Perceived Knowledge and Defense of Political Attitudes

Three experiments tested if perceived knowledge about a political issue predicted people’s willingness to engage with relatively weaker versus stronger belief-threatening information on that issue. Study 1 assessed people’s perceived knowledge on four political issues and, for each issue, manipulated whether participants chose between arguing against a weak versus moderate argument or a moderate versus strong argument. Only one issue provided some support for the primary hypothesis. When people believed they were not knowledgeable about the carbon tax, giving them a relatively stronger set of arguments to choose from (moderate versus strong) further increased their preferences for the weaker argument compared to an easier set of choices (weak versus moderate). When people believed they were high in knowledge of the carbon tax, the effect disappeared, demonstrating that they were more likely to engage with strong belief-inconsistent information. Study 2 tested whether perceived knowledge predicted people’s choices of whether to counter-argue versus ignore weak versus strong belief-inconsistent information. Perceived knowledge predicted preferences for counter-arguing both weak and strong messages, but the relationship was slightly stronger for strong messages. There was also a strong effect of condition such that people became significantly more likely to ignore the information when the information was strong than when it was weak. This effect was primarily driven by people’s expectations that they could not effectively counter-argue strong belief-inconsistent information. In Study 3, people chose between two debate partners that were either similar in knowledge versus substantially lower in knowledge or between partners that were similar in knowledge versus substantially higher in knowledge. When people believed they knew little about the debate topic (i.e. the death penalty), their choices were unaffected by the available options; when people believed they knew a lot about the topic, they consistently chose the more knowledgeable debate partner. These findings suggest that people’s perceived knowledge and their beliefs about their ability to effectively counter-argue belief-inconsistent information play an important role in how they decide to defend their beliefs

Oil and gas companies invest in legislators that vote against the environment.

Do campaign contributions from oil and gas companies influence legislators to vote against the environment, or do these companies invest in legislators that have a proven antienvironmental voting record? Using 28 y of campaign contribution data, we find that evidence consistently supports the investment hypothesis: The more a given member of Congress votes against environmental policies, the more contributions they receive from oil and gas companies supporting their reelection

Climate Change Activism Among Latino and White Americans

Research indicates that Latinos have particularly strong pro-environmental attitudes and support for policies to reduce climate change. This study explores differences in climate change activism (i.e., contacting government officials) between Latino and non-Latino White citizens in the United States, and the individual and social factors that predict engagement. Two parallel, nationally representative surveys find that Latinos (n = 1,433) are more likely than Whites (n = 861) to report having contacted a government official in the past and are more willing to contact officials in the future. Key predictors of Latinos' significantly higher levels of political engagement include greater risk perceptions, egalitarian worldviews, pro-environment injunctive norms, collective political efficacy, and greater social network effects. Competitive mediation analyses find that stronger risk perceptions best predict differences in climate change activism between Latinos and Whites. Climate change communicators might particularly seek to amplify Latinos' pro-climate tendencies (e.g., heightened risk perceptions) and social norms to encourage greater climate action by this vital and growing segment of the U.S. population

Response and Resistance to Paradox-Breaking BRAF Inhibitor in Melanomas

FDA-approved BRAF inhibitors produce high response rates and improve overall survival in patients with BRAF V600E/K-mutant melanoma, but are linked to pathologies associated with paradoxical ERK1/2 activation in wild-type BRAF cells. To overcome this limitation, a next-generation paradox-breaking RAF inhibitor (PLX8394) has been designed. Here, we show that by using a quantitative reporter assay, PLX8394 rapidly suppressed ERK1/2 reporter activity and growth of mutant BRAF melanoma xenografts. Ex vivo treatment of xenografts and use of a patient-derived explant system (PDeX) revealed that PLX8394 suppressed ERK1/2 signaling and elicited apoptosis more effectively than the FDA-approved BRAF inhibitor, vemurafenib. Furthermore, PLX8394 was efficacious against vemurafenibresistant BRAF splice variant-expressing tumors and reduced splice variant homodimerization. Importantly, PLX8394 did not induce paradoxical activation of ERK1/2 in wild-type BRAF cell lines or PDeX. Continued in vivo dosing of xenografts with PLX8394 led to the development of acquired resistance via ERK1/2 reactivation through heterogeneous mechanisms; however, resistant cells were found to have differential sensitivity to ERK1/2 inhibitor. These findings highlight the efficacy of a paradox-breaking selective BRAF inhibitor and the use of PDeX system to test the efficacy of therapeutic agents. © 2017 American Association for Cancer Research

Intensive Induction Chemotherapy Followed by Early High-Dose Therapy and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Results in Improved Outcome for Patients with Hepatosplenic T-Cell Lymphoma: A Single Institution Experience

AbstractIntroductionHepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma is a rare form of extranodal non-Hodgkin lymphoma, first recognized as a distinct entity in the Revised European-American Lymphoma classification. Typical presentation includes lymphomatous infiltration of spleen and liver, and peripheral lymphadenopathy is rarely seen. The prognosis is almost uniformly poor, and there are no prospective studies of treatment of HSTCL.Patients and MethodsFor this report, we conducted a retrospective review of all pts who underwent treatment for HSTCL at our institution. Individual chart review was performed to report clinical presentation, management, and outcome.ResultsWe identified 14 pts with HSTCL managed at our center, 7 of which remain alive with median follow-up of 65.6 months. Six of 7 received alternative induction chemotherapy regimens such as ICE (ifosfamide, carboplatin, etoposide) or IVAC (ifosfamide, etoposide, high-dose cytarabine) as opposed to CHOP and all surviving pts had proceeded to undergo either autologous or allogeneic SCT.ConclusionOur results suggest that use of non-CHOP induction regimen and early use of high dose therapy and SCT consolidation may translate to improved survival for pts with HSTCL

A Classroom Activity for Teaching Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development

In two studies, we demonstrate an engaging classroom activity that facilitates student learning about Kohlberg’s theory of moral development by using digital resources to foster active, experiential learning. In addition to hearing a standard lecture about moral development, students watched a video of a morally provocative incident, then worked in small groups to classify user comments posted in response to the video according to Kohlberg’s six stages. Students in both studies found the activity enjoyable and useful. Moreover, students’ scores on a moral development quiz improved after completing the activity (Study 1), and students who completed the activity in addition to receiving a lecture performed better on the quiz than students who received lecture alone (Study 2)

Discussing global warming leads to greater acceptance of climate science.

Climate change is an urgent global issue, with demands for personal, collective, and governmental action. Although a large body of research has investigated the influence of communication on public engagement with climate change, few studies have investigated the role of interpersonal discussion. Here we use panel data with 2 time points to investigate the role of climate conversations in shaping beliefs and feelings about global warming. We find evidence of reciprocal causality. That is, discussing global warming with friends and family leads people to learn influential facts, such as the scientific consensus that human-caused global warming is happening. In turn, stronger perceptions of scientific agreement increase beliefs that climate change is happening and human-caused, as well as worry about climate change. When assessing the reverse causal direction, we find that knowing the scientific consensus further leads to increases in global warming discussion. These findings suggest that climate conversations with friends and family enter people into a proclimate social feedback loop

Military Retention Incentives: Evidence from the Air Force Selective Reenlistment Bonus

The limited lateral entry and rigid pay structure for U.S. military personnel present challenges in retaining skilled individuals who have attractive options in the civilian labor market. One tool the services use to address this challenge is the Selective Reenlistment Bonus (SRB), which offers eligible personnel with particular skills a substantial cash bonus upon reenlistment. However, the sequential nature of the bonus offer and reenlistment process limits the ability to adjust manpower quickly, raising interest in research that estimates the effect of the SRB on retention. While this literature has acknowledged challenges including potential endogeneity of bonus levels, attrition, and reenlistment eligibility, many studies do not address these concerns adequately. This paper uses a comprehensive panel data set on Air Force enlisted personnel to estimate the effect of the SRB on retention rates. We exploit variation in bonus levels within skill groups, control for civilian labor market conditions, and model reenlistment eligibility to avoid common assumptions that lead to biased impact estimates. We find substantial heterogeneity in the effect of the bonus, with the largest effects on first-term service members and those whose skills have not historically received a substantial bonus. We also find evidence that the bonus affects the timing of reenlistment decisions in addition to their frequency

Life at both ends of the ladder: education-based identification and its association with well-being and social attitudes

Level of formal education is an important divide in contemporary societies; it is positively related to health, well-being, and social attitudes such as tolerance for minorities and interest in politics. We investigated whether education-based identification is a common underlying factor of these education effects. Indeed, education-based identification was stronger among the higher educated, especially for identification aspects that encompass education-based group esteem (i.e., the belief that one’s educational group is worthy and that others think so, too). Furthermore, while group esteem had beneficial effects across educational levels, aspects of identification that were unrelated to group esteem had positive effects for the higher educated but not for the less educated. Thus, the less educated do not benefit from the psychologically nourishing effect of identification that exists for other groups. The stigma and responsibility related to low education could be a common explanation for a wide range of outcomes