Comparing different boosters of planning interventions on changes in fat consumption in overweight and obese individuals: A randomized controlled trial

Single planning interventions have been found to promote short‐term dietary change. Repeated planning interventions may foster long‐term effects on behavior change. It remains unknown whether there is a critical number of boosters to establish long‐term maintenance of behavioral changes. This study aimed at investigating what social‐cognitive variables mediate the effects of the interventions on dietary behavior change. Overall, 373 participants (n = 270 women, 72.4%; age M = 52.42, SD = 12.79) were randomly allocated to one of five groups: a control group, a single planning group, and three groups with 3, 6, or 9 weeks’ repeated planning interventions. Follow‐ups took place 4, 6, and 12 months after baseline. Change in fat consumption was not promoted by any of the interventions. In terms of social‐cognitive variables, intentions, self‐efficacy and coping planning displayed a time × group interaction, with the 9 weeks’ planning group showing the most beneficial effects. Effect sizes, however, were very small. None of the tested planning interventions successfully promoted change in fat consumption across the 12 month period. This, however, could not be explained by problems with adherence to the intervention protocol. Potential explanations for this unexpected result are discussed.     

Measurement‐Burst Designs for Social Health Research

Questions about variability and change in human behavior lie at the heart of much research in the behavioral sciences. This commentary examines the use of the measurement‐burst design ( Nesselroade, 1991 ) as an approach to study within‐person processes that transpire over very different temporal intervals. Consisting of repeated bursts of intensive (i.e., daily or momentary) assessments, the burst design can augment the type of information obtained from conventional daily diary and prospective longitudinal designs. We describe how the measurement‐burst approach can improve detection of long‐term intraindividual change, and how it can be used to study intraindividual variability and change in fine‐grained temporal relationships between daily experiences (e.g., hassles) and psychological states (e.g., mood). Some of the difficulties of implementing and analyzing data from measurement‐burst designs are discussed.     

Attribution of attitude as a function of behavioral direction and freedom: Reactance in the eye of the observer

In a variation of the Festinger and Carlsmith dull-task paradigm an actor-stooge was given free-choice, forced-compliance choice, or no-choice as to whether he should tell the “waiting subject” that the task was dull or that the task was enjoyable. Crosscutting this three-level manipulation of behavioral freedom was a two-level manipulation of behavioral direction. The actor-stooge either chose or agreed to inform the “waiting subject” that the task was dull or that the task was enjoyable. In agreement with Jones and Davis' theory of correspondent inference observer-subjects made positively correspondent inferences in the free-choice condition, i.e., the actor-stooge was attributed with a more unfavorable attitude toward the task when he chose to advocate the dullness of the task than when he chose to advocate the enjoyableness of the task. However, within the no-choice condition, previously unobtained negative correspondent inference occurred. The actor-stooge was attributed with a more unfavorable attitude toward the task when he was required to advocate the enjoyableness of the task than when he was required to advocate the dullness of the task. These later results were interpreted as indicating that the observers attributed reactance to the actor-stooge in the condition in which the most social pressure was exerted. A second experiment demonstrated that the negative correspondence effect was not due to assumptions regarding other subjects' preference and also demonstrated the dependence of the effect on the absence of a rationale for the no-choice assignment of behavioral direction.     

Is there a memory profit after repeated learning of subject‐performed actions? Comparing direct and long‐term memory performance level as a function of age

Schatz, T.R., Spranger, T. & Knopf, M. (2010). Is there a memory profit after repeated learning of subject‐performed actions? Comparing direct and long‐term memory performance level as a function of age. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 51, 465–472. The present two studies investigated the possibility for improvement and maintenance of episodic memory in young and older adults. In a first study, the performance‐enhancing effect of two separate as well as combined learning devices, enactive encoding and repeated learning, was tested. With a time lag of one week, four different series of 30 action phrases were encoded either verbally or by enacting them symbolically. Memory was assessed in four immediate free recall tests. In a second study, the maintenance of the memory profit was tested in an unexpected fifth session half a year later. As expected, there was a steady improvement of memory performance as a function of repeated learning in study one. This holds true regardless of age. In addition, enactive encoding led to a better memory performance than verbal encoding in both age groups. Moreover, younger adults outperformed the elderly regardless of type of encoding. The combination of the two learning devices was not efficient enough to eliminate aging effects in episodic memory. However, memory flexibility is demonstrated also in the elderly. In the long‐term follow‐up, maintenance of learning and memory could be found in all participant groups.     

Why computational models are better than verbal theories: the case of nonword repetition

Tests of nonword repetition (NWR) have often been used to examine children's phonological knowledge and word learning abilities. However, theories of NWR primarily explain performance either in terms of phonological working memory or long‐term knowledge, with little consideration of how these processes interact. One theoretical account that focuses specifically on the interaction between short‐term and long‐term memory is the chunking hypothesis. Chunking occurs because of repeated exposure to meaningful stimulus items, resulting in the items becoming grouped (or chunked); once chunked, the items can be represented in short‐term memory using one chunk rather than one chunk per item. We tested several predictions of the chunking hypothesis by presenting 5–6‐year‐old children with three tests of NWR that were either high, medium, or low in wordlikeness. The results did not show strong support for the chunking hypothesis, suggesting that chunking fails to fully explain children's NWR behavior. However, simulations using a computational implementation of chunking (namely CLASSIC, or Chunking Lexical And Sub‐lexical Sequences In Children) show that, when the linguistic input to 5–6‐year‐old children is estimated in a reasonable way, the children's data are matched across all three NWR tests. These results have three implications for the field: (a) a chunking account can explain key NWR phenomena in 5–6‐year‐old children; (b) tests of chunking accounts require a detailed specification both of the chunking mechanism itself and of the input on which the chunking mechanism operates; and (c) verbal theories emphasizing the role of long‐term knowledge (such as chunking) are not precise enough to make detailed predictions about experimental data, but computational implementations of the theories can bridge the gap.     

Universal Principles of Human Communication: Preliminary Evidence From a Cross‐cultural Communication Game

The present study points to several potentially universal principles of human communication. Pairs of participants, sampled from culturally and linguistically distinct societies (Western and Japanese, N = 108: 16 Western–Western, 15 Japanese–Japanese and 23 Western–Japanese dyads), played a dyadic communication game in which they tried to communicate a range of experimenter‐specified items to a partner by drawing, but without speaking or using letters or numbers. This paradigm forced participants to create a novel communication system. A range of similar communication behaviors were observed among the within‐culture groups (Western–Western and Japanese–Japanese) and the across‐culture group (Western–Japanese): They (a) used iconic signs to bootstrap successful communication, (b) addressed breakdowns in communication using other‐initiated repairs, (c) simplified their communication behavior over repeated social interactions, and (d) aligned their communication behavior over repeated social interactions. While the across‐culture Western–Japanese dyads found the task more challenging, and cultural differences in communication behavior were observed, the same basic findings applied across all groups. Our findings, which rely on two distinct cultural and linguistic groups, offer preliminary evidence for several universal principles of human communication.     

THREE VERSUS SIX REREADINGS OF PRACTICE PASSAGES

Although the literature clearly demonstrates that repeated readings result in immediate effects on students' performance on the intervention materials as well as long‐term benefits, data are less promising regarding its immediate generalization effects to similar materials. Using an alternating treatments design, the current study evaluated the effects of a multicomponent repeated reading intervention on generalization passages after students had read a passage three versus six times. Results indicated improvements in fluency as a result of both interventions, with slightly greater maintenance effects when students were given six opportunities to read passages.     

Meta‐Analysis of Clerical Performance Predictors: Still stable after all these years

Pearlman, Schmidt, and Hunter (1980) published a seminal paper on the validity of various measures for predicting performance in clerical jobs. They concluded that for both job and training performance criteria, 10 types of tests (e.g., perceptual speed, clerical aptitude, verbal ability) predicted performance across 5 clerical job families. This paper describes a psychometric meta‐analysis of validity studies using similar measures for clerical jobs conducted since 1980 to examine the stability of Pearlman and colleagues' validity estimates. This paper contributes to the literature by investigating the long‐term stability of validity generalization estimates over a period of several decades. Clerical jobs provide a compelling case study because these jobs have changed considerably due to the increased use of computers and technology in the office environment. Results showed that the mean population estimates in the present study were consistent with, or higher than, those obtained by Pearlman and colleagues, thus demonstrating the long‐term stability of meta‐analytic estimates of validity. The relative stability of the validity estimates also supports the robustness of g as a predictor, even as jobs change over time.     

The effect of foregone payoffs on underweighting small probability events

Foregone payoffs add information about the outcomes for alternatives that are not chosen. The present paper examines the effect of foregone payoffs on underweighting rare but possible events in repeated choice tasks. Previous studies have not demonstrated any long‐lasting effects of foregone payoffs (following repeated presentation of a task) when foregone payoffs do not add much information. The present paper highlights the conditions and the contributing factors for the occurrence of such long‐lasting effects. An experimental study compares the effect of foregone payoffs under different degrees of rarity of the negative payoff. It is demonstrated that foregone payoffs increase the selection from risky alternatives with extremely rare and highly negative outcomes, and that this effect does not diminish with repeated presentation of the task. These findings can be summarized using a surprisingly simple reinforcement‐learning model. The findings are discussed in the context of the potential long‐term effect of social learning. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Examination of a Multi‐Element Intervention on College Students' Electricity Consumption in On‐Campus Housing

Use of electricity is a significant contributor to climate change. Results from several studies have demonstrated short‐term success but long‐term success is rarely assessed, and weather is rarely measured despite its effects on energy use. We evaluated the long‐term effects of a multi‐element intervention package including visual prompts, feedback, and incentives on energy usage in two sorority houses over two years (four semesters) using a multiple baseline with reversal design while also accounting for weather fluctuations over that time period. Although daily graphs suggested intervention houses reduced their relative energy use compared to baseline, functional control over behavior was not established because reductions in energy consumption were observed approximately halfway through baseline, due possibly to reactivity; control houses showed no such pattern. Moreover, bubble graphs accounting for weather suggested an increase in energy use for the intervention house during Semester 1. We discuss the limitations of this study, suggestions for future research, and use of innovative methods of graphing energy use to better understand usage patterns and account for weather fluctuations. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strengthening concept learning by repeated testing

The aim of this study was to examine whether repeated testing with feedback benefits learning compared to rereading of introductory psychology key‐concepts in an educational context. The testing effect was examined immediately after practice, after 18 days, and at a five‐week delay in a sample of undergraduate students (n = 83). The results revealed that repeated testing with feedback significantly enhanced learning compared to rereading at all delays, demonstrating that repeated retrieval enhances retention compared to repeated encoding in the short‐ and the long‐term. In addition, the effect of repeated testing was beneficial for students irrespectively of working memory capacity. It is argued that teaching methods involving repeated retrieval are important to consider by the educational system.     

Selective retrieval and induced forgetting in eyewitness memory

This study analyses retrieval‐induced forgetting (RIF) in eyewitness memory. Selective retrieval of specific information about an event could cause eyewitnesses to forget related contents. Based on a video of a man being robbed while withdrawing money from a cash machine, we examined the effects of partial retrieval on the most relevant aspects of the event: actions (Experiment 1) and offender characteristics (Experiment 2), in both immediate and long‐term recall (24 hours). In both experiments long‐term recall was a replica of immediate recall for correct information as well as errors. The effects of partial retrieval practice were also repeated in long‐term recall. Conventional RIF was found for offender characteristics but selective retrieval of the actions of the event produced no comparable effect. It is assumed that the organisation and integration of the actions of the event protected them from RIF. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influencing light versus heavy engagers of harmful behavior to curb their habits through positive and negative ad imagery

Mass media advertising has increasingly been seen as an important vehicle to influence attitudes and behaviors on issues designed to enhance the well‐being of society overall. However, prior research shows mixed results on the ability of advertising to encourage substantial or long‐term changes in self‐destructive behavior. The current research provides a framework to reconcile previous findings and demonstrates that different psychological processes are occurring when trying to convince light versus heavy engagers to curb their potentially harmful behaviors. Validated across two contexts (texting while driving and excessive gambling), the present study demonstrates that ads containing positive imagery (as opposed to negative imagery) are more effective at influencing heavy engagers to limit their harmful behaviors. Heavy engagers in the harmful behavior seem to resist ads containing negative imagery and do not find them to be more credible or involving. Instead, they are more influenced to curb their harmful behaviors after seeing positive imagery containing characters and situations to which they can relate. On the other hand, light engagers of harmful behavior are more likely to be persuaded to limit their behaviors after exposure to advertising containing negative imagery. The negative imagery evokes perceptions of ad credibility and encourages individuals to think about the advertised problem and consequences. Both credibility and ad involvement are shown to be important mediators of ad effectiveness for light engagers, whereas relatability was not a significant mediator for this group. Implications for the design of effective public service announcements targeted toward these separate groups are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How to resist temptation: the effects of external control versus autonomy support on self-regulatory dynamics

Abstract The purpose of the present study (N=80 undergraduate students) was to examine two issues: First, does external control lead to an increase in resistance to temptation more than the use of autonomy support? Second, what are the long‐term effects of these types of educational style? Based on the Personality Systems Interaction (PSI) theory, external control was expected to increase resistance to temptation for those participants who lack initiative and self‐motivation (i.e., state‐oriented participants). Consistent with expectations, resistance to temptation was greater for state‐oriented participants with externally controlled instructions than for individuals who received autonomy‐supportive instructions. This was reflected by their performance on a visual discrimination task during distracter, compared to baseline, episodes. However, external control had negative long‐term effects on state‐oriented participants as indexed by alienation from their own preferences in free‐choice behavior. Action‐oriented participants were less influenced by experimental conditions.     

Effects of Thinking About Reasons and Actions on Intentions to Perform Health Behaviors

This study examined the effects of directed thinking on intention to perform disease-detection and health-promotion behaviors. It was hypothesized that when participants thought about reasons for performing the behavior, they would have stronger intentions to perform health-promotion behaviors than disease-detection behaviors. Alternatively, when participants thought about actions, the difference in intention to perform health-promotion and disease-detection behaviors should not be found. This hypothesis was tested by directing some participants to think of reasons why either a disease-detection or a health-promotion behavior would be beneficial. Other participants were directed to think of as many actions as possible that would make either a health-promotion or disease-detection behavior enjoyable. The results supported the hypothesis.     

Effects of testing on subsequent re‐encoding and long‐term forgetting of action‐relevant materials: On the influence of recall type

Testing one's memory of previously studied information reduces the rate of forgetting, compared to restudy. However, little is known about how this direct testing effect applies to action phrases (e.g., “wash the car”) – a learning material relevant to everyday memory. As action phrases consist of two different components, a verb (e.g., “wash”) and a noun (e.g., “car”), testing can either be implemented as noun‐cued recall of verbs or verb‐cued recall of nouns, which may differently affect later memory performance. In the present study, we investigated the effect of testing for these two recall types, using verbally encoded action phrases as learning materials. Results showed that repeated study–test practice, compared to repeated study–restudy practice, decreased the forgetting rate across 1 week to a similar degree for both noun‐cued and verb‐cued recall types. However, noun‐cued recall of verbs initiated more new subsequent learning during the first restudy, compared to verb‐cued recall of nouns. The study provides evidence that testing has benefits on both subsequent restudy and long‐term retention of action‐relevant materials, but that these benefits are differently expressed with testing via noun‐cued versus verb‐cued recall.     

Differential reinforcement to decrease stereotypy exhibited by an adult with autism spectrum disorder

Motor and vocal stereotypies are behaviors commonly exhibited by individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Stereotypy may impede and interfere with learning new skills and decrease work performance in employment settings. Previous research has evaluated effective interventions for stereotypy; however, they have typically focused on treating stereotypy exhibited by children in structured settings. We evaluated the practicality of implementing a simple differential reinforcement of other behavior procedure with an adult with ASD in multiple, naturalistic environments. Results showed rapid decreases in motor and vocal stereotypies upon implementation of the intervention and maintenance of low levels of behavior. These data highlighted the successful treatment of stereotypy exhibited by an adult with a long history of exhibiting these behaviors. Treatment effects were replicated across multiple, naturalistic environments.     

Impact of Organizational Citizenship Behavior on Performance in Women's Sport Teams

The current study examined the relationship between organizational citizenship behavior and sport team performance and the moderating role of task interdependence in that relationship. Two types of collegiate teams—softball (N = 25) and tennis (N = 15)—were utilized to represent different levels of task interdependence with softball being considered more interdependent than tennis. Athletes (N = 448) answered survey questions concerning organizational citizenship behavior (helping, civic virtue, sportsmanship [due to the historic use of the term “sportmanship” in developing the measures used in this study, that term will be used instead of “sportpersonship”]), team cohesiveness, athlete satisfaction, and transformational leadership behaviors. Researchers collected performance statistics for athletes. Results indicated that helping behavior was the strongest organizational citizenship behavior predictor of performance, but the effect differed between tennis and softball teams.     

Cognitive Flexibility and Pro‐environmental Behaviour: A Multimethod Approach

While cognitive flexibility has been hypothesized to relate to adaptive, long‐term‐oriented behaviour, empirical support for such a relationship is scarce. In the present article, we examine the role of cognitive flexibility as a correlate of long‐term‐oriented behaviour in the domain of environmental conservation. In a first study (N = 143), we explored potential associations between multiple self‐report scales and performance‐based measures of cognitive flexibility and pro‐environmental behaviour. Based on its results, we conducted a pre‐registered confirmatory study (N = 264) focusing on the most promising correlations found in our exploratory study. This study generated conclusive support for a positive medium‐sized correlation between cognitive flexibility and pro‐environmental behaviour. Exploratory hierarchical regression analyses further revealed that cognitive flexibility accounted for a small portion of variance in pro‐environmental behaviour above and beyond the Big Five. While appearing robust on the level of self‐reports, the relationship between cognitive flexibility and pro‐environmental behaviour did not reliably extend to the level of performance tasks, possibly because of their relatively specific scope. These results illustrate the contribution of cognitive flexibility to understanding individual differences in long‐term‐oriented, pro‐environmental behaviour. © 2019 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Best Practice Recommendations Still Fail to Result in Action: A National 10‐Year Follow‐up Study of Investigative Interviews in CSA Cases

The present study examined a national sample of Norwegian investigative interviews in alleged child sexual abuse cases (N = 224) across a 10‐year period (2002–2012), in order to decide whether practice had improved over the decade in terms of the types of questions asked. The results indicate that the frequency of open‐ended, directive, option‐posing, and suggestive questions asked was unchanged during the 10‐year period, but that the frequency of repeated questions had increased significantly. When analyzed together with the results from a previous study of interview practice covering the period of 1990–2002, long‐term trends were found to be similarly stable, with no change in the frequency of open‐ended and suggestive questions asked over a 22‐year perspective. However, a decreasing frequency of option‐posing questions observed accompanied by an increasing frequency of directive questions may be considered a positive trend. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.