Do the young and the old perceive emotional intervals differently when shown on a younger or older face?

Cognitive Processing - Many authors have analysed the effects of emotion recognition on time perception, showing that the more arousing the stimuli are the greater is the effect on duration...     

Interpatch foraging in honeybees—rational decision making at secondary hubs based upon time and motivation

For honeybees, Apis mellifera, the hive has been well known to function as a primary decision-making hub, a place from which foragers decide among various directions, distances, and times of day to forage efficiently. Whether foraging honeybees can make similarly complex navigational decisions from locations away from the hive is unknown. To examine whether or not such secondary decision-making hubs exist, we trained bees to forage at four different locations. Specifically, we trained honeybees to first forage to a distal site “CT” 100?m away from the hive; if food was present, they fed and then chose to go home. If food was not present, the honeybees were trained to forage to three auxiliary sites, each at a different time of the day: A in the morning, B at noon, and C in the afternoon. The foragers learned to check site CT for food first and then efficiently depart to the correct location based upon the time of day if there was no food at site CT. Thus, the honeybees were able to cognitively map motivation, time, and five different locations (Hive, CT, A, B, and C) in two spatial dimensions; these are the contents of the cognitive map used by the honeybees here. While at site CT, we verified that the honeybees could choose between 4 different directions (to A, B, C, and the Hive) and thus label it as a secondary decision-making hub. The observed decision making uncovered here is inferred to constitute genuine logical operations, involving a branched structure, based upon the premises of motivational state, and spatiotemporal knowledge.     

What else do you feel when you feel sad? Emotional overproduction, neuroticism and rumination

Numerous experimental and naturalistic studies have shown the relevant role of ruminative styles in the onset, duration and severity of depressive episodes. Recent research has increasingly focused on the precursors of these ruminative responses. Neuroticism has been found to be closely related to ruminative styles, but the nature of this relationship is unknown. Across three studies, we explored the role of emotional overproduction, conceptualized as the tendency to simultaneously experience an elevated number of negative emotions and feelings during sad episodes. Study 1 showed that emotional overproduction is independently and strongly associated with ruminative styles. Furthermore, emotional overproduction was found to mediate the relationship between neuroticism and ruminative styles. Study 2 replicated these findings in a large community sample even after controlling for mood, personality, and other emotion-related variables. In Study 3, we conducted a laboratory study to increase the internal and external validity of our findings. Implications for personality, for coping and stress literature, and for clinical research and treatment are suggested.     

School in our memory: do we remember our time in middle and high school differently?

ABSTRACT

The present study investigated autobiographical memories of school. While previous works have shown that most memories relating to school are social as opposed to academic, there are still strong theoretical arguments for the presumed prevalence of educationally oriented memories from at least some parts of the school period. The goal of the study was to replicate previous studies while addressing some of their limitations. In our study, only memories of high school were more socially and less educationally oriented. Also, memories of high school were more positive and emotionally intense. We discuss the further implications of these effects.     

Do Chinese and English speakers think about time differently? Failure of replicating Boroditsky (2001)

English uses the horizontal spatial metaphors to express time (e.g., the good days ahead of us). Chinese also uses the vertical metaphors (e.g., 'the month above' to mean last month). Do Chinese speakers, then, think about time in a different way than English speakers? Boroditsky [Boroditsky, L. (2001). Does language shape thought? Mandarin and English speakers' conceptions of time. Cognitive Psychology, 43(1), 1-22] claimed that they do, and went on to conclude that 'language is a powerful tool in shaping habitual thought about abstract domains' (such as time). By estimating the frequency of usage, we found that Chinese speakers actually use the horizontal spatial metaphors more often than the vertical metaphors. This offered no logical ground for Boroditsky's claim. We were also unable to replicate her experiments in four different attempts. We conclude that Chinese speakers do not think about time in a different way than English speakers just because Chinese also uses the vertical spatial metaphors to express time.     

How does green suit me? Consumers mentally match perceived product attributes with their domain‐specific motives when making green purchase decisions

Nowadays, environment‐friendly products are widely accepted by society. However, market share of sustainable technologies demanding higher investments or behavioral changes is rather small, indicating that consumers seem to generally approve of sustainable products, but rarely perceive them as being compatible with their needs. The present research introduces a model emphasizing the importance of consumers perceiving the product as being suitable to match their motives relevant to the product domain. In investigating a sample of 531 car drivers, the hypothesized model was tested in the realm of a highly relevant sustainable product: electric vehicles (EVs). Findings based on structural equation modeling showed that participants' perceived matching with EV attributes was related to their domain‐specific motives (hedonic, freedom, ecological, and financial motives) and a global preference towards the product. Specific to sustainable products, ecological motives strongly influenced participants' matching processes by positively affecting perceived matching with all product attributes. Participants' purchase intentions, in turn, were strongly affected by their perceived matching of the product with their motives. The added value of the model with respect to self‐image theories and implications for sustainable product marketing are examined through discussion. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Do amnesic patients with Korsakoff’s syndrome use feedback when making decisions under risky conditions? An experimental investigation with the Game of Dice Task with and without feedback

We investigated the role of feedback processing in decision making under risk conditions in 50 patients with amnesia in the course of alcoholic Korsakoff's syndrome (KS). Half of the patients were administered the Game of Dice Task (GDT) and the remaining 25 patients were examined with a modified version of the GDT in which no feedback was provided. Patients' results in the GDT and in the modified version were compared with that of 50 healthy subjects of whom 25 subjects performed the original GDT and 25 performed the modified version. While performance on the original GDT was superior to performance on the modified GDT in healthy subjects, KS patients performed similarly on both the GDT with and GDT without feedback. Performance on both task versions was correlated with categorization and set-shifting. The findings indicate that amnesic patients do not profit from receiving feedback for their decisions in explicit risk conditions.     

Risky decision making across three arenas of choice: are younger and older adults differently susceptible to framing effects?

In the present study, the authors investigated the effects of framing of options on risky decision making in groups of younger adults (M = 23.8 years, n = 192) and older adults (M = 69.1 years, n = 192). The participants were assigned to one of three scenarios varying in the goods at stake (human lives, paintings, money). The authors observed a majority preference in favor of the risky options after negative, but not positive framing. They also found, as they had predicted, that the type of framing effect varied across scenarios, with a bidirectional framing effect for the life-death scenario and unidirectional (risk averse) framing effects when public property (paintings) or personal property (money) were at stake. It is important to note that these choice preference patterns were highly similar across the age groups, which reinforced the conclusion that younger and older adults are equally susceptible to framing effects.     

A new object captures attention—but only when you know which objects are old

According to the new object hypothesis (see, e.g., Yantis & Hillstrom, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 20, 95-107, 1994), an object appearing as a sudden onset captures attention because its appearance demands an immediate updating of visual short-term memory. This hypothesis was tested in three experiments using a procedure that allowed an object to be added to the display but, crucially, without incurring onset transients (Franconeri, Hollingworth, & Simons, Psychological Science, 16, 275-281, 2005). The latter showed that an object inserted in this fashion failed to capture attention. As a test of the new object hypothesis, this procedure assumes that the observers had encoded the display before the new object was introduced. If this assumption is not fulfilled, the new and the old objects cannot be distinguished one from the other. It was, however, unclear whether the encoding had taken place in the Franconeri et al. experiments. We showed that when circumstances were congenial to the encoding of the display before an additional object interposed, then the object successfully captured attention. But when the encoding of the initial display was either difficult or impossible, the additional object failed to capture attention.     

Hypnotic time distortion and free-recall learning — an attempted replication

Summary Krauss, Katzell and Krauss (1974) have presented evidence suggesting that hypnosis can be used to facilitate free-recall learning. Specifically, they report that hypnotised individuals, given special time-distortion instructions, can recall as much in three minutes as waking control subjects can in ten minutes. The present study was an attempt to replicate and extend this main finding of Krauss et al. The results of the present study failed to replicate Krauss et al.'s finding; in fact, the hypnotised subjects did rather worse than waking control groups; also no relationship was found between recall scores and depths of hypnosis. Marked discrepancies were noticed between the scores of the waking control groups used in the present study, and those used by Krauss et al. It was concluded that any facilitatory effect of hypnotic time distortion on free-recall learning still awaits a definitive demonstration.     

Research Report: How do GPs make referral and treatment decisions when patients present with mental health problems?

The purpose of this pilot study was to identify factors considered by GPs when making mental health referral decisions and to explore referral strategies and related individual differences between GPs. In structured interviews with nine GPs from two surgeries, brief case scenarios were presented. The GPs were asked what treatment or referral option they would recommend in each case, what the main reasons for their choices were and what outcomes they would expect. A short questionnaire was also used. The interviews were transcribed and a content analysis was carried out. Evidence for a variety of patient-related, service-related and doctor-related factors influencing referral decisions was found and compared with previous research findings. In line with results from earlier studies, individual differences between GPs in terms of referral rates, strategies used, confidence and interest in dealing with mental health problems were found. Implications of the findings and of previous research for referrers, service providers and for therapy were discussed. As the present study has obvious limitations, suggestions for future research were made.     

What do you do when you're happy or blue? Mood,expectancies, and behavioral interest

The effects of induced moods on interest in performing a wide spectrum of behaviors were examined in two experiments. In Experiment 1, subjects who received the Velten Mood Induction elation manipulation indicated significantly greater interest than neutral subjects in social, prosocial, strenuous, leisure, and general activities on a shortened version of the Pleasant Events Schedule. Subjects who received the depression induction indicated lower interest in social, leisure, and strenuous activities. Depressed mood was associated with an interest in sitting and thinking, being alone, and taking a nap, but depression produced no increase in interest in prosocial behavior or in 12 forms of self-gratification. Experiment 2 focused on seven potential mediators in the effects of mood on behavior interests. Following a positive, negative, or neutral mood induction, subjects were asked to record their positive and negative outcome expectancies, positive and negative emotion expectancies, and their self-perceptions of energy, ability, and opportunity for active and passive, social and nonsocial behaviors. Induced elation, depression, and neutral moods again were found to influence interest in both active and passive types of social and nonsocial behaviors. The subjects' expectations of positive outcomes, and to a lesser extent their perceived energy for the behavior, were the strongest mediators of the effect of mood on behavior interests.The present experiments were conducted at Elmhurst College; thanks to Cindy Argianis, Chris Jankowski, and Victoria Mandell for their work in Experiment 1, and to Russell Fett for his help in Experiment 2. Valuable comments on an earlier draft were provided by Henry Adams, Anita Barbee, Katherine Noll, Sid Rosen, and David Shaffer.     

What do you do when things go right? The intrapersonal and interpersonal benefits of sharing positive events

Four studies examined the intrapersonal and interpersonal consequences of seeking out others when good things happen (i.e., capitalization). Two studies showed that communicating personal positive events with others was associated with increased daily positive affect and well-being, above and beyond the impact of the positive event itself and other daily events. Moreover, when others were perceived to respond actively and constructively (and not passively or destructively) to capitalization attempts, the benefits were further enhanced. Two studies found that close relationships in which one's partner typically responds to capitalization attempts enthusiastically were associated with higher relationship well-being (e.g., intimacy, daily marital satisfaction). The results are discussed in terms of the theoretical and empirical importance of understanding how people "cope" with positive events, cultivate positive emotions, and enhance social bonds.     

If I want you to like me,should I be like you or unlike you? The effect of prior positive interaction with the group on conformity and distinctiveness in consumer decision making

The extant research points to conflicting results regarding social influence in consumer decision making. On the one hand, there is empirical evidence that suggests that people conform to other members of their groups. On the other hand, several studies demonstrated the opposite pattern, namely, that individuals seek distinctiveness from others in the group. The goal of the present research is to reconcile these contradictory findings. To this end, I propose that whether a person will conform to or seek distinctiveness from others in a particular consumption situation is contingent on the absence or presence of one's prior positive interaction with the group. I also suggest that this effect will occur in a public context, that is, when an individual's choice is visible to other group members. The results of experiment supported these propositions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Did you witness demonic possession? A response time analysis of the relationship between event plausibility and autobiographical beliefs

This study tested the hypothesis that the search for information pertinent to answering the question “Did eventx happen to you?” is preceded by a preliminary plausibility assessment, the outcome of which affects the amount of effort invested in the search. Undergraduate students were asked to assess the plausibility of six events and subsequently to rate their belief that each event had happened to them before the age of 6. Unknown to them, response times (RTs) for answering the belief questions were also recorded. RTs for making belief judgments were more highly correlated with plausibility than with belief, and were significantly associated with plausibility even when belief ratings were controlled. As predicted, RTs were very short when the event was deemed highly implausible and increased sharply if the event was deemed at least somewhat plausible; significant but less pronounced increases in RTs followed as plausibility increased further.     

What do you learn about someone over time? The relationship between length of acquaintance and consensus and self-other agreement in judgments of personality

Theory and research examining length of acquaintance and consensus among personality judgments have predominantly examined each dimension of personality separately. In L. J. Cronbach's (1955) terminology, this trait-centered approach combines consensus on elevation, differential elevation, and differential accuracy in personality judgments. The current article extends D. A. Kenny's (1991, 1994) weighted average model (WAM)--a theoretical model of the factors that influence agreement among personality judgments--to separate out two of Cronbach's components of consensus: stereotype accuracy and differential accuracy. Consistent with the predictions based on the WAM, as length of acquaintance increased, self-other agreement and consensus differential accuracy increased, stereotype accuracy decreased, and trait-level or raw profile correlations generally remained unchanged. Discussion focuses on the conditions under which a relationship between length of acquaintance and consensus and self-other agreement among personality evaluations emerges and how impressions change over time.