A cognitive model of drug urges and drug-use behavior: role of automatic and nonautomatic processes

Contemporary urge models assume that urges are necessary but not sufficient for the production of drug use in ongoing addicts, are responsible for the initiation of relapse in abstinent addicts, and can be indexed across 3 classes of behavior: verbal report, overt behavior, and somatovisceral response. A review of available data does not provide strong support for these assumptions. An alternative cognitive model of drug use and drug urges is proposed that hypothesizes that drug use in the addict is controlled by automatized action schemata. Urges are conceptualized as responses supported by nonautomatic cognitive processes activated in parallel with drug-use action schemata either in support of the schema or in support of attempts to block the execution of the schema. The implications of this model for the assessment of urge responding and drug-use behavior are presented.     

同感、具身和人际理解:从里普斯到舒茨

谈到理解社会认知的本质,我们似乎只能在模仿理论、理论-理论或者二者的一些混合物之间选择。然而,作者在文中提出,现象学传统提供了有别于以上三者的第四个选项。首先,作者讨论了里普斯(Lipps)有关同感的阐释。接着,作者分析了舍勒、施坦(Stein)和胡塞尔批评里普斯的方式,勾勒了他们各自方案的核心特征。接下来,作者考察了舒茨(Schutz)如何承继并修改了上述三人对同感和社会认知的基本看法。最后,在结论中作者反驳了一种针对现象学方案的异议,进一步说明了现象学方案的可行性。     

Emotion regulation in depression: Examining the role of cognitive processes

Sustained negative affect is a hallmark feature of depressive episodes. The ability to regulate emotional responses to negative events may therefore play a critical role in our understanding of this debilitating disorder. Individual differences in cognitive processes such as attention, memory, and interpretation may underlie difficulties in emotion regulation and numerous studies have identified cognitive biases and deficits that characterise depressed people. Few studies, however, have explicitly linked these biases to the difficulties in emotion regulation that are associated with depression. In this paper we discuss relations among cognitive processes and emotion regulation and review the depression literature to identify cognitive biases and deficits that may underlie maladaptive responses to negative events and mood states. Our review suggests that difficulties in the disengagement from negative material, memory biases, and deficits in cognitive control are frequently observed in depressive disorders and may be associated with the use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, such as rumination. These biases may also be related to difficulties implementing strategies that are effective for non-depressed people, such as recall of mood-incongruent material and reappraisal. Our review also suggests, however, that empirical studies linking cognitive biases and emotion regulation in depression are still largely missing and would present an important goal for future research in this area.     

Cognitive processes in hoarding: The role of rumination

Rumination, defined as an individual's repetitive negative cognitions of upsetting symptoms in response to distress, has been established as an important cognitive vulnerability factor within various forms of psychopathology. Despite compelling data to suggest that rumination is associated with a number of mood and anxiety-related conditions, no research to date has examined the relationship between rumination and hoarding. Participants consisted of 275 undergraduate students as well as 106 individuals recruited from the community to participate in a larger randomized clinical trial investigating the effects of a computerized treatment targeting specific risk factors associated with anxiety and suicide. Consistent with initial prediction, results indicated that rumination was a significant predictor of hoarding severity, even after controlling for overall general levels of depression. These findings add to a growing body of literature identifying various cognitive vulnerability factors important for the development and maintenance of hoarding. Increasing our knowledge of cognitive vulnerability factors has import implications for the prevention and treatment of anxiety disorders.     

Empathy,Embodiment and Interpersonal Understanding: From Lipps to Schutz

When it comes to understanding the nature of social cognition, we have—according to the standard view—a choice between the simulation theory, the theory-theory or some hybrid between the two. The aim of this paper is to argue that there are, in fact, other options available, and that one such option has been articulated by various thinkers belonging to the phenomenological tradition. More specifically, the paper will contrast Lipps' account of empathy—an account that has recently undergone something of a revival in the hands of contemporary simulationists—with various accounts of empathy found in the phenomenological tradition. I discuss the way Lipps was criticized by Scheler, Stein and Husserl, and outline some of the core features of their, at times divergent, alternatives. I then proceed by considering how their basic take on empathy and social cognition was taken up and modified by Schutz—a thinker whose contribution to the analysis of interpersonal understanding has been unjustly neglected in recent years.     

Motivation and self‐regulation: The role of want‐to motivation in the processes underlying self‐regulation and self‐control

Research on self‐regulation has largely focused on the idea of effortful self‐control, which assumes that exerting willpower will lead to greater success. However, in recent years, research has challenged this perspective and instead proposes that effortless self‐regulation is more adaptive for long‐term goal pursuit. Taking into consideration the burgeoning literature on effortless self‐regulation, here we propose that motivation—or the reasons why we pursue our goals—plays an integral role in this process. The objective of the present paper is to highlight how motivation can play a role in how self‐regulation unfolds. Specifically, we propose that pursuing goals because you want‐to (vs. have‐to) is associated with better goal attainment as a function of experiencing less temptations and obstacles. While the reason why want‐to motivation relates to experiencing fewer obstacles has yet to be thoroughly explored, here we propose some potential mechanisms drawing from recent research on self‐regulation. We also provide recommendations for future research, highlighting the importance of considering motivation in the study of self‐regulatory processes.     

Theodor Lipps and the shift from "sympathy" to "empathy"

In the course of extensive philosophical debates on aesthetics in nineteenth-century Germany, Robert Vischer introduced the concept of Einfühlung in relation to art. Theodor Lipps subsequently extended it from art to visual illusions and interpersonal understanding. While Lipps had regarded Einfühlung as basically similar to the old notion of sympathy, Edward Titchener in America believed it had a different meaning. Hence, he coined the term empathy as its translation. This term came to be increasingly widely adopted, first in psychology and then more generally. But the lack of agreement about the supposed difference between these concepts suggests that Lipps had probably been right.     

The role of feedback in shaping responses to risky road scenarios: Evidence from electrodermal activity

When faced with hazardous driving situations, rapid and effective risk perception and decision-making processes are of crucial importance for avoiding crashes. In these cases, the processes are accompanied and influenced by underlying psychophysiological mechanisms such as electrodermal activity (EDA) modulations. The present work aims to assess the psychophysiological mechanisms underlying participants’ risk perception and decision-making when facing risky road scenarios, as correlated to the feedback role in modulating participants’ behavior. Study 1 (n = 32) explores the behavioral effects of administering a contingent feedback in a decision (decision-making) and an evaluation (risk perception) task in response to a set of risky and not risky images. The behavioral data reveal an effect on the participants’ probability of response, independently from the type of image presented, when the feedback was administered. In the decision task, the effect is accompanied by a change in the amplitude and percentage of the skin conductance responses (SCRs), which are moderated by block of trials. Study 2 (n = 44) better assesses the role of task and block on participants’ physiological activation, as measured by EDA signal. The results show an increase in psychophysiological activation when the feedback is delivered, in the first part of the tasks, both in terms of SCRs amplitude and percentage to the presented road scenarios, followed by a decrease in the second part of the tasks. Moreover, this effect is more evident in the decision task than the evaluation task. These findings suggest that the role exerted by feedback when facing risky traffic images may be described as based on an associative process that, once the correct response has been learned, tends to be reduced as it becomes automatic. Overall, the results of the two studies represent an important step toward the development of training programs aimed at promoting safer behaviors in risky driving contexts.     

A pathway from neuroticism to depression: examining the role of emotion regulation

We examined whether the relation between neuroticism and the severity of depressive symptoms is mediated by emotion regulation. At the same time, we examined whether the type of emotion regulation strategy (maladaptive vs. adaptive) moderates the effects of neuroticism on depression severity. Community participants (N =?533; 235 women and 298 men) completed a set of questionnaires over the Internet. We used structural equation modeling to examine the mediational role of emotion regulation in linking neuroticism and the levels of depressive symptoms. The well-documented relation between neuroticism and depression is mediated by individual differences in the use of different emotion regulation strategies. More specifically, the use of maladaptive forms of emotion regulation, but not reappraisal, fully mediated the association between neuroticism and the severity of depressive symptoms.     

Perceiving regulation from intimate partners: Reflected appraisal and self‐regulation processes in close relationships

Cross‐sectional (N = 202) and longitudinal analyses over a 6‐month period (N = 155) assessed the consequences of perceiving regulation attempts from romantic partners. Greater perceived regulation from the partner was associated with more negative inferences regarding how closely individuals matched their partner's ideal standards in the targeted domain (inferred ideal consistency). Lower inferred ideal consistency, in turn, was associated with poorer relationship evaluations and predicted more negative perceptions of targeted self‐attributes. Individuals also directly responded to their partner's regulation efforts with attempts to change targeted features. Finally, perceiving more negative regulation strategies produced lower inferred ideal consistency, relationship evaluations, and self‐regulation efforts, whereas perceiving more positive strategies predicted greater inferred ideal consistency across time. The operation of reflected appraisal and self‐regulation processes within romantic relationships is discussed.     

Adolescents' conscious processes of developing regulation: learning to appraise challenges

To understand regulation and agency, it important to consider the nature of the regulatory challenges that adolescents must deal with. These include emotional, motivation, interpersonal, and other obstacles and problems. In this chapter, the author discusses the challenges reported by youth working on arts, technology, and social justice projects in organized programs and how they learn to address them. Adolescents' new higher-order cognitive capacities allow them to better understand the irregularities and complexity of real-world challenges. They also use these capacities to consciously develop skills to navigate these challenges.     

The role of physiological arousal in time perception: psychophysiological evidence from an emotion regulation paradigm

Time perception, crucial for adaptive behavior, has been shown to be altered by emotion. An arousal-dependent mechanism is proposed to account for such an effect. Yet, physiological measure of arousal related with emotional timing is still lacking. We addressed this question using skin conductance response (SCR) in an emotion regulation paradigm. Nineteen participants estimated durations of neutral and negative sounds by comparing them to a previously memorized duration. Instructions were given to attend either to temporal or to emotional stimulus features. Attending to emotion with negative sounds generated longer subjective duration and greater physiological arousal than attending to time. However, a shared-attention condition showed discrepancy between behavioral and physiological results. Supporting the idea of a link between autonomic arousal and subjective duration, our results however suggest that this relation is not as direct as was expected. Results are discussed within recent model linking time perception, emotion and awareness.     

The role of inhibitory processes in part-list cuing

Providing a subset of studied items as retrieval cues can have detrimental effects on recall of the remaining items. In 2 experiments, the authors examined such part-list cuing impairment in a repeated testing situation. Participants studied exemplars from several semantic categories and were given 2 successive cued-recall tests separated by a distractor task of several minutes. Part-list cues were provided in the 1st test but not the 2nd. Noncue item recall was tested with the studied category cues (same probes) in the 1st test, but novel, unstudied retrieval cues (independent probes) in the 2nd test. The authors found detrimental effects of part-list cues in both the 1st (same-probe) test and the 2nd (independent-probe) test. These results show that part-list cuing impairment can be lasting and is not eliminated with independent probes. The findings support the view that the impairment was caused by retrieval inhibition.     

Fitting the world to constructs: The role of activity in meaning making

Abstract

The authors underscore that construing is not simply a matter of passively anticipating events. Meaning making is understood more fully as a dialectic involving anticipation as well as participation, accommodation as well as assimilation. Factors that may obscure this more active view of the meaning-making process are discussed, and illustrations of the role of activity in construing are presented.     

The role of temporal shifts in turnover processes: it's about time

To better understand the process of organizational withdrawal, a turnover model incorporating dynamic predictors measured at 5 distinct points in time was examined by following a large occupationally and organizationally diverse sample over a 2-year period. Results demonstrated that turnover can be predicted by perceived costs of turnover, organizational commitment, and critical events measured soon after entry into the organization. Occupational unemployment rates, job satisfaction, and search for alternative jobs also become significant predictors when measured over time. Critical events predicted turnover in a manner distinct from the operation of attitudes, consistent with the unfolding model (Lee & Mitchell, 1994). The path to turnover was marked by consistently low perceived costs of turnover and satisfaction, decreases in commitment, and increases in job search over time.     

表观遗传修饰在应激诱发抑郁症中的作用

应激可以对个体的生理和行为产生负面影响, 甚至导致抑郁症, 但病因机制尚不清楚。近年来许多研究发现应激导致的表观遗传修饰变化影响抑郁症的发生。表观遗传是指DNA序列不发生变化, 但基因表达却发生了可遗传的改变。应激引起的HPA轴、单胺类递质、BDNF三个方面的表观遗传修饰的变化, 在抑郁症发生中发挥重要作用。最后提出了目前表观遗传机制研究的局限性和未来研究热点。     

The role of human memory processes in witness reporting

Obtaining information, from witnesses, about a crime is a key element inits investigation. As the quality and quantity of that information may becritical the quality of the interview is very important. This paper reviewsdevelopments in research into interviewing skills and describes researchbeing undertaken, with detectives, in The Netherlands.     

The role of executive processes in prospective memory tasks

Prospective remembering refers to remembering and acting on behavioural intentions. Three experiments tested the hypothesis that prospective remembering requires the availability of executive processes. It was expected that this is more important when intentions are stated in categorical terms. Type of instruction (specific versus categorical), typicality of the cue in relation to the category specified, and executive load were manipulated. Results showed a general benefit of specific instructions. Furthermore, with categorical instructions, performance was better with typical cues. Although the data suggested that executive processes are responsible for the processing of cues, the load manipulation had no significant effect on the prospective memory measure. Thus, no evidence was found for the hypothesis that prospective remembering requires the availability of executive processes. It is argued that it is a matter of strategic choice whether executive processes are deployed: One does not need to monitor for cues but can choose to rely on bottom‐up processes. Monitoring may be sufficient, but not necessary for successful prospective remembering.