Subliminal stimulation and cognitive and motor performance

The present experiment investigated whether subliminally exposed messages affect cognitive and motor performance and whether personality factors can explain interindividual differences in this respect. According to Silverman (1983), people have a symbiotic fantasy, that is, a need for symbiotic oneness with the mother figure. This need can temporarily be satisfied by a tachistoscopic exposure of the message "Mommy and I are one." By relieving the unconscious conflict, psychological tension is reduced. Using these notions, it was hypothesized that different measures of performance should be improved. The results indicate that both cognitive performance, in terms of the ability to interpret incomplete and fragmented pictures, and motor performance, in terms of the ability to follow a printed line with a stylus, is improved by this procedure compared to that of a control group exposed to the neutral message "People are walking." However, it was not possible to relate these changes to individual differences in terms of the individual's structure of his psychological defense system as measured by the Defense Mechanism Test (DMT). Other possible explanations are discussed.     

Memory for media: investigation of false memories for negatively and positively charged public events

Despite a large body of false memory research, little has addressed the potential influence of an event's emotional content on susceptibility to false recollections. The Paradoxical Negative Emotion (PNE) hypothesis predicts that negative emotion generally facilitates memory but also heightens susceptibility to false memories. Participants were asked whether they could recall 20 "widely publicised" public events (half fictitious) ranging in emotional valence, with or without visual cues. Participants recalled a greater number of true negative events (M=3.31/5) than true positive (M=2.61/5) events. Nearly everyone (95%) came to recall at least one false event (M=2.15 false events recalled). Further, more than twice as many participants recalled any false negative (90%) compared to false positive (41.7%) events. Negative events, in general, were associated with more detailed memories and false negative event memories were more detailed than false positive event memories. Higher dissociation scores were associated with false recollections of negative events, specifically.     

Michael Jackson,Bin Laden and I: Functions of positive and negative,public and private flashbulb memories

This study examined the perceived psychosocial functions of flashbulb memories: It compared positive and negative public flashbulb memories (positive: Bin Laden's death, negative: Michael Jackson's death) with private ones (positive: pregnancy, negative: death of a loved one). A sample of n = 389 young and n = 176 middle-aged adults answered canonical category questions used to identify flashbulb memories and rated the personal significance, the psychological temporal distance, and the functions of each memory (i.e., self-continuity, social-boding, directive functions). Hierarchical regressions showed that, in general, private memories were rated more functional than public memories. Positive and negative private memories were comparable in self-continuity and directionality, but the positive private memory more strongly served social functions. In line with the positivity bias in autobiographical memory, positive flashbulb memories felt psychologically closer than negative ones. Finally, middle-aged adults rated their memories as less functional regarding self-continuity and social-bonding than young adults. Results are discussed regarding the tripartite model of autobiographical memory functions.     

Back to the Future: Similarities and Differences in Emotional Memories and Prospections

Previous research suggests that our prospections rely, in part, upon our memories. However, less is known about the ways in which the content of memories and prospections are similar (or dissimilar) and whether this similarity varies by emotion. In the present study, we coded the content and style of participants' (n = 109) positive, negative, and neutral memory and prospection narratives. Emotional memories were more elaborated, social, and further back in time than neutral memories. By contrast, prospections varied by valence: Positive prospections included more time and place indicators and were more social and closer in time than negative prospections. Although over half of the coded content in memories and prospections matched, regardless of valence, positive memories and prospections matched more than negative. These findings suggest that people are more likely to construct positive futures that are similar to the past but are less likely to do so for negative futures. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

"None of the above" as a correct and incorrect alternative on a multiple-choice test: implications for the testing effect

Both positive and negative testing effects have been demonstrated with a variety of materials and paradigms (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006b). The present series of experiments replicate and extend the research of Roediger and Marsh (2005) with the addition of a "none-of-the-above" response option. Participants (n=32 in both experiments) read a set of passages, took an initial multiple-choice test, completed a filler task, and then completed a final cued-recall test (Experiment 1) or multiple-choice test (Experiment 2). Questions were manipulated on the initial multiple-choice test by adding a "none-of-the-above" response alternative (choice "E") that was incorrect ("E" Incorrect) or correct ("E" Correct). The results from both experiments demonstrated that the positive testing effect was negated when the "none-of-the-above" alternative was the correct response on the initial multiple-choice test, but was still present when the "none-of-the-above" alternative was an incorrect response.     

Outcomes of systemic/strategic team consultation: II. Three-year followup and a theory of "emergent design"

This is the second in a series of articles on an experimental, small-sample study of systemic/strategic team consultations. It presents the 3-year outcomes of clients whose 1-month progress was described in an earlier report (12). The 8 therapists in the current study originally were asked to select two ongoing cases matched for difficulty (N = 16). While all cases continued their regular therapy sessions, one of each therapist's two cases were selected at random to participate in a "Milan-informed," five-part team consultation. At 3-year followup, clients who participated in team consultations had maintained significantly higher levels of goal attainment than nonteam clients (p less than .05). For interpreting these results, we propose a developmental theory ("emergent design") to explain therapy impasses, team effects, the impact of termination, and long-range outcomes of therapy.     

Earliest recollections of self and others in European American and Taiwanese young adults

This study examined the age and content of earliest childhood memories of self and others. European American and Taiwanese participants (N= 111) retrieved their earliest memories in response to the cue words self, mother, family, friend, and surroundings. Memory for mother was from an earlier age than memory for self, and memories for mother, family, and friend were more socially oriented in content than memories for self or surroundings. In addition, in response to all cue words, Euro-Americans recalled memories from an earlier age than did Taiwanese. Euro-Americans also had a greater tendency to report memories of specific events and focused more on their own roles and autonomy than did Taiwanese, who more often described routine events and emphasized the roles of others. These findings have important implications for infantile amnesia and the memory-self interplay.     

Influence of Maternal Depressive Symptoms on Ratings of Childhood Behavior

This study uses information collected on two occasions from a probability sample of families with 5- to 12-year-old children (N = 1151) participating in a general population study in 1983 and follow-up in 1987. It evaluated the importance of maternal bias in the assessment of child behavior by comparing the relative strengths of association between maternal depression and childhood behavior and between maternal depression and mother reporting errors. Conduct problems and hyperactivity were measured as latent criterion variables constructed from mother, teacher, and youth (aged 12 to 16 years) ratings and their associations with maternal depression were modeled using covariance structure analysis. The analyses revealed that maternal depression was associated significantly with conduct problems ( = .35) and hyperactivity ( = .38) among 5- to 7-years-olds in 1983 but not 4 years later in 1987. None of the associations between maternal depression and mother reporting errors were significant. Among 8- to 12-year-olds in 1983, maternal depression was associated significantly not only with conduct problems ( = .17) and hyperactivity ( = .15) but also with mother rating errors of these behaviors ( = .13 and .17, respectively). Four years later in 1987 when this cohort was 12 to 16 years old, the only significant association was between maternal depression and conduct disorder ( = .25). Although evidence exists for associations between maternal depressed mood and mother rating errors, there also appears to be a substantive association between maternal depression and childhood behavior.     

Changing the working self alters the emotions prompted by recall

Results from three studies indicated that emotional responses to memories can be changed by altering the working self. In particular, these results showed that emotional reactions to memories: (1) were especially positive when memories were perceived to be central to the working self (Experiment 1); (2) were muted when the working self was changed by adopting a third-person perspective during recall (Experiment 1); (3) of an event in the life of each participant's mother weakened when an individual was induced to experience a self that felt less close to their mother (Experiment 2) and (4) of a childhood event provoked especially positive emotional reactions after exposure to a mortality salience manipulation that increased perceived self-worth (Experiment 3). The extent to which mother was included in the self (Experiment 2) and self-worth (Experiment 3) plausibly mediated the effects of the manipulations on participants' emotional reactions to recalled events.     

Are observer memories (accurate) memories? Insights from experimental philosophy

A striking feature of our memories of the personal past is that they involve different visual perspectives: one sometimes recalls past events from one’s original point of view (a field perspective), but one sometimes recalls them from an external point of view (an observer perspective). In philosophy, observer memories are often seen as being less than fully genuine and as being necessarily false or distorted. This paper looks at whether laypeople share the standard philosophical view by applying the methods of experimental philosophy. We report the results of five studies suggesting that, while participants clearly categorize both field and observer memories as memories, they tend to judge that observer memories are slightly less accurate than field memories. Our results suggest, however, that in lay thought, the difference between field and observer memories is not nearly as clear-cut as philosophers have generally taken it to be.     

Self-defeating personality and memories of parents' child-rearing behavior: a replication

A recent study of correlations of self-defeating personality and memories of parents' child-rearing behaviour has been replicated on a larger sample. Non-clinical volunteers (145 women and 114 men) were administered Schill's Self-defeating Personality Scale and a short version of the EMBU-Egna Minnen Betr?ffande Uppfostran (own memories of parental education) scale. Replicating previous findings, memories of rejecting or nonsupportive parents were significantly correlated with scores for the Self-defeating Personality Scale for both women (rejecting mother, r = 24; supportive mother, r = -.29; rejecting father, r = .23; supportive father, r = -.36) and men (rejecting mother, r = 40; rejecting father, r = .41; supportive father, r = -.28). Memories of an overinvolved parent were significantly correlated with self-defeating personality scores only among men (mother: r = .41; father: r = .36) as in the original study.     

Looking the past in the eye: Distortion in memory and the costs and benefits of recalling from an observer perspective

Jordi Fernández (2015) discusses the possible benefits of two types of allegedly distorted memories: observer memories and fabricated memories. Fernández argues that even when memory does not preserve the past, some memories can still provide an adaptive benefit for the subject. I explore Fernández’s claims focussing on the case of observer perspective memories. For Fernández, observer perspectives are distorted memories because they do not preserve past experience. In contrast, I suggest that observer perspectives can accurately reflect past experience: observer perspectives are not necessarily distorted memories. By looking at the complexity of the relation between remembering trauma from an observer perspective and emotional closure, I also sound a note of caution against Fernández’s assertion that observer memories of trauma can be adaptively beneficial. Finally, I suggest that because observer perspectives are not necessarily distorted, but involve a distinct way of thinking about one’s past, such memories can be epistemically beneficial.     

A content analysis of involuntary autobiographical memories: examining the positivity effect in old age

Although research on autobiographical memory is growing steadily, very little is known about involuntary autobiographical memories that are spontaneously recalled in everyday life. In addition, very few studies have examined the actual content of autobiographical memories and how the content might change as a function of age. The present study carried out a content analysis of involuntary autobiographical memories recorded by young (N = 11) and old (N = 10) volunteers over a period of 1 week. A total of 224 memories were classified into 17 categories according to the type of content recalled (e.g., births, holidays, school). The results support the socioemotional theory of ageing (Carstensen, Isaacowitz & Charles, 1999) by showing that although young and old adults recalled a similar number of memories with a typically positive content (e.g., holidays, special occasions), older adults recalled very few memories with a typically negative content (e.g., accidents, stressful events). Moreover, even when such negative memories were recalled, they were rated by older adults as neutral or even positive. This so-called positivity effect in old age could not be entirely explained by participants' ratings of mood at the time of recall. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings for ageing and autobiographical memory research are discussed.     

Memories of Childhood Threat,Fear of Disclosure and Paranoid Ideation: A Mediation Analysis Using a Nonclinical Sample

This study investigated whether associations between childhood memories of threat and adult paranoia could be partially mediated by factors associated with impeded interpersonal communication (concealment and fear of disclosure of personal and distressing information). University undergraduates (N = 179) completed a battery of psychometric scales. Mediation analysis identified a direct effect between early memories of threat and paranoid ideation (B = 0.11, 95% CI = [0.07, 0.14], p = .00). A mediated effect between these variables was also significant (B = .05, 95% CI = [0.02, 0.07], p = .01). However, although significant associations were identified between memories of threat and each of the mediating variables (self-concealment, fear of self-disclosure, anxiety, depression) only fear of self-disclosure displayed a significant association with paranoid ideation (B = .05, 95% CI = [0.02, 0.07], p = .01).     

不同抑郁状态个体对情绪面孔的评价研究

目的:为探讨不同抑郁状态个体对情绪面孔的效价评价情况。方法:以BDI、SDS、CCMD-3和汉密顿抑郁量表为工具筛选出42名正常对照组、54名抑郁情绪组、17名抑郁康复组和24名抑郁患者组成员,所有被试完成情绪面孔的效价评价任务。结果:发现抑郁患者组和抑郁情绪组对高兴面孔的评价分数显著低于其他两组(F=7.427,p=0.000);抑郁患者组和抑郁康复组对悲伤面孔的评价分数显著低于其他两组(F=4.956,p=0.003);抑郁患者组和抑郁康复组在情绪评价任务中对高兴和中性面孔的反应时显著长于其他两组(F=13.735,p=0.000;F=18.008,p=0.000),对悲伤面孔的反应时与其他两组无显著差异(p>0.05),抑郁患者组对中性面孔的反应时显著长于悲伤面孔(F=4.240,p=0.018)。结论:抑郁个体对正性刺激存在感知缺陷,对负性刺激存在夸大加工倾向和加工易化效应,其中前者是抑郁的状态特征,后两者是抑郁的特质特征。     

Noradrenaline loss and the disruption of between-CS stimulus generalisation effects in aversion learning

In stimulus blocking the previous conditioning to one stimulus, A, followed by conditioning to the compound stimulus, AB, results in less conditioning to the other stimulus, B. Three experiments were performed to study the effect of the prior pairing of a stimulus A (noisy bottle) with lithium chloride followed by stimulus AB (saccharin plus noisy bottle) and lithium chloride pairings upon the strength of the aversion to the target stimuls B (saccharin) in NA-depleted and control rats. The results obtained were not in keeping with a "blocking" explanation since enhancement, rather than blocking, of the saccharin aversion was obtained, and confirm several recent demonstrations of the "anti-blocking" effect from investigations using the conditioned suppression procedure. DSP4 treatment attenuated the aversion-enhancement ("anti-blocking") effects in all three experiments. The possibility that DSP4-induced noradrenaline depletions may cause some disruption of between-CS associations leading to a lesser higher order conditioning or stimulus generalisation is discussed and the present findings do add further evidence to the conclusion that noradrenaline is intimately involved in attentional processes.     

提取-消退范式中复合刺激对恐惧消退的影响

情绪障碍治疗的关键在于消退条件性恐惧记忆,研究证明基于记忆再巩固的提取-消退范式能有效消除或改写原有的恐惧记忆。本研究将提取-消退范式应用到更复杂的恐惧记忆中,采用多感官复合刺激(声音+图片)作为条件刺激,以皮电反应作为恐惧反应指标,考察采用单个线索(声音或图片)、复合线索(声音+图片)进行提取-消退对条件性恐惧记忆的消退效果有何差异。结果表明:声音线索提取-消退组出现了自发恢复和重建效应,图片提取-消退组只出现了重建效应,复合刺激提取-消退组未出现自发恢复和重建效应。说明由复合刺激线索引发的条件性恐惧,采用复合刺激中的单个较强线索或原有完整线索进行提取-消退,对恐惧记忆的消退效果最好。     

Remembering and imagining: the role of the self

This study investigated whether temporal clustering of autobiographical memories (AMs) around periods of self-development ( [Rathbone et al., 2008] and [Rathbone et al., 2009] ) would also occur when imagining future events associated with the self. Participants completed an AM task and future thinking task. In both tasks, memories and future events were cued using participant-generated identity statements (e.g., I am a student; I will be a mother). Participants then dated their memories and future events, and finally gave an age at which each identity statement was judged to emerge. Dates of memories and future events were recoded as temporal distance from the identity statement used to cue them. AMs and future events both clustered robustly around periods of self-development, indicating the powerful organisational effect of the self. We suggest that life narrative structures are used to organise future events as well as memories.     

"Feminism Lite?" Feminist Identification, Speaker Appearance, and Perceptions of Feminist and Antifeminist Messengers

Drawing on a communications model of persuasion ( Hovland, Janis, & Kelley, 1953 ), this study examined the effect of target appearance on feminists' and nonfeminists' perceptions of a speaker delivering a feminist or an antifeminist message. One hundred three college women watched one of four videotaped speeches that varied by content (profeminist vs. antifeminist) and target appearance ("feminine" vs. "masculine"). Self-identified feminists responded more favorably to a profeminist message when it was presented by a feminine than a masculine-appearing speaker and expressed less feminist attitudes after viewing a masculine-appearing feminist speaker. Nonfeminists' evaluations did not vary as a function of speaker appearance or message content. Implications for the communication of feminist ideology are discussed.     

Not Very Smart,thus Moral: Dimensional Comparisons Between Academic Self-Concept and Honesty

Three studies explored the influence of self-evaluation in one domain (e.g., the academic domain) on self-evaluation in another domain (e.g., morality), assuming a process of intra-personal dimensional comparisons (i.e., comparisons between self-evaluations in two different domains). A pre-study with N = 143 university students replicated the Muhammad Ali effect, that is, the tendency to rate one's own honesty higher than one's own intelligence. As suggested in our assumptions regarding dimensional comparisons, Study 1 (N = 70) then showed that low self-concept students rated their honesty slightly more positive than high self-concept students. More important, in Study 2 (N = 64) participants who just experienced academic failure in an experimental task rated their honesty slightly more positive than students who experienced academic success. Therefore, it was demonstrated that academic outcome influenced self-concept in a non-academic domain. Results are discussed with regard to their implications for the extension of the I/E model.