What Cognitive Mechanisms Do People Reflect on When They Predict IAT Scores?

Research indicates that individuals can prospectively predict biases they will show on the implicit-association test (IAT). The present study uses the Quadruple process model to analyze data from Hahn, Judd, Hirsh, and Blair to investigate which cognitive mechanisms people reflect on when predicting their racial bias scores on the IAT. The Quadruple process model reveals that a combination of activated associations and self-regulatory control best explains what participants report when they predict their biases on the IAT. Furthermore, it appears to be specifically the total activation of positive attitudes toward Whites and negative attitudes toward minorities rather than negative attitudes toward minorities alone, that participants use to make their predictions.

Spontaneous integration of temporal information: implications for representational/computational capacity of animals

How do animals adapt their behaviors to changing conditions? This question relates to the debate between associative versus representational/computational approaches in cognitive science. An influential line of research that has significantly shaped the conceptual development of animal learning over decades has primarily focused on the role of associative dynamics with little-to-no ascription of representational/combinatorial capacities. The common assumption of these models is that behavioral adjustments are incremental and they result from updating of associations based on actions and their outcomes, without encoding the critical information serving as the determinant(s) of such contingencies (e.g., time in interval schedules, number in ratio schedules). On the other hand, an independent line of research provides evidence for behavioral phenomena that cannot be readily accounted for by the conventional associationist approach. In this paper, we will review different sets of findings particularly in the area of interval timing that suggest the ability of animals to make swift spontaneous computations on subjective quantities and incorporate them into their behavior. Findings of these studies constitute empirical challenges for the associationist approaches to behavioral flexibility. We argue that interval timing is a fertile ground for the formulation of critical tests of different theoretical approaches to animal behavior.

Statistical and methodological advances for a science of group processes and intergroup relations

This special issue of Group Processes and Intergroup Relations consists of eight articles that review recent statistical and methodological advances relevant to a science of social groups. Each article is purposely written to be accessible, and with an emphasis on practical details to facilitate application and integration into varied research programs.