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People often hold negative attitudes toward out-groups and minority groups. We argue that such intergroup biases may result from an interaction of basic cognitive processes and the structure of the information ecology. This cognitive-ecological model assumes that groups such as minorities and out-groups are often novel to a perceiver. At the level of cognition, novel groups are primarily associated with their unique attributes, that is, attributes that differentiate them from other groups. In the information ecology, however, unique attributes are likely to be negative. Thus, novel groups, and by proxy minorities and out-groups, tend to be associated with negative attributes, leading to an evaluative disadvantage. We demonstrated this disadvantage in three experiments in which participants successively formed impressions about two fictional groups associated with the same number of positive and negative attributes. Participants preferred the first group over the novel group as long as the groups’ unique attributes were negative.

Attribute Conditioning (AC) refers to people’s changed assessments of stimuli’s (CSs) attributes due to repeated pairing with stimuli (USs) possessing these attributes; for example, when an athletic person (US) is paired with a neutral person (CS), the neutral person is judged to be more athletic after the pairing. We hypothesize that this AC effect is due to CSs’ associations with USs rather than direct associations with attributes. Three experiments test this hypothesis by changing US attributes after CS-US pairings. Experiments 1 and 2 conditioned athleticism by pairing neutral men (CSs) with athletic and non-athletic USs. Post-conditioning, USs’ athleticism was reversed, which systematically influenced participants’ assessment of CS athleticism. Experiment 3 conditioned athleticism and changed USs’ musicality after CS-US pairings. This post-conditioning change affected musicality assessments of CSs but did not influence athleticism-assessments. The results indicate that AC effects are based on an associative CS-US-attribute structure.

We propose stronger halo effects in trait assessments from positive information relative to negative information. Due to positive information’s higher similarity, positive information should foster both indirect (from a global impression to traits) and direct halo effects (from traits to traits). Negative information’s relative distinctiveness should foster only direct halo effects, leading to weaker halo effects overall. Four experiments support these predictions using agency traits and communion traits and behaviors. Further supporting the predictions, halo effects from positive information were visible both within (i.e., from communion/agency information to communion/agency traits) and across (i.e., from agency/communion information to communion/agency traits) these fundamental dimensions of social perception. Halo effects from negative information were visible only within dimensions. The study thereby explains why halo effects from negative information are usually weaker; it supports different processes underlying halo effects; and it provides a case in person perception where positive information has more impact than negative information.

Past research showed that people accumulate more knowledge about other people and objects they like compared to those they dislike. More knowledge is commonly assumed to lead to more differentiated mental representations; therefore, people should perceive others they like as less similar to one another than others they dislike. We predict the opposite outcome based on the density hypothesis (Unkelbach, Fiedler, Bayer, Stegmuller, & Danner, 2008); accordingly, positive impressions are less diverse than negative impressions as there are only a few ways to be liked but many ways to be disliked. Therefore, people should perceive liked others as more similar to one another than disliked others even though they have more knowledge about liked others. Seven experiments confirm this counterintuitive prediction and show a strong association between liking and perceived similarity in person perception. We discuss the implications of these results for different aspects of person perception.

Objectives: Serial performance evaluations show calibration effects: Judges avoid extreme categories in the beginning (e.g. best or worst) because they need to calibrate an internal judgment scale (Unkelbach et al., 2012). Successful calibration is therefore important for fair and unbiased evaluations. A central prerequisite for successful calibration is knowledge about the performance range. The present study tests whether advance knowledge about the range (best and worst) of performances in a series reduces calibration effects. Design: A2 � 2 � 2 design was developed with two between subject factors: the knowledge about the performance range (with vs. without) and two different talent tests (specific vs. unspecific). As within subject factor the position of the performances in the series (position 1e10 vs. 11e20) was integrated. The combination of the between subject factors resulted in four experimental conditions. Method: Handball coaches were randomly assigned to one of the conditions. Afterwards twenty performances were evaluated in a randomized order by the coaches. Results: Without knowledge about the range, they showed the expected avoidance of extreme categories in the beginning independent of the presented talent test. However, observing the best and worst performance in advance prevented the biases. Range-presentation is therefore a viable theory-based intervention to improve fairness in serial judgments.

The density hypothesis states that positive informa- tion is more similar than negative information, resulting in higher density of positive information in mental representa- tions. The present research applies the density hypothesis to recognition memory to explain apparent valence asymmetries in recognition memory, namely, a recognition advantage for negative information. Previous research explained this nega- tivity advantage on the basis of valence-induced affect. We predicted that positive information's higher density impairs recognition performance. Two old-new word recognition ex- periments tested whether differential density between positive and negative stimuli creates a negativity advantage in recog- nition memory, over and above valence-induced affect. In Experiment 1, participants better discriminated negative word stimuli (i.e., less false alarms) and showed a response bias towards positive words. Regression analyses showed the asymmetry to be function of density and not of valence. Experiment 2 varied stimulus density orthogonal to valence. Again, discriminability and response bias were a function of density and not of valence. We conclude that the higher den- sity of positive information causes an apparent valence asym- metry in recognition memory.

The role of awareness in evaluative learning has been thoroughly investigated with a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches. We investigated evaluative conditioning (EC) without awareness with an approach that conceptually provides optimal conditions for unaware learning - the Continuous Flash Suppression paradigm (CFS). In CFS, a stimulus presented to one eye can be rendered invisible for a prolonged duration by presenting a high-contrast dynamic pattern to the other eye. The suppressed stimulus is nevertheless processed. First, Experiment 1 established EC effects in a pseudo-CFS setup without suppression. Experiment 2 then employed CFS to suppress conditioned stimuli (CSs) from awareness while the unconditioned stimuli (USs) were visible. While Experiment 1 and 2 used a between-participants manipulation of CS suppression, Experiments 3 and 4 both manipulated suppression within participants. We observed EC effects when CSs were not suppressed, but found no EC effects when the CS was suppressed from awareness. We relate our finding to previous research and discuss theoretical implications for EC. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

The title compound, trimeth­yl(tetra­hydro­furan-κO)aluminium(III), is an addition product of tri­methyl­aluminium and tetra­hydro­furan (THF). Instead of a dimeric structure, which is very common for these types of compounds, a monomeric mol­ecular structure is observed., The title compound, trimeth­yl(tetra­hydro­furan-κO)aluminium(III), [Al(CH3)3(C4H8O)], is an addition product of tri­methyl­aluminium and tetra­hydro­furan (THF). Instead of a dimeric structure, which is very common for these types of compounds, a monomeric mol­ecular structure is observed. The C—Al—C angles in the mol­ecule are very different from the C—Al—C angles found in dimeric mol­ecular structures, leading to a different symmetry around the AlIII atom. The reasons for these differences are discussed.

Existing findings on the truth effect could be explained by recollection of the statements presented in the exposure phase. In order to examine a pure fluency account of this effect,we tested a unique prediction that could not be derived from recollection of a statement. In one experiment, participants judged the truth of a statement that had the same surface appearance as a statement presented earlier but contradicted it, for example “crocodiles sleep with their eyes open” one week after having heard “crocodiles sleep with their eyes closed”.We predicted and found that participants judged contradictory statements as being more false than new statements after a delay of only a fewminutes, but judged them as more likely to be true after oneweek. In contrast to earlier findings, this result cannot be explained by accounts relying on recollection of the previously presented statements. Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT)

People experience “regulatory fit” when they pursue a goal in a manner that suits their chronic regulatory orientation. This regulatory fit impacts performance positively. The present research extends performance gains due to fit from individuals to dyadic team performance. Study 1 manipulated team fit of 32 table football participants (i.e., promotion vs. prevention orientation and offense vs. defense positions). Team fit significantly predicted team success in an experimental tournament beyond team skill level. Study 2 replicated this result with data from a real-life tournament including 66 highly experienced competitors. These findings broaden the concept of regulatory fit from individual to dyadic teams, and suggest collective fit as a possible important predictor for team success.

In the context of research on human judgment, regression is commonly treated as an artifact or an unwanted consequence of ill-controlled research designs. We argue that this negative image is undeserved. Regression affords not only an enlightening statistical construct but also a theoretical construct that can inspire novel research. It offers alternative accounts for a variety of well-known judgment biases, and it has inspired novel predictions of previously unknown biases. While all judgments that are less than perfectly correlated with a conditional variable must be regressive, systematic biases arise when different judgment targets are subject to unequally strong regression effects. This occurs when the information given about different targets varies in statistical uncertainty or extremity, the two determinants of regression. We illustrate the explanatory power of the regression construct for judgment biases in three paradigms: frequency estimations, performance evaluations, and illusory correlations. Because regression is a universal property of the empirical world, explanations of biases in terms of cognitive or motivational biases are insufficient and incomplete if the impact of regression is not taken into account.

Serial evaluations are the basis of many judgment and decision processes (e.g., in sports, talent shows, or academic examinations). We address the advantages and disadvantages of being in the beginning or the end of such evaluation series. We propose that for serial evaluations, people must calibrate a transformation function that translates observable stimulus input (e.g., performances) into available judgment categories (e.g., “pass” or “fail”). Until this function is calibrated, people are motivated to avoid extreme categories. Therefore, being good in the beginning is disadvantageous because one is more likely to be categorized as “average” than “good,” whereas being bad is advantageous because one is more likely to be categorized “average” than “bad.” We present real-life and laboratory examples of the proposed calibration effects and compare the calibration explanation with other accounts of serial-position effects. Based on these theoretical considerations, we suggest possible ways to avoid these position effects in serial evaluations.

Attribute conditioning (AC) refers to people’s changed assessment of stimuli’s (conditioned stimuli, CSs) attributes due to pairings with stimuli possessing these attributes (unconditioned stimuli, USs). Up to now, research only showed conditioning of only one attribute within a conditioning session (e.g., athleticism) and measured assessment changes in only this single attribute. The current study shows attribute-specific AC effects in multi-attribute environments and shows that attribute accessibility determines which of a US’s multiple attributes are conditioned. Experiment 1 shows AC effects for artificial logos with attributes varying across USs (e.g., athletic, intelligent, or funny). Experiment 2 shows that these AC effects persist over time. Experiment 3 directly manipulated accessibility for attributes varying between and within USs (e.g., a US being sexy and familial) with a priming procedure. Priming-specific attributes prior to conditioning determined which attribute of a US was conditioned to paired CSs. We discuss theoretical implications for AC, as well as practical implications for brand image formation and advertising. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Nestle uses George Clooney to advertise their top-of-the-line brand Nespresso. Because of George Clooney’ sp airing with Nespresso, people like Nespresso and, in addition, think it is “glamorous, ”“ cosmopolitan,” and “sexy” (Khamis, 2012). The intriguing question is how Nespresso becomes more likeable, glamorous, and sexy when George Clooney endorses it. An explanation for the change in likeability is provided by evaluative conditioning (EC; Levey & Martin, 1975). EC predicts that if likeable Clooney (unconditioned stimulus, US) repeatedly co-occurs with Nespresso (conditioned stimulus, CS), Nespresso is liked, too. Yet, glamorous and sexy do not only have a positive connotation but also have a specific meaning, which is attached to Nespresso as well. We suggest attribute conditioning (AC) as an explanation of why people change their assessment of these attributes when judging Nespresso. Similar to EC, mere pairings with USs possessing specific attributes lead to changes in people’s assessment of CS attributes (Forderer & Unkelbach, 2011). These “changes” refer to changes from neutral CS assessments to assessments in the direction of the paired US’s attribute. Thus, repeated co-occurrences of Nespresso (CS) and the likeable as well as glamorous and sexy Clooney (USs) might make Nespresso more likeable (i.e., an EC effect), glamorous, and sexy (i.e., AC effects). The current study will show that AC provides a scientific background for Nestle’s campaign. Three experiments will show that it is possible to condition multiple specific attributes within one conditioning session (e.g., sexy, humorous, and athletic), that these effects go beyond EC effects, that these effects endure over time, and that attribute accessibility determines which of several US attributes are conditioned.

Die Metallierung von Benzol durch die Schlosser-Base (nBuLi/tBuOK) lauft in THF glatt bei niedrigen Temperaturen unter Bildung eines diskreten, gemischtmetallischen Li2K4-Clusters ab, der neben tert-Butoxid auch Phenylanionen enthalt (siehe Bild). Das Aggregat selbst weist mit der Metallierung von Toluol superbasische Reaktivitat auf. Das auf diesem Weg erhaltene Benzylanion zeigt π-Wechselwirkungen zum Kaliumgegenion, unter Bildung eines 2D-Koordinationspolymers.

The metalation of benzene by Schlosser's base (nBuLi/tBuOK) occurs smoothly in THF at low temperatures to afford a discrete mixed-metal Li2 K4 cluster that contains phenyl anions and tert-butoxide. The aggregate itself exhibits superbasic behavior by metalating toluene. The delocalized benzyl anion obtained this way π bonds to potassium counterions, thereby creating a 2D coordination polymer.

Insertion of p-FC6H4C≡CH, p-CF3C6H4C≡CH, and m-CF3C6H4C≡CH into the Pt–H bond of [(OC)3Fe{Si(OMe)3}(μ-dppm)Pt(H)(PPh3)] (1a) yields first the σ-alkenyl complexes [(OC)3Fe{μ-Si(OMe)2(OMe)}(μ-dppm)Pt(ArC═CH2)] (2a, Ar = C6H4F-p; 2d, C6H4CF3-p; 2e, C6H4CF3-m), which react in a second step with the liberated PPh3 ligand to afford the structurally characterized μ-vinylidene complexes [(OC)3Fe(μ-dppm){μ-C═C(H)C6H4F-p}Pt(PPh3)] (3a) and [(OC)3Fe(μ-dppm){μ-C═C(H)C6H4R}Pt(PPh3)] (3d, R = p-CF3; 3e, R = m-CF3). In contrast, treatment of 1a with o-FC6H4C≡CH produces first [(OC)3Fe{μ-Si(OMe)2(OMe)}(μ-dppm)Pt(o-FC6H4C═CH2)] (2b), which evolves to the dimetallacyclopentenone complex [(OC)2Fe(μ-dppm){μ-C(═O)C(H)═C(C6H4F-o)}Pt(PPh3)] (4b′). The latter slowly rearranges to the structurally characterized thermodynamic isomer [(OC)2Fe(μ-dppm){μ-C(═O)C(C6H4F-o)═C(H)}Pt(PPh3)] (4b). Treatment of 1a with 2,4-F2C6H3C≡CH produces via transient alkenyl complex 2c an isomeric mixture of [(OC)3Fe(μ-dppm){μ-C═C(H)C6H3F2-2,4}Pt(PPh3)...

As the reactivity of organolithium compounds is strongly connected with the structure of the involved species, the structural knowledge is a prerequisite for the understanding of reaction mechanisms. Using the example of methyllithium, we address particularly the issues of stabilizing non-classical interactions in organolithium aggregates and the relations between disaggregation and polarity, using a combination of X-ray structure analysis and quantum-chemical methods. The structure analyses of a series of MeLi adducts, among them the diethyl ether adduct (MeLi·Et2O)4, exhibit varying arrangements of the α-hydrogen atoms relative to lithium. α-Hydrogen orientations differ even when changing the stereochemistry of the ligand in dimeric adducts. Computations confirm only weak stabilizing effects of agostic Li–H interactions, which compete with other aspects of the spatial situation in the formed aggregates. NPA and QTAIM analyses on different aggregates (e.g. monomer, dimer, tetramer, extended crystal environment) with different co-ligands reveal a complicated relation between the degree of aggregation and Li–C bond polarity but a more clearcut dependence on the lithium coordination number.

Positive attributes are more prevalent than negative attributes in the social environment. From this basic assumption, 2 implications that have been overlooked thus far: Positive compared with negative attributes are more likely to be shared by individuals, and people's shared attributes (similarities) are more positive than their unshared attributes (differences). Consequently, similarity-based comparisons should lead to more positive evaluations than difference-based comparisons. We formalized our probabilistic reasoning in a model and tested its predictions in a simulation and 8 experiments (N = 1,181). When participants generated traits about 2 target persons, positive compared with negative traits were more likely to be shared by the targets (Experiment 1a) and by other participants' targets (Experiment 1b). Conversely, searching for targets' shared traits resulted in more positive traits than searching for unshared traits (Experiments 2, 4a, and 4b). In addition, positive traits were more accessible than negative traits among shared traits but not among unshared traits (Experiment 3). Finally, shared traits were only more positive when positive traits were indeed prevalent (Experiments 5 and 6). The current framework has a number of implications for comparison processes and provides a new interpretation of well-known evaluative asymmetries such as intergroup bias and self-superiority effects. (PsycINFO Database Record

Evaluative conditioning (EC) refers to valence changes in neutral stimuli (CSs) through repeated pairing with liked or disliked stimuli (USs). The present study examined the stability of EC effects in the course of 1 week. We investigated how this stability depends on memory for US valence and US identity. We also investigated whether CSs evaluations occurring immediately after conditioning (i.e., evaluative consolidation) are necessary for stable EC effects. Participants showed stable EC effects on direct and indirect measures, independent of evaluations immediately after conditioning. EC effects depended on memory for US valence but not for US identity. And although memory decreased significantly over time, EC effects remained stable. These data suggest that evaluative consolidation is not necessary, and that conditioned preferences and attitudes might persist even when people do not remember the concrete source anymore.

Item does not contain fulltext Previous research argued that stereotypes differ primarily on the 2 dimensions of warmth/communion and competence/agency. We identify an empirical gap in support for this notion. The theoretical model constrains stereotypes a priori to these 2 dimensions; without this constraint, participants might spontaneously employ other relevant dimensions. We fill this gap by complementing the existing theory-driven approaches with a data-driven approach that allows an estimation of the spontaneously employed dimensions of stereotyping. Seven studies (total N = 4,451) show that people organize social groups primarily based on their agency/socioeconomic success (A), and as a second dimension, based on their conservative–progressive beliefs (B). Communion (C) is not found as a dimension by its own, but rather as an emergent quality in the two-dimensional space of A and B, resulting in a 2D ABC model of stereotype content about social groups. 35 p.

Judges often evaluate stimulus series on dimensions for which no physical scale exists; for example, when judging academic ability in oral examinations. We propose that judges deal with this problem by calibrating an internal judgment scale that maps stimulus input onto available judgment categories. This calibration process implies serial position effects: Judges should initially avoid extreme categories, because using extreme categories reduces judgmental degrees of freedom, thereby increasing the possibility of internal consistency violations. In four experiments, we show that judgments become indeed more extreme later in a series of judgments. Judges evaluated the same good (poor) performances more positive (negative) at the end of a sequence compared to the beginning. Judges’ expertise did not prevent the effect, but allowing end-of-sequence judgments reduced serial position effects. We discuss the implications and possible remedies of these calibration effects on judgment extremity.

Evaluative conditioning (EC) refers to changes in people's evaluative responses toward initially neutral stimuli (CSs) by mere spatial and temporal contiguity with other positive or negative stimuli (USs). We investigate whether changing CS features from conditioning to evaluation also changes people's evaluative response toward these CSs. We used computer-generated male faces as CSs and paired them with other positively or negatively evaluated faces. When participants evaluated the CS faces, they either appeared unchanged, with glasses, with beards, or glasses and beards. Unchanged faces showed a clear conditioning effect, while all other face versions showed no significant conditioning effects. The conditioning effect also depended on participants’ awareness of a CS's respective US. These results mirror configural explanations of stimulus generalization in classical conditioning, with implications for EC as explanation for attitude acquisition and learning of likes and dislikes in everyday life.

The reaction of [Pd{CH2SiPh2(CH2NC5H10)-κ2C,N}(μ-Cl)]2 (CH2NC5H10 = piperidinomethyl) with KSCN led to the centrosymmetric dimer [Pd{CH2SiPh2(CH2NC5H10)-κ2C,N}(μ-SCN-κ1S,κ1N)]2, which features side-on bridging thiocyanate ligands. However, the analogous reaction of the chlorido-bridged starting material with NaN3 yielded the dimer [Pd{CH2SiPh2(CH2NC5H10)-κ2C,N}(μ-N3-κ1κ1N)]2, in which the azido ligands exhibit end-on coordination. This complex persists as a mixture of cis and trans isomers in solution. Lastly, the square tetrametallic complex [Pd{CH2SiPh2(CH2NC5H10)-κ2C,N}(μ-CN-κ1C,κ1N)]4 was obtained from the reaction between the parent chlorido-bridged complex and AgCN. In solution, this compound forms an equilibrium between the tetra- and trimetallic species. Thermodynamic data (equilibrium constants and free energies in CDCl3 and C6D6, and enthalpy and entropy in CDCl3) were determined and show that the formation of the trimetallic isomer is thermodynamically disfavored [Keq = (1.93 ± 0.07) × 10–4 mol L–1 and ΔGeq = 20.83 ± 0.11 kJ mol–1 in CDCl3, Keq = (4.5 ± 0.2) × 10–5 mol L–1 and ΔGeq = 24.40 ± 0.14 kJ mol–1 in C6D6] and that the variation in the enthalpy and entropy are positive (ΔH = 75 ± 5 kJ mol–1 and ΔS = 186 ± 15 J mol–1 K–1 in CDCl3).

Objectives Judges avoid extreme judgments in the beginning of evaluation sequences. The calibration hypothesis attributes this bias to judges’ need to preserve their judgmental degrees of freedom. It follows that the expectation of a sequence leads to avoiding extreme judgments in the beginning. Thus, judges may make extreme judgments if they expect only one performance but should avoid extreme judgments if they expect a sequence. Design A between-group design was used. Method One experimental group ( n = 21) expected to judge only one gymnastics performance whereas the other group ( n = 20) expected to judge a sequence of performances. Both groups then judged only one identical performance. Results Groups differed significantly in the frequency of extreme judgments. Participants expecting one performance used extreme judgment categories more often; participants expecting a series avoided extreme judgments. Conclusion The results support calibration processes in sequential judgments. The specification of the underlying process will allow testing possible interventions to avoid serial position biases in serial evaluations in the future.

Whether human evaluative conditioning can occur without contingency awareness has been the subject of an intense and ongoing debate for decades, troubled by a wide array of methodological difficulties. Following recent methodological innovations, the available evidence currently points to the conclusion that evaluative conditioning effects do not occur without contingency awareness. In a simulation, we demonstrate, however, that these innovations are strongly biased toward the conclusion that evaluative conditioning requires contingency awareness, confounding the measurement of contingency memory with conditioned attitudes. We adopt a process-dissociation procedure to separate the memory and attitude components. In 4 studies, the attitude parameter is validated using existing attitudes and applied to probe for contingency-unaware evaluative conditioning. A fifth experiment incorporates a time-delay manipulation confirming the dissociability of the attitude and memory components. The results indicate that evaluative conditioning can produce attitudes without conscious awareness of the contingencies. Implications for theories of evaluative conditioning and associative learning are discussed.

Evaluative conditioning (EC) is commonly conceived as stimulus-driven associative learning. Here, we show that internally generated encoding activities mediate EC effects: Neutral conditioned stimuli (CS) faces were paired with positive and negative unconditioned stimuli (US) faces. Depending on the encoding task (Is CS a friend vs. enemy of US?), Experiment 1 yielded either normal EC effects (CS adopting US valence) or a reversal. This pattern was conditional on the degree to which encoding judgements affirmed friend or enemy encoding schemes. Experiments 2a and 2b replicated these findings with more clearly valenced US faces and controlling for demand effects. Experiment 3 demonstrated unconditional encoding effects when participants generated friend or enemy relations between CS and US faces. Explicitly stated friend or enemy relations in Experiment 4 left EC effects unaffected. Together, these findings testify to the importance of higher order cognitive processes in conditioning, much in line with recent evidence on the crucial role of conditioning awareness.

Evaluative conditioning is the valence transfer from positive or negative stimuli to initially neutral stimuli through repeated co-occurrences of those stimuli. Theoretically, it should also be possible to condition non-evaluative attributes. Three experiments show the transfer of a non-evaluative attribute: By repeatedly presenting neutral people with athletic or nonathletic people, initially neutral people became more athletic while valence was controlled for statistically and experimentally. A fourth experiment generalizes the effect to shapes and nonwords as neutral stimuli. Athleticism transfer was found on direct ratings and indirect measures (a modified affect misattribution procedure and a categorical priming task). These data broaden the applicability of conditioning as a procedure for trait acquisition with important practical implications for advertising and brand image formation.

Causal impact is maximal when weak causes have strong effects. Do people understand this logic when they assess causal impact? In four experiments, participants judged the causal impact of strong or weak dietary treatments leading to strong or weak health effects in fictitious health studies. Rather than following the ratio of effect strength to treatment strength, judgments were influenced by three aspects of the detectability of a cause–effect relation. First, because detectability depends on the effect being strong more than on the cause being subtle, causal judgments were mainly determined by effect strength, whereas the strength of the causal treatment necessary to induce an effect was often neglected. Second, if causal input was not ignored, judgments increased when the maximal covariation between a strong causal treatment and a strong effect rendered the causal link most detectable. Or, third, causal judgments increased when a plausible causal schema facilitated detection. Consistent with sampling models of judgment and decision making, causal-impact ratings were driven by an uncritical assessment of a detectable difference in a study sample. However, ratings were insensitive to the logical implications of the underlying causal treatment that was necessary to induce a detectable effect. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The attractiveness of lotteries that vary in p (probability) and o (outcome) depends on the presentation mode of p and o information. Extending previous findings on temporally experienced p, we manipulate the numerically stated versus spatially experienced format of both p (graphical presentation of a distribution of lottery tickets in an urn) and o (distribution of money notes). Lottery attractiveness ratings were sensitive to the expected value (EV), but p received more weight than o at constant EV levels (p-dominance). Both EV sensitivity and p-dominance were enhanced for experienced p and numerical o. This format particularly revealed the unattractiveness of low-p lotteries. Experiencing p was functional in terms of accuracy and high-risk avoidance, but only when the task environments rendered p diagnostic of EV. The presentation mode manipulations did not affect the initial perception stage but the relative weighting of p and o in the final judgment integration stage. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Traditional Muslim headscarves are called hijabs. The authors show that hijabs and headscarves are closely associated with people’s mental representation of “typical” Muslim women in Germany. They then investigate the influence of wearing such hijabs on acceptance rates in a human resources selection procedure. In this paradigm, the authors demonstrate a selection bias against women wearing hijabs: Although factual information about academic achievements had the largest effect on participants' decisions, decisions on all achievement levels were biased against women wearing hijabs. This pattern was substantiated by participants' response latencies; women wearing hijabs were more quickly rejected and more slowly accepted compared to women not wearing hijabs. The authors discuss these results' implications for public referendums (e.g., in Switzerland, 2009) and policy making (e.g., in France, 2004; in Germany, 2005) regarding Islamic culture.

Processing of evaluative information is a central theme in social cognition research. Most studies focus on processing advantages associated with negative information. Here, we demonstrate and explain the faster processing of positive information. Building on the "density" hypothesis (Unkelbach et al., 2008), we predicted that this advantage is explained by higher subjective exposure to positive information, and not valence per se. We argue that subjective exposure is a phenomenological proxy for informational density in memory. Three studies confirmed this prediction. Study 1 found that people were faster to identify positive than negative words. Using path analysis, Study 2 demonstrated that subjective exposure accounted for this valence effect. Study 3 replicated these findings when objective frequency was controlled across positive and negative valence. The implications for theories of how evaluative information is detected, processed, and retrieved are discussed.

Frequency judgments tend to be subadditive: A category's frequency is judged to be lower than the summed frequency of its subcategories. Thus, by splitting or merging categories, subjective frequencies increase or decrease, respectively. We offer an account of this phenomenon that is based on the statistical principle of regression. Because empirical information is never noise-free, high frequencies are underestimated, and low frequencies are overestimated. The underlying regression principle explains available evidence on subadditivity and allows novel predictions. The findings from two experiments supported predictions derived from the regression account of frequency estimates for split and merged categories: Subadditivity varied systematically as a function of the two parameters determining regression (extremity and reliability). More extreme frequencies and reduced reliability led to increased regression effects. Theoretical implications for subadditive judgments (of frequency, probability, and/or value) are discussed. Although other factors may contribute to subadditivity, their influence needs to exceed the baseline expected from the regression model alone.

Can good or bad mood induced by the weather influence people’s ability to correctly remember everyday scenes? In this unobtrusive field study, we predicted and found that weather-induced negative mood improved memory accuracy. Randomly selected shoppers on bright, sunny days (good mood) or on cloudy, rainy days (bad mood) saw 10 unusual objects in the check-out area of a suburban shop, and their recall and recognition memory for these objects was later tested. Shoppers in a negative mood showed better memory and higher discrimination ability. The cognitive mechanisms responsible for everyday mood effects on memory performance are discussed, and the implications of these findings for current affect/cognition theories and applied areas are considered.

Objectives According to regulatory focus theory, goal pursuit can be achieved by either keeping a promotion or a prevention focus [Higgins, E. T. (1997). Beyond pleasure and pain. American Psychologist, 52, 1280–1300; Higgins, E. T. (2000). Making a good decision: value from fit. American Psychologist, 55, 1217–1230]. Moreover, it has been assumed that people experience fit when they pursue a goal in a manner that sustains their chronic orientation and that fit has a positive impact on performance. In two studies, we investigated the significance of regulatory focus and fit in the realm of sports performance, such as the success rate in a soccer penalty-shooting task. Methods and Results In a pilot study, we assessed the chronic regulatory orientation of 211 athletes from different sports. Among others, we found more promotion focus with attackers than with defenders. In the main study, we assessed the chronic regulatory orientation of 20 soccer players who took part in a penalty-shooting task. For half of them, the task was described in terms of promotion, for the others in terms of prevention. We found a positive impact of regulatory fit on scoring performance. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate a great potential of regulatory focus theory for the understanding and enhancement of sport performance. The assessment of athletes' chronic regulatory orientation could be of importance for the selection of athletes, the adjustment of tactics and strategies, and coaches' framing of instructions.

Does Islamic appearance increase aggressive tendencies, and what role does affect play in such responses? In a computer game, participants made rapid decisions to shoot at armed people, some of whom wore Islamic head dress. We predicted and found a significant bias for participants to shoot more at Muslim targets. We also predicted and found that positive mood selectively increased aggressive tendencies towards Muslims, consistent with affect-cognition theories that predict a more top-down, stereotypical processing style in positive mood. In contrast, induced anger increased the propensity to shoot at all targets. The relevance of these results for our understanding of real-life negative reactions towards Muslims is discussed, and the influence of affective states on rapid aggressive responses is considered.

Referees in German first-league soccer games do not award as many yellow cards in the beginning of a game as should be statistically expected. One explanation for this effect is the concept of game management (Mascarenhas, Collins, & Mortimer, 2002). Alternatively, the consistency model (Haubensak, 1992) explains the effect as a necessity of the judgment situation: Referees need to calibrate a judgment scale, and, to preserve degrees of freedom in that scale, they need to avoid extreme category judgments in the beginning (i.e., yellow cards). Experiment 1 shows that referees who judge scenes in the context of a game award fewer yellow cards than referees who see the same scenes in random order. Experiment 2 shows the combined influence of game management (by explicitly providing information about the game situation) and calibration (early vs. late scenes in the time course of a game). Theoretical implications for expert refereeing and referee training are discussed.

Zusammenfassung. In einer Datenbankanalyse wird gezeigt, dass in der ersten Viertelstunde eines Fußballspiels signifikant weniger persönliche Verwarnungen (“gelbe Karten”) ausgesprochen werden als im Rest des Spiels. Neben pragmatischen Gründen (z. B. keine Wiederholungsfouls zu Beginn) erklären wir diesen Effekt als Resultat einer notwendigen Kalibrierung der Schiedsrichter. Nach dem Konsistenzmodell ( Haubensak, 1992a ) für solche Urteile entwickeln Menschen (Schiedsrichterinnen und Schiedsrichter) zu Beginn einer Stimulusserie (des Spiels) eine Urteilsskala und verwenden diese konsistent (über die gesamte Spielzeit). Diese Urteilsskala muss zunächst kalibriert werden: würden leichte Vergehen zu Beginn als “gelbe Karte” klassifiziert, müssten alle nachfolgenden Vergehen gleicher oder größerer Schwere ebenfalls zu gelben Karten führen. Da aber eine Norm herrscht, persönliche Verwarnungen sparsam einzusetzen, können zu Beginn des Spiels nur wenige gelbe Karten vergeben werden; d. h. objektiv sollte für ein Vergehen zu Beginn mit höherer Wahrscheinlichkeit eine gelbe Karte gegeben werden als dies realiter der Fall ist. Diese Vorhersage wurde in einem Experiment getestet und die Implikationen für die Urteilssituation von Schiedsrichterinnen und Schiedsrichtern werden diskutiert.

The density hypothesis (Unkelbach, Fiedler, Bayer, Stegmuller, & Danner, 2008) claims a general higher similarity of positive information to other positive information compared with the similarity of negative information to other negative information. This similarity asymmetry might explain valence asymmetries on all levels of cognitive processing. The available empirical evidence for this general valence asymmetry in similarity suffers from a lack of direct tests, low representativeness, and possible confounding variables (e.g., differential valence intensity, frequency, familiarity, or concreteness of positive and negative stimuli). To address these problems, Study 1 first validated the spatial arrangement method (SpAM) as a similarity measure. Using SpAM, Studies 2-6 found the proposed valence asymmetry in large, representative samples of self- and other-generated words (Studies 2a/2b), for words of consensual and idiosyncratic valence (Study 3), for words from 1 and many independent information sources (Study 4), for real-life experiences (Study 5), and for large data sets of verbal (i.e., ∼14,000 words reported by Warriner, Kuperman, & Brysbaert, 2013) and visual information (i.e., ∼1,000 pictures reported in the IAPS; Lang, Bradley, & Cuthbert, 2005; Study 6). Together, these data support a general valence asymmetry in similarity, namely that good is more alike than bad. (PsycINFO Database Record

The sampling approach [Fiedler, K. (2000a). Beware of samples! A cognitive-ecological sampling approach to judgment biases. Psychological Review, 107(4), 659–676.] attributes judgment biases to the information given in a sample. Because people usually do not monitor the constraints of samples and do not control their judgments accordingly, systematic judgment biases occur. Three experiments demonstrate this for an obvious sampling constraint, the emptiness of merely repeated information. When evaluating stock market shares, participants did not correct for the repetition of positive or negative information about a share. Although original and repeated information was reliably distinguished in estimates of occurrence (successful monitoring), preferences were misled by mere repetition of success and failure reports (unsuccessful control). This effect could even override a share’s actual success rate. Explicit instructions to ignore repetitions provided no remedy; however, a cognitive load manipulation reduced repetition’s undue influence. Possible reasons for and benefits of this lack of direct metacognitive control are discussed.

The pseudocontingency (PC) illusion is investigated in a simulated classroom setting. Related to the notion of ecological correlations, PCs arise when the assessment of contingencies at the individual level is affected by the base-rate relations at the group level. Positive PCs arise when base rates of 2 variables are skewed in the same direction (e.g., high ability and high motivation), whereas negative PCs arise when base rates are skewed in opposite directions. Experiment 1 demonstrates that PCs between student ability and motivation are contingent on effective base-rate assessment at the group level, with a bias toward positive PCs reflecting prior expectancies. Ruling out prior expectancies, Experiment 2 yields symmetric positive and negative PCs. Experiment 3 provides evidence for PC effects on gender stereotypes. Finally, Experiment 4 extends PCs from group base rates to individual student base rates, ruling out an explanation in terms of capacity deficits or inability to assess individuating information.

Zusammenfassung: Nach dem Stichprobenansatz ( Fiedler, 2000 ) entstehen viele Urteilsfehler nicht unbedingt durch kognitive Defizite, sondern durch den Prozess des Sammelns von Informationen. Die daraus resultierende Informationsstichprobe kann aus vielerlei Gründen unzulänglich oder verzerrt sein, wobei Menschen sich dieser Verzerrungen und Unzulänglichkeiten in der Regel nicht bewusst sind. Wir präsentieren drei Experimente, bei denen sowohl ausgebildete Trainerinnen und Trainer als auch Studierende eine fehlende Sensibilität für Manipulationen der Informationsstichprobe zeigten. Die Aufgabe bestand darin, entweder einen Fußballspieler (Exp. 1 & 3) oder verschiedene Sportarten (Exp. 2) aufgrund von erinnerten Informationen zu bewerten. Dabei wurde die Menge an positiver und negativer Informationen in den subjektiven Gedächtnisstichproben durch “Category-Split” ( Fiedler & Armbruster, 1994 ) und die Abrufleichtigkeit ( Schwarz et al., 1991 ) manipuliert. Die Urteile spiegelten die Information in den Gedächtnisstichproben wieder, d. h. die offensichtlichen Verzerrungen wurden nicht korrigiert. Die Implikationen dieser Befunde für Bewertungen im Sport und die Sportberichterstattung werden diskutiert.

When people rapidly judge the truth of claims presented with or without related but nonprobative photos, the photos tend to inflate the subjective truth of those claims--a "truthiness" effect (Newman et al., 2012). For example, people more often judged the claim "Macadamia nuts are in the same evolutionary family as peaches" to be true when the claim appeared with a photo of a bowl of macadamia nuts than when it appeared alone. We report several replications of that effect and 3 qualitatively new findings: (a) in a within-subjects design, when people judged claims paired with a mix of related, unrelated, or no photos, related photos produced truthiness but unrelated photos had no significant effect relative to no photos; (b) in a mixed design, when people judged claims paired with related (or unrelated) and no photos, related photos produced truthiness and unrelated photos produced "falseness;" and (c) in a fully between design, when people judged claims paired with either related, unrelated, or no photos, neither truthiness nor falsiness occurred. Our results suggest that photos influence people's judgments when a discrepancy arises in the expected ease of processing, and also support a mechanism in which-against a backdrop of an expected standard-related photos help people generate pseudoevidence to support claims.

The limited structural diversity that a compound library represents severely restrains the discovery of bioactive small molecules for medicinal chemistry and chemical biology research, and thus calls for developing new divergent synthetic approaches to structurally diverse and complex scaffolds. Here we present a de novo branching cascades approach wherein simple primary substrates follow different cascade reactions to create various distinct molecular frameworks in a scaffold diversity phase. Later, the scaffold elaboration phase introduces further complexity to the scaffolds by creating a number of chiral centres and incorporating new hetero- or carbocyclic rings. Thus, employing N-phenyl hydroxylamine, dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate and allene ester as primary substrates, a compound collection of sixty one molecules representing seventeen different scaffolds is built up that delivers a potent tubulin inhibitor, as well as inhibitors of the Hedgehog signalling pathway. This work highlights the immense potential of cascade reactions to deliver compound libraries enriched in structural and functional diversity.

The fluency of cognitive processes influences many judgments: Fluently processed statements are judged to be true, fluently processed instances are judged to be frequent, and fluently processed names are judged to be famous. According to a cue-learning approach, these effects of experienced fluency arise because the fluency cue is interpreted differentially in accordance with its learned validity. Two experiments tested this account by manipulating the fluency cue's validity. Fluency was manipulated by color contrast (Experiment 1) and by required mental rotation (Experiment 2). If low fluency was correlated with a required affirmative or “old” response (and high fluency with a negative or “new” response) in a training phase, participants showed a reversal of the classic pattern in the recognition phase: Low-fluency stimuli had a higher probability than high-fluency stimuli to be classified as old. Thus, the interpretation and therefore the impact of fluency depended on the cue's learned validity.

Charles Dickens started his novel A Tale of Two Cities with the words ‘‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, . . .’’ (Dickens, 1859). Looking back at the last year of Social Psychology, I believe this introduction could be the evaluation, rather than the introduction. It sums up everything in an eloquent clarity that most writers strive for, but hardly ever achieve. Luckily, scientific writing places a premium on content rather than style most of the time, so let me fill these broad evaluative strokes with some content.

Five years ago, the editorial board of the German-language based Zeitschrift fur Sozialpsychologie followed the advice of Mark Twain quoted above: In order to be consistent in publishing high quality research, they changed to an English-language based publication format and changed the title to Social Psychology, giving the journal its present shape. The success of this change is visible in many indicators, which I will describe below. However, to continue this success, the journal will further change in 2013. Most immediately and visibly, Social Psychology is extending its editorial team; it is my pleasure to welcome Alison Ledgerwood from the University of California at Davis, and Markus Kemmelmeier from the University of Nevada at Reno, as associate editors. In addition, the baton of Editor-in-Chief has passed from Hans-Peter Erb to me – a responsibility that I assume with great humility, as the journal has thrived within the last 2 years. I would like to take the opportunity to thank Hans-Peter Erb and his assistant Deborah Thoben for all the work they invested to make Social Psychology such a prospering journal. Their success is directly visible from hard facts about Social Psychology.