Searching for Prosociality in Qualitative Data: Comparing Manual, Closed-Vocabulary, and Open-Vocabulary Methods

Although most people present themselves as possessing prosocial traits, people differ in the extent to which they actually act prosocially in everyday life. Qualitative data that were not ostensibly collected to measure prosociality might contain information about prosocial dispositions that is not distorted by self–presentation concerns. This paper seeks to characterise charitable donors from qualitative data. We compared a manual approach of extracting predictors from participants’ self–described personal strivings to two automated approaches: A summation of words predefined as prosocial and a support vector machine classifier. Although variables extracted by the support vector machine predicted donation behaviour well in the training sample ( N = 984), virtually, no variables from any method significantly predicted donations in a holdout sample ( N = 496). Raters’ attempts to predict donations to charity based on reading participants’ personal strivings were also unsuccessful. However, raters’ predictions were associated with past charitable involvement. In sum, predictors derived from personal strivings did not robustly explain variation in charitable behaviour, but personal strivings may nevertheless contain some information about trait prosociality. The sparseness of personal strivings data, rather than the irrelevance of open–ended text or individual differences in goal pursuit, likely explains their limited value in predicting prosocial behaviour. © 2020 European Association of Personality Psycholog

Autonomic physiological data associated with simulator discomfort

The development of a physiological monitoring capability for the Army's advanced helicopter simulator facility is reported. Additionally, preliminary physiological data is presented. Our objective was to demonstrate the sensitivity of physiological measures in this simulator to self-reported simulator sickness. The data suggested that heart period, hypergastria, and skin conductance level were more sensitive to simulator sickness than were vagal tone and normal electrogastric activity

Perceived goal instrumentality is associated with forgiveness: A test of the valuable relationships hypothesis

Three autobiographical studies tested the valuable relationships hypothesis of forgiveness. Although previous studies revealed that relationship value predicts interpersonal forgiveness, the measure of relationship value may be conflated with affective assessments of the relationship with the transgressor, which might have caused a criterion contamination problem. Therefore, we assessed the goal-related instrumentality of the transgressor (i.e., how useful the transgressor is for helping the victim to achieve his/her goals in fitness-relevant domains). Three studies, one involving a Japanese student sample (Study 1), a second involving Japanese community sample (Study 2), and a third involving U.S. community sample (Study 3), convergently showed that perceived goal instrumentality, as well as a latent relationship value variable estimated from multiple measures of relationship value, are associated with forgiveness. Moreover, this association could be explained in part by the intermediate association of perceived goal instrumentality with empathy both in Japan and the U.S

An evaluation of the effectiveness of the crew resource management programme in naval aviation

The US Navy’s Crew Resource Management (CRM) training programme has not been evaluated within the last decade. Reactions were evaluated by analysing 51,570 responses to an item pertaining to CRM that is part of a safety climate survey. A total of 172 responses were obtained on a knowledge test. The attitudes of 553 naval aviators were assessed using an attitudes questionnaire. The CRM mishap rate from 1997 until 2007 was evaluated. It was found that naval aviators appear to think than CRM training is useful, are generally knowledgeable of, and display positive attitudes towards, the concepts addressed in the training. However, there is a lack of evidence to support the view that CRM training is having an effect on the mishap rate. As the next generation of highly automated aircraft becomes part of naval aviation, there is a need to ensure that CRM training evolves to meet this new challenge

A demonstration of motion base design alternatives for the National Advanced Driving Simulator

A demonstration of the capability of NASA's Vertical Motion Simulator to simulate two alternative motion base designs for the National Advanced Driving simulator (NADS) is reported. The VMS is located at ARC. The motion base conditions used in this demonstration were as follows: (1) a large translational motion base; and (2) a motion base design with limited translational capability. The latter had translational capability representative of a typical synergistic motion platform. These alternatives were selected to test the prediction that large amplitude translational motion would result in a lower incidence or severity of simulator induced sickness (SIS) than would a limited translational motion base. A total of 10 drivers performed two tasks, slaloms and quick-stops, using each of the motion bases. Physiological, objective, and subjective measures were collected. No reliable differences in SIS between the motion base conditions was found in this demonstration. However, in light of the cost considerations and engineering challenges associated with implementing a large translation motion base, performance of a formal study is recommended

Forgiveness takes place on an attitudinal continuum from hostility to friendliness: Toward a closer union of forgiveness theory and measurement.

Researchers commonly conceptualize forgiveness as a rich complex of psychological changes involving attitudes, emotions, and behaviors. Psychometric work with the measures developed to capture this conceptual richness, however, often points to a simpler picture of the psychological dimensions in which forgiveness takes place. In an effort to better unite forgiveness theory and measurement, we evaluate several psychometric models for common measures of forgiveness. In doing so, we study people from the United States and Japan to understand forgiveness in both nonclose and close relationships. In addition, we assess the predictive utility of these models for several behavioral outcomes that traditionally have been linked to forgiveness motives. Finally, we use the methods of item response theory, which place person abilities and item responses on the same metric and, thus, help us draw psychological inferences from the ordering of item difficulties. Our results highlight models based on correlated factors models and bifactor (S-1) models. The bifactor (S-1) model evinced particular utility: Its general factor consistently predicts variation in relevant criterion measures, including 4 different experimental economic games (when played with a transgressor), and also suffuses a second self-report measure of forgiveness. Moreover, the general factor of the bifactor (S-1) model identifies a single psychological dimension that runs from hostility to friendliness while also pointing to other sources of variance that may be conceived of as method factors. Taken together, these results suggest that forgiveness can be usefully conceptualized as prosocial change along a single attitudinal continuum that ranges from hostility to friendliness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)

Dispersal, niche breadth and population extinction: colonization ratios predict range size in N orth A merican dragonflies

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/107541/1/jane12181.pd

Variation in Organophosphate Pesticide Metabolites in Urine of Children Living in Agricultural Communities

Children of migrant farmworkers are at increased risk of exposure to organophosphate pesticides because of “carry-home” transport processes and residential location. Although this at-risk status is generally recognized, few available reports describe the extent of this exposure among agricultural communities. We quantified dialkyl phosphate (DAP) levels in serial samples of urine from 176 children, 2–6 years of age, in three Oregon communities hosting differing agricultural industries: pears, cherries, and fruit berries. Up to three spot samples of urine were collected from children at the beginning, mid-point, and end of their parents’ work seasons. The median levels of dimethylthiophosphate (DMTP), the most commonly detected metabolite, was significantly higher in urine samples from children in each of the three agricultural communities (17.5, 19.0, and 41.0 ng/mL) relative to a reference group of children who lived in an urban community and whose parents did not work in agriculture (6.5 ng/mL; Kruskal-Wallis, p < 0.001). After controlling for age, sex, and weight, the median level of DMTP in children in the pear community was 1.92 times higher than the level in children of the berry community [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.14–3.23] and 1.75 times higher than the level in children of the cherry community (95% CI, 0.95–3.23). We observed increasing levels of DMTP across the work season only within the berry community. Levels decreased in the cherry community and remained constant in the pear community. Substantial temporal variation within the children followed demonstrates the need for multiple urine samples to most accurately characterize longer term and/or cumulative exposure. The observed variability in urinary DAP levels, between communities and over time, could be attributed to the types and amounts of organophosphate pesticides used, the timing of applications and degradation of residues in the environment, work operations and hygiene practices, the proximity of housing to orchards and fields, or the movement of these working families. Additional studies of variation in pesticide exposure across agricultural regions are needed

Cross-scale interactions and the distribution-abundance relationship.

Positive interspecific relationships between local abundance and extent of regional distribution are among the most ubiquitous patterns in ecology. Although multiple hypotheses have been proposed, the mechanisms underlying distribution-abundance (d-a) relationships remain poorly understood. We examined the intra- and interspecific distribution-abundance relationships for a metacommunity of 13 amphibian species sampled for 15 consecutive years. Mean density of larvae in occupied ponds was positively related to number of ponds occupied by species; employing the fraction of ponds uniquely available to each species this same relationship sharply decelerates. The latter relationship suggested that more abundant species inhabited most available habitats annually, whereas rarer species were dispersal limited. We inferred the mechanisms responsible for this pattern based on the dynamics of one species, Pseudacris triseriata, which transitioned between a rare, narrowly distributed species to a common, widely distributed species and then back again. Both transitions were presaged by marked changes in mean local densities driven by climatic effects on habitat quality. We identified threshold densities separating these population regime shifts that differed with landscape configuration. Our data suggest that these transitions were caused by strong cross-scale interactions between local resource/niche processes and larger scale metapopulation processes. The patterns we observed have relevance for understanding the mechanisms of interspecific d-a relationships and critical thresholds associated with habitat fragmentation

Single-Cell Transcriptomic Profiling of Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived SCGB3A2+ Airway Epithelium.

Lung epithelial lineages have been difficult to maintain in pure form in&nbsp;vitro, and lineage-specific reporters have proven invaluable for monitoring their emergence from cultured pluripotent stem cells (PSCs). However, reporter constructs for tracking proximal airway lineages generated from PSCs have not been previously available, limiting the characterization of these cells. Here, we engineer mouse and human PSC lines carrying airway secretory lineage reporters that facilitate the tracking, purification, and profiling of this lung subtype. Through bulk and single-cell-based global transcriptomic profiling, we find PSC-derived airway secretory cells are susceptible to phenotypic plasticity exemplified by the tendency to co-express both a proximal airway secretory program as well as an alveolar type 2 cell program, which can be minimized by inhibiting endogenous Wnt signaling. Our results provide global profiles of engineered lung cell fates, a guide for improving their directed differentiation, and a human model of the developing airway