scholarly journals On the psychology of the psychology subject pool: an exploratory test of the good student effect

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hashem Sadeghiyeh ◽  
Siyu Wang ◽  
Hannah M. Kyllo ◽  
Maxwell R. Alberhasky ◽  
Shlishaa Savita ◽  
...  

Many psychology research are performed through `psychology subject pools' which give participants considerable flexibility in when they participate. This `participant degree-of-freedom' has lead to concern that the characteristics of subject pool participants may change with time, with the most engaged students signing up at the start of the semester and the least engaged students leaving it all to the end. In this paper we performed an exploratory analysis to look for evidence of this `good student effect'. Consistent with previous work, we find support for the good student effect with earlier participants scoring higher on the Big-5 subscales of Achievement-Striving and Cooperation, as well as Grit and Empathic-Concern. In addition, we found a non-linear effect of time-of-semester on Sensation-Seeking, with this measure peaking in the middle of the semester as well as the end. However, the vast majority of the measures we tested, including measures of personality, cognition, decision-making and social interaction, did not correlate with time-of-semester or time-of-day at all. Thus we conclude that, while some studies directly related to measures of Grit and Sensation-Seeking would do well to recruit throughout the semester, in most cases any bias introduced by the good student effect is likely to be small.

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-40
Author(s):  
Hashem Sadeghiyeh ◽  
Siyu Wang ◽  
Hannah M. Kyllo ◽  
Maxwell R. Alberhasky ◽  
Shlishaa Savita ◽  
...  

Abstract. Many psychology researches are performed through “psychology subject pools” which give participants considerable flexibility when they participate. This “participant degree-of-freedom” has led to concern that the characteristics of subject pool participants may change with time, with the most engaged students signing up at the start of the semester and the least engaged students leaving it all to the end. In this paper, we performed an exploratory analysis to look for evidence of this “good student effect.” Consistent with previous work, we find support for the good student effect with earlier participants scoring higher on the Big-Five subscales of Achievement-Striving and Cooperation, as well as Grit and Empathic-Concern. In addition, we found a non-linear effect of time-of-semester on Sensation-Seeking, with this measure peaking in the middle of the semester as well as the end. However, the vast majority of the measures we tested, including measures of personality, cognition, decision-making, and social interaction, did not correlate with time-of-semester or time-of-day at all. Thus, we conclude that, while some studies directly related to measures of Grit and Sensation-Seeking would do well to recruit throughout the semester, in most cases any bias introduced by the good student effect is likely to be small.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon Wright ◽  
Caroline Palmer

We addressed how circadian rhythms influence daily musical activities of performing musicians, who exhibit fine temporal control. Music performances often occur in the evening and late at night; evidence suggests that composing musicians tend to be later chronotypes than non-composing musicians. However, chronotype and daily music-making in performing musicians have yet to be investigated. The current study examined chronotype in actively practicing and/or performing musicians and non-musicians, and whether it was related to the daily timing of music performance. To test influences of daily changes due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, disruptions to musical, athletic, social, and sleep habits were also measured. Performing musicians, active (practicing but non-performing) musicians, inactive musicians, and non-musicians, residing in Canada, completed a 7-day online daily activity and sleep diary in Summer 2020. There were more evening chronotypes than morning chronotypes in the sample. Active/performing musicians tended to be earlier chronotypes than all other groups. Musicians' chronotype, but not nightly sleep timing, predicted the time of day that musicians made music: Late chronotypes made music later in the day and early chronotypes made music earlier in the day. Music performance and practice amount decreased during the COVID-19 period, but the daily timing of these activities did not change. All participants reported later sleep onset during the COVID-19 period; the amount of social interaction decreased during the COVID-19 period, while exercise increased for some and decreased for others. No changes in the daily timing of exercise, social interaction, or morning wake-up were reported. These findings suggest that performing musicians may be slightly earlier chronotypes than non-performing musicians and non-musicians, despite music performances often occurring in the evening. Chronotype was related to the time of day of music-making independent of nightly sleep timing, suggesting that times of day for making music reflect an individual's circadian rhythm.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (23-24) ◽  
pp. 5276-5291
Author(s):  
Alisa R. Garner ◽  
Laura C. Spiller ◽  
Patrick Williams

The purpose of this study was to examine whether a decision-making model of risk-taking behavior, specifically impulsivity, positive and negative outcome expectation, and sensation seeking, can be extended to motivation for perpetration of sexual coercion. Participants included 276 sexually active college students between the ages of 18 and 25 years old who completed a set of questionnaires: (a) Sexual Experiences Survey, (b) Sensation Seeking Scales, (c) Cognitive Appraisal of Risky Events, (d) Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, and (e) Reckless Behavior Questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses were utilized to examine the relationship between these decision-making models and sexually coercive behaviors. General risk-taking behaviors were positively correlated with acts of sexual coercion, r = .16, p < .01. The predictor variables accounted for a significant amount of the variance in sexual coercion, R2 = .11, F(4, 246) = 7.57, p < .01. Only sensation seeking contributed unique variance to our model of sexual coercion, β = .27, t = 4.06, p < .01. Interventions to reduce sexual coercion may be more successful if they target those high in risk-taking. Similarly, prevention efforts informed by research on how to engage and hold the attention of sensation seeking youth may be more successful.


Author(s):  
Joshua B. Hurwitz

Increased real-time risk-taking under sleep loss could be marked by changes in risk perception or acceptance. Risk-perception processes are those involved in estimating real-time parameters such as the speeds and distances of hazardous objects. Risk-acceptance processes relate to response choices given risk estimates. Risk-taking under fatigue was studied using a simulated intersection-crossing driving task in which subjects decided when it was safe to cross an intersection as an oncoming car approached from the cross street. The subjects performed this task at 3-hour intervals over a 36-hour period without sleep. Results were modeled using a model of real-time risky decision making that has perceptual components that process speed, time and distance information, and a decisional component for accepting risk. Results showed that varying a parameter for the decisional component across sessions best accounted for variations in performance relating to time of day.


2009 ◽  
pp. 31-53
Author(s):  
Mariangela De Gregorio ◽  
Gerardo Patriotta

- This paper proposes a view of decision making as a social interaction process. Drawing on Goffman's face theory, it documents and interprets the micro interaction dynamics within the ruling political coalition of an Italian town council. Two main arguments are put forward. First, decision making unfolds through face games and impression management tactics where individuals are primarily concerned with attributing plausible sense to situations while maintaining a coherent image of self. Second, face-to-face behavior has structuring properties. It generates an interaction order amongst the participants that becomes progressively consolidated as the actors in- volved strive to affirm their respective situated identities through repeated face-to-face exchanges. A number of organizational implications are drawn from the study.Keywords: Decisional process, face game, interaction's ritual.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing-Yi Chen

PurposeThe argument that terror perception and individual time perspectives can affect behaviors has become increasingly relevant. This study analyzed the association of terror perception with financial risk and developed an integrated framework of the interaction between terror perception (mortality salience) and time perspective to determine risky investment. People with different time perspectives have different acknowledgments of risk. Two studies of terror perception leading to more or less risky investment choices supported this framework to demonstrate that individuals exhibit more (less) risky investment behavior when terror perception is salient and they have a high (low) present hedonic time perspective.Design/methodology/approachTwo experiments were performed. Study 1 tested whether TP moderates the effects of terror priming (aging) on risky financial investment. Study 2 tested the effects of terror priming on risky financial investment decisions and the role of gender and the present hedonic TP (PH) in moderating these effects. The following hypotheses were then developed: H1: Participants with high PH primed with the aging condition will select riskier financial investments than those with low PH will (Study 1). H2: Male participants with higher PH primed in the death condition will select riskier financial investments than those in the control condition will (Study 2).FindingsBecause people with different TPs acknowledge risk differently, this article developed a new framework modeling MS on TP in risky investment selection. Two studies representative of MS affecting risky investment decision-making were conducted to test the framework. The results of the two studies indicated that individuals engaged in risky investment behavior more (less) when mortality was salient and the individual had high (low) PH. Moreover, gender influences these results. As anticipated, male participants with higher PH in the death-primed condition selected riskier financial investment than those in the control condition did. Additional research from a broader perspective is warranted.Originality/valueMany psychological factors of risky decision-making have been discussed, such as motivational systems or situational motivation, self-framing, control orientation, sensation seeking, dishonesty, and ambiguity (Sekścińska et al., 2016). However, few studies have examined temporal framing, also known as time perspective (TP), the psychological concept of a person's relationship with time. This study mainly discusses the effects of terror perception on risky financial decisions by using a theoretical framework based on TP, which influences the effects of MS on risky financial decision-making. When mortality is made salient, individuals with present hedonic TP have behaviors characterized by risk perception. Those with present hedonic TP are more likely to make risky financial investments because they prefer present pleasure and risk over future outcomes (Zimbardo and Boyd, 2015).


Author(s):  
Ned Block

According to conceptual role semantics (CRS), the meaning of a representation is the role of that representation in the cognitive life of the agent, for example, in perception, thought and decision-making. It is an extension of the well-known ‘use’ theory of meaning, according to which the meaning of a word is its use in communication and, more generally, in social interaction. CRS supplements external use by including the role of a symbol inside a computer or a brain. The uses appealed to are not just actual, but also counterfactual: not only what effects a thought does have, but what effects it would have had if stimuli or other states had differed. Of course, so defined, the functional role of a thought includes all sorts of causes and effects that are non-semantic, for example, perhaps happy thoughts can bolster one’s immunity, promoting good health. Conceptual roles are functional roles minus such non-semantic causes and effects. The view has arisen separately in philosophy (where it is sometimes called ‘inferential’ or ‘functional’ role semantics) and in cognitive science (where it is sometimes called ‘procedural semantics’).


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Krista K Ingram ◽  
Ahmet Ay ◽  
Soo Bin Kwon ◽  
Kerri Woods ◽  
Sue Escobar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

1989 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 7-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
George W. Nelson

An exploratory analysis of the identity, characteristics, and business contributions of persons designated significant others by 102 female business owners was conducted. Drawing on social interaction theories, a typology of attributes for such others was developed, and elements of those attributes were assessed. Significant other contribution dimensions were identified, and further elaborated in terms of identity and characteristic variables. The most meaningful contributions were to specific business needs, and were provided by spouses, siblings, and male friends. The results showed a pragmatic approach to accepting aid from significant others, based not on the role of the other but on his or her actual ability to contribute.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 310-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheheryar Banuri ◽  
Stefan Dercon ◽  
Varun Gauri

Abstract Although the decisions of policy professionals are often more consequential than those of individuals in their private capacity, there is a dearth of studies on the biases of policy professionals: those who prepare and implement policy on behalf of elected politicians. Experiments conducted on a novel subject pool of development policy professionals (public servants of the World Bank and the Department for International Development in the UK) show that policy professionals are indeed subject to decision-making traps, including the effects of framing outcomes as losses or gains, and, most strikingly, confirmation bias driven by ideological predisposition, despite having an explicit mission to promote evidence-informed and impartial decision making. These findings should worry policy professionals and their principals in governments and large organizations, as well as citizens themselves. A further experiment, in which policy professionals engage in discussion, shows that deliberation may be able to mitigate the effects of some of these biases.


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