On the Plasticity of Self-Defense

Many qualitatively different mechanisms for regulating self-esteem have been described in the literature. These include, for example, reduction of cognitive dissonance, self-affirmation, and social comparison. The work reviewed here demonstrates that despite their differences, these mechanisms may be substitutable for one another. For example, a threat to self via cognitive dissonance can affect attempts to maintain self-esteem via social comparison. This implies that these mechanisms are serving the same, unitary goal of maintaining self-esteem. Thus, there is surprising generality or flexibility in the processes used to maintain self-esteem. Substitution of one mechanism for another may depend on the transfer of affect. The issue of substitutability across domains is briefly discussed.     

The substitutability of reinforcers

Substitutability is a construct borrowed from microeconomics that describes a continuum of possible interactions among the reinforcers in a given situation. Highly substitutable reinforcers, which occupy one end of the continuum, are readily traded for each other due to their functional similarity. Complementary reinforcers, at the other end of the continuum, tend to be consumed jointly in fairly rigid proportion, and therefore cannot be traded for one another except to achieve that proportion. At the center of the continuum are reinforcers that are independent with respect to each other; consumption of one has no influence on consumption of another. Psychological research and analyses in terms of substitutability employ standard operant conditioning paradigms in which humans and nonhumans choose between alternative reinforcers. The range of reinforcer interactions found in these studies is more readily accommodated and predicted when behavior-analytic models of choice consider issues of substitutability. New insights are gained into such areas as eating and drinking, electrical brain stimulation, temporal separation of choice alternatives, behavior therapy, drug use, and addictions. Moreover, the generalized matching law (Baum, 1974) gains greater explanatory power and comprehensiveness when measures of substitutability are included.     

AN ANALYSIS OF REINFORCER SUBSTITUTABILITY USING OBJECT MANIPULATION AND SELF-INJURY AS COMPETING RESPONSES

The concept of reinforcer substitutability proposes a continuum of interactions among reinforcers in a given situation. At one end of this continuum, reinforcers are substitutable, with one reinforcer being readily traded for another. We conducted an analysis of reinforcers that were substitutable with those produced by self-injurious behavior (SIB). Three individuals with profound developmental disabilities, whose SIB appeared to be maintained by automatic reinforcement, participated. Results of three experiments showed that (a) object manipulation and SIB were inversely related when leisure materials and SIB were concurrently available, with participants showing almost complete preference for object manipulation; (b) attempts to reduce SIB using the preferred objects as reinforcers in differential reinforcement contingencies were unsuccessful for all 3 participants; and (c) participants' preferences for SIB or object manipulation systematically changed when reinforcer cost (the amount of effort required to obtain the object) was varied. Results of the three experiments illustrate the importance of examining interactions among concurrently available reinforcers when conducting reinforcer assessments.     

Weaving the fabric of social interaction: Articulating developmental psychology and cognitive neuroscience in the domain of motor cognition

In this article, we bring together recent findings from developmental science and cognitive neuroscience to argue that perception-action coupling constitutes the fundamental mechanism of motor cognition. A variety of empirical evidence suggests that observed and executed actions are coded in a common cognitive and neural framework, enabling individuals to construct shared representations of self and other actions. We review work to suggest that such shared representations support action anticipation, organization, and imitation. These processes, along with additional computational mechanisms for determining a sense of agency and behavioral regulation, form the fabric of social interaction. In addition, humans possess the capacity to move beyond these basic aspects of action analysis to interpret behavior at a deeper level, an ability that may be outside the scope of the mirror system. Understanding the nature of shared representations from the vantage point of developmental and cognitive science and neuroscience has the potential to inform a range of motor and social processes. This perspective also elucidates intriguing new directions and research questions and generates specific hypotheses regarding the impact of early disorders (e.g., developmental movement disorders) on subsequent action processing.     

Yours or mine? Ownership and memory

An important function of the self is to identify external objects that are potentially personally relevant. We suggest that such objects may be identified through mere ownership. Extant research suggests that encoding information in a self-relevant context enhances memory (the so-called 'self-reference effect'), thus an experiment was designed to test the impact of ownership on memory performance. Participants either moved or observed the movement of picture cards into two baskets; one of which belonged to self and one which belonged to another participant. A subsequent recognition test revealed that there was a significant memory advantage for objects that were owned by self. Acting on items (i.e., moving them) had no impact on memory. Results are discussed with reference to the importance of self-object associations in cognition.     

Crime in College Predicts Violent Crime in the National Football League

ABSTRACT

The relationship between past and future crime is one of the most robust findings within criminology. Yet, there have been few attempts to examine whether this linkage holds in specific employment arenas. In this study, we consider the relationship between past and future crime within the context of the National Football League (NFL). Specifically, we assess whether there is a relationship between pre-NFL arrests and arrests while playing in the NFL. Using data on NFL arrestees coupled with an internet-based search of arrests prior to their joining the NFL, we find that pre-NFL arrests are positive and significantly related to violent (but not total or non-violent) arrests. Also, this pattern of findings was observed for non-white NFL players, but not white players. Limitations, future research directions, and policy implications are highlighted.     

Reappraising Past and Future Transitional Events: The Effects of Mental Focus on Present Perceptions of Personal Impact and Self‐Relevance

This research examined how instructions to focus on the concrete details (experience focus) versus broader life significance (coherence focus) influence present perceptions of transitional impact and self‐relevance for past and future transitional events. Participants (Study 1, N = 119; Study 2, N = 251) selected a past or future transition and wrote about it using either an experiential or coherence focus. Participants then rated the event on transitional impact, self‐relevance, and other phenomenological characteristics. Individuals instructed to use a coherence focus on a past transition reported higher levels of material and psychological impact and rated the event as more self‐relevant, compared to those instructed to use an experiential focus. The manipulation did not influence ratings for future events. Controlling for temporal distance and emotional valence did not alter the findings. Future transitions were regarded as more personally important than past transitions. Appraisals of the impact and self‐relevance of transformative past events (but not future events) are affected by the mental focus adopted at retrieval. The findings are considered in light of essential differences between remembering and forecasting and support the notion that a coherence focus promotes adaptive self‐reflection by affording people the cognitive means with which to reconcile transitional experiences.     

Reflective Self‐Control in Self‐Control Scholarship: A Peircean Analysis

Vosgerau, Scopelliti, and Huh (this issue) present an important critique of much self‐control research, highlighting some of the ways that our customary operationalizations and methods may have created more confusion than clarity. Their insights, rooted in past literature and new data, offer recommendations that will undoubtedly help us improve our research in consumption self‐control. In this commentary, I frame their work using the thought of Charles Sanders Peirce, a philosopher, mathematician, and logician whose frustration with the management of the self‐control construct and subsequent revision parallels Vosgerau et al's in many ways. Further, his thought proposes that their thought traces the boundary of another type of self‐control problem, which I'll refer to as “reflective self‐control.” Taking together consumption self‐control and reflective self‐control, we're able to address a wide range of human experiences and connect self‐control to ethics, consistent with a long tradition bridging the two. Perhaps most importantly, though, a Peircean analysis suggests that Vosgerau et al's paper—whether we agree or disagree with its conclusions—exemplifies the kind of scholarly self‐control we need to display to make scientific progress, regardless of our specific domain of study.     

The relation between self-discrepancies and emotion: the moderating roles of self-guide importance, location relevance, and social self-domain centrality

In 5 studies, the authors investigated the effects of self-guide importance, domain centrality to self-definition, and self-domain relevance of testing location on relationships between actual-ideal (AI) and actual-ought (AO) discrepancies and emotions. Although no unique relationships occurred for self discrepancies, moderating effects were found for social self-domains. Location relevance overshadowed other moderator effects. In less relevant locations, AI discrepancies were smaller and AO discrepancy-emotion relationships were moderated by self-guide importance. For more important self-domains, AI discrepancies were smaller and AO discrepancies were unrelated to agitation. For less important self-domains, agitation was related to the AO discrepancy and self-guide importance interaction. By suggesting that different self-regulatory strategies minimize the consequences of AI and AO discrepancies, evidence for distinct ideal and ought self-regulation is provided.     

Cognitive test batteries in animal cognition research: evaluating the past,present and future of comparative psychometrics

For the past two decades, behavioural ecologists have documented consistent individual differences in behavioural traits within species and found evidence for animal “personality”. It is only relatively recently, however, that increasing numbers of researchers have begun to investigate individual differences in cognitive ability within species. It has been suggested that cognitive test batteries may provide an ideal tool for this growing research endeavour. In fact, cognitive test batteries have now been used to examine the causes, consequences and underlying structure of cognitive performance within and between many species. In this review, we document the existing attempts to develop cognitive test batteries for non-human animals and review the claims that these studies have made in terms of the structure and evolution of cognition. We argue that our current test battery methods could be improved on multiple fronts, from the design of tasks, to the domains targeted and the species tested. Refining and optimising test battery design will provide many benefits. In future, we envisage that well-designed cognitive test batteries may provide answers to a range of exciting questions, including giving us greater insight into the evolution and structure of cognition.     

Academic self‐concept and academic achievement: Relations and causal ordering

Background. A positive self‐concept is valued as a desirable outcome in many disciplines of psychology as well as an important mediator to other outcomes. Aims. The present review examines support for the reciprocal effects model (REM) that posits academic self‐concept (ASC) and achievement are mutually reinforcing, each leading to gains in the other – and its extension to other achievement domains. Method. We review theoretical, methodological, and empirical support for the REM. Critical features in this research are a theoretical emphasis on multidimensional perspectives that focus on specific components of self‐concept and a methodological focus on a construct validity approach to evaluating the REM. Results. Consistent with these distinctions, REM research and a comprehensive meta‐analysis show that prior ASC has direct and indirect effects on subsequent achievement, whilst the effects of self‐esteem and other non‐academic components of self‐concept are negligible. We then provide an overview of subsequent support for the generality of the REM for: young children, cross‐cultural, health (physical activity), and non‐elite (gymnastics) and elite (international swimming championships) sport. Conclusion. This research is important in demonstrating that increases in ASC lead to increases in subsequent academic achievement and other desirable educational outcomes. Findings confirm that not only is self‐concept an important outcome variable in itself, it also plays a central role in affecting other desirable educational outcomes. Implications for educational practice are discussed.     

Subjective well‐being and valuation of future health states: Discrepancies between anticipated and experienced life satisfaction

One way of informing health policy decisions is to ask people about the impact that different health states would have on their future subjective well‐being. The present research explored the relation between anticipated and experienced changes in health‐related subjective well‐being, and examined whether affective forecasting errors could be reduced by psychological distancing manipulations. Using survey methodology, we tested whether people can accurately estimate the impact of different possible health states on their subjective well‐being. We also manipulated psychological distance: Forecasts were made about present self, future self, or others. Based on construal level theory and past work on affective forecasting errors, our prediction was that increasing psychological distance may reduce the mismatch between anticipated and experienced impact of health states on subjective well‐being. We found that the impact of ill health on subjective well‐being was greatly overpredicted and that this overprediction was not eliminated when participants were asked to make predictions about themselves in the future or about other people. Consistent with past work, we found that our participants correctly expected that their subjective well‐being would deteriorate more if they experienced the highest levels of mental illness as compared to the highest intensities of pain or most severe limitations to physical functioning.     

Reward history but not search history explains value-driven attentional capture

In past years, an extensive amount of research has focused on how past experiences guide future attention. Humans automatically attend to stimuli previously associated with reward and stimuli that have been experienced during visual search, even when it is disadvantageous in present situations. Recently, the relationship between “reward history” and “search history” has been discussed critically. We review results from research on value-driven attentional capture (VDAC) with a focus on these two experience-based attentional selection processes and their distinction. To clarify inconsistencies, we examined VDAC within a design that allows a direct comparison with other mechanisms of attentional selection. Eighty-four healthy adults were trained to incidentally associate colors with reward (10 cents, 2 cents) or with no reward. In a subsequent visual search task, distraction by reward-associated and unrewarded stimuli was contrasted. In the training phase, reward signals facilitated performance. When these value-signaling stimuli appeared as distractors in the test phase, they continuously shaped attentional selection, despite their task irrelevance. Our findings clearly cannot be attributed to a history of target search. We conclude that once an association is established, value signals guide attention automatically in new situations, which can be beneficial or not, depending on the congruency with current goals.     

认知控制在第三方惩罚中的作用

第三方惩罚是一种特殊的利他行为, 在维护社会规范和人类合作中发挥着重要作用。现有研究对遵守社会规范行为及其认知机制进行了大量探讨, 而第三方惩罚这一维护社会规范行为的认知加工过程, 尤其是认知控制在其中发挥的具体作用, 是目前研究的热点之一。通过(1)借助不同技术方法来探究认知控制在第三方惩罚中的具体作用; (2)从发展的视角, 在认知控制发展的关键阶段来考察其作用随年龄的发展变化, 用以解释第三方惩罚这一利他行为的发展轨迹, 完善对第三方惩罚的认知基础的理解, 并构建第三方惩罚决策的心理模型。     

Economic substitutability of electrical brain stimulation, food, and water.

Concurrent variable-ratio schedules of electrical brain stimulation, food, and water were paired in various combinations as reinforcement of rats' lever presses. Relative prices of the concurrent reinforcers were varied by changing the ratio of the response requirements on the two levers. Economic substitutability, measured by the sensitivity of response ratio to changes in relative price, was highest with brain stimulation reinforcement of presses on both levers and lowest with food reinforcement of presses on one lever and water reinforcement of presses on the other. Substitutability with brain stimulation reinforcement of presses on one lever and either food or water reinforcement for presses on the other was about as high as with brain stimulation for presses on both levers. Electrical brain stimulation for rats may thus serve as an economic substitute for two reinforcers, neither of which is substitutable for the other.     

Self‐Monitoring and the Metatraits

Prior attempts at locating self‐monitoring within general taxonomies of personality traits have largely proved unsuccessful. However, past research has typically neglected (a) the bidimensionality of the Self‐Monitoring Scale and (b) the hierarchical nature of personality. The objective of this study was to test hypotheses that the two self‐monitoring factors are located at the level of the metatraits. Using data from two large multi‐informant samples, one community (Sample 1: N = 552, M_age = 51.26, 61% female; N_Peers = 1,551, M_age = 48.61, 37% female) and one online (Sample 2: N = 3,726, M_age = 24.89, 59% female; N_Peers = 17,868, M_age = 26.23, 64% female), confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the hypotheses. Results confirmed hypotheses that acquisitive self‐monitoring would have a strong positive relation to metatrait Plasticity, whereas protective self‐monitoring would have a moderate negative relation to metatrait Stability. In both samples, constraining the correlation between acquisitive self‐monitoring and Plasticity to unity did not alter model fit indices, indicating that the two putatively distinct constructs are identical. Findings have wide‐ranging implications, including integration of the construct of self‐monitoring into the mainstream of personality research, as the latter moves toward the development of broad explanatory theories.     

The role of the self in mindblindness in autism

Since its inception the 'mindblindness' theory of autism has greatly furthered our understanding of the core social-communication impairments in autism spectrum conditions (ASC). However, one of the more subtle issues within the theory that needs to be elaborated is the role of the 'self'. In this article, we expand on mindblindness in ASC by addressing topics related to the self and its central role in the social world and then review recent research in ASC that has yielded important insights by contrasting processes relating to both self and other. We suggest that new discoveries lie ahead in understanding how self and other are interrelated and/or distinct, and how understanding atypical self-referential and social-cognitive mechanisms may lead to novel ideas as to how to facilitate social-communicative abilities in ASC.     

Self‐Efficacy Assessment and Generalization in Physical Education Courses1

Physical education courses can have effects that generalize past their immediate task as measured by increases in domain‐specific self‐efficacy. It was predicted that competitive combative courses like boxing would be more likely to have skills generalize to other domains than noncontact courses like swimming. A Physical Education Self‐Efficacy Scale was created that focused on 2 different domains of self‐efficacy: 1 specific to the course (physicality), and 1 in a disparate domain (leadership initiative). Students were given the scale before and after the 2 different courses. Results indicate that there were small but significant increases in both subscales for students enrolled in boxing, but not for students enrolled in swimming. Physicality self‐efficacy also correlated strongly with performance. Implications and mechanisms for generalization of self‐efficacy to neighboring domains are discussed.     

Self‐promotion Statements in Video Resumes: Frequency,intensity, and gender effects on job applicant evaluation

Although video resumes have received a substantial amount of media attention and there seems to be a growing awareness among Human Resource professionals of video‐based job applications, little is known about the effect of video resumes on applicant evaluation. This research investigates the effectiveness of self‐promotion within the context of video resumes. Self‐promotion frequency and intensity and applicant gender were manipulated. Ratings by recruiters and college students indicate that high levels of self‐promotion in video resumes are ineffective for male applicants and potentially detrimental for female applicants. Job applicants should use caution when attempting to promote themselves using video resumes. More research is needed on impression management tactics used at the earliest stages of selection and on the mechanisms operating within video resumes that impact applicant evaluation.     

Untangling the Links between Narcissism and Self‐esteem: A Theoretical and Empirical Review

The links among narcissism, explicit (deliberate, controllable) self‐esteem, and implicit (automatic, uncontrollable) self‐esteem are unclear despite numerous attempts to illuminate these links. Some investigations suggest that narcissism reflects high explicit self‐esteem that masks low implicit self‐esteem, but other investigations fail to replicate this pattern. Here, we place the ‘mask’ model of narcissism in historical context and review the existing empirical evidence for this model. We then discuss three possible issues that might shed light on the inconsistent findings that have emerged from tests of the mask model. These issues include the unreliability of implicit attitude measures, narcissism's different associations with agentic versus communal self‐views, and distinctions between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism subtypes. We also summarize several alternatives to the mask model of narcissism. Throughout, we offer suggestions for improving the study of narcissism and self‐esteem and point to directions for future research on this topic.