The Effects of Reward on a Racially-Biased Decision to Shoot

<p>People use shortcuts in cognitive processing by making associations that automatically link constructs together. Associations of a stereotypic nature may become accessible, generating responses which bias the perceiver towards one decision over another. Previous research has shown that people are quicker and more accurate to shoot armed targets that are black than targets that are white (Correll, Park, Judd, & Wittenbrink, 2002). However, previous research has also biased participants toward a more lenient shooting criterion. The current study proposes that when given motivation to not shoot, the stereotypically-dependent bias to shoot will decrease. That is, altering costs and rewards of decisions should influence participants’ responses towards responding quickly and accurately, regardless of target ethnicity. Results showed that the reward manipulation was unsuccessful in decreasing Shooter Bias. The manipulation was able to sway participants towards more conservative non-shooting decisions overall but participants remained more accurate and quicker in responses to shoot armed black targets compared to armed white targets.</p>

The Effects of Reward on a Racially-Biased Decision to Shoot

<p>People use shortcuts in cognitive processing by making associations that automatically link constructs together. Associations of a stereotypic nature may become accessible, generating responses which bias the perceiver towards one decision over another. Previous research has shown that people are quicker and more accurate to shoot armed targets that are black than targets that are white (Correll, Park, Judd, & Wittenbrink, 2002). However, previous research has also biased participants toward a more lenient shooting criterion. The current study proposes that when given motivation to not shoot, the stereotypically-dependent bias to shoot will decrease. That is, altering costs and rewards of decisions should influence participants’ responses towards responding quickly and accurately, regardless of target ethnicity. Results showed that the reward manipulation was unsuccessful in decreasing Shooter Bias. The manipulation was able to sway participants towards more conservative non-shooting decisions overall but participants remained more accurate and quicker in responses to shoot armed black targets compared to armed white targets.</p>

How Informational Constraints for Decision-Making on Passing, Dribbling and Shooting Change With the Manipulation of Small-Sided Games Changes in Futsal

In this study, we explored how manipulating floaters’ positions in small-sided futsal games (SSGs) promote changes in the informational constraints that support decision-making (DM) for passing, dribbling and shooting tactics. We made changes in four experimental 3 vs 3 small-sided game conditions with 30 male futsal players (U19 age category): (a) Floaters Off (FO), (b) Final Line Floaters (FLF), (c) Lateral Floaters own field sideline (LFofsl) and (d) Lateral Floaters full field sideline (LFffsl). We assessed players’ activity with WIMU PRO™ software during the SSGs, using the Game Performance Evaluation Tool (GPET) to analyze a total of 1,635 decisions. DM for dribbling was generally based on the interpersonal distance between the ball carrier and direct opponent, considering the defensive team length and the offensive team area. Shooting decisions were constrained, by certain attacking-defending teams’ spatial-temporal relations with regard to playing space and team balance as affected by manipulating floaters’ positions. The coaches’ decisions to change the floaters’ positions during SSGs may change informational variables sustaining the dribbling decision, but no changes in SSG variables affected passing DM.

Statistical Analysis of the Results of Test Artillery Tracers

A statistical analysis of multiyear laboratory test results of artillery tracers number 8 is presented in this article. This analysis was aimed at testing the impact of a natural ageing process on quality indicators during the long-time storage of these tracers. The influence of storage time on taking a diagnostic decision, relating to quality of lots after the conducted laboratory tests and on different classes of inconsistencies that occurred during these tests, was analysed. A detailed analysis of the impact of the storage time on diagnostic shooting decisions taken was also presented. The conducted statistical analysis suggests an assumption, that it is possible to change an evaluation module in the previous test’s methodology. Modification of this evaluation module will not negatively impact on the quality of further diagnostic tests. It will not negatively impact on correct evaluation of the prediction process of the tested elements of ammunition such as artillery tracers. The statistical analysis, carried out in the article, may have a significant impact on the modification of test methodology of the artillery tracers.

Sleep Deprivation and Racial Bias in the Decision to Shoot: A Diffusion Model Analysis

The current study examines the effect of sleep deprivation and caffeine use on racial bias in the decision to shoot. Participants deprived of sleep for 24 hr (vs. rested participants) made more errors in a shooting task and were more likely to shoot unarmed targets. A diffusion decision model analysis revealed sleep deprivation decreased participants’ ability to extract information from the stimuli, whereas caffeine impacted the threshold separation, reflecting decreased caution. Neither sleep deprivation nor caffeine moderated anti-Black racial bias in shooting decisions or at the process level. We discuss how our results clarify discrepancies in past work testing the impact of fatigue on racial bias in shooting decisions.

The Multiverse of Methods: Extending the Multiverse Analysis to Address Data-Collection Decisions

When analyzing data, researchers may have multiple reasonable options for the many decisions they must make about the data—for example, how to code a variable or which participants to exclude. Therefore, there exists a multiverse of possible data sets. A classic multiverse analysis involves performing a given analysis on every potential data set in this multiverse to examine how each data decision affects the results. However, a limitation of the multiverse analysis is that it addresses only data cleaning and analytic decisions, yet researcher decisions that affect results also happen at the data-collection stage. I propose an adaptation of the multiverse method in which the multiverse of data sets is composed of real data sets from studies varying in data-collection methods of interest. I walk through an example analysis applying the approach to 19 studies on shooting decisions to demonstrate the usefulness of this approach and conclude with a further discussion of the limitations and applications of this method.

Embodying the Police: The Effects of Enclothed Cognition on Shooting Decisions

The theory of enclothed cognition proposes that wearing physical articles of clothing can trigger psychological processes and behavioral tendencies connected to their symbolic meaning. Furthermore, past research has found that increases in power are associated with greater approach orientation and action tendencies. In this study, we integrate these two literatures to examine how embodying the role of a police officer through wearing a uniform would affect responses on a reaction-time measure known as the Shooter Task. This first-person video game simulation requires participants to shoot or not shoot targets holding guns or objects. The task typically elicits a stereotypical pattern of responses, such that unarmed Black versus White targets are more likely to be mistakenly shot and armed Black versus White targets are more likely to be correctly shot. Based on the relationship between power and action, we hypothesized that participants who were randomly assigned to wear a police uniform would show more shooting errors, particularly false alarms, than control participants. Consistent with our hypotheses, participants in uniform were more likely to shoot unarmed targets, regardless of their race. Moreover, this pattern was partially moderated by attitudes about the police and their abuse of power. Specifically, uniformed participants who justified police use of power were more likely to shoot innocent targets than those who were wary of it. We discuss implications for police perceptions and the theory of enclothed cognition more broadly.