An activity theory approach to memory

The articles which follow report independent research that originated in a collaborative group now organized as the Laboratory for Cognitive Studies of Work. Laboratory members are collectively engaged in working out a conceptual framework for cognitive research based on activity theory. Beach and Stevens, together with Scribner, elaborated this framework in the domain of memory, and in this introduction we will briefly sketch its principal implications for the ecological study of memory.     

Apology mismatch: An experimental approach to Japan's apologies to Korea

Since 1965, Japan has issued numerous apologies to Korea, which however failed to resonate with the Korean public. To investigate this puzzle, this paper analyses the structure of these apologies and empirically examines their reception in Korea. Blatz et al.'s (Political Psychology, 2009, 30, 219) classification of components of political apologies was applied to conduct a qualitative analysis of 63 official apology statements by Japan to Korea and identify the most frequently used components (Study 1). Korean participants (N = 210) were randomly presented with an experimental vignette consisting of a major apology component to examine their psychological responses, and they also ranked the importance of each major apology component (Study 2). Results showed that while Koreans viewed admission of wrongdoing as an essential and the most demanded component of apology, it was paradoxically the least frequent component offered by Japan in reality.     

Self-disclosure and liking: An integration theory approach

Integration theory models predict that sequences increasing or decreasing in intimacy should have less impact on attraction than constant intimate or nonintimate disclosures. Male and female subjects (N= 159) conversed with a videotaped confederate. Each confederate relayed six disclosures in one of five intimacy sequences: increasing, constant high, decreasing, constant low, and random. The confederate either had a choice of topics and sequence or they were imposed. Substantial support was found for integration theory models. The constant high disclosers by choice were liked more than their no-choice controls and the constant low disclosers by choice were disliked more than their no-choice controls. The mixed sequences (increasing, decreasing, and random) produced no significant differences.     

Signalling security: An observational and game theory approach to inter-pedestrian psychology

Whereas the mental health and personal safety of pedestrians have been the subject of both debates in the public sphere and discourses in social sciences, the interpersonal dynamic of citizens on foot remains so far unexplored. This paper takes a game-theoretical approach to the psychology, behaviour, and welfare of pedestrians, who experience different levels of mutualised anxiety and confidence in spontaneous encounters with strangers on the road. Through a combined method of survey, modelling, and theory, it proposes an equilibrium-analysis of inter-pedestrian signalling, as well as a set of public policy recommendations aimed to reduce unnecessary frictions, improve information transparency, and therefore promote public safety.     

An experimental psychophysiological approach to human bradycardic reflexes

Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science - Bradycardic reflexes in man are both of scientific and clinical interest. Using the methods of experimental psychophysiology, control over...     

Religious coping research and contemporary personality theory: An exploration of Endler's (1997) integrative personality theory

Notable weaknesses in the literature on religion and mental health include theoretical inconsistencies and lack of integration with contemporary personality theory. The current study explored a potential solution to these theoretical limitations. A modified form of Endler's (1997) interactive model of personality was applied to the prediction of religious coping and tested using structural equation modelling. As predicted by the model, personality dispositions predicted coping directly, as well as indirectly through perception of the situation and situational anxiety. These patterns were, as expected, found to interact with the type of situation. Results indicated that having a positive disposition appears to buffer one's negative perceptions of situations over which one has little control. Participants tended to use more religious coping in low‐control situations; in high‐control situations, participants tended not to use negative religious coping techniques such as pleading for miracles.     

Inoculation against conspiracy theories: A consumer side approach to India's fake news problem

We attempt to replicate Roozenbeek and van der Linden's Western-based study in India by employing the Bad News Game, an online game, in which players take on the role of a misinformation tycoon. They are exposed to weakened doses of the strategies employed in conspiracy and fake news production with the aim to cognitively inoculate them against misinformation. The proliferation of inexpensive mobile connections coupled with a lack of digital literacy has resulted in a conspiratorial pandemic in developing countries like India. We test the game's impact on an Indian sample (n = 1002) using a within-subject design. We provide evidence of significant improvement in the ability of participants to identify the misinformation produced using Conspiracy, Impersonation, and to a lesser extent, the Discrediting technique, while observing greater truth discernment in correctly identifying true news. We also conduct sub-sample analyses. These findings have positive implications for methods that protect users from malignant online content.     

An ego psychology-object relations theory approach to the transference

This paper summarizes an ego psychology-object relations theory and its application to psychoanalytic technique, particularly to the analysis of the transference. The relative importance of verbal, nonverbal, and generally relational "channels" of communication in patients with differing degrees of transference regression is examined. The use of countertransference reactions in formulating transference interpretations is reviewed. The relations between unconscious meanings in the "here-and-now" and unconscious meanings in the "there-and-then" are explored in the transferences of patients with varying degrees of severity of psychopathology. Differences with other theoretical approaches are highlighted throughout.     

An experimental approach to the reduction of overactive behavior

An operant, differential reinforcement procedure (DRO) was employed in a playroom setting for the purpose of controlling overactivity. Six overactive, mentally retarded children, aged 8–13 yr were first observed individually for a period of 8 days in the playroom in order to obtain a baseline performance on a specially constructed check-list of hyperactive behavior. Following this, the conditioning phase began under a fixed schedule of reinforcement with tokens as the reinforcing agents (later to be exchanged for candy). A fading-out phase was instituted after the 30-day conditioning period in order to maintain resistance to extinction at a higher level. Post-conditioning observations were then made. It was conclusively shown that the disturbed, hyperactive behavior came under stimulus control with “grasshopper” play decreasing substantially during the latter part of conditioning and extinction periods.     

An experimental approach to the design of cartographic symbols

Graphic designers and an experimental psychologist worked together to improve the design of two map symbols which are frequently confused: the symbols for cuttings and embankments on topographic maps. The problem was analysed in terms of the function of the symbols and their likely cognitive representations. Tests were developed to evaluate alternative designs, including an intervisibility task which requirred users to visualize the landform from the symbols viewed in the context of a map. Tests were given to schoolchildren and to experienced map users in order to compare the standard symbols with five alternative designs. Children's performance was strongly affected by the symbols they used, but experienced users were much less affected. After some refinement of the symbols a further experiment demonstrated the superiority of a number of alternative designs over the existing symbols on a range of test: scores were almost double on the intervisibility task. The paper makes recommendations to cartographers and argues for greater consideration of the inexperienced map user in the design process.     

An experimental approach to the study of learned aggression

The sensory contact technique increases aggressiveness in male mice and allows aggressive types of behavior to be formed as a result of the repeated experience of victories in daily agonistic confrontations. Some behavioral domains confirm the development of learned aggression in males similar to those in humans. The features are repeated experience of aggression reinforced by victories; elements of learned behavior after periods of confrontation; intent, measured by increase of the aggressive motivation prior to agonistic confrontation; and decreased emotionality, estimated by parameters of open‐field behavior. Relevant situation provokes increases in aggression (boundary aggression). This review summarizes data on the influence of positive fighting experience in daily intermale confrontations on the behavior, neurochemistry, and physiology of aggressive mice (winners). This sort of experience changes many characteristics in individual and social behaviors, these having been estimated in different tests and in varied situations. Some physiological parameters are also changed in the winners. Neurochemical data confirm the activation of brain dopaminergic systems and functional inhibition of serotonergic system in winners under the influence of the repeated experience of aggression. The expression of the neurochemical and behavioral changes observed in winners has been found to depend on the mouse strain and on the duration of their agonistic confrontations. Aggr. Behav. 26:241–256, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Spiritual development: constructing an inclusive and progressive approach

This article examines the notion of spiritual development as it was conceptualised for state schools in Britain through the Conservative Government’s education reforms of the 1980s and 1990s, reforms which also introduced the National Curriculum. The article puts forward the argument that spiritual development was conceptualised in such a way as to attempt to reinstate progressive pedagogical values rejected by the National Curriculum reforms, but that the conceptualisation led to two conservative outcomes. First, spiritual development was not sufficiently robust to counteract the reforms and may have helped ease their passage. Second, education for the development of spiritual beliefs and values continued to be primarily located in Religious Education, even though a first principle of spiritual development was that spirituality should not be synonymous with religion in order that spiritual development should be inclusive. The article recommends that changes to Religious Education should be encouraged to ensure schools can provide opportunities for an inclusive and progressive education for spiritual development.     

The Baltimore Mural Project: An approach to threshold concepts in religious studies

The Baltimore Mural Project (BMP) seeks to connect religious studies education to the growing literature on threshold concepts in order to address bottleneck areas in student learning. The project is designed for undergraduate service courses comprised of mostly non‐majors: for example, world religions. Students in these courses often struggle to understand and apply the discipline's unique approaches to the study of religion (i.e. its threshold concepts). Rather than merely memorize certain facts about a religious tradition's myths [or world forming stories], rituals [or embodied disclosures], materials, and so on... students are asked to apply threshold concepts related to religion, art, and the social good to the study of murals in Baltimore. Through a series of project elements (including: field work, photography, digital geomapping, and quantitative, qualitative, and archival research) the BMP helps students who struggle with threshold concepts in religious studies by creatively connecting the more conventional aspects of world religions courses to social justice issues related to mural art in Baltimore. By experientially helping students to make these connections, they are able to find creative routes through otherwise hindering barriers to their learning in religious studies.