Affective Processing and Emotion Regulation in Dysphoria and Depression: Cognitive Biases and Deficits in Cognitive Control

In this article, we take a closer look at the cognitive processing of emotional material in dysphoria and depression and link cognitive biases and deficits to individual differences in emotion regulation, an important risk factor for depression. Specifically, we propose that cognitive biases are associated with individual differences in the initial appraisal and reappraisal of emotion‐eliciting events. In addition, deficits in cognitive control result in prolonged processing of negative, goal‐irrelevant aspects of information as well as in decreased accessibility of mood‐incongruent material. These deficits further affect people’s ability to regulate negative affect by setting the stage for ruminative responses and by interfering with the use of reappraisal after the onset of an emotional response. This article provides a brief summary of findings that support these propositions and outlines implications for future research on the relation among affective processing, cognitive control, and emotion regulation in dysphoria and depression.     

Goal theory vs. control theory: Contrasting approaches to understanding work motivation

Control theory has been propounded as an original and useful paradigm for integrating a number of theories of human (especially work) motivation. This paper challenges that claim. First, it is shown that the original, mechanical control theory model is not applicable to human beings. Second, it is shown that the two approaches used by control theorists to remedy its limitations did not succeed. One approach involved incorporating propositions drawn from other theories with the result that there was nothing distinctive left that was unique to control theory. The other approach involved broadening the scope of control theory by adding deduced propositions; however, these propositions were inconsistent with what was already known about the phenomena in question based on empirical research. The control theory approach to theory building is contrasted with that of goal setting theory (Locke & Latham, 1990). Goal-setting theory is a grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) which evolved from research findings over a 25-year period. Goal theory developed in five directions simultaneously: validation of the core premises; demonstrations of generality; identification of moderators; conceptual refinement and elaboration; and integration with other theories. It is hypothesized that the grounded theory approach is a more fruitful one than the approaches used by control theory.The author wishes to thank Judy Olian for her helpful comments on this paper and Dong-OK Chah for making the figures.     

CAN MULTI-SOURCE FEEDBACK CHANGE PERCEPTIONS OF GOAL ACCOMPLISHMENT,SELF-EVALUATIONS,AND PERFORMANCE-RELATED OUTCOMES? THEORY-BASED APPLICATIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR RESEARCH

Multi-source feedback extends traditional performance appraisal by collecting information from subordinates, peers, supervisors, and customers. Ratees often receive the results along with normative data and self-ratings. This paper explores how multi-source feedback goes beyond traditional performance appraisal by providing ratees with comparative information. Focusing on person perception and information processing dynamics, this paper develops a model and associated propositions to explain the effects of multi-source feedback on perceptions of goal accomplishment, re-evaluation of self-image, and changes in outcomes such as goals, development, behavior, and performance. Moderators of relationships between the major components in the model include individual difference variables (self-image, feedback seeking, self-monitoring, task-specific self-efficacy, and impression management) and situational conditions (the content and process of multi-source feedback and organizational performance standards). Issues of research and practice intended to improve understanding and effectiveness of multi-source feedback are discussed.     

员工被上司信任感的形成机制

员工感知到上级对自己的信任是成功建立上下级信任关系的重要前提。然而,学界和业界对员工被上司信任感的形成机制却知之甚少。符号互动理论与社会信息加工理论为深入探究员工被信任感产生的机理提供了理论视角。根据这两个理论,我们提出授权与培养这两种管理行为是影响员工被上司信任感产生的重要因素;授权与培养对员工被上司信任感影响的有效性依赖于员工的目标导向、上司的可信度以及团队焦虑水平;员工被上司信任感的产生会影响员工的忠诚与敬业奉献,影响程度受制于上司所面临的管理风险。     

目标焦点监控下目标信息的建构与整合

探讨文本阅读过程目标焦点监控下读者对目标信息的建构与整合。采用移动窗口技术,要求被试阅读24篇含有主人公目标的记叙文,设计了子目标未实现、子目标曲折实现或子目标直接实现三种条件,对不同条件下目标启动句阅读时间进行分析。实验1对子目标曲折实现与子目标未实现两种条件下目标启动句阅读时间进行比较,结果表明,曲折实现条件下目标启动句阅读时间长于未实现条件下目标启动句的阅读时间,说明在没有共振的情况下,目标启动句也可以激活先前的目标信息引发目标整合。实验2比较在子目标曲折实现与子目标直接实现条件对目标启动句阅读时间,以探讨在目标焦点条件下是否对相关信息进行追随性建构,结果表明,曲折实现条件下目标启动句阅读时间与直接实现条件下目标启动句的阅读时间差异不显著,说明在目标焦点监控下可以发生阅读信息的追随性建构。本实验结果初步证明,阅读不同文本信息可能会引发不同的信息加工活动,建构主义理论与记忆基础文本加工理论都只是说明了文本阅读信息加工的一个侧面。     

AN EMPIRICAL TEST OF A ROLE ENACTMENT MODEL OF PERSUASION

Prior research into self-persuasive effects has produced empirical propositions that address the communication process only in a very general way. While psychological formulations are helpful in generating constructs and propositions dealing with intrasource effects as a function of counterattitudinal advocacy, the generalizability of these findings appears limited. Berger's role enactment model of persuasion provides constructs and propositions that comport more exactly with practical communicative experiences. The present study tested the relationships obtaining among concepts crucial to the model. Results confirmed the prediction that role aptitude and task-relevant information were positively related to attitude change. The relationship among the role aptitude, information, and post-performance evaluation variables was not confirmed. The results and refinements of the model were discussed in terms of the potential the model has for more precise tests of communication effects. Message complexity, varying information levels, and other variables were discussed as amenable to tests employing the role enactment model. While self-persuasion situations offer an appropriate paradigm in which to test general social psychology theories, there is some doubt as to the contribution such research can make to our understanding of communication. It is a question of “social significance.” Do sources frequently speak against their “true” attitudes? If so, do intra-source effects tell us much about communication between people? In short, can practical gains be achieved in counterattitudinal advocacy research? We believe that many of the processes associated with self-persuasion are similar to those which characterize interpersonal communication. These similarities are most obvious when one approaches communication research in the context of role theory. (1972, 260)     

Sentence repetition and processing resources in Alzheimer's disease

Sentence processing in Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been found to be influenced by several grammatical and extragrammatical factors, including phrase structure and verb-argument relations, number of propositions/verbs, and processing resource capacity. This study examines the effects of these variables on sentence production in AD. Normal control and AD subjects were asked to repeat six types of sentences varying along the above dimensions of complexity. Subjects' processing resource capacity was measured using several verbal working memory tests. AD subjects' sentence-repetition performance was impaired compared to the normal control group. Significant effects were observed for branching direction of phrase structure, canonicity of verb-argument relations, and serial position of errors. Sentence-repetition performance significantly correlated with working memory scores. The findings are interpreted within a resource capacity theory of sentence processing.     

Some studies on the internal structure of propositions

Summary Five experiments were carried out to test the information processing of the propositional arguments instrument and beneficiary. Proceeding from the assumption that propositions are basic units of memory, it was hypothesized that instrument and beneficiary would show different effects in recall experiments, depending on whether they were components of appropriate propositions or not. Experiments I and II were conducted to test this assumption. The results showed that things are more complicated than was expected. Besides propositional structure, the semantic integration of concrete propositions has to be taken into account to predict their psychological processing. Experiments III, IV, and V were conducted to prove this. On the whole, it was found that instruments can always be considered as arguments but beneficiaries only when they are obligatory; and further that in general instrument arguments are semantically more strongly implied by their predicates than beneficiary arguments are.I would like to thank Trevor Scott for his help in writing the English text. Requests for offprints should be sent to Johannes Engelkamp, Psychologisches Institut, Universität des Saarlandes, D-6600 Saarbrücken, Federal Republic of Germany     

目标包含结构的文本阅读中目标信息的激活

探讨读者在阅读目标包含结构的文本时,目标信息的恢复激活的条件。运用移动窗口技术,采用3（已经实现、尚未实现与控制条件）×3（强目标愈合信号、弱目标愈合信号与无目标愈合信号）的实验设计。结果是子目标实现与否有主效应,目标愈合信号有主效应,目标实现条件和目标愈合信号有交互作用。结论是在目标包含结构的文本阅读中,目标信息表现出恢复激活的方式,目标愈合信号是目标信息恢复的必要条件,弱的目标愈合信号就可以激活长时记忆中已实现的目标信息,而较强的目标愈合信号才能激活长时记忆中尚未实现的目标信息     

Work group diversity and group performance: an integrative model and research agenda

Research on the relationship between work group diversity and performance has yielded inconsistent results. To address this problem, the authors propose the categorization-elaboration model (CEM), which reconceptualizes and integrates information/decision making and social categorization perspectives on work-group diversity and performance. The CEM incorporates mediator and moderator variables that typically have been ignored in diversity research and incorporates the view that information/decision making and social categorization processes interact such that intergroup biases flowing from social categorization disrupt the elaboration (in-depth processing) of task-relevant information and perspectives. In addition, the authors propose that attempts to link the positive and negative effects of diversity to specific types of diversity should be abandoned in favor of the assumption that all dimensions of diversity may have positive as well as negative effects. The ways in which these propositions may set the agenda for future research in diversity are discussed.     

Parents, peer groups, and other socializing influences

Three propositions that are central to J. R. Harris's group socialization theory (1995, 1998) are considered in this review. These propositions are as follows: (a) Parental behaviors have no long-term effects on children's psychological characteristics, (b) peer groups are the primary environmental influence on psychological functioning, and (c) dyadic relationships are situation-specific and do not generalize. The evidence that J. R. Harris has outlined in support of each of these propositions is reviewed, as is additional empirical research not considered by J. R. Harris. Serious limitations to each proposition are identified. The available evidence is more consistent with a model of multiple socialization agents. An expanded research agenda that permits a more definitive test of J. R. Harris's propositions and social relationship theory is proposed.     

Formalization and the Objects of Logic

There is a long-standing debate whether propositions, sentences, statements or utterances provide an answer to the question of what objects logical formulas stand for. Based on the traditional understanding of logic as a science of valid arguments, this question is firstly framed more exactly, making explicit that it calls not only for identifying some class of objects, but also for explaining their relationship to ordinary language utterances. It is then argued that there are strong arguments against the proposals commonly put forward in the debate. The core of the problem is that an informative account of the objects formulas stand for presupposes a theory of formalization; that is, a theory that explains what formulas may adequately substitute for an inference in proofs of validity. Although such theories are still subject to research, some consequences can be drawn from an analysis of the reasons why the common accounts featuring sentences, propositions or utterances fail. Theories of formalization cannot refer to utterances qua expressions of propositions; instead they may refer to sentences and rely on additional information about linguistic structure and pragmatic context.     

Information selectivity in decision making by younger and older adults

Past research has demonstrated that older adults are more likely than younger adults to exhibit information selectivity in decision making. Two alternative explanations have been proposed to account for this age difference. One explanation attributes the increase in information selectivity to older adults' reliance on prior knowledge, whereas the other explanation suggests that it reflects reduced information processing capacity. The aim of this research was to explore the latter explanation by controlling for experiential factors and varying the cognitive demands involved in decision making. Specifically, participants were faced with unfamiliar decision problems, and had to base their decisions on the available information in order to reach a desired goal. In Experiment 1 younger and older participants were required to play a game involving chance. The outcome payoff was varied between three conditions (approach, avoidance, and control). The results indicated that both the younger and the older participants based their decisions on payoff, though the older participants did so to a lesser extent. In Experiment 2 younger and older participants performed a similar decision task but with higher cognitive demands. Specifically, the decision‐making task included two dimensions of information, outcome probability and outcome payoff. The results showed that the younger participants based their decisions on probability and payoff whereas the older participants based their decisions on probability alone. In Experiment 3 younger and older participants made decisions in a sale context and received instructional cue to incorporate payoff information in their decisions. As before, the younger participants utilized probability and payoff, whereas the older participants based their decisions only on probability information. The findings are discussed in terms of age differences in information‐processing capacity, metacognition, motivation, and goal‐setting.     

Casualties of war and sunk costs: Implications for attitude change and persuasion

The purpose of the present research was to gain greater insight into how people's support for an ongoing war might be influenced by providing information about recent casualties of war. On intuitive grounds, one might expect that such information might often decrease support for the war, especially when the war in question is relatively unpopular. However, research and theory on the “sunk cost effect” suggests, somewhat paradoxically, that highlighting such losses could actually increase, not decrease, support for the war, as driven by the goal to avoid wasting valuable resources. Across two experiments (one focusing on the war in Iraq, another focusing on the war in Afghanistan), we found that the effects of the war casualty information on attitudes were moderated by a recent use and activation of the relevant “don't waste” goal, which had been previously primed in a non-political context. The implications of our findings for theory and research on attitude change, as well as the judgment and decision making area, are discussed.     

Distracted and confused?: selective attention under load

The ability to remain focused on goal-relevant stimuli in the presence of potentially interfering distractors is crucial for any coherent cognitive function. However, simply instructing people to ignore goal-irrelevant stimuli is not sufficient for preventing their processing. Recent research reveals that distractor processing depends critically on the level and type of load involved in the processing of goal-relevant information. Whereas high perceptual load can eliminate distractor processing, high load on "frontal" cognitive control processes increases distractor processing. These findings provide a resolution to the long-standing early and late selection debate within a load theory of attention that accommodates behavioural and neuroimaging data within a framework that integrates attention research with executive function.     

P300 as an index of attention to self-relevant stimuli

Past work suggests that information related to the self receives ‘preferential access’ to the limited pool of attentional resources. However, these studies have been limited by their reliance on response-time measures, which require overt responding and represent the combined effects of multiple stages of information processing. One aim of the present study was to extend past work by obtaining a response-independent index of attention allocation sensitive to changes in discrete stages of information processing. An additional goal was to explore the potential time course of differential sensitivity to self-relevant cues. We assessed the P300, an ERP component that provides an index of attentional resources, evoked by autobiographical self-relevant stimuli (e.g., one’s own name). As expected, P300 was augmented for self-relevant stimuli relative to control stimuli. In addition, analyses of P300 latency indicate that the effects of self-relevance are present during higher-order stages of cognitive processing related to selective attention. These results complement and extend previous work on the role of self-relevance in the selection of material for further processing.     

Unconscious goal activation and the hijacking of the executive function

Building on research on unconscious human goal pursuit and the dynamic nature of our mental and physical world, this study examined the idea that an unconsciously activated goal hijacks executive control for its own attainment. This "hijacking" of the executive function by an unconscious goal should be evidenced by impaired performance on an unrelated task relying on executive control. The results of 6 experiments show that subliminal activation of a socializing goal, or an idiosyncratic personal goal, or an academic goal, harmed participants' performance on an executive function task, such as inhibition of prepotent responses and detection of text errors during reading. These effects were unique to executive control, were similar when the goal was activated consciously, and were independent of task motivation and perceived inter-goal relatedness between the primed goal and task goal. Furthermore, an unconscious goal occupied executive control to advance itself more strongly when the goal had personal value. Implications for theory and research on unconscious goal pursuit and the executive function are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Computer use in cognitive psychology

Some influences of computers on theory and methodology in cognitive research are discussed. Theoretical constructs that cognitive science has borrowed from computer science include processing algorithms, processing rates, information organization, and information selection. The application of these constructs to human information processing is considered, with illustrations from memory and reading research. Further, the role of computers in research methodology is evaluated, on the basis of a comparison of 1962 and 1992 journal articles. Attributes considered include the nature of stimulus control, item content and physical features, cognitive task demands, information feedback to subjects, and assessment of individual differences in cognitive strategies. These methodological attributes are illustrated by memory and reading paradigms for which computer technology is critical. Computer science has enriched theory and data in cognitive science, but the comparison of journal articles from 1962 and 1992 suggests that many psychologists are not taking full advantage of these possibilities.     

A few dissents from a magnificent piece of work

Despite enthusiastic agreement with most of Meehl’s paper, I dissent on “the idiographic problem” (as based on false premises), and on the goal of refuting theoretical propositions in soft psychology with any useful certainty (its generalizations are inescapably statistical, and Popper’s paradigm does not apply). Some implications for research, especially on psychoanalytic theory, are briefly outlined.