The strategic nature of changing your mind

In two experiments, we studied how people’s strategy choices emerge through an initial and then a more considered evaluation of available strategies. The experiments employed a computer-based paradigm where participants solved multiplication problems using mental and calculator solutions. In addition to recording responses and solution times, we gathered data on mouse cursor movements. Participants’ motor behavior was revealing; although people rapidly initiated movement to the calculator box or the answer input box, they frequently changed their minds and went to the other box. Movement initiation direction depended on problem difficulty and calculator responsiveness. Ultimate strategy selection also depended on these factors, but was further influenced by movement initiation direction. We conclude that strategy selection is iterative, as revealed by these differences between early cursor movement and eventual strategy implementation. After rapidly initiating movement favoring one strategy, people carefully evaluate the applicability of that strategy in the current context.     

The value of possessions in compulsive hoarding: Patterns of use and attachment

Hoarding behavior, patterns of use of possessions, and emotional attachment to possessions were examined among a sample of female undergraduates and a sample of community volunteers. Hoarding behavior was associated with a decreased frequency of use of possessions and excessive concern about maintaining control over possessions. Furthermore, high scores on the hoarding scale were associated with higher levels of perceived responsibility for: (1) being prepared; and (2) the well-being of the possession. Hoarding was also associated with greater emotional attachment to possessions and to the reliance on possessions for emotional comfort. The implications of these findings for the definition of hoarding are discussed.     

Workplace violence and the changing nature of work in Europe: Trends and risk groups

Incidence rates of third party workplace violence in Europe have increased, but little is known about the causes thereof. It has been suggested that the growth of the service sector and the intensification of work could be responsible for the increase. This study aimed to identify trends in the prevalence of physical workplace violence across Europe, as well as to uncover factors explaining these trends. Three cross-sectional waves (1995, 2000, and 2005) of the European Working Conditions Survey were used, involving 58,520 workers and covering 15 European member states. Logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate associations between work characteristics and violence prevalence. Workplace violence increased significantly during the study interval. Although violence was clearly related to specific characteristics of the labour market (gender, age, sector, etc.) and the work environment (client contact frequency, time pressure, control, and computer work), recent changes in the European labour market composition and work environment could not explain the increase in violence. In jobs characterized by high levels of computer work in particular, violence appears to be an emerging risk. Our results suggest that the nature (and perhaps quality) of client contact is changing, leading to higher violence risks.     

Resilience in people who stutter: Association with covert and overt characteristics of stuttering

PurposeRecent literature stresses the importance of resilience, as a trait, for successful coping with life’s difficulties or stressors. However, only a limited number of studies were conducted on resilience among people-who-stutter (PWS). These studies did not examine the association between resilience and the specific characteristics of stuttering. This study was, therefore, aimed to directly examine the association between resilience and measures of both the covert and overt characteristics of stuttering.MethodThirty adults who stutter completed the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and the Overall Assessment of Speaker’s Experience of Stuttering - Adults (OASES-A). In addition, stuttering severity of all participants was quantified using the Stuttering Severity Instrument-4 (SSI-4). The associations between all measures were examined statistically.ResultsA strong and significant association was found between the participants' scores on the CD-RISC and the OASES-A (r= -.79, p < .001). In contrast, no significant correlation was found between the participants' scores in the CD-RISC and the SSI-4 (r = .02, p > .05). Within our cohort, no significant association was observed between the participants’ gender and age and their resilience levels (p > 0.05).ConclusionThis study demonstrates the role of resilience in shaping the individual's experience with stuttering. Results also show that the individuals' resilience levels do not necessarily predict stuttering severity per se, or its overt manifestations but can predict the individuals' subjective perception of his/her stuttering. This highlights the importance of addressing and promoting resilience among PWS in stuttering therapy.     

An experience sampling approach to emotion regulation: Situational suppression use and social hierarchy

Whereas past research has examined the use of emotion regulation strategies in terms of individual differences or responses to experimental manipulations, this research takes a naturalistic and repeated-measures approach to examine suppression use in specific situations. Using an experience sampling design, we find evidence across two samples (total N = 215) that (1) there was substantial within-person variation in suppression use, (2) the situational use of suppression was explained by situational differences in extraversion and social hierarchy, and (3) when used in contexts in which people felt they were low in social hierarchy, the negative relationship between suppression and well-being was attenuated. These findings suggest there are contexts in which suppression use may not be maladaptive, and demonstrate the benefits of studying emotion processes in real-life.     

Driver responses to motorcycle and lead vehicle braking events: The effects of motorcycling experience and novice versus experienced drivers

In many countries, motorcyclists are over-represented in traffic collision fatalities and injuries compared to vehicle registrations. Why drivers may violate the right-of-way of motorcyclists traveling as lead vehicles in front of drivers is empirically examined in two studies that were conducted with a moderate-fidelity driving simulator. The purpose of the first study was to determine if drivers, who also held a motorcycle license (N = 16), drove cars differently than regular drivers (N = 16) around motorcycles. The two groups did not differ on responses to motorcycling braking events, which was consistent with previous research on car following. The second study compared the driving performance of sixteen novice teenage drivers (M = 16.2 years of age) to 15 experienced drivers (M = 32.9) over the span of six monthly simulator sessions. Novice drivers’ perception response times (PRT) to the braking events were significantly longer than those of the experienced drivers. PRTs to motorcycle and lead vehicle braking events decreased over sessions. For all participants, PRTs to the motorcycle events were longer than to the car events. The implications of these results for motorcyclists and drivers with different levels of experience are discussed.     

The use of heart rate variability in esports: A systematic review

Heart rate variability (HRV) is a psychophysiological measure of particular interest in esports due to its potential to monitor player self-regulation. This study aimed to systematically review the utilisation of HRV in esports. Consideration was given to the methodological and theoretical underpinnings of previous works to provide recommendations for future research. The protocol was made available on the Open Science Framework. Inclusion criteria were empirical studies, examining HRV in esports, using esports players, published in English. Exclusion criteria were non-peer-reviewed studies, populations with pre-existing clinical illness other than Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD), opinion pieces or review papers. In November 2022 a search of Web of Science, PubMed, and EBSCOHost identified seven studies using HRV in esports. Risk of bias was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Narrative review identified two primary uses of HRV in esports; stress response and IGD. A lack of theoretical and methodological underpinning was identified as a major limitation of current literature. Further investigation is necessary before making recommendations regarding the use of HRV in esports. Future research should employ sound theoretical underpinning such as the use of vagally mediated HRV and the robust application of supporting methodological guidelines when investigating HRV in esports.     

The statistical regression phenomenon: II. Application of a metamodel

The relevance of the traditional regression concept to measurement of change and to causal research is investigated by applying a metamodel for the concept as a frame of reference in a logical analysis of these two research fields. It is concluded that the concept is considerably less important than ordinarily maintained in the methodological research literature. As for measurement of change, only a special error case of the concept often constitutes a biasing factor, while all special cases are of little interest for describing true changes. Concerning causal research, the regression phenomenon will probably seldom constitute any threat to internal validity. The unjustified attention given to the concept in psychological research is probably mainly due to the fact that central assumptions have been overlooked and that a thorough logical analysis of the relevance issue has not been attempted previously.     

India's environment: The enclosure of nature and the nature of enclosure

This Fissured Land: An Ecological History of India, by Madhav Gadgil and Ramachandra Guha. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1992, 274 pages, £4.95 pb.

Nature, Culture and Imperialism: Essays on the Environmental History of South Asia, David Arnold and Ramachandra Guha. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1995, 376 pages, £19.50.     

The relation between thinking and mood in daily life: The effects of content and context of thought

The association between thought content and mood in daily life is far from established. The aim of the present investigation was to examine the role of content and context of thought in daily life mood (i) concurrent and across time, and (ii) as simple effects and as interactions between them. Participants were 50 university students (82% female), who completed experience sampling assessments for a week. Linear mixed-effects models showed that time and object aspects of thought were significantly associated with concurrent mood. In addition, interaction effects between object of thought and thought context (activity) significantly predicted concurrent, but not future, mood, sometimes showing a switch from a positive to a negative association in certain contexts. It is concluded that associations between thought content and mood in daily life (i) are depending on the activity context, and (ii) seem to be relatively short-lived in most cases.     

Enjoyment as a mediator in the relationship between task characteristics and work effort: An experience sampling study

We studied the mediating role of enjoyment in the relationship between task characteristics and work effort. To this end, an experience sampling study was implemented in which 50 employees reported on the characteristics of the task they were performing, their level of enjoyment, and their level of work effort five times a day for five working days. Results revealed that, at the concurrent level, task characteristics related to changes in task enjoyment, and that these changes were related to changes in work effort. Moreover, the relationships did not disappear when controlling for the three critical psychological states of the job characteristics model (i.e., experienced meaningfulness, experienced responsibility, and knowledge of the results). No cross-lagged relationships were found between enjoyment and work effort. Implications for studies on effort and motivation as well as practical implications are discussed.     

The nature of death and the death of nature: The impact of mortality salience on environmental concern

According to terror management theory, individuals are motivated to distinguish themselves from the rest of nature because doing so facilitates the denial of human mortality. However, based on an integration of terror management and contingencies of self-worth perspectives, the present research hypothesized that existential insecurities about death may differentially influence environmental concern depending on whether or not an individual derives self-esteem from environmental action. Results demonstrated that heightened mortality awareness led to less concern for the environment among those not deriving self-esteem from an environmental domain, but fostered environmental concern among those who do acquire self-esteem from environmental action. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

The use of “failure models”: An application of social comparison theory to changing maladaptive attitudes

Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy -     

The personality characteristics of adolescents who use and misuse alcohol

The relationship between alcohol use and misuse and personality was investigated using 347 high school students. Students were tested with a battery which included measures of alcohol involvement (AAIS) and personality (CPI). The results demonstrated that as adolescents increasingly became involved in alcohol, the more their personality characteristics differed from those adolescents not involved or minimally involved with alcohol. The implications are discussed in light of past theories of alcohol misuse in adolescence.