Cheng, Albert and Florick, Laura, The Value of Study Abroad Experience
in the Labor Market: Findings from a Resume Audit Experiment (February
7, 2020). EDRE Working Paper No. 2020-02.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3538269
Abstract: Conventional
wisdom and some empirical research suggests that study abroad programs
enhance skills and personal growth in ways that translate into success
in the labor market. However, this research is limited by its inability
to address sources of selection bias that may confound the positive
relationship between study abroad experience and labor-market success.
We conduct a field experiment to overcome these limitations. Using a
resume audit, we estimate the causal relationship between participation
in study abroad experience and the likelihood of receiving a callback
from a potential employer. We also tested for potential heterogeneities
by the location (i.e., Asia versus Europe) and length (i.e., two weeks
versus one year) of the study abroad experience. Compared to resumes
that list no study abroad experience, resumes that list study abroad
experience in Asia regardless of length are about 20 percent more likely
to receive a callback for an interview if the resume studied. The
differences in rates increases to 25 percent when comparing resumes
without study abroad experience to those that list two-week programs in
Asia. Resumes that list study abroad experience in Europe for one year
are 20 percent less likely to receive any callback and 35 percent less
likely to receiving a call back for an interview, relative to resumes
that do not list study abroad experience. Implications about the value
of study abroad are discussed.
Keywords: Study abroad, Employment, Resume Audit
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Bright mind, moral mind? Intelligence is unrelated to consequentialist moral judgment in sacrificial moral dilemmas
Bright mind, moral mind? Intelligence is unrelated to consequentialist moral judgment in sacrificial moral dilemmas. D. H. Bostyn, J. De Keersmaecker, J. Van Assche & A. Roets. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, Jan 2 2020. https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/s13423-019-01676-9
Abstract: The dual-process model of moral cognition suggests that outcome-focused, consequentialist moral judgment in sacrificial moral dilemmas is driven by a deliberative, reasoned, cognitive process. Although many studies have demonstrated a positive association of consequentialist judgment with measures of cognitive engagement, no work has investigated whether cognitive ability itself is also related to consequentialist judgment. Therefore, we conducted three studies to investigate whether participants’ preference for consequentialist moral judgment is related to their intelligence. A meta-analytic integration of these three studies (with a total N = 675) uncovered no association between the two measures (r = – .02). Furthermore, a Bayesian reanalysis of the same data provided substantial evidence in favor of a null effect (BFH0 = 7.2). As such, the present studies show that if consequentialist judgments depend on deliberative reasoning, this association is not driven by cognitive ability, but by cognitive motivation.
Abstract: The dual-process model of moral cognition suggests that outcome-focused, consequentialist moral judgment in sacrificial moral dilemmas is driven by a deliberative, reasoned, cognitive process. Although many studies have demonstrated a positive association of consequentialist judgment with measures of cognitive engagement, no work has investigated whether cognitive ability itself is also related to consequentialist judgment. Therefore, we conducted three studies to investigate whether participants’ preference for consequentialist moral judgment is related to their intelligence. A meta-analytic integration of these three studies (with a total N = 675) uncovered no association between the two measures (r = – .02). Furthermore, a Bayesian reanalysis of the same data provided substantial evidence in favor of a null effect (BFH0 = 7.2). As such, the present studies show that if consequentialist judgments depend on deliberative reasoning, this association is not driven by cognitive ability, but by cognitive motivation.
Cultural items that use more second-person pronouns are liked & purchased more: Rather than addressing the audience, communicating norms, or encouraging perspective taking, second-person pronouns help us think of someone in our lives
Thinking of You: How Second-Person Pronouns Shape Cultural Success. Grant Packard, Jonah Berger. Psychological Science, February 26, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620902380
Abstract: Why do some cultural items succeed and others fail? Some scholars have argued that one function of the narrative arts is to facilitate feelings of social connection. If this is true, cultural items that activate personal connections should be more successful. The present research tested this possibility in the context of second-person pronouns. We argue that rather than directly addressing the audience, communicating norms, or encouraging perspective taking, second-person pronouns can encourage audiences to think of someone in their own lives. Textual analysis of songs ranked in the Billboard charts (N = 4,200), as well as controlled experiments (total N = 2,921), support this possibility, demonstrating that cultural items that use more second-person pronouns are liked and purchased more. These findings demonstrate a novel way in which second-person pronouns make meaning, how pronouns’ situated use (object case vs. subject case) may shape this meaning, and how psychological factors shape the success of narrative arts.
Keywords: language, pronouns, psychological foundations of culture, arts and entertainment, open data, open materials, preregistered
Abstract: Why do some cultural items succeed and others fail? Some scholars have argued that one function of the narrative arts is to facilitate feelings of social connection. If this is true, cultural items that activate personal connections should be more successful. The present research tested this possibility in the context of second-person pronouns. We argue that rather than directly addressing the audience, communicating norms, or encouraging perspective taking, second-person pronouns can encourage audiences to think of someone in their own lives. Textual analysis of songs ranked in the Billboard charts (N = 4,200), as well as controlled experiments (total N = 2,921), support this possibility, demonstrating that cultural items that use more second-person pronouns are liked and purchased more. These findings demonstrate a novel way in which second-person pronouns make meaning, how pronouns’ situated use (object case vs. subject case) may shape this meaning, and how psychological factors shape the success of narrative arts.
Keywords: language, pronouns, psychological foundations of culture, arts and entertainment, open data, open materials, preregistered
The neural bases of visual mental imagery are the object of intense debate; in patients with acquired brain damage, the consensus model predicts a systematic co-occurrence of perceptual and imaginal deficits; however...
Visual mental imagery engages the left fusiform gyrus, but not the early visual cortex: A meta-analysis of neuroimaging evidence. Alfredo Spagna, Dounia Hajhajate, Jianghao Liu, Paolo Bartolomeo. bioRxiv, Feb 7 2020. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.06.937151
Abstract: The neural bases of visual mental imagery (VMI) are the object of intense debate. Their identification is central to define the brain substrates our conscious experience, and can be clinically important to reveal consciousness in non-communicating patients. The dominant model of VMI stipulates a functional and anatomical equivalence between visual mental imagery and visual perception. In patients with acquired brain damage, the model predicts a systematic co-occurrence of perceptual and imaginal deficits. However, patients with lesions restricted to the occipital cortex often experience vivid mental images, even in case of cortical blindness resulting from bilateral V1 damage. Instead, patients with extensive left temporal damage are more likely to have impaired VMI. On the other hand, some neuroimaging and neuromodulatory evidence does suggest an implication of striate cortex in VMI. To address this discrepancy, we conducted an activation-likelihood-estimation-based large-scale meta-analysis of 52 functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments to map the extent of cortical activation associated with three contrasts: (1) all studies combined; (2) VMI versus Control, (3) VMI versus Perception, and (4) Motor Mental Imagery versus Control. Results from the VMI versus Control contrast demonstrated an association between VMI and activation increase in the frontoparietal and cingulo-opercular networks bilaterally, as well as of the left fusiform gyrus. Results from the VMI versus Perception contrast showed the association between VMI and activation increase of areas lateralized to the left hemisphere, including the superior and inferior frontal gyri, as well as the fusiform gyrus. Conjunction analyses between the VMI versus Control and the VMI Mental Imagery versus Perception contrasts showed the activation of the left anterior insular cortex. Results from the Motor Mental Imagery versus Control contrast showed that mental motor imagery increases the activation of the cerebellum bilaterally, of the precentral gyrus bilaterally, of the left supplementary motor area, and of the left fusiform sulcus. Conjunction analyses between the VMI versus Control and the Motor Mental Imagery versus Control contrasts showed the activation of the right superior frontal gyrus. Thus, the results stress the importance for VMI of brain networks associated with attentional control and working memory functions, together with rostral portions of the cortical ventral visual stream. Bayesian analysis confirmed the lack of evidence for an activation of the early visual areas in VMI, consistent with the evidence from brain-damaged patients. Our evidence suggests a revision of the VMI model. A Fusiform Imagery Node in the area FG3 of the left fusiform gyrus might act as a hub retrieving visual information from long-term semantic memory in the anterior temporal lobe, in connection with the medial temporal lobe, important for a vivid VMI episodic experience. Fronto-parietal networks subserving attention and working memory initiate, modulate and maintain activity of the core VMI network in the left temporal lobe. The revised model of VMI reconciles findings from neuroimaging with the reports of patients with brain damage.
Abstract: The neural bases of visual mental imagery (VMI) are the object of intense debate. Their identification is central to define the brain substrates our conscious experience, and can be clinically important to reveal consciousness in non-communicating patients. The dominant model of VMI stipulates a functional and anatomical equivalence between visual mental imagery and visual perception. In patients with acquired brain damage, the model predicts a systematic co-occurrence of perceptual and imaginal deficits. However, patients with lesions restricted to the occipital cortex often experience vivid mental images, even in case of cortical blindness resulting from bilateral V1 damage. Instead, patients with extensive left temporal damage are more likely to have impaired VMI. On the other hand, some neuroimaging and neuromodulatory evidence does suggest an implication of striate cortex in VMI. To address this discrepancy, we conducted an activation-likelihood-estimation-based large-scale meta-analysis of 52 functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments to map the extent of cortical activation associated with three contrasts: (1) all studies combined; (2) VMI versus Control, (3) VMI versus Perception, and (4) Motor Mental Imagery versus Control. Results from the VMI versus Control contrast demonstrated an association between VMI and activation increase in the frontoparietal and cingulo-opercular networks bilaterally, as well as of the left fusiform gyrus. Results from the VMI versus Perception contrast showed the association between VMI and activation increase of areas lateralized to the left hemisphere, including the superior and inferior frontal gyri, as well as the fusiform gyrus. Conjunction analyses between the VMI versus Control and the VMI Mental Imagery versus Perception contrasts showed the activation of the left anterior insular cortex. Results from the Motor Mental Imagery versus Control contrast showed that mental motor imagery increases the activation of the cerebellum bilaterally, of the precentral gyrus bilaterally, of the left supplementary motor area, and of the left fusiform sulcus. Conjunction analyses between the VMI versus Control and the Motor Mental Imagery versus Control contrasts showed the activation of the right superior frontal gyrus. Thus, the results stress the importance for VMI of brain networks associated with attentional control and working memory functions, together with rostral portions of the cortical ventral visual stream. Bayesian analysis confirmed the lack of evidence for an activation of the early visual areas in VMI, consistent with the evidence from brain-damaged patients. Our evidence suggests a revision of the VMI model. A Fusiform Imagery Node in the area FG3 of the left fusiform gyrus might act as a hub retrieving visual information from long-term semantic memory in the anterior temporal lobe, in connection with the medial temporal lobe, important for a vivid VMI episodic experience. Fronto-parietal networks subserving attention and working memory initiate, modulate and maintain activity of the core VMI network in the left temporal lobe. The revised model of VMI reconciles findings from neuroimaging with the reports of patients with brain damage.
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