Exploring the Enigmatic Link between Religion and Anti‐Black Attitudes

This review explores social psychological perspectives on the complex relationship between religion and anti‐Black prejudice in the United States. We examine the different ways in which religiosity has been conceptualized by behavioral scientists. We consider the methodological limitations of previous research, as well as how the advent of priming research introduces new empirical questions regarding religiosity and anti‐Black prejudice, such as whether activation of different religious conceptions (e.g., God versus religion) or priming via different types of stimuli (e.g., words versus images) produces different outcomes. Finally, we discuss the lack of diverse samples in the present literature and highlight the need for additional research with Black American respondents. Conclusions consider the real world implications of links between religion and anti‐Blackness for both White individuals (e.g., intergroup relations) and Black individuals (e.g., psychological functioning).     

Accessing causal relations in semantic memory

Most studies investigating semantic memory have focused on taxonomic or associative relations. Little is known about how other relations, such as causal relations, are represented and accessed. In three experiments, we presented participants with pairs of words one after another, describing events that referred to either a cause (e.g., spark) or an effect (e.g., fire). We manipulated the temporal order of word presentation and the question participants had to respond to. The results revealed that questions referring to the existence of a causal relation are answered faster when the first word refers to a cause and the second word refers to its effect than vice versa. However, no such asymmetry was observed with questions referring to the associative relation. People appear to distinguish the roles of cause and effect when queried specifically about a causal relation, but not when the same information is evaluated for the presence of an associative relation.     

Personality research and psychophysiology: General considerations

A general discussion of psychophysiological methods in relationship to personality research is presented for the investigator without an extensive knowledge of psychophysiology. The paper is organized in four sections: (a) advantages inherent in the use of psychophysiological measures (e.g., continuous measurement, sensitivity to sublimal responses); (b) psychophysiological constructs that are particularly well suited to personality research (e.g., different kinds of physiological arousal, normal/pathological distinctions, perceptual states); (c) how to choose a set of psychophysiological measures and special considerations involved with their use (e.g., obstrusiveness, context and timing of measurement, costs, and capabilities); and (d) whether or not to “psychophysiologize” personality research. Within each section, illustrative applications of psychophysiology to personality research are described.     

Classes and collections: Conceptual organization and numerical abilities

Collections (e.g., forest, army) and classes (e.g., trees, soldiers) are natural concepts that differ in their organizational principles. Collections are organized into part-whole relations (e.g., trees are parts of a forest). Classes are organized according to class inclusion relations (e.g., oaks are kinds of trees). Because of their part-whole organization, collections are assumed to have greater psychological coherence than classes and therefore an advantage on tasks that require thinking about an aggregate as well as the individuals in it. Number requires aggregate analysis since it is a characteristic of sets, not of individuals. Four studies tested the hypothesized collection advantage in numerical reasoning tasks. In each, children viewed identical displays that were labeled with either class or collection terms. With perceptual input constant, the collection labels in contrast to the class labels promoted children's insight into certain numerical principles and facilitated the use of these principles in a variety of numerical tasks. Collection labels appear to induce a cognitive reorganization of importance to the child: the shift from inclusion to part-whole relations.     

The cost of serially chaining two cognitive operations

As Turing (1936, Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society) noted, a fundamental process in human cognition is to effect chained sequential operations in which the second operation requires an input from the preceding one. Although a great deal is known about the costs associated with 'independent' (unrelated) operations, e.g., from the classic psychological refractory period paradigm, far less is known about those operations to which Turing referred. We present the results of two behavioural experiments, where participants were required to perform two speeded sequential tasks that were either chained or independent. Both experiments reveal the reaction time cost of chaining, over and above classical dual-task serial costs. Moreover, the chaining operation significantly altered the distribution of reaction times relative to the Independent condition in terms of an increased mean and variance. These results are discussed in terms of the cognitive architecture underlying the serial chaining of cognitive operations.     

Explaining errors in children's questions

The ability to explain the occurrence of errors in children's speech is an essential component of successful theories of language acquisition. The present study tested some generativist and constructivist predictions about error on the questions produced by ten English-learning children between 2 and 5 years of age. The analyses demonstrated that, as predicted by some generativist theories [e.g. Santelmann, L., Berk, S., Austin, J., Somashekar, S. & Lust. B. (2002). Continuity and development in the acquisition of inversion in yes/no questions: dissociating movement and inflection, Journal of Child Language, 29, 813-842], questions with auxiliary DO attracted higher error rates than those with modal auxiliaries. However, in wh-questions, questions with modals and DO attracted equally high error rates, and these findings could not be explained in terms of problems forming questions with why or negated auxiliaries. It was concluded that the data might be better explained in terms of a constructivist account that suggests that entrenched item-based constructions may be protected from error in children's speech, and that errors occur when children resort to other operations to produce questions [e.g. Dabrowska, E. (2000). From formula to schema: the acquisition of English questions. Cognitive Liguistics, 11, 83-102; Rowland, C. F. & Pine, J. M. (2000). Subject-auxiliary inversion errors and wh-question acquisition: What children do know? Journal of Child Language, 27, 157-181; Tomasello, M. (2003). Constructing a language: A usage-based theory of language acquisition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press]. However, further work on constructivist theory development is required to allow researchers to make predictions about the nature of these operations.     

GLOMOsys: A Systems Account of Global Versus Local Processing

Within GLOMO^sys (the GLObal versus LOcal processing MOdel, a systems account) we examine the functionalities of two processing systems that process information either globally or locally (looking at the forest vs. the trees). GLOMO^sys suggests that (a) global versus local perceptual processing carries over to other tasks; (b) perceptual processing is related to conceptual processing (e.g., creative/analytic tasks; face/verbal recognition; similarity/dissimilarity generation; abstract/concrete construals, distance estimates, inclusive/exclusive categorization; assimilation/contrast in social judgments); (c) perceptual and conceptual processing is elicited by real-world variables (e.g., mood, exteroceptive and interoceptive cues of approach/avoidance, promotion/prevention focus, high/low power, distance, obstacles, novelty/familiarity, love/sex, interdependent/independent selves); (d) regulatory focus, psychological distance, and novelty are driving effects; and (e) the global system (glo-sys) processes novelty and the local system (lo-sys) processes familiarity. We discuss whether glo-sys is responsible for understanding meaning, relate the systems to physiological research, and discuss new research questions.     

Childhood poverty and health: cumulative risk exposure and stress dysregulation

A massive literature documents the inverse association between poverty or low socioeconomic status and health, but little is known about the mechanisms underlying this robust relation. We examined longitudinal relations between duration of poverty exposure since birth, cumulative risk exposure, and physiological stress in two hundred seven 13-year-olds. Chronic stress was assessed by basal blood pressure and overnight cortisol levels; stress regulation was assessed by cardiovascular reactivity to a standard acute stressor and recovery after exposure to this stressor. Cumulative risk exposure was measured by multiple physical (e.g., substandard housing) and social (e.g., family turmoil) risk factors. The greater the number of years spent living in poverty, the more elevated was overnight cortisol and the more dysregulated was the cardiovascular response (i.e., muted reactivity). Cardiovascular recovery was not affected by duration of poverty exposure. Unlike the duration of poverty exposure, concurrent poverty (i.e., during adolescence) did not affect these physiological stress outcomes. The effects of childhood poverty on stress dysregulation are largely explained by cumulative risk exposure accompanying childhood poverty.     

Color and psychological functioning: the effect of red on performance attainment

This research focuses on the relation between color and psychological functioning, specifically, that between red and performance attainment. Red is hypothesized to impair performance on achievement tasks, because red is associated with the danger of failure in achievement contexts and evokes avoidance motivation. Four experiments demonstrate that the brief perception of red prior to an important test (e.g., an IQ test) impairs performance, and this effect appears to take place outside of participants' conscious awareness. Two further experiments establish the link between red and avoidance motivation as indicated by behavioral (i.e., task choice) and psychophysiological (i.e., cortical activation) measures. The findings suggest that care must be taken in how red is used in achievement contexts and illustrate how color can act as a subtle environmental cue that has important influences on behavior.     

Longitudinal associations between people's cessation-related experiences and their satisfaction with cessation

We sought to determine whether different social, psychological, emotional, and physiological experiences associated with quitting smoking related to people's satisfaction with cessation systematically, and whether the strength of the relations changes at different points during the cessation process and for different people (e.g., optimists). Using data from smokers enrolled in a cessation program, we used mixed models to assess the average longitudinal relation between people's experiences and satisfaction measured at seven time points and whether the relations were moderated by key variables. Eight of nine experiences were related to people's satisfaction (ps < 0.05) and the models accounted for 39–44% of the within-person variance in satisfaction. Current smoking behavior was more strongly related to people's satisfaction during their early efforts to quit, whereas some experiences (e.g., feedback from others) had a stronger relation with satisfaction during people's later efforts to quit or maintain abstinence (ps < 0.05). Individual differences in optimism and prior cessation experience moderated some of the relations (ps < 0.05). The findings mark the first evidence of factors that might influence how people determine their satisfaction with smoking cessation. The implications for tailoring interventions and potentially increasing the likelihood that people maintain abstinence are discussed.     

The organization of words and environmental sounds in the second year: Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence

The majority of research examining early auditory‐semantic processing and organization is based on studies of meaningful relations between words and referents. However, a thorough investigation into the fundamental relation between acoustic signals and meaning requires an understanding of how meaning is associated with both lexical and non‐lexical sounds. Indeed, it is unknown how meaningful auditory information that is not lexical (e.g., environmental sounds) is processed and organized in the young brain. To capture the structure of semantic organization for words and environmental sounds, we record event‐related potentials as 20‐month‐olds view images of common nouns (e.g., dog) while hearing words or environmental sounds that match the picture (e.g., “dog” or barking), that are within‐category violations (e.g., “cat” or meowing), or that are between‐category violations (e.g., “pen” or scribbling). Results show both words and environmental sounds exhibit larger negative amplitudes to between‐category violations relative to matches. Unlike words, which show a greater negative response early and consistently to within‐category violations, such an effect for environmental sounds occurs late in semantic processing. Thus, as in adults, the young brain represents semantic relations between words and between environmental sounds, though it more readily differentiates semantically similar words compared to environmental sounds.     

Effect on Mood of Thinking About Extreme Emotional Terms

The hypothesis that being asked to think about extreme emotional terms influences mood in the direction of the polarity of the terms was tested in three experiments. Subjects answered items about their mood before and after being asked to think about nine extreme, positive emotional terms (e.g., ecstatic) or nine extreme, negative emotional terms (e.g., wretched). It was found that when subjects were asked to think about extreme, positive emotional terms, mood changed in a positive direction, and when they were asked to think about extreme negative emotional terms, mood changed in a negative direction. The effect on mood of being asked to think about extreme emotional terms did not depend on whether the subjects were asked just to think about the terms(Experiment 1), to think about the terms in relation to the self (Experiment 2), or to think about the meaning of the terms (Experiment 3).     

An asymmetric effect of relational integration on recognition memory

Two experiments assessed whether conceptual relations (e.g., contains: COOKIE JAR) facilitate the retrieval of concepts (e.g., COOKIE and JAR) from long-term memory. The CARIN model of nominal combination asserts that conceptual relations are represented with and selected from the modifier noun (COOKIE). Thus, the model predicts that relational integration will facilitate memory for modifiers but not for head nouns (JAR). In Experiment 1, concepts were studied in pairs and were then tested individually. Recognition accuracy was higher for modifiers than for head nouns. In Experiment 2, the studied concepts (e.g., COOKIE JAR) were tested in the context of a new pair that instantiated either the same relation (e.g., COOKIE plate) or a different relation (e.g., COOKIE crumb). Recognition was again better for modifiers than for head nouns, but only when the same conceptual relation was instantiated at both study and test. Thus, results indicate that conceptual relations (a) facilitate recognition memory, and (b) are associated more strongly with the modifier than with the head noun.     

Traffic congestion, perceived control, and psychophysiological stress among urban bus drivers

The operation of public transit vehicles in urban centers is a highly stressful job. There has been, however, little detailed analysis of what specific characteristics of the psychosocial or physical job environmental of public transit operators contribute to the high levels of job stress associated with this occupation. In the present study, we show a high degree of association between exposure to peak traffic conditions and on-the-job elevations of urinary catecholamines. These significant relations remain after incorporating various controls for possible selection factors (e.g., job seniority) and health-relevant parameters (e.g., age, smoking). Furthermore, we show that reductions in perceived control on the job partially account for the linkages between traffic congestion and psychophysiological stress.     

Semantic, phonological, and mediated priming in reading and lexical decisions

Four experiments were conducted to investigate whether semantic activation of a concept spreads to phonologically and graphemically related concepts. In lexical decision or self-paced reading tasks, subjects responded to pairs of words that were semantically related (e.g., light-lamp), that rhymed (e.g., lamp-damp), or that combined both of these relations through a mediating word (e.g., light-damp). In one version of each task, test lists contained word-word pairs (e.g., light-lamp) as well as nonword-word (e.g., pown-table) and word-nonword pairs (e.g., month-poad); in another version, test lists contained only word-word pairs. The lexical decision and self-paced reading tasks were facilitated by semantic and rhyming relations regardless of the presence or absence of nonwords on the test lists. The effect of the mediated relation, however, depended on the presence of nonwords among the stimuli. When only words were included, there was no effect of the mediated relation, but when nonwords were included, lexical decision and self-paced reading responses were inhibited by the mediated relation. These inhibitory effects are attributed to processes occurring after lexical access, and the relative advantages of the self-paced reading task are discussed.     

It’s not just “us” versus “them”: Moving beyond binary perspectives on intergroup processes

ABSTRACT

The social psychology of intergroup relations has emerged largely from studies of how one group of people (e.g., whites) think and feel about another (e.g., blacks). By reducing the social world to binary categories, this approach has provided an effective and efficient methodological framework. However, it has also obscured important features of social relations in historically divided societies. This paper highlights the importance of investigating intergroup relationships involving more than two groups and of exploring not only their psychological but also their political significance. Exemplifying this argument, we discuss the conditions under which members of disadvantaged groups either dissolve into internecine competition or unite to challenge the status quo, highlighting the role of complex forms of social comparison, identification, contact, and third-party support for collective action. Binary conceptualizations of intergroup relations, we conclude, are the product of specific sociohistorical practices rather than a natural starting point for psychological research.     

Preparation for speeded action as a psychophysiological concept

Mental preparation aids performance and induces multiple physiological changes that should inform concepts of preparation. To date, however, these changes have been interpreted as being due to a global preparatory process (e.g., attention or alertness). The authors review psychophysiological and performance investigations of preparation. Concepts of the central regulation of action offer an integrative framework for understanding the psychophysiology of preparation. If people process multiple streams of information concurrently, then preparatory processing requires a form of supervisory attention- central regulation to maintain unity of action. This concept is consistent with existing psychophysiological results and links them to current views of information processing. Conversely, psychophysiological measures may provide indices to test concepts within theories of the central regulation of action.     

Context and the interpretation of likelihood information: the role of intergroup comparisons on perceived vulnerability

Four experiments investigated how people's perceptions about a group's (e.g., women's) vulnerability to a disease are influenced by information about the prevalence of the disease in a comparable group (e.g., men). Participants read symptom and prevalence infomation about fictitious diseases before answering questions regarding target group vulnerability. Participants used the prevalence rate for a nontarget group as an immediate comparison standard for intuitively interpreting the degree of vulnerability of a target group, resulting in robust contrast effects. Experiments 3 and 4 illustrated that these contrast effects can cause a person's intuitive perceptions about a group's vulnerability to selected diseases to conflict with his or her knowledge of the prevalence rates for the diseases. The results support a distinction between 2 components of psychological uncertainty-beliefs in objective probability and more intuitive perceptions of certainty.     

Children's use of “extra-list” cues to retrieve theme and category episodic information from memory

The ability of second- and fifth-grade children and college adults to use “extra-list” cues to retrieve episodic information from memory was examined in four experiments. The acquisition events were word triplets characterized by category relations (i.e., Rose-Tulip-Lily), theme cooccurrence relations (i.e., Bunny-Jelly Beans-Lily), or no relevant conceptual relation (i.e., Wood-Brick-Lily) among the triplet members, and event classification was ensured by means of an acquisition orienting question. Cued recall for the target (i.e., Lily) was assessed for extra-list Class Name cues (Flower or Easter) in Experiments 1 and 3, and Class Associate cues in Experiments 2 and 4. The classifications concerned superordinate category versus theme cooccurrence relations in Experiments 1 and 2, subordinate versus superordinate category relations in Experiment 3, and prototypical versus nonprototypical associates in Experiment 4. The results showed that effective cue use varied strongly with both the “match” of cue and event class information, and with the associative structure of permanent memory. Probable differences in this structure seem to contribute to both inherent and developmental differences in using cues to retrieve theme or category episodic information.     

Lexical access and the brain: anatomical constraints on cognitive models of word recognition.

Recent studies in the cognitive psychology of reading and many other skilled performances have been dominated by models inspired by neural connectivity (e.g., McClelland & Rumelhart, 1986). Such models have not yet begun to consider the accumulating evidence of considerable anatomical localization of component cognitive operations in the human brain (e.g., Posner, Petersen, Fox, & Raichle, 1988). In this article we apply anatomical findings to the job of building computational models of visual word recognition. Brain imaging studies already provide important constraints on how lexical access should be defined in terms of isolable encoding operations that compute the visual form, phonology, and semantics of words. Brain imaging studies also speak to issues of modularity versus interaction between these encoding operations, distribution versus localization of processing within the operations, and orchestration of operations to accomplish different word processing tasks. We conclude that a combined cognitive and anatomical analysis may be of considerable benefit in developing more adequate models of human information processing.