those regarding California wildfires), they must step back and take a strategic approach.

This means Democrats must have the discipline to subordinate all other considerations to the key goal of creating the political and policy conditions needed to enact landmark energy and climate legislation after 2020, when they may well win back the White House and Senate. Indeed, how they handle energy and climate in the next two years will play a critical role in determining whether they gain the power to act.

Despite bright spots in Nevada and several Governors races, the mid-term elections held some cautionary lessons. The defeat in Washington State of a carbon tax referendum and several other climate-related measures in Arizona and Colorado, along with apparent state-wide losses in “ground-zero” climate impacts states of Florida and Texas, should be sobering.
The politics of climate change are complex, even for voters already suffering from its impacts. Swing voters will not respond to far-left ideological crusades or simple-minded attempts to rigidly impose “best” climate policies from above. Such approaches have largely failed as political matter for nearly 30 years now.
The good news is that winning House control allows Democrats to develop economically-framed climate change messages and policies that are powerfully in America’s self-interest and also popular with voters. Democrats must starkly contrast their cost-effective climate policies with the nihilistic and defeatist policy rollbacks of Trump Republicans, rollbacks that are putting our people, economy and security at risk.
But making climate action a popular mainstream political issue will require a strategy that integrates climate policies more coherently into broader economic, public safety and security messages and goals that the American people already share, setting the stage for policy action in 2021.
With these goals in mind, House Democrats should establish a set of basic principles to guide their approaches on climate and energy over the next two years, including:
Frame climate change as a kitchen table issue of rising economic costs, public safety and national security. Climate impacts are here and now, already costing thousands of American lives and hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars. Stop “debating” proven climate science, and focus less on technical issues. Discuss climate change in immediate, human, local, economic, safety and security terms. More dollars and sense, fewer charts and graphs.  Here and now, not about 2050.
Hold Trump accountable for policy rollbacks and the climate change impacts that are costing taxpayers billions, harming public health and worsening climate change. Focus oversight attention on the huge economic and human costs of climate impacts, including larger storms, bigger wildfires, sea-level rise, infectious disease and other impacts. Use investigative powers to dramatize how policy rollbacks on clean air and water are hurting children’s health, leading to thousands more deaths and increased chronic pulmonary and heart disease, and how freezing fuel economy is hitting drivers at the pump. Shine a spotlight on Trump’s arbitrary and capricious rollbacks of sensible regulations on super climate pollutants like methane and HFCs.
Integrate climate policy into infrastructure, tax reform, national security, and disaster-response bills, instead of standalone “climate” proposals. When climate action is included as part of overall pro-growth economic and security policies that benefit middle class and working-class Americans, it will be more popular. For example, do not pursue standalone carbon taxes legislation; such taxes should only be included as part of overall pro-growth tax reform proposals (and be voted on no earlier than 2021). Repeal the Republican tax giveaway and replacing it will tax policies that benefit the middle and working class. In other words, undertake climate action as part of pro-growth economic, job creation, infrastructure and security policy, not just environmental policy.
Don’t force Democrats to take purely symbolic but politically problematic votes. Keep your power dry. Save difficult votes for 2021 or whenever Democrats next have the actual power to make key climate legislation become law.
Invoke a can-do Democratic spirit: America can meet the energy and climate challenge and lead the world, if Democrats are in charge. Trump and Republicans are climate defeatists, who deny the very existence of climate change because they have no solutions to deal with it. Simply put, Trump and Republicans are climate wimps—the problem is just too tough for them. But not for Democrats. The party of John Kennedy’s Space Race and the Apollo Project must embrace the opportunity to create American Energy Abundance and Climate Protection together. We have the technology; now Democrats must inspire the country to provide the political will.
Most of all, create a DEMOCRATIC brand of economically-focused energy and climate action—separate and apart from national environmental groups. For too long, Democrats have ceded their climate messaging to green groups and alienated huge parts of the electorate. Embrace the full U.S. energy economy miracle that occurred under Obama, including renewable energy, efficiency, new advanced technologies and well-regulated natural gas and oil production. Use the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Climate Change to gain attention to the role of Democratic policies in creating the US remarkable clean energy economy boom, cutting US oil imports, creating millions of good new jobs, while transitioning to a much lower carbon economy.
The focus must be on creating policy measures and the political conditions that together will allow climate change to play a far larger, more advantageous role in the 2020 campaign against Trump, and that will lead to enactment of effective climate policy when Democrats win back all levers of federal power.
Just as war is too important for generals alone, climate change is far too sweeping and important an issue to be dealt with by far-left environmentalists. It is not, ultimately, even an “environmental issue” as we classically think of them. Instead, it is about protecting our safety, security, and economy, and providing ourselves and our children the more hopeful future that all Americans desire. Democrats have a chance to deliver on this promise in the near future, if they will be politically strategic, now.

Consistent Lying Decreases Belief in the Truth: Consistent false assents increased belief in those false events & consistent false denials decreased belief in those true events

Liar Liar: Consistent Lying Decreases Belief in the Truth. Danielle Polage. Applied Cognitive Psychology, accepted article, https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3489

Summary: This study investigated the effects of lying on belief ratings for autobiographical childhood events. Participants lied by trying to convince the experimenter that likely events had not happened and that unlikely events had happened. Participants consistently lied, consistently told the truth, and alternated lying and truth telling across two sessions. Results showed that consistent false assents increased belief in those false events and that consistent false denials decreased belief in those true events. False denials had a larger influence on belief than did false assents. False assents that were told first were more likely to increase in belief than were false assents told in the second session. False denials decreased belief in the true event regardless of when they were told. These results suggest that lying influences confidence ratings both by increasing belief in a lied about event and by decreasing belief in a true event.