A Review of Sensory Imagery for Consumer Psychology

This review of mental imagery research has the core objective of fostering more research on the topic of sensory imagery. The review is organized around a conceptual framework highlighting (a) how mental imagery is formed, (b) the elicitation and elaboration of mental imagery, (c) the multi-modal nature of sensory imagery, and (d) the consumer behavior consequences of mental imagery. This conceptual framework provides many new lenses through which researchers can view prior findings, and thereby motivates innovative new research ideas. Future research directions are provided in each section of the review, with additional unexplored opportunities presented in a final section.     

Regressive Imagery in Creative Problem‐Solving: Comparing Verbal Protocols of Expert and Novice Visual Artists and Computer Programmers

We applied computer‐based text analyses of regressive imagery to verbal protocols of individuals engaged in creative problem‐solving in two domains: visual art (23 experts, 23 novices) and computer programming (14 experts, 14 novices). Percentages of words involving primary process and secondary process thought, plus emotion‐related words, were tabulated. Visual art protocols were higher in primary process thought and emotion‐related words; those from programming were higher in secondary process thought. Almost no main effects of expertise or interactions were found. Correlations between the measures (particularly those involving emotion‐related words) also varied as a function of task. This pattern suggests cognitive processes vary considerably across different creative problem‐solving tasks or domains, and that a more domain‐specific approach to creative cognition may be advisable. Further implications for integrating and consolidating some extant lines of creativity research are discussed.     

Development and validation of the Movement Imagery Questionnaire for Children (MIQ-C)

The ability to perform movement imagery has been shown to influence motor performance and learning in sports and rehabilitation. Self-report questionnaires have been developed to assess movement imagery ability in adults, such as the Movement Imagery Questionnaire 3 (MIQ-3); however, there is a dearth of developmentally appropriate measures for use with children. To address this gap, the focus of this research was to develop an imagery ability questionnaire for children. This process involved adaptation of the MIQ-3 via: i) cognitive interviewing with twenty children, ii) validation with 206 children by examining its factor structure via multitrait-multi method confirmatory factor analysis, and iii) examination of test-retest reliability with 23 children. The findings of Study 1 led to changes to the wording of the questionnaire and modifications of the instructions to successfully adapt the MIQ-3 for children aged 7–12 years. The validation undertaken in Study 2 found that a correlated-traits correlated-uniqueness model provided the best fit to the data. Finally, test-retest reliabilities varied from fair (for external visual imagery) to substantial (for kinesthetic imagery). With respect to ease of imaging, no significant gender or age-group differences were noted. However, significant difference were found among the three imagery modalities (p < .001), with external visual imagery rated as easiest to image and kinesthetic imagery rated as the most difficult. Taken together, findings support the use of the MIQ-C for examining movement imagery ability with children.     

Anticipatory Governance: Bioethical Expertise for Human/Animal Chimeras

The pedigree chart is a cornerstone technology for producing bodies and value in livestock pure breeding. It organizes a cluster of processes, technologies, and discourses gathered under the rubric ‘pedigree practices’. Angus breeders commonly use artificial insemination to import performance ‘genetics’ into their herds, using the ‘expected progeny differences’ predicted by massive pedigree databases that now also contain phenotype data reported by cattle growers. Discourses of biological inheritance, good breeding, and pedigrees arose in the eighteenth century, concomitant with a fascination with races, species, and other biological kinds. A case study from Angus cattle breeding illustrates pedigree practices and the bodies made through them, showing how information and computing technologies, assisted reproductive technologies, and discourses of good breeding, purity, health, and disease leveraged a single bull and the two genetic diseases he carried into the pedigrees of up to 10% of the Angus herd. Technologies now widely used in human reproductive medicine were developed for use in livestock animals, especially cattle, extending a long relationship between cows and humans. While the development of these pedigree practices represents increased control over animal reproduction and bodies, it has also been instrumental in rendering all animal bodies, including human bodies, not only more technically but also more rhetorically available for reproductive interventions. These interventions may amplify anxieties about health, species, breed, and kin while also providing opportunities for contesting the boundaries of these nature–cultural categories.     

Motivation for Conflict Among Chinese University Students: Effects of Others' Expertise and One's Own Confidence on Engaging in Conflict

Abstract

Researchers (A. C. Amason, 1996; D. H. Gruenfeld, 1995; K. A. Jehn, 1995, 1997; M. A. Rahim, 1989; M. A. Rahim & A. A. Blum, 1994; D. M. Schweiger, W. R. Sandberg, & P. L. Rechner, 1989; P. E. Tetlock, D. Armor, & R. S. Peterson, 1994) have documented the value of conflictual discussions for solving problems, but few have explored the conditions under which people are motivated to engage in controversy (K. A. Jehn, C. Chadwick, & S. M. B. Thatcher, 1997). Some (M. Van Berklom & D. Tjosvold, 1981) have hypothesized that high expertise and a competitive social context arouse concerns about defending one's position and challenging the opposing one. In the present study, Chinese university students in Hong Kong who expected to disagree with an expert, compared with those who did not expect to disagree with an expert, had less confidence, felt less knowledgeable about their position, and selected an agreeable discussant. Consistent with the idea of maintaining distance from those in power, the participants were reluctant to disagree directly with someone with greater expertise.     

品牌名称暗示性对消费者决策选择的影响：认知需要和专业化水平的调节作用

品牌管理者最首要的决策就是选择一个好记的或有意义的品牌名字。由于任何特征的品牌名字都必须借助消费者的认知差异来实现真正的差异化, 因此, 从消费者认知特点出发研究暗示性品牌名字就显得尤为重要和有意义。本文通过3个实验, 分别验证了消费者认知需要和专业化水平对品牌名称暗示性与决策选择的调节作用。方差分析发现：低专业化水平的消费者更倾向于根据暗示性的品牌名字做出决策, 而高专业化水平的消费者则不受品牌名称暗示程度的影响。此外, 低认知需要的消费者比较喜欢暗示性的品牌名字, 而对于高认知需要的消费者来说, 品牌名字的暗示性程度不会对其决策过程产生影响。最后, 研究结果揭示了专业化水平和认知需要对暗示性品牌名字效果发挥具有交互作用。对于具有高专业化水平的消费者来说, 无论他们处于低认知需要还是高认知需要, 品牌名字的暗示程度都不会影响他们的态度形成。相反地,对于具有低专业化水平的消费者来说, 无论是低认知需要还是高认知需要均倾向于暗示性的品牌名字。而对于专业化程度中等的消费者而言, 暗示性品牌名字效用的发挥则取决于其处理信息的动机—认知需要水平。