One is Not Enough: Multiple Exemplars Facilitate Infants' Generalizations of Novel Properties

Across three experiments, we examined 9‐ and 11‐month‐olds' mappings of novel sound properties to novel animal categories. Infants were familiarized with novel animal–novel sound pairings (e.g., Animal A [red]–Sound 1) and then tested on: (1) their acquisition of the original pairing and (2) their generalization of the sound property to a new member of a familiarized category (e.g., Animal A [blue]–Sound 1). When familiarized with a single exemplar of a category, 11‐month‐olds showed no evidence of acquiring or generalizing the animal–sound pairings. In contrast, 11‐month‐olds learnt the original animal–sound mappings and generalized the sound property to a novel member of that category when familiarized with multiple exemplars of a category. Finally, when familiarized with multiple exemplars, 9‐month‐old infants learnt the original animal–sound pairing, but did not extend the novel sound property. The results of these experiments provide evidence for developmental differences in the facilitative role of multiple exemplars in promoting the learning and generalization of information.     

How a Catastrophe Found the Past Hurricane Floyd and the Rise of Historical Consciousness in Princeville,North Carolina

History has no voice. It requires those who care enough about the past to put it into words. But to narrate the past, we must be conscious of it. This paper is an inquiry into how a small town in North Carolina found its unique history in the wake of a catastrophic hurricane. In 1885, Princeville, North Carolina became the oldest town in America charted by free Blacks. In spite of its historical significance, over time the town's storied past was silenced. By the latter half of the 20th century, the unique place of Princeville in African-American history, indeed in United States history, was known to only a few elderly people; and they did not talk about it. The reasons a muted past begins to matter are themselves rooted in history. In 1999 Princeville was flooded by the deluge that was Hurricane Floyd. In the midst of mayhem this wordless past found a voice. In this paper we explore how a massive storm created space for the emergence of an historical consciousness among the town's residents. We also look at how the people of Princeville are leveraging their new found past to secure a safer, more predictable future.     

Negotiating face-to-face: Men's facial structure predicts negotiation performance

Although a great deal of research has examined specific behaviors that positively affect leaders' negotiation processes and outcomes, there has been considerably less attention devoted to stable characteristics, psychological or physical, that might also influence outcomes at the bargaining table. In the current research, we identify a measureable physical trait – the facial width-to-height ratio – that predicts negotiation performance in men. Across four studies, we show that men with greater facial width-to-height ratios are less cooperative negotiators compared to men with smaller facial ratios. This lack of cooperation allows men with greater facial width-to-height ratios to claim more value when negotiating with other men, but inhibits their ability to discover creative agreements that benefit all negotiating parties. These results provide insight into the factors linking leadership, facial structure and conflict resolution.     

Is the majority always right? Young children's normative interpretations of majority and dissenting peer behavior

The present study investigates the social-cognitive underpinnings of young children's bias to follow the majority. More specifically, we focus on the question of whether children not only copy the behavior of a majority of peers, but whether they also understand this majority behavior as a social norm that everyone needs to follow. Additionally, we investigated whether seeing a unanimous majority or a majority and dissenting peer makes a difference for children's normative understanding. Participants included 180 preschool-age children (4-to-5 years old) who engaged in a conformity paradigm, where they either saw the behavior of a unanimous majority of peers, or additionally the behavior of a single dissenting peer, or only the behavior of two individual peers behaving differently (Control). Afterward, children mostly copied the unanimous majority and protested against others, when they deviated from this majority, thus indeed interpreting the behavior of a unanimous majority as a norm that others need to follow. However, when they had seen a majority as well as a dissenter, children's protest and copying in favor of the majority dropped. Overall, our findings show that preschool children interpret the behavior of a unanimous majority as normative. However, when children additionally see a dissenter's behavior, this normative interpretation is weakened.