Support for Conciliatory Policies in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: The Role of Different Modes of Identification and Territorial Ownership Perceptions

Understanding people’s attitudes toward conciliatory policies in territorial interethnic conflicts is important for a peaceful conflict resolution. We argue that ingroup identification in combination with the largely understudied territorial ownership perceptions can help us explain attitudes toward conciliatory policies. We consider two different aspects of ingroup identification—attachment to one’s ethnic ingroup as well as ingroup superiority. Furthermore, we suggest that perceptions of ingroup and outgroup ownership of the territory can serve as important mechanisms that link the different forms of ingroup identification with conciliatory policies. In the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, among Israeli Jews (N = 1,268), we found that ingroup superiority, but not attachment, was negatively related to conciliatory policies. This relationship was explained by lower outgroup (but not by higher ingroup) ownership perceptions of the territory. Our findings highlight the relevance of studying ingroup superiority as a particularly relevant dimension of identification that represents a barrier to acknowledging outgroup’s territorial ownership, and is thus indirectly related to less support for conciliatory policies in intergroup conflict settings.

Attention in Discrimination Learning: a Stimulus Control Approach to the Intradimensional-Extradimensional Shift Paradigm

<p>In the present thesis, the intradimensional-extradimensional shift effect was treated as a problem of two-dimensional stimulus control. Factors determining stimulus control in the ID-ED shift were explored over six experiments. In Experiment 1 adult students were trained to discriminate between successively presented stimuli that differed in both line length and orientation. For half the subjects the length dimension was relevant (ie: different stimuli on that dimension were correlated with different outcomes) and for half the subjects orientation was relevant (phase 1). All subjects were then shifted to a second discrimination between new line lengths and orientations (Phase 2). For half, this constituted an intradimensional (ID) shift in that the previously relevant dimension remained relevant; for the remaining subjects the previously irrelevant dimension was made relevant in an extradimensional (ED) shift. The ID shift required significantly fewer trials to establish strong stimulus control by the relevant dimension in Phase 2 than did the ED shift. Experiments 1 and 2 further established that such differences were not attributable to a dominance relationship between dimensions or to specific cue values. Experiment 3 examined the development of stimulus control by the two dimensions over trials in Phase 2. In the ED shift, two-dimensional generalisation gradients showed a systematic weakening and strengthening of control by the Phase 1 relevant and Phase 2 relevant dimensions respectively. In the ID shift there was no change in stimulus control by either dimension. Experiment 4 established that transfer to the orientation dimension following differential training on length (ED shift) was superior to orientation following non-differential training on length (PD shift). Learning that differences on an extradimensional dimension were relevant in Phase I therefore had a facilitatory effect on control by orientation. Experiments 5 and 6 investigated the effects of manipulating the number of cues on the irrelevant Phase 1 dimension (orientation) and/or the irrelevant phase 2 dimension (length), in an ED shift where orientation was relevant in Phase 2. Both orientation and length (Experiment 5) or orientation alone (Experiment 6) were varied in the generalisation test. The ED shift in Phase 2 was retarded by the irrelevant dimension in Phase 1. It was concluded that in general the phase I relevant dimension must lose control in Phase 2, and the phase 1 irrelevant dimension must gain control in Phase 2 (Experiment 3). However, the inverse relation between loss of control by one dimension and gaining of control by the other does not occur in a way consistent with the Inverse Hypothesis of some selective attention theories. In addition, the previously relevant dimension in an ED shift facilitates control by the new relevant dimension in phase 2 re1ative to non-differential training, consistent with attentional enhancement. The major factor found to be slowing down the development of control by the new relevant dimension in an ED shift is the presence of the irrelevant dimension in Phase 1, (Experiment 5). This is probably a 'learned irrelevance' effect.</p>

Attention in Discrimination Learning: a Stimulus Control Approach to the Intradimensional-Extradimensional Shift Paradigm

<p>In the present thesis, the intradimensional-extradimensional shift effect was treated as a problem of two-dimensional stimulus control. Factors determining stimulus control in the ID-ED shift were explored over six experiments. In Experiment 1 adult students were trained to discriminate between successively presented stimuli that differed in both line length and orientation. For half the subjects the length dimension was relevant (ie: different stimuli on that dimension were correlated with different outcomes) and for half the subjects orientation was relevant (phase 1). All subjects were then shifted to a second discrimination between new line lengths and orientations (Phase 2). For half, this constituted an intradimensional (ID) shift in that the previously relevant dimension remained relevant; for the remaining subjects the previously irrelevant dimension was made relevant in an extradimensional (ED) shift. The ID shift required significantly fewer trials to establish strong stimulus control by the relevant dimension in Phase 2 than did the ED shift. Experiments 1 and 2 further established that such differences were not attributable to a dominance relationship between dimensions or to specific cue values. Experiment 3 examined the development of stimulus control by the two dimensions over trials in Phase 2. In the ED shift, two-dimensional generalisation gradients showed a systematic weakening and strengthening of control by the Phase 1 relevant and Phase 2 relevant dimensions respectively. In the ID shift there was no change in stimulus control by either dimension. Experiment 4 established that transfer to the orientation dimension following differential training on length (ED shift) was superior to orientation following non-differential training on length (PD shift). Learning that differences on an extradimensional dimension were relevant in Phase I therefore had a facilitatory effect on control by orientation. Experiments 5 and 6 investigated the effects of manipulating the number of cues on the irrelevant Phase 1 dimension (orientation) and/or the irrelevant phase 2 dimension (length), in an ED shift where orientation was relevant in Phase 2. Both orientation and length (Experiment 5) or orientation alone (Experiment 6) were varied in the generalisation test. The ED shift in Phase 2 was retarded by the irrelevant dimension in Phase 1. It was concluded that in general the phase I relevant dimension must lose control in Phase 2, and the phase 1 irrelevant dimension must gain control in Phase 2 (Experiment 3). However, the inverse relation between loss of control by one dimension and gaining of control by the other does not occur in a way consistent with the Inverse Hypothesis of some selective attention theories. In addition, the previously relevant dimension in an ED shift facilitates control by the new relevant dimension in phase 2 re1ative to non-differential training, consistent with attentional enhancement. The major factor found to be slowing down the development of control by the new relevant dimension in an ED shift is the presence of the irrelevant dimension in Phase 1, (Experiment 5). This is probably a 'learned irrelevance' effect.</p>

EXPRESS: How Marketing Perks Influence Word-of-Mouth

This research illustrates how marketing perks can be leveraged to spur WOM. We introduce a previously-overlooked, yet practically-relevant dimension on which perks differ: contractuality. Contractuality is defined as the extent to which a perk is perceived to be conditional on specific behaviors and contingencies dictated by a company. We show that the exact same perk can be perceived as more versus less contractual based on the way it is conferred, structured or framed. We further demonstrate that low-contractuality perks can be more effective than high-contractuality perks at fostering WOM, in the absence of explicit incentives to do so. Specifically, low-contractuality perks are more likely than high-contractuality perks to convey a relational signal that motivates consumers to help the company by sharing WOM. Seven experiments, two of which were conducted in the field, support this hypothesis and illustrate conditions under which the effect attenuates or reverses. As a whole, this work offers insights into how managers might design interventions that foster WOM, and reveals potential trade-offs of commonly used high contractuality perks.

Reinforced statistical learning of auditory categories

A critical step in language acquisition is learning phoneme categories. While L1 learning has been thought to use unsupervised learning (using the distributional statistics of cues), recent research raises the possibility of supervised learning (using teaching signals). Similarly, L2 learning is studied with supervised learning, but unsupervised may also contribute. We developed the reinforced statistical learning paradigm to examine their interaction. Participants first underwent unsupervised learning, hearing a series of non-linguistic sounds whose statistical structure reflected two categories. In subsequent supervised learning, categories either matched or mismatched. Supervised learning was faster when phases matched, though benefits were limited to specific category configurations. Unsupervised learning did not affect the steepness of categorization along the relevant dimension, but it helped subjects learn to ignore irrelevant dimensions. Unsupervised learning may set the stage for supervised learning, but its role may be to determine which dimensions are important, and not to directly acquire categories.

Adaptation aftereffects reveal how categorization training changes the encoding of face identity

Previous research suggests that learning to categorize faces along a novel dimension changes the perceptual representation of such dimension, increasing its discriminability, its invariance, and the information used to identify faces varying along the dimension. A common interpretation of these results is that categorization training promotes the creation of novel dimensions, rather than simply the enhancement of already-existing representations. Here, we trained a group of participants to categorize faces that varied along two morphing dimensions, one of them relevant to the categorization task and the other irrelevant to the task. An untrained group did not receive such categorization training. In three experiments, we used face adaptation aftereffects to explore how categorization training changes the encoding of face identities at the extremes of the category-relevant dimension, and whether such training produces encoding of the category-relevant dimension as a preferred direction in face space. The pattern of results suggests that categorization training enhances the already-existing norm-based coding of face identity, rather than creating novel category-relevant representations. We formalized this conclusion in a model that explains the most important results in our experiments and serves as a working hypothesis for future work in this area.

Self-related shapes can hold the eyes

Increasing evidence suggests that individuals are highly sensitive to self-related stimuli. Here, we report two experiments conducted to assess whether two schematic stimuli, arbitrarily associated with either the self or a stranger, can shape attention holding in an oculomotor task. In both experiments, participants first completed a manual matching task in which they were asked to associate the self and a stranger with two shapes (triangle vs. square). Then, in an oculomotor task, they were asked to perform a saccade from the centre of the screen towards a peripheral target while either the triangle or the square were centrally presented. In Experiment 1, saccades had to be performed on each trial—irrespective of the central shape—while in Experiment 2, saccades had to be performed only when the central shape was associated with either the self or the stranger, depending on block instruction. Participants were slower to initiate a saccade away from the central shape when this was associated with the self rather than with the stranger, but this pattern of results emerged only in Experiment 2. Overall, these data suggest that stimuli associated with the self through episodic learning can hold attention when the self/other distinction is a task-relevant dimension.

Introduction

Forty years ago, Amartya Sen delivered his Tanner Lecture, ‘Equality of What?’, in which he introduced to the world a novel approach to the idea of equality by way of the notion of ‘basic capability’ as ‘a morally relevant dimension’.1 We can now see with hindsight that Sen’s argument—that we should focus upon equality of basic capabilities (‘a person being able to do certain basic things’)—launched what has become an academic armada now proceeding under the flag of ‘the Capability Approach’....

Are Face-Incongruent Voices Harder to Process?

Based on current integration theories of face–voice processing, the present study had participants process 1,152 videos of faces uttering digits. Half of the videos contained face–voice gender-incongruent stimuli (vs. congruent stimuli in the other half). Participants indicated digit magnitude or parity. Tasks were presented in pure blocks (only 1 task) and in task switching blocks (using colored cues to specify task). The results indicate significant congruency effects in pure blocks, but partially reversed congruency effects in task switching, probably due to enhanced assignment of capacity toward resolving difficult situational demands. Congruency effects did not dissipate over time, ruling out that initial surprise associated with incongruent stimuli drove the effects. The results show that interference between two task-irrelevant person-related dimensions (face/voice gender) can affect processing of a third, task-relevant dimension (digit identity), suggesting greater processing ease associated with more authentic voices (i.e., voices that do not violate face-based expectancies).