Dale J Cohen
Biographic Data
| ID | 5010700 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Dale J Cohen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Dale J |
| FAMILY NAME | Cohen |
| SIGNATURE | COHEN D J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of North Carolina Wilmington |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3353-3340 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 11 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 7 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 11 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1997 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Psychological value theory
Moral Judgments Are Value-Based Decisions Driven by Culturally Stable Valuations and Culturally Variable Decision Biases
Many theorize that cultural similarities in moral judgments arise from a specialized cognitive system devoted to morality. We claim, in contrast, that people make moral judgments using a general-purpose, value-based decision-making process. We present a computational cognitive model to predict response time and response choice to moral dilemmas using valuations as input. Cultural similarities in moral judgment are explained by a culturally stable…
Why moral judgements change across variations of trolley‐like problems
In the standard ‘trolley problem’, respondents must decide whether to save a condemned group of individuals by sacrificing a safe bystander. Although respondents often are willing to sacrifice the bystander in some circumstances (e.g., by pulling a lever), they are loath to sacrifice the bystander in others (e.g., by pushing the bystander off a footbridge). This difference in responding has been explained via a Dual Process theory of moral judgem…
A new model explaining number-line estimation performance across development
While performance on number-line estimation tasks strongly predicts mathematical achievement, the underlying reasons for this connection are heavily debated. The current research represents an adversarial collaboration, whereby researchers on opposite sides of the number-line estimation debate present a new model, nlFit, that predicts number-line estimates by building from ordinality toward linearity. It incorporates the ability to differentiate …
Psychological value theory
Charitable giving involves a complex economic and social decision because the giver expends resources for goods or services they will never receive. Although psychologists have identified numerous factors that influence charitable giving, there currently exists no unifying computational model of charitable choice. Here, we submit one such model, based within the strictures of Psychological Value Theory (PVT). In four experiments, we assess whethe…
Experimental bias in number-line tasks and how to avoid them
Kim and Opfer (2017) report data that demonstrate children produce a negatively accelerating (e.g., logarithmic) response pattern in the unbounded number-line task. This pattern of results is the opposite of those generally reported for the unbounded number-line task (e.g., Cohen & Blanc-Goldhammer, 2011; Cohen & Sarnecka, 2014). We believe Kim and Opfer's (2017) experimental procedure inadvertently biased participants' data in the unbounded task…
Children’s number-line estimation shows development of measurement skills (not number representations)
Children's understanding of numbers is often assessed using a number-line task, where the child is shown a line labeled with 0 at one end and a higher number (e.g., 100) at the other end. The child is then asked where on the line some intermediate number (e.g., 70) should go. Performance on this task changes predictably during childhood, and this has often been interpreted as evidence of a change in the child's psychological representation of int…
The Relations Between Document Familiarity, Frequency, and Prevalence and Document Literacy Performance Among Adult Readers
This study assessed the utility of document prevalence and familiarity as predictors of adult document literacy performance. Three indexes—quantifying document prevalence, document familiarity, and the frequency of document use—were constructed using survey responses from an adult community sample and documents collected from government agencies and businesses. All three indexes significantly predicted document task performance on the 1992 Nation…
Attention allocation and habituation to anger-related stimuli during a visual search task
A substantial amount of data has accumulated demonstrating that emotionally disordered subjects are prone to bias their attention toward threatening, emotionally relevant stimuli. Little attention has been reserved for the study of cognitive processes involved in anger arousal. In the present study, we investigated whether mood-congruent attentional biases could be demonstrated in subjects of varying levels of trait anger using a visual search ta…
Attention allocation and habituation to anger‐related stimuli during a visual search task
A substantial amount of data has accumulated demonstrating that emotionally disordered subjects are prone to bias their attention toward threatening, emotionally relevant stimuli.Little attention has been reserved for the study of cognitive processes involved in anger arousal.In the present study, we investigated whether mood-congruent attentional biases could be demonstrated in subjects of varying levels of trait anger using a visual search task…
Sex and mortality
The public's perceived susceptibility to health risks does not always accurately reflect the epidemiological estimates of actual risk. We assessed whether this discrepancy exists for HIV infection by outlining and comparing the actual statistical probabilities of acquiring HIV and another sexually transmitted disease (chlamydia) with the perceived probabilities of acquiring these diseases for heterosexuals who do not use intravenous drugs. Our an…
Children’s number-line estimation shows development of measurement skills (not number representations)
Children's understanding of numbers is often assessed using a number-line task, where the child is shown a line labeled with 0 at one end and a higher number (e.g., 100) at the other end. The child is then asked where on the line some intermediate number (e.g., 70) should go. Performance on this task changes predictably during childhood, and this has often been interpreted as evidence of a change in the child's psychological representation of int…
Sex and mortality
The public's perceived susceptibility to health risks does not always accurately reflect the epidemiological estimates of actual risk. We assessed whether this discrepancy exists for HIV infection by outlining and comparing the actual statistical probabilities of acquiring HIV and another sexually transmitted disease (chlamydia) with the perceived probabilities of acquiring these diseases for heterosexuals who do not use intravenous drugs. Our an…
Sex and mortality
The public's perceived susceptibility to health risks does not always accurately reflect the epidemiological estimates of actual risk. We assessed whether this discrepancy exists for HIV infection by outlining and comparing the actual statistical probabilities of acquiring HIV and another sexually transmitted disease (chlamydia) with the perceived probabilities of acquiring these diseases for heterosexuals who do not use intravenous drugs. Our an…
Attention allocation and habituation to anger-related stimuli during a visual search task
A substantial amount of data has accumulated demonstrating that emotionally disordered subjects are prone to bias their attention toward threatening, emotionally relevant stimuli. Little attention has been reserved for the study of cognitive processes involved in anger arousal. In the present study, we investigated whether mood-congruent attentional biases could be demonstrated in subjects of varying levels of trait anger using a visual search ta…
Attention allocation and habituation to anger‐related stimuli during a visual search task
A substantial amount of data has accumulated demonstrating that emotionally disordered subjects are prone to bias their attention toward threatening, emotionally relevant stimuli.Little attention has been reserved for the study of cognitive processes involved in anger arousal.In the present study, we investigated whether mood-congruent attentional biases could be demonstrated in subjects of varying levels of trait anger using a visual search task…
The Relations Between Document Familiarity, Frequency, and Prevalence and Document Literacy Performance Among Adult Readers
This study assessed the utility of document prevalence and familiarity as predictors of adult document literacy performance. Three indexes—quantifying document prevalence, document familiarity, and the frequency of document use—were constructed using survey responses from an adult community sample and documents collected from government agencies and businesses. All three indexes significantly predicted document task performance on the 1992 Nation…
Children’s number-line estimation shows development of measurement skills (not number representations)
Children's understanding of numbers is often assessed using a number-line task, where the child is shown a line labeled with 0 at one end and a higher number (e.g., 100) at the other end. The child is then asked where on the line some intermediate number (e.g., 70) should go. Performance on this task changes predictably during childhood, and this has often been interpreted as evidence of a change in the child's psychological representation of int…
Experimental bias in number-line tasks and how to avoid them
Kim and Opfer (2017) report data that demonstrate children produce a negatively accelerating (e.g., logarithmic) response pattern in the unbounded number-line task. This pattern of results is the opposite of those generally reported for the unbounded number-line task (e.g., Cohen & Blanc-Goldhammer, 2011; Cohen & Sarnecka, 2014). We believe Kim and Opfer's (2017) experimental procedure inadvertently biased participants' data in the unbounded task…
Psychological value theory
Charitable giving involves a complex economic and social decision because the giver expends resources for goods or services they will never receive. Although psychologists have identified numerous factors that influence charitable giving, there currently exists no unifying computational model of charitable choice. Here, we submit one such model, based within the strictures of Psychological Value Theory (PVT). In four experiments, we assess whethe…
Moral Judgments Are Value-Based Decisions Driven by Culturally Stable Valuations and Culturally Variable Decision Biases
Many theorize that cultural similarities in moral judgments arise from a specialized cognitive system devoted to morality. We claim, in contrast, that people make moral judgments using a general-purpose, value-based decision-making process. We present a computational cognitive model to predict response time and response choice to moral dilemmas using valuations as input. Cultural similarities in moral judgment are explained by a culturally stable…
Why moral judgements change across variations of trolley‐like problems
In the standard ‘trolley problem’, respondents must decide whether to save a condemned group of individuals by sacrificing a safe bystander. Although respondents often are willing to sacrifice the bystander in some circumstances (e.g., by pulling a lever), they are loath to sacrifice the bystander in others (e.g., by pushing the bystander off a footbridge). This difference in responding has been explained via a Dual Process theory of moral judgem…
A new model explaining number-line estimation performance across development
While performance on number-line estimation tasks strongly predicts mathematical achievement, the underlying reasons for this connection are heavily debated. The current research represents an adversarial collaboration, whereby researchers on opposite sides of the number-line estimation debate present a new model, nlFit, that predicts number-line estimates by building from ordinality toward linearity. It incorporates the ability to differentiate …
Psychological value theory
Psychology (8 works) · Cognitive psychology (6 works) · Social Psychology (5 works) · Cognition (4 works) · Computer Science (4 works) · Bounded function (3 works) · Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills (3 works) · Mathematics (3 works) · Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies (3 works) · Number line (3 works)