The effect of question expectedness and experience on lying about intentions

In recent years researchers have started to focus on lying about intentions (Granhag, 2010). In the present experiment participants were interviewed about their forthcoming trip. We tested the hypothesis that liars (N=43) compared to truth tellers (N=43) would give fewer details to unexpected questions about planning, transportation and the core event, but an equal amount or more detail to expected questions about the purpose of the trip. We also tested the hypothesis that participants who had previously experienced the intention (i.e., they had made such a trip before) would give more detail than those who had never experienced the intended action. The unexpected question hypothesis was supported, whereas the previous experience effect only emerged in interactions. The benefit of using different types of questions for lie detection purposes is discussed.     

A comparison between elemental and compound training of cues in retrospective revaluation

Associative learning theories assume that cue interaction and, specifically, retrospective revaluation occur only when the target cue is previously trained in compound with the to-be-revalued cue. However, there are recent demonstrations of retrospective revaluation in the absence of compound training (e.g., Matute & Pine?o, 1998a, 1998b). Nevertheless, it seems reasonable to assume that cue interaction should be stronger when the cues are trained together than when they are trained apart. In two experiments with humans, we directly compared compound and elemental training of cues. The results showed that retrospective revaluation in the elemental condition can be as strong as and, sometimes, stronger than that in the compound condition. This suggests that within-compound associations are not necessary for retrospective revaluation to occur and that these effects can possibly be best understood in the framework of general interference theory.     

Manipulating cues in mind wandering: Verbal cues affect the frequency and the temporal focus of mind wandering

Our understanding of mind wandering (MW) has dramatically increased over the past decade. A key challenge still facing research is the identification of the processes and events that directly cause and control its occurrence. In the present study we sought to shed light on this question, by investigating the effects of verbal cues on the frequency and temporal focus of MW. To this aim, we experimentally manipulated the presence of irrelevant verbal cues during a vigilance task, in two independent groups (Verbal-cues group vs. No-cues group).We found that compared to the No-cues group, the Verbal-cues group reported a higher amount of MW, mostly triggered by the irrelevant cue-words, and a higher proportion of past-oriented MW compared to the other temporal orientations. These results demonstrate that task-irrelevant verbal stimulation increases the frequency of MW and steers its temporal orientation toward the past. Implications for the research on MW are discussed.     

Committing to implementation intentions: Attention and memory effects for selected situational cues

Two studies tested whether forming implementation intentions (Gollwitzer, Am Psychol 54:493?C503 in 1999) results in a heightened activation of specified situational cues. Going beyond prior studies, participants of the present studies specified these opportunities on their own (i.e., the action cues were not assigned by the experimenter), and activation level was assessed by attraction of attention and recall performance rather than lexical decisions. In Study 1, situational cues associated with the where and when to act on an everyday life goal attracted more attention than non-specified cues when presented to the non-attended channel in a dichotic listening task. In Study 2, the recall of specified cues was better than that of non-specified cues both 15?min after forming implementation intentions and after a delay of 2?days. Importantly, goal commitment and implementation intention commitment moderated this effect.     

Statistical criteria for parallel tests: A comparison of accuracy and power

Parallel tests are needed so that alternate forms can be applied to different groups or on different occasions, but also in the context of split-half reliability estimation for a given test. Statistically, parallelism holds beyond reasonable doubt when the null hypotheses of equality of observed means and variances across the two forms (or halves) are not rejected. Several statistical tests have been proposed for this purpose, but their performance has never been compared. This study assessed the relative performance (type I error rate and power) of the Student–Pitman–Morgan, Bradley–Blackwood, and Wilks tests of equality of means and variances in the typical conditions surrounding studies of parallelism—namely, integer-valued and bounded test scores with distributions that may not be bivariate normal. The results advise against the use of the Wilks test and support the use of the Bradley–Blackwood test because of its simplicity and its minimally better performance in comparison with the more cumbersome Student–Pitman–Morgan test.     

A comparison of accommodative and fusional convergence as cues to distance

The effectiveness of fusional as compared with accommodative convergence (with accommodation present in both cases) in determining perceived distance was investigated in this study. Luminous frames of two different visual angles at a nearly constant distance were viewed binocularly to provide fusional convergence and monocularly to provide accommodative convergence. Although some differences in reported size and distance of the frames occurred on the first presentations for binocular as compared to monocular observation, the most systematic differences between these two types of observation were present for the second (successive) presentations of the two frame sizes to the same Os. This is attributed to the relative size cue to distance occurring as a function of the different retinal sizes on the successive presentations. It was found that this relative size cue was more effective in modifying the perceived size and distance of the second presentations for monocular than for binocular observation. It is suggested that this reflects the greater effectiveness as a cue to distance of fusional as compared with accommodative convergence. This conclusion is of importance for studies concerned with the evaluation of convergence as a determiner of perceived distance.     

Bridging the gap between intentions and behavior: Implementation intentions, action control, and procrastination

In the context of Ajzen’s (1991) theory of planned behavior, the antecedents of intentions are better understood than the antecedents of behavior. The current study aimed to improve the understanding of the transition from intentions to behavior. Based on the work of Gollwitzer (1993), Kuhl and Beckmann (1994), and Lay (1986) we proposed a model of mediators (i.e., implementation intentions) and moderators (i.e., action-state orientation and trait procrastination) in the intention-behavior relation. The model was applied to job seeking, and tested using longitudinal survey data of a sample of unemployed individuals in The Netherlands (N = 175). Support was found for the proposed mediating role of implementation intentions in the relation between job search intention and job search behavior. The proposed moderating roles of action-state orientation and trait procrastination were not supported.     

Ambivalence, communication and past use: understanding what influences women's intentions to use contraceptives

Unintended pregnancy among women in the 18-30 age group is a public health concern. The Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) provides a framework for exploring how women's perceptions of threat, efficacy, and fear influence intentions to use contraceptives. Past use and communication with best friends and partners were also considered. A telephone survey of 18-30-year-old women (N = 599) was completed. After univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted, the variables were entered into a hierarchal, multi-variate linear regression with three steps consistent with the EPPM to predict behavioral intention. The first step included the demographic variables of relationship status and income. The constructs for the EPPM were entered into step 2. Step 3 contained the fear measure. The model for the third step was significant, F(10,471) = 36.40, p < 0.001 and the variance explained by this complete model was 0.42. Results suggest that perceived severity of the consequences of an unintended pregnancy (p < 0.01), communication with friends (p < 0.01) and last sexual partner (p < 0.05), relationship status (p < 0.01), and past use (p < 0.001) were associated with women's intentions to use contraceptives. A woman's perception of the severity was related to her intention to use contraceptives. Half of the women (50.3%) reported ambivalence about the severity of an unintended pregnancy. In our study, talking with their last sexual partner had a positive effect on intentions to use contraceptives, while talking with friends influenced intentions in a negative direction. These results reconfirm the need for public health practitioners and health care providers to consider level of ambivalence toward unintended pregnancy, communication with partner, and relationship status when trying to improve women's contraceptive behaviors. Implications for effective communication interventions are discussed.     

Predicting future blood donor returns: past behavior, intentions, and observer effects.

A prospective design was used to explore the efficacy of 6 factors (e.g., intentions) to predict the number of future blood donations in an initial sample of 630 blood donors. Differential predictions are made for the roles of past behavior and intentions with respect to occasional (4 or fewer previous blood donations) and regular (5 or more previous blood donations) blood donors. Intentions were predictive for occasional donors, and past behavior was predictive for regular donors. Furthermore, for regular donors only, an inverted U-shaped curve explained the relationship between past behavior and future behavior. Finally, it is reported that observing others fainting produces a reduction in the number of future donations for occasional donors. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Effects of photoaging information and UV photo on sun protection intentions and behaviours: A cross-regional comparison

The physical environment is thought to influence walking; however, daily variations in perceived environment have received little attention. The current study sought to examine if key within-person factors (i.e., implementation intentions, social support, affect and self-efficacy) would be associated with walking and if perceived access to supportive environments (e.g., access to nice walking paths) and perceived environmental barriers (e.g., bad weather and safety issues) were uniquely associated with walking after controlling for other constructs. Participants (N?=?14, 50.0% men, 78.6% White, M age?=?59.4?±?6.4) were in the intervention arm of an 8-week controlled trial promoting walking via personal digital assistants. Participants completed electronic surveys twice a day (total entries?=?804) in which they reported brisk walking levels and psychosocial and environmental factors. Multilevel modelling was used to examine within-person variations in constructs as determinants of walking. Results suggested that daily variations in implementation intentions, social support and positive affect were positively associated with walking. Further, perceived access to supportive environments, though not perceived environmental barriers, was positively associated with walking after controlling for other constructs (p?<?0.05). Future research should explore intervention components that target context-specific information about perceived access to supportive environments as part of a broader perspective on intervention development.     

Verbal representation in task order control: An examination with transition and task cues in random task switching

Recent task-switching studies in which a predictable task sequence has been used have indicated that verbal representation contributes to the control of task order information. The present study focused on the role of verbal representation in sequential task decisions, which are an important part of task order control, and examined the effects of articulatory suppression in a random-task-cuing paradigm with two different types of cues presented just before the presentation of a stimulus: a transition cue and a task cue. The former cue provided information only about switching or repeating the task, whereas the latter was associated directly with the identity of the task (i.e., indicating a parity or a magnitude task). In Experiment 1, in which transition cues guided task sequences, articulatory suppression impaired performance in both repetition and switch trials, thereby increasing the mixing costs. In Experiment 2, in which a task cue, rather than a transition cue, was presented to examine the influence of a cue-decoding process, articulatory suppression had no specific effect on task performance. Experiment 3, in which the transition cue and the task cue were randomly presented in the same block to equalize the memory load and task strategy for the two types of cues, confirmed that articulatory suppression significantly increased the mixing costs only in transition cue trials. The results from the three experiments indicated that the use of verbal representation is effective in sequential task decision&#x2014;that is, in selecting a task set on the basis of transient task order information in both repetition and switch trials.     

Gender differences in parent-child conversations about past emotions: A longitudinal investigation

Sex Roles - In this longitudinal investigation, we examined the emotional content of 17 white middle-class parents' conversations about past events with their children at 40 and 70 months of...     

A comparison of the efficiency and accuracy of BILOG and LOGIST

Comparisons are made between BILOG version 2.2 and LOGIST 5.0 Version 2.5 in estimating the item parameters, traits, item characteristic functions (ICFs), and test characteristic functions (TCFs) for the three-parameter logistic model. Data analyzed are simulated item responses for 1000 simulees and one 10-item test, four 20-item tests, and four 40-item tests. LOGIST usually was faster than BILOG in producing maximum likelihood estimates. BILOG almost always produced more accurate estimates of individual item parameters. In estimating ICFs and TCFs BILOG was more accurate for the 10-item test, and the two programs were about equally accurate for the 20- and 40-item tests.I am grateful to Robert J. Mislevy, Martha L. Stocking, and Marilyn S. Wingersky for many helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper. I would also like to thank Hamid Kamrani and Bongmyoung Park for getting LOGIST and BILOG running and keeping them running under changing computer systems at CTB/McGraw-Hill.     

Associations between narrative transportation,risk perception and behaviour intentions following narrative messages about skin cancer

Objective: Narrative messages may be an effective strategy to increase risk perceptions and motivate preventive behaviours related to cancer. The aim of this research was to examine associations between narrative transportation (i.e. psychological absorption into a narrative), risk perceptions, and intentions following narrative messages about skin cancer.

Design: In two studies, women who reported indoor tanning read first-person narrative messages about skin cancer. We examined associations between narrative transportation and the women’s responses to the narratives, including risk perceptions for skin cancer and behaviour intentions to reduce risk. Associations between transportation, knowledge and worry were also examined.

Results: Greater transportation was associated with higher intentions to perform skin self-examination, talk to one’s doctor about skin cancer, and look for more information. Greater transportation was also associated with higher gut feelings of risk and higher worry about skin cancer, but not deliberative risk perceptions or knowledge from the message. Additional analyses showed that after controlling for risk perception and worry, transportation had unique associations with some behaviour intentions.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that narrative transportation may be an important component to the persuasion of cancer narratives. Future research should explore ideas such as the role of the experiential system in narratives’ influence.     

Overgeneral past and future thinking in dysphoria: the role of emotional cues and cueing methodology

Overgeneral memory, where individuals exhibit difficulties in retrieving specific episodes from autobiographical memory, has been consistently linked with emotional disorders. However, the majority of this literature has relied upon a single methodology, in which participants respond to emotional cue words with explicit instructions to retrieve/simulate specific events. Through the use of sentence completion tasks the current studies explored whether overgenerality represents a habitual pattern of thinking that extends to how individuals naturally consider their personal past and future life story. In both studies, when compared with controls, dysphoric individuals evidenced overgeneral thinking style with respect to their personal past. However, overgeneral future thinking was only evident when the sentence stems included emotional words. These findings highlight the importance of investigating the overgenerality phenomenon using a variety of cueing techniques and results are discussed with reference to the previous literature exploring overgenerality and cognitive models of depression.     

Measuring effects of voluntary attention: A comparison among predictive arrow,colour, and number cues

The Posner cueing paradigm is one of the most widely used paradigms in attention research. Importantly, when employing it, it is critical to understand which type of orienting a cue triggers. It has been suggested that large effects elicited by predictive arrow cues reflect an interaction of involuntary and voluntary orienting. This conclusion is based on comparisons of cueing effects of predictive arrows, nonpredictive arrows (involuntary orienting), and predictive numbers (voluntary orienting). Experiment 1 investigated whether this conclusion is restricted to comparisons with number cues and showed similar results to those of previous studies, but now for comparisons to predictive colour cues, indicating that the earlier conclusion can be generalized. Experiment 2 assessed whether the size of a cueing effect is related to the ease of deriving direction information from a cue, based on the rationale that effects for arrows may be larger, because it may be easier to process direction information given by symbols such as arrows than that given by other cues. Indeed, direction information is derived faster and more accurately from arrows than from colour and number cues in a direction judgement task, and cueing effects are larger for arrows than for the other cues. Importantly though, performance in the two tasks is not correlated. Hence, the large cueing effects of arrows are not a result of the ease of information processing, but of the types of orienting that the arrows elicit.