Tip of the tongue phenomenon: Is it simply a transmission failure?
The tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon was explored in light of its theoretical implications for models of lexical access. In particular, the transmission deficit theory of TOTs was tested by observing the effects of word frequency and recent word exposure on TOT incidence. TOTs were induced in 156 participants by asking them to retrieve both high and low-frequency words from definitions. Participants had earlier completed an ostensibly unrelated task in which half the target words (recency manipulation) were presented in either phonological or semantic rating tasks. A transmission deficit model would expect this task manipulation to show no exposure effect on TOTs following the phonological task, and an exposure by frequency interaction following the semantic task. The results tended to concur with these expectations, but there were some notable exceptions. Closer examination of the subject data revealed effects tending to vary with the age of participants. Examination of the item data suggested that lack of an exposure effect on TOT incidence might not be absolute, but reflective of no net change in TOTs. Results are discussed in terms of the hypothetical mechanisms underlying lexical retrieval and implications for the locus of TOTs.
The new ecological paradigm and responses to climate change in China
The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a Chinese-Mandarin version of the revised new ecological paradigm (NEP-R) scale. In a sample of 515 Mandarin-speaking Chinese nationals, we first assessed the factor structure and internal consistency of the NEP-R and assessed its validity by examining associations with global warming risk perceptions and mitigation behavior. Respondents completed the NEP-R scale, together with measures of risk perception and mitigation behavior. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a two-factor solution, reflecting ecocentric and anthropocentric worldviews, best fit the data. Multi-group path analysis revealed that respondents with stronger ecocentric and weaker anthropocentric worldviews perceived more risks associated with global warming. In turn, respondents who perceived more risks reported engaging in more global warming mitigation behaviors. But importantly, the path between risk perceptions and behavior was significantly stronger for highly educated respondents than for less educated respondents, suggesting that education may represent an important strategy for bridging the gap between perceived risks about global warming and action.
Psychology: from inquiry to understanding
'Psychology: From Inquiry to Understanding' continues its commitment to emphasise the importance of scientific-thinking skills. In the Second Australian Edition, our focus has been to better convey the excitement of psychological science to the reader, and to help the reader to connect the dots between inquiry and understanding. In addition, thanks to the ongoing support and feedback from instructors and students of our text, the Second Edition reflects many insightful and innovative updates that we believe enhance the text.
Individual differences in trait urgency moderate the role of the affect heuristic in adolescent binge drinking
This study investigated the roles of the affect heuristic and outcome beliefs in explaining the relationship between negative urgency and adolescent binge drinking behaviour. The sample consisted of 391 Australian high school students, who were selected to be low or high on urgency. We hypothesised that highly urgent adolescents would be more likely than adolescents low in urgency to utilise the affect heuristic (i.e., to rely upon affective input) when making alcohol-related decisions. Multiple-group path analysis supported this prediction. Adolescents high in urgency exhibited greater use of the affect heuristic by displaying a direct path from affective associations to binge drinking; whereas adolescents low in urgency exhibited greater reliance upon rational processing by displaying an indirect path via outcome beliefs
Two paths to memory distortion: Semantic and episodic contributions to the misinformation effect?
In order to investigate features of the misinformation effect, sixty-five participants viewed a 9-minute video (Day 1), then 24 hours later read a narrative description of the video events (Day 2). Narrative descriptions were manipulated by replacing 20 original items appearing in the video with either misinformation (semantically or non-semantically related to the original) or no misinformation (a superordinate alternative or omission). Twenty-four hours later, participants undertook either a recall test or a recognition test (Day 3). Semantic and non-semantic misinformation (Day 2) both reduced response accuracy (Day 3). Whereas semantic misinformation was more likely to be reproduced on Day 3 (misinformation interference), non-semantic misinformation was more likely to produce other responses (misinformation acceptance). Recognition testing produced greater accuracy, but was associated with more misinformation interference, while recall testing produced more misinformation acceptance. These results arguably provide support for independent contributions by episodic and semantic memories to erroneous memory reports.
Enhancing climate change communication: strategies for profiling and targeting Australian interpretive communities
This research aimed to provide practical information about how to design communications on climate change adaptation and target these to the Australian population. This was achieved by: (1) identifying and increasing awareness of different climate change audiences in Australia, and (2) evaluating how each audience responds to different types of climate change messages. ... Providing specific adaptation advice in messages was found to be effective for all communities. The results largely support the Extended Parallel Processing Model of risk communication (Witte, 1992), and suggest that message attributes should be adjusted to effectively communicate with different climate change interpretive communities within Australia.