Negative or Negated, Thus True? An Investigation of Concept Valence and Semantic Negation as Drivers of Framing Effects in Judgments of Truth

The negativity bias in judgments of truth holds that content-wise identical statements are more likely to be judged as true when presented in a negative compared to positive concept frame. This article investigates the mechanisms underlying this concept frame effect by differentiating concept valence (something good versus bad) and semantic negation (grammatical operator) throughout five studies. We found some evidence that concept valence and semantic negation work in tandem to produce the concept frame, yet negation seems to be the more stable driver. Moreover, we found that negation exerts its impact on perceived truth by increasing the realm of possible states in which a specific statement can be true. Together, the present findings extend knowledge of the negativity bias in truth judgments by providing a more fine-grained picture of “negativity” and an explanation for why negation might be especially effective in increasing truth judgments.

Panoramic Uncertainty in Vertical Perception

Judgments of the orientation of a visual line with respect to earth vertical are affected by panoramic visual cues. This is illustrated by the rod-and-frame effect (RFE), the finding that the perceived orientation of a luminous rod is biased by the orientation of a surrounding squared frame. In this study, we tested how the uncertainty of frame orientation affects the RFE by asking upright or tilted participants to psychometrically judge the orientation of a briefly flashed rod contained within either a circular frame, a squared frame, or either of two intermediate frame forms, called squircles, presented in various orientations. Results showed a cyclical modulation of frame-induced bias across the range of the square and squircular frame orientations. The magnitude of this bias increased with increasing squaredness of the frame, as if the more unequivocal the orientation cues of the frame, the larger the reliance on them for rod orientation judgments. These findings are explained with a Bayesian optimal integration model in which participants flexibly weigh visual panoramic cues, depending on their orientation reliability, and non-visual cues in the perception of vertical.

Effects of quantity promotional frames on inaction inertia

PurposeInaction inertia is the phenomenon in which people are less likely to accept an opportunity after having previously missed a relatively superior one. This research explores how framing quantity promotions as either a freebie (e.g. “buy 1, get 1 free”) or a price bundle (e.g. “buy 2, get 50% off”) influences inaction inertia. Relevant mediators are also identified.Design/methodology/approachThree experiments, two using imaginary scenarios and one using an incentive-compatible design, test the hypotheses.FindingsConsumers who miss a freebie quantity promotion express higher inaction inertia than consumers who miss a price bundle promotion. The cause of this difference is higher perceived regret and greater devaluation that result from missing a superior freebie (vs price bundle) promotion.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research should examine how factors influencing perceived regret and devaluation moderate the quantity promotional frame effect on inaction inertia.Practical implicationsThe findings provide insights into which quantity promotional frames practitioners should use to reduce inaction inertia.Originality/valueThis study's comprehensive theoretical framework predicts quantity promotional frame effects on inaction inertia and identifies relevant internal mechanisms. The findings are evidence that inaction inertia is caused by both perceived regret and devaluation in certain contexts. Furthermore, this study identifies the conditions in which a price bundle promotional frame is more beneficial than a freebie promotional frame.

Research on Influence of Attribute Frame Effect on Loan Decision of Undergraduate and Risk Assessment Model of Undergraduate Loan Behavior

The article uses virtual lending scenarios to study the influence of attribute frame effect on undergraduates’ loan decisions. The results show that undergraduates have attribute frame effects in the three major areas of electronic products, life entertainment, and learning and training. There is a significant difference between the positive frame and the negative frame; that is, they are more inclined to make loan decisions under the positive frame. According to the research results, the article designs a loan risk assessment model based on Kohonen neural network and conducts simulation experiments. The experimental results show that the model’ classification accuracy is 72.65%.

Verbal and non-verbal methods of activation of cognitive behavior of educational applicants in the process of learning foreign languages

The article considers the analysis of the use of verbal and non-verbal methods in the process of learning foreign languages. The relevance of this research is connected to the fact that the learning of foreign languages in the modern world is becoming advanced and progressive, so there is an urgent need to study the effectiveness of methods of activation of students` cognitive activity. The article highlighted such concepts as "verbal methods", "non-verbal methods", "interactive technologies of learning foreign languages", "The Silent Way", "the 25th frame effect" and "Schechter`s method", and also considered the features of various technologies and their effectiveness. This article highlights the results of a survey among students of the Faculty of Foreign Languages, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, in which they had to answer twelve questions about the relevance of using the methods presented in the article and their attitude to them. Students shared their own experience and expressed their view on the feasibility of their use in the future in their professional activity. Based on the results of the survey, the authors of the research highlighted the most important issues regarding the use of interactive technologies in the process of learning foreign languages.

Performances and Working Mechanisms of Inclined Retaining Structures for Deep Excavations

Because of the limits of struts, braceless retaining structures (BRS) have become a preferred option in deep excavation engineering. A type of BRS, that is, inclined retaining system, has been successfully applied in several projects. However, its performance and working mechanism have not been systematically studied. A case study and finite element results in this study show that inclined piles (IP) are more effective than vertical piles (VP), while composite inclined retaining structures (CIRSs) are more effective than IP in terms of deflection and bending moment reduction. The deformation-control mechanism of IP mainly comes from the decrease in the active earth pressure. For CIRSs, the working mechanism is governed by several combined effects, that is, the rigid frame effect, inclined strut effect, earth berm effect, and gravity wall effect. For instance, in composite vertical and inward-inclined piles (VIIP), inclined piles function as struts for the vertical piles in this rigid frame system and frictional force between the soil and the inclined piles significantly influences its retaining performance; the soil between the vertical and inclined piles plays a role similar to an earth berm; additionally, the entire retaining system is similar to a gravity retaining wall, which has relatively high overturning stability.

Muhammad at the Museum: Or, Why the Prophet Is Not Present

This article analyses museum responses to the contemporary tensions and violence in response to images of Muhammad, from The Satanic Verses to Charlie Hebdo. How does this socio-political frame effect the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY, the V&A and British Museum in London, and the Louvre in Paris? Different genres of museums and histories of collections in part explain differences in approaches to representations of Muhammad. The theological groundings for a possible ban on prophetic depictions is charted, as well as the widespread Islamic practices of making visual representations of the Prophet. It is argued that museological framings of the religiosity of Muslims become skewed when the veneration of the Prophet is not represented.

Do Effort Differences between Bonus and Penalty Contracts Persist in Labor Markets?

ABSTRACT Conventional economics assumes workers provide the same effort under penalty contracts and economically equivalent bonus contracts. However, prior research finds that although workers prefer bonus contracts, they provide more effort under penalty contracts. Given these findings, the prevalence of bonus contracts in practice is puzzling. If penalty contracts yield more worker effort, why would employers not use them more often? We conduct experimental labor markets to test whether the prior finding of more effort under penalty contracts than bonus contracts (i.e., the contract frame effect) persists when workers can choose their contract and know that their employer intentionally offered the contract they choose. As predicted, these features of labor markets eliminate the difference in effort between penalty and bonus contracts reported in prior studies. This finding suggests employers may use bonus contracts more often than penalty contracts because they can offer the contract most workers prefer without sacrificing worker effort.

Choosing an equitable or efficient option: A distribution dilemma

We conducted a 3 × 3 × 2 experiment to verify the moral preference hypothesis and extend the boundary conditions of the moral frame effect. Participants played a trade-off game (TOG), in which they unilaterally choose between an equitable or efficient option. We manipulated the labeling of the options to describe the equitable versus efficient option as morally right, and controlled the amount of the stakes and division schemes in the TOG. We found there was a significant effect of moral frame when stakes were low in the TOG, and participants would choose a morally right option whether it was equitable or efficient. However, the effect of moral frame was nonsignificant when the stakes were high. In addition, the division schemes in the TOG had a great impact on the moral frame effect. Therefore, we found that when participants’ interest in the options remains the same or the changes are small, and other players’ interest changes greatly, the moral frame effect is not significant.