Does the asymmetry effect inflate the temporal expansion of odd stimuli?

Tse et al. (Percept Psychophys 66:1171–1189, 2004) reported that participants tend to overestimate the duration of an oddball stimulus. The size of this effect was much larger than the one reported by Ulrich et al. (Psychol Res 70:77–87, 2006). More crucially, the effect in the study of Tse et al. already emerged at short standard durations, arguing against the arousal account proposed by Ulrich et al. This study investigated whether the oddball effect reported by Tse et al. was inflated by an asymmetry effect, that is, by an asymmetrical distribution of physical comparison durations around the duration of the standard. Experiment 1 demonstrated that an asymmetry effect could mimic an oddball effect. Therefore, we conducted Experiment 2 to replicate the results by Tse et al. employing not only their original procedure but also an adaptive procedure that rather avoids an asymmetry effect. Both psychophysical procedures in this experiment revealed an oddball effect, which, however, was of smaller size than the one reported by Tse et al. Furthermore, this effect emerged only at longer standard durations, which is in agreement with the arousal account as the underlying mechanism of this robust temporal illusion.     

Implementing Realistic Job Previews and Expectation-Lowering Procedures: A Field Experiment

A field experiment was conducted to assess the effects of preemployment interventions on newly hired telemarketers. The procedures used were a realistic job preview (RJP), an expectation-lowering procedure (ELP), a combination (RJP & ELP), and the control condition (minimal socialization). While we know these procedures enhance the integration of newcomers to an organization, we do not know the optimal combination of RJP and ELP in the employee socialization process. The three procedures yielded relatively lower expectations than did the control group. Participants in the experimental conditions (ELP, RJP, and ELP & RJP) reported significantly lower expectations than did the control group. The lowered expectations, however, did not result in higher retention rates in all of the conditions. The RJP & ELP combination resulted in the largest number of days worked, the major criterion of interest in this study. There was no significant difference in number of days worked between the control group and the RJP group. The current study indicates that a non-job-specific ELP in combination with an RJP may exceed the benefits of an RJP or an ELP used alone. Furthermore, organizational implications regarding the different procedures are discussed.     

The study of emotional processes in communication: I. Measuring emotionalization in everyday face-to-face communicative interaction

The drawbacks of traditional research into emotional processes have led us to develop a set of methodologies for investigating them in everyday face-to-face communication. The conceptual basis of these procedures is a model of the eliciting conditions of emotional processes as well as a conceptualization of the emotional processes themselves. On the basis of the assumption of conversation as a rule-governed process, one can describe its default temporal, formal, and functional features, for which we use the MAS EDIT and SEQ programs, and the minimal model of communicative exchange, respectively. Violations of these default rules can be identified as unexpected/temporally unpredictable events eliciting emotionalization. The nature of emotionalization is determined by the psychological principle of “standard and deviation.” Its investigation under natural conditions requires the following: A noninvasive method of data acquisition (including procedures for rejecting faulty or missing values), measurement (high-resolution recording of physiological, psychomotor, and vocal variables), and the (nonstatistical) construction of an inventory or “relevant effects” (contrastive and template analysis). Finally, we depict three routes of investigating time courses of activation changes as dependent and independent variables and as a target of modification and reflection.     

Suggestion does not de-automatize word reading: Evidence from the semantically based Stroop task

Recent studies have shown that the suggestion for participants to construe words as meaningless symbols reduces, or even eliminates, standard Stroop interference in highly suggestible individuals (Raz, Fan, & Posner, 2005; Raz, Kirsch, Pollard, & Nitkin-Kaner, 2006). In these studies, the researchers consequently concluded that this suggestion de-automatizes word reading. The aim of the present study was to closely examine this claim. To this end, highly suggestible individuals completed both standard and semantically based Stroop tasks, either with or without a suggestion to construe the words as meaningless symbols (manipulated in both a between-participants [Exp. 1] and a within-participants [Exp. 2] design). By showing that suggestion substantially reduced standard Stroop interference, these two experiments replicated Raz et al.'s (2006) results. However, in both experiments we also found significant semantically based Stroop effects of similar magnitudes in all suggestion conditions. Taken together, these results indicate that the suggestion to construe words as meaningless symbols does not eliminate, or even reduce, semantic activation (assessed by the semantically based Stroop effect) in highly suggestible individuals, and that such an intervention most likely reduces nonsemantic task-relevant response competition related to the standard Stroop task. In sum, contrary to Raz et al.'s claim, suggestion does not de-automatize or prevent reading (as shown by a significant amount of semantic processing), but rather seems to influence response competition. These results also add to the growing body of evidence showing that semantic activation in the Stroop task is indeed automatic.     

Work-family spillover of daily positive affect onto performance: The moderating role of domain identity salience

IntroductionA number of linking mechanisms between work and family domains have been studied, but one key mechanism has received little attention: the cross-domain influence of positive affect on performance.ObjectiveThis study examines the work-family spillover of positive affect at work onto performance in the family and, inversely, of positive affect in the family onto performance at work. Drawing upon the work-family enrichment theory (Greenhaus & Powell, 2006), we hypothesized that work and family identity salience moderate the work-to-family and family-to-work relationships between originating domain positive affect and receiving domain performance.MethodA sample of 124 Canadian workers completed a pre-diary survey and daily surveys during 10 consecutive days.ResultsMultilevel analyses showed an effect of daily positive affect in the family on daily performance at work, but no significant effect of daily positive affect at work on daily performance in the family. Furthermore, family identity salience facilitated the work-to-family and family-to-work spillover, whereas work identity salience had no significant moderating effect.ConclusionThe results extend the happy-productive worker thesis to the work-family interface by highlighting that positive affect contextualized in the family is related to performance at work.     

Ethnic Differences in Grade Trajectories During the Transition to Junior High

The transition from elementary to junior high school is difficult for some children, as indicated by a drop in grades in the new school setting from the beginning to end of the year. Finer-grain analysis of grade trajectories in the first year of junior high may reflect important differences among groups. In the present study, variables predicting linear and quadratic grade trajectories over the seventh grade were examined using a structural equation model (SEM, AMOS-4) and curve estimation procedures. Participants were 214 boys and 259 girls entering junior high (52% Anglo, 36% Hispanics, primarily of Mexican descent, and 12% Blacks). Three trajectory patterns were observed: “sliders,” students who showed a fairly steady grade decline over the year (characteristic of Anglos), “steadies,” students who varied little over the year (characteristic of Blacks), and “rebounders,” students whose grades dropped to a minimum in the fourth 6-week period, then showed limited recovery (characteristic of Hispanics). In the SEM, a lower intercept (representing the average of sixth grade grades) was associated with minority ethnic/racial status (Hispanic or Black), using more emotional discharge to cope, having a lower percentage of adults in the support network, poorer family functioning, and greater depression. Being Black was associated with a positive path coefficient to the linear slope of the grade trajectory, while a negative path coefficient was associated with using more emotional discharge in coping. The quadratic element (drop in grades with some recovery) was more pronounced for Hispanic participants, less pronounced for Black participants, and more pronounced when poorer family functioning was reported. Curve estimation procedures confirmed these ethnic/racial group differences. Reasons for such differences and their implications for schools and families are discussed.     

Family support and acceptance, gay male identity formation, and psychological adjustment: a path model.

While heterosexist family undermining has been demonstrated to be a developmental risk factor in the life of persons with same-gender orientation, the issue of protective family factors is both controversial and relatively neglected. In this study of Israeli gay males (N = 114), we focused on the interrelations of family support, family acceptance and family knowledge of gay orientation, and gay male identity formation, and their effects on mental health and self-esteem. A path model was proposed based on the hypotheses that family support, family acceptance, family knowledge, and gay identity formation have an impact on psychological adjustment, and that family support has an effect on gay identity formation that is mediated by family acceptance. The assessment of gay identity formation was based on an established stage model that was streamlined for cross-cultural practice by defining three basic processes of same-gender identity formation: self-definition, self-acceptance, and disclosure (Elizur & Mintzer, 2001). The testing of our conceptual path model demonstrated an excellent fit with the data. An alternative model that hypothesized effects of gay male identity on family acceptance and family knowledge did not fit the data. Interpreting these results, we propose that the main effect of family support/acceptance on gay identity is related to the process of disclosure, and that both general family support and family acceptance of same-gender orientation play a significant role in the psychological adjustment of gay men.     

The eye of the retriever: developing episodic memory mechanisms in preverbal infants assessed through pupil dilation

Studying memory in infants can be challenging, as they cannot express their subjective recollection verbally. In this study we use a novel method with which we can assess episodic recognition memory through pupillometry, using identical procedures and stimuli for infants and adults. In three experiments of 4‐ and 7‐month‐old infants, and adults we show that the adult pupillary response is larger to previously seen than to never seen items (old/new effect). Pupil dilations index subjective memory experience in adults, producing distinct pupil dilations to items judged as remembered, familiar, and new, regardless of actual previous exposure (Experiment 1). Seven‐month‐old infants demonstrate a clear pupillary old/new effect, very similar to that of adults (Experiment 2), whereas 4‐month‐olds do not demonstrate such an effect (Experiment 3). Our findings suggest that the mnemonic mechanisms that serve infants' and adults' episodic recognition memory are more similar than previously asserted: they are not fully developed at 4 months of age but that there is contiguity in human episodic memory development from 7 months of age.     

Role of personality and affect on the social support and work family conflict relationship

The relationship between support and work family conflict has been studied extensively, but previous studies have not examined if personality moderates this relationship. In this research, we examine the moderating influence of personality on the relationship between contextual support and work-family conflict across two studies. In Study 1, we examine if core self-evaluations (CSE) moderate the relationship between four different types of workplace support, 1. family friendly work policies (FFOP), 2. family supportive organizational climate (FSOC), 3. perceived organizational support (POS), and 4. perceived supervisor support (PSS), and work interfering with family conflict (WIF) using a sample of working adults (N=435). In Study 2, we examine if Big Five personality traits and negative affect moderate the relationship between co-worker support and (WIF) using a large national sample (N=1130) of working respondents from the “midlife in the US” (MIDUS) study of health and well-being. Taken together, the current research examines the moderating effect of several key personality variables on the relationship between important forms of social support and work family conflict. Results based on these two samples indicate CSE moderates the relationship between POS and WIF, and PSS and WIF, but does not moderate the relationship between FFOP and WIF, or FSOC and WIF. Further, conscientiousness and agreeableness moderate the relationship between co-worker support and WIF. Co-worker support and WIF is stronger for individuals with higher levels of negative affect. We discuss the implications for research and practice relating to work family conflict.     

Socioeconomic status and executive function in early childhood: Exploring proximal mechanisms

Although there is substantial evidence that socioeconomic status (SES) predicts children's executive function (EF), the mechanisms underlying this association are poorly understood. This study tested the utility of two theories proposed to link SES to children's EF: the family stress model and the family investment model. Data came from the Midwestern Infant Development Study (N = 151). To measure SES, parental education and income were assessed during pregnancy, and income was also assessed when children were 6 and 36 months old. Children's EF, operationalized as working memory/inhibitory control (WMIC) and self‐control, was assessed at 36 months of age, along with potential mediators including maternal psychological distress, harsh parenting, and cognitive stimulation. Using structural equation modeling, we tested simultaneous pathways from SES to EF: (a) via maternal psychological distress to harsh parenting (family stress model) and (b) via cognitive stimulation (family investment model). Of the SES measures, lower education predicted poorer WMIC directly and indirectly via greater maternal psychological distress. Lower education also predicted poorer self‐control via greater maternal psychological distress. This effect was partially suppressed by an indirect path from lower education to better self‐control via greater psychological distress and increased harsh parenting. Cognitive stimulation did not act as a mediator. Income was not directly or indirectly associated with EF. These findings provide partial support for the family stress model and suggest that family functioning is an important proximal mechanism for children's EF development. This study also highlights the importance of considering SES as a multidimensional construct.     

Parental Efficacy Moderates the Association Between Empathy and Burden Among Parents of Children Admitted to a Psychiatric Ward

Empathy is considered a positive aspect of caregiving, although in certain circumstances, being empathic might increase the burden of caregivers. The current study assessed the associations between empathy, parental efficacy, and family burden among parents of children who were hospitalized in a psychiatric unit. Specifically, we examined whether the association between empathy and family burden was moderated by the parents’ sense of self-efficacy. Seventy parents of children with psychiatric disorders, hospitalized in an inpatient psychiatric unit, filled out questionnaires of empathy, parental efficacy, and family burden. Results supported a moderating role of parental efficacy between empathy and family burden (interaction effect: β = −1.72, p = .0406). Specifically, empathy was positively related to family burden among parents with low self-efficacy (conditional effect = 0.70, p = .032) and negatively related to family burden among parents with high self-efficacy (conditional effect = −0.39, p = N.S). Implications for practice include the importance of self-efficacy and address the possible negative implications of empathy among parents of children treated in a psychiatric hospital.     

Masked nonword repetition effects in yes/no and go/no-go lexical decision: A test of the evidence accumulation and deadline accounts

The pattern of masked repetition priming effects for word and nonword targets differs across tasks: Maskedpriming effects in lexical decision occur for positive responses (i.e., words), but not for negative responses (nonwords), whereas masked-priming effects in the cross-case same-different task occur for positive responses (same), but not for negative responses (different)—regardless of lexical status. Here, we examined whether masked nonword priming effects are greater when the task involves an active go response to nonwords than when it involves the standard yes/no procedure in lexical decision. The obtained masked repetition priming effect for nonwords was of similar size in yes/no and go/no-go tasks. This finding is compatible with accounts of nonword priming that posit that nonword responses are produced by actively accumulating evidence for the nonword alternative in yes/no and go/no-go procedures, whereas it is inconsistent with the assumption of a deadline for no responses in the yes/no task.     

The development of working memory: further note on the comparability of two models of working memory

This paper is a set of reflections on Kemps, De Rammelaere, and Desmet's article (2000, this issue), in which the two models by Baddeley and Pascual-Leone are compared. First, some of the similarities and differences between the two models which we identified in a 1994 paper (de Ribaupierre & Bailleux, 1994) are briefly summarized and reexamined in the light of more recent work. Second, we debate the issue of whether each model makes a specific contribution to the explanation of some of Kemps et al.'s results, that is, of whether they can be considered to be complementary. Third, we argue for the necessity of theoretical task analyses, in view of the divergent results obtained in the two tasks used (the Corsi and the Peanut tasks), notably different developmental profiles, and an overall higher level of performance in the Corsi task. Finally, we briefly summarize a very similar study in which we also used Mr. Peanut with concurrent tasks in children and in young adults and in which we obtained rather different results. By comparing the experimental procedures used in the two studies, we contribute some exploratory hypotheses, while raising issues that can easily be generalized to other visuo-spatial working memory tasks.     

Distributed rereading can hurt the spacing effect in text memory

The spacing effect refers to the commonly observed phenomenon that memory for spaced repetitions is better than for massed repetitions. In the present study, we examined this effect in students' memory for a lengthy expository text. Participants read the text twice, either in immediate succession (massed repetition), with a 4‐day interstudy interval (spaced short), or with a 3.5‐weeks interstudy interval (spaced long). Two days after the second study trial, all participants were tested. The results demonstrated that students in the spaced‐short condition remembered more of the content than those in the massed condition. By contrast, students in the spaced‐long condition remembered as much as students in the massed condition. These results were interpreted in terms of a theoretical framework, which combines mechanisms of encoding variability and study‐phase retrieval to account for the spacing effect. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predictors of preschool language environments and their relations to children's vocabulary

Despite support for the importance of early language environments, little is known about the naturally occurring experiences children have in preschool settings. The current study sample included 91 children (M_age = 4.72 years; 56% male; 67% White) from 23 preschool classrooms and nearly 1500 h of language environment data from three waves throughout the preschool year. Of the sociodemographic characteristics, family income is most closely related to children's preschool language environments. A standard deviation increase in family income was related to children hearing approximately one million more adult words in their preschool classroom. However, conversational turns were the more robust predictor of vocabulary skills with effect sizes around 0.20, depending on model specification. Theoretical and policy implications of these findings are discussed.     

The Development of Family Alliance From Pregnancy to Toddlerhood and Child Outcomes at 5 Years

This article presents a longitudinal study of the development of “family alliance” from pregnancy to toddlerhood in a community sample, as well as its links with the emotional and cognitive development of the child at age 5 years. Family alliance is defined as the quality of the interactive coordination between family members. We consider that the alliance constitutes a context for the child to learn emotion regulation and to develop an understanding of inner states. Family interactions (N = 38) were observed at the 5th month of pregnancy and at 3, 9, and 18 months after birth in a standardized situation of observation (Lausanne Trilogue Play). Marital satisfaction and child temperament were assessed through self‐reported questionnaires. Several outcomes of the child at age 5 years were measured: theory of mind performances, predominant emotional themes in pretend play, internalized and externalized symptoms. Results show that (a) three patterns of evolution of family alliance occur: “high stable” (n = 19), “high to low” (n = 10), and “low stable” (n = 9); (b) a high stable alliance is predictive of better outcomes in children at age 5 years, especially regarding theory of mind; (c) the temperament of the child is predictive of child outcomes; and (d) an interaction effect occurs between family alliance and temperament. These results highlight the importance of both family‐level and individual‐level variables for understanding individual differences in the social and cognitive development of children.     

Analogue evaluation of the effects of opportunities to respond and ratios of known items within drill rehearsal of Esperanto words

Drill procedures have been used to increase the retention of various types of information, but little is known about the causal mechanisms of these techniques. The current study compared the effect of two key features of drill procedures, a large number of opportunities to respond (OTR) and a drill ratio that maintains a high percentage of known to unknown items (90% known). Using a factorial design, 27 4th graders were taught the pronunciation and meaning of Esperanto words using four versions of incremental rehearsal that varied on two factors, percentage of known words (high — 90% vs. moderate — 50%) and the number of OTR (high vs. low). A within-subject ANOVA revealed a significant main effect for OTR and non-significant effects for drill ratio and the interaction between the two variables. Moreover, it was found that increasing OTR from low to high yielded a large effect size (d = 2.46), but increasing the percentage of known material from moderate (50%) to high (90%) yielded a small effect (d = 0.16). These results suggest that a high number of OTR may be a key feature of flashcard drill techniques in promoting learning and retention.     

Prejudice in the police: On the processes underlying the effects of selection and group socialisation

The principal aim of this study is to determine why police officers are generally found to be more prejudiced towards disadvantaged groups than are the standard population. Two independent processes were expected to account for this effect: Selection and group socialisation. Using a cross‐sectional design (N = 170), firstly, we compared, newly recruited police officers with a control population (selection effect), and secondly, police officers with 1 year of training with the newly recruited ones (group socialisation effect). Results reveal a significant effect of both selection and group socialisation, the two being underlined by distinct processes; right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA) in the case of the former and internalisation of a prejudice norm in the case of the latter. Finally, the results show that group identification moderates the change in internalisation of the prejudice norm. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Emotional autonomy and adjustment among emerging adults: The moderating role of family relationships

Emerging adults build their personal maturity within the family context; however, few studies focus on the role of emotional autonomy during this stage. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between emotional autonomy and adjustment during emerging adulthood, bearing in mind the possible moderating role of parental support in this relationship. Data were collected from 1,502 Spanish undergraduate students (903 women) aged between 18 and 29. Participants completed measures of emotional autonomy (EAS, Steinberg & Silverberg, 1986), family social support (MSPSS; Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet & Farley, 1988), psychological well-being (PWBS; Ryff, Lee, Essex & Schmutte, 1995) and psychological distress (DASS-21; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995). The results indicate that emotional autonomy correlates negatively with family support and psychological well-being and positively with psychological distress. However, only when young people perceive a family context with low social support is gaining emotional distance from their parents associated with an increase in their psychological well-being. Our findings highlight the crucial role that the family environment plays in well-being during young adulthood, and reveal that the effect of emotional distancing from parents on adjustment depends on the quality of the family climate. Future research should seek to gain greater insight into emotional autonomy during emerging adulthood, taking into account cross-cultural diversity.