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ABSTRACT Predictions of uncertain events are often described in terms of what can or what will happen. How are such statements used by speakers, and what are they perceived to mean? Participants in four experiments were presented with distributions of variable product characteristics and were asked to generate natural, meaningful sentences containing either will or can. Will was typically associated with either low or intermediate numeric values, whereas can consistently suggested high (maximum) values. For instance, laptop batteries lasting from 1.5 to 3.5 hours will last for 1.5 hours or for 2.5 hours, but they can last for 3.5 hours. The same response patterns were found for positive and negative events. In will-statements, the most frequent scalar modifiers were at least and about, whereas in can-statements, the most frequent modifier included up to. A fifth experiment showed that will indicates an outcome that may be certain but more often simply probable. Can means possible, but even can-statements are perceived to imply probable outcomes. This could create a communication paradox because most speakers use can to describe outcomes that because of their extremity are at the same time quite unlikely. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teigen, K.H. & Filkuková, P. (2011). Are lies more wrong than errors? Accuracy judgments of inaccurate statements. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 52, 8-20. People are often mistaken when estimating and predicting quantities, and sometimes they report values that they know are false: they lie. There exists, however, little research devoted to how such deviations are being perceived. In four vignette studies, participants were asked to rate the accuracy of inaccurate statements about quantities (prices, numbers and amounts). The results indicate that overstatements are generally judged to be more inaccurate than understatements of the same magnitude; self-favorable (optimistic) statements are considered more inaccurate than unfavorable (pessimistic) statements, and false reports (lies) are perceived to be more inaccurate than equally mistaken estimates. Lies about the future did not differ from lies about the past, but own lies were perceived as larger than the same lies attributed to another person. It is suggested that estimates are judged according to how close they come to the true values (close estimates are more correct than estimates that are less close), whereas lies are judged as deviant from truth, with less importance attached to the magnitude of the deviation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate specific peritraumatic reactions among adolescent and young adult survivors of the 2011 terrorist attack on Utøya Island, Norway. The authors focused specifically on a phenomenon that has so far not been thoroughly investigated: fear of nondangerous stimuli ("extended fear") during and immediately after the traumatic event., Method: In total, 325 survivors of the shooting on Utøya Island were interviewed 4-5 months after the attack and provided a free narrative of the event. Posttraumatic stress symptoms were assessed using the UCLA PTSD Reaction Index; depression and anxiety were assessed using HSCL-8. For the purpose of the current study, the authors chose participants who were under the age of 26 at the time of the terrorist attack (M = 18.4 years), which constituted the vast majority of the total sample (93%)., Results: The authors found that 54% of the sample felt threatened during and immediately after the attack, not only by the perpetrator himself, but by other people as well; in most cases by people who came to help them (medical personnel, policemen, volunteers). The participants who mentioned experiencing extended fear in their trauma narratives had significantly higher scores of posttraumatic stress symptoms, anxiety, and depression 5 months after the attack than participants who did not peritraumatically experience extended fear., Conclusions: Early detection of extended fear can help in identifying individuals who will later develop symptomatology. In addition, knowledge of the phenomenon could help policemen and medical personnel understand survivors' seemingly irrational reactions. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).)