Determination of upper and lower limits combining different experimental results

This paper discusses how to combine different experimental results in order to obtain upper or lower limits of physical quantities in the case of null experiments. Reanalyzing some published results, half-life limits for p → e⁺π⁰, p → K⁺, and for the ⁷⁶Ge ββ(0ν)-decay to the ground state of ⁷⁶Se were determined as 5.7 × 10³², 1.4 × 10³² and 2.5 × 10²⁴ yr, respectively, at 90% Confidence Level. The Bayesian approach is adopted using a step function as the prior-probability density function of the decay constant.     

Age-related positivity enhancement is not universal: Older Chinese look away from positive stimuli.

Socioemotional selectivity theory postulates that with age, people are motivated to derive emotional meaning from life, leading them to pay more attention to positive relative to negative/neutral stimuli. The authors argue that cultures that differ in what they consider to be emotionally meaningful may show this preference to different extents. Using eye-tracking techniques, the authors compared visual attention toward emotional (happy, fearful, sad, and angry) and neutral facial expressions among 46 younger and 57 older Hong Kong Chinese. In contrast to prior Western findings, older but not younger Chinese looked away from happy facial expressions, suggesting that they do not show attentional preferences toward positive stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transsaccadic representation of layout: What is the time course of boundary extension?

How rapidly does boundary extension occur? Across experiments, trials included a 3-scene sequence (325 ms/picture), masked interval, and repetition of 1 scene. The repetition was the same view or differed (more close-up or wide angle). Observers rated the repetition as same as, closer than, or more wide angle than the original view on a 5-point scale. Masked intervals were 100, 250, 625, or 1,000 ms in Experiment 1 and 42, 100, or 250 ms in Experiments 2 and 3. Boundary extension occurred in all cases: Identical views were rated as too "close-up," and distractor views elicited the rating asymmetry typical of boundary extension (wider angle distractors were rated as being more similar to the original than were closer up distractors). Most important, boundary extension was evident when only a 42-ms mask separated the original and test views. Experiments 1 and 3 included conditions eliciting a gaze shift prior to the rating test; this did not eliminate boundary extension. Results show that boundary extension is available soon enough and is robust enough to play an on-line role in view integration, perhaps supporting incorporation of views within a larger spatial framework. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescence-limited versus persistent delinquency: Extending Moffitt's hypothesis into adulthood.

The authors examined how neuropsychological, personality, and environmental risk factors and their interactions were related to trajectories of delinquent behavior from adolescence to adulthood. Four waves of longitudinal data from 698 male participants, ages 12–18 at Time 1 and ages 25–31 at Time 4, were included in the analyses. Using a growth mixture model approach, 4 trajectories were identified: nondelinquents, adolescence-limited delinquents, adolescence-to-adulthood-persistent delinquents, and escalating delinquents. Five risk factors distinguished escalating from persistent delinquents and 5 also distinguished nondelinquents from the 3 delinquency trajectories. Persistent delinquents scored significantly higher than adolescence-limited delinquents on only one risk factor, disinhibition. Overall, few of the factors that are related to childhood-to-adolescence persistence were associated with persistence in delinquency beyond adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sending memorable messages to the old: Age differences in preferences and memory for advertisements.

Socioemotional selectivity theory holds that people of different ages prioritize different types of goals. As people age and increasingly perceive time as finite, they attach greater importance to goals that are emotionally meaningful. Because the goals that people pursue so centrally influence cognition, the authors hypothesize that persuasive messages, specifically advertisements, would be preferred and better remembered by older adults when they promise to help realize emotionally meaningful goals, whereas younger adults would not show this bias. The authors also predict that modifying time perspective would reduce age differences. Findings provide qualified support for each of these predictions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age differences in the likelihood of destructive anger responses under different relationship contexts: A comparison of mainland and Hong Kong Chinese.

This brief report examined how the likelihood of destructive anger responses varied with age across relationship contexts. Seventy-six older adults and 100 younger adults from Hong Kong and Mainland China reported their responses to anger-eliciting scenarios elicited by a kin, a close or a casual friend. Results indicated that compared with their younger counterparts, older Hong Kong Chinese were less likely to report direct aggression toward kin, but older Mainland Chinese were more likely to do so. Older Hong Kong Chinese were less likely to report malevolent and fractious motives than were younger Chinese across all relationships; Older Mainland Chinese were less likely to do so only in friendship. Findings have implications for conceptualizing age-related emotion regulation across relationships and cultures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-construal moderates age differences in social network characteristics.

In this study, the authors examined age differences in social network characteristics (SNC) among Hong Kong Chinese. The sample consisted of 596 Chinese adults, ranging from 18 to 91 years old. Age was positively associated with close social partners and negatively associated with peripheral social partners. For individuals who were more likely to define the self as interconnected with others (i.e., interdependent self-construal), increasing age was associated with a greater number of close social partners. The negative association between age and the number of peripheral social partners, well-documented in the Western literature, was found only among Chinese adults with lower interdependence but not among those with higher interdependence. These findings highlight the importance of examining the underlying mechanism rather than a particular pattern of SNC across cultures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reliability and credibility of young children's reports: From research to policy and practice.

In this article, some issues, concerns, and research regarding the interviewing of young child witnesses are reviewed. The article focuses on research on suggestibility and the influence of various interviewing techniques on the reliability and credibility of young children's reports. Implications of this research for future research and for policy are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)