Acquisition of spatial antonym pairs

Twenty-eight children (mean age 4.3 yr) were tested for comprehension of spatial antonym pairs with arrays which contained four objects representing both members of two antonym pairs. The results showed that: (a) the most common error was to point to an object representing the same polarity (marked-unmarked) as the word requested; (b) there was not a high degree of confusion within antonym paris; (c) unmarked antonyms tend to be acquired before marked antonyms; and (d) the order of acquisition of the pairs was: tall-short, long-short, high-low, thick-thin, deep-shallow, wide-narrow. The results were interpreted as supporting a modified semantic-feature hypothesis, in which polarity is acquired before dimension.     

Interparty Attitudes in Chile: Coalitions as Superordinate Social Identities

This paper reports a survey (N  =  1,465) conducted in Chile that was conceived to understand the role of coalition identification as an important sociopsychological mechanism for promoting positive affects toward own-coalition party members in a multiparty system, above and beyond interparty political differences. Participants judged their own political party, parties within coalitions (fellow coalition members and opposing parties), and political coalitions as a whole on affective dimensions (trust, liking, and admiration). The results provide substantial support for the five hypotheses addressed in the study. Overall, perceived interparty distance and political identity threat had a negative impact on affect toward coalition party members. Above and beyond these effects, identification with the coalition positively predicted affect toward allies. Ingroup party affect was positively correlated with affect toward own-coalition party members and own coalition as a whole, but was not negatively associated with affect toward opposing-coalition parties. Moreover, the relationship between own-party affect and affect toward own-coalition party members was mediated by affect toward own coalition. Overall, evidence for the benefits of promoting coalition identification in a multiparty system is provided and discussed alongside the limitations and practical implications derived from the study.     

Saying no to negativity: The effects of context and motivation to control prejudice on automatic evaluative responses

The current research explored the interaction of context and motivation to control prejudice reactions (MCPR) on automatic evaluative responses toward individuals of different races. Three studies incorporated contextual backgrounds into an evaluative priming procedure. Across all three studies, White participants low in MCPR demonstrated automatic ingroup biases when threatening contexts were presented. However, in contexts where targets could be construed as threatening, Whites high in MCPR showed automatic outgroup biases in favor of Blacks over Whites. Importantly, this outgroup bias was driven by an automatic inhibition of negative responses toward Blacks. The results indicate that even at the automatic level, people high in motivation to control prejudice can inhibit negative responses toward Blacks in contexts that have cues associated with prejudice.     

An Investigation into the Processing of Lexicalized English Blend Words: Evidence from Lexical Decisions and Eye Movements During Reading

New words enter the language through several word formation processes [see Simonini (Engl J 55:752–757, 1966)]. One such process, blending, occurs when two source words are combined to represent a new concept (e.g., SMOG, BRUNCH, BLOG, and INFOMERCIAL). While there have been examinations of the structure of blends [see Gries (Linguistics 42:639–667, 2004) and Lehrer (Am Speech 73:3–28, 1998)], relatively little attention has been given to how lexicalized blends are recognized and if this process differs from other types of words. In the present study, blend words were matched to non-blend control words on length, familiarity, and frequency. Two tasks were used to examine blend processing: lexical decision and sentence reading. The results demonstrated that blend words were processed differently than non-blend control words. However, the nature of the effect varied as a function of task demands. Blends were recognized slower than control words in the lexical decision task but received shorter fixation durations when embedded in sentences.     

The role of working memory capacity in autobiographical retrieval: individual differences in strategic search

Remembering previous experiences from one's personal past is a principal component of psychological well-being, personality, sense of self, decision making, and planning for the future. In the current study the ability to search for autobiographical information in memory was examined by having college students recall their Facebook friends. Individual differences in working memory capacity manifested itself in the search of autobiographical memory by way of the total number of friends remembered, the number of clusters of friends, size of clusters, and the speed with which participants could output their friends' names. Although working memory capacity was related to the ability to search autobiographical memory, participants did not differ in the manner in which they approached the search and used contextual cues to help query their memories. These results corroborate recent theorising, which suggests that working memory is a necessary component of self-generating contextual cues to strategically search memory for autobiographical information.     

Evidence for noisy contextual search: examining the dynamics of list-before-last recall

The dynamics of free recall in the list-before-last task were examined in the current study. List-length was manipulated and probability of recall was influenced by target list-length but not by intervening list-length. Participants also performed free recall on control lists matched on target list-length. Critically, list-before-last recall was worse than recall on the control list, suggesting that the mere presence of an intervening list reduced recall. An examination of intrusion errors suggested that participants recalled both prior and intervening list intrusions and retrieval was influenced by the length of the intervening list-length. Finally, an examination of recall latency suggested that target list-length, but not intervening list-length, influenced recall dynamics. However, recall latency in list-before-last recall was longer than in the control lists, suggesting that the mere presence of intervening list influenced recall latency. Taken together, the results are consistent with the notion that in list-before-last recall participants rely on noisy contextual cues that activate both target and non-target items, leading to an increase in their search sets.     

Memory conformity for confidently recognized items: The power of social influence on memory reports

Memory conformity occurs when one person's memory report influences another's. Memory conformity is more likely to occur when the information comes from a credible source, and when internal evidence is weak. Here, we investigate whether there are situational variations in how heavily participants weigh internal cues to accuracy when confronted with conflicting information from a partner. The results show that even confidently held memories are subject to influence from external sources, and that social influence is exaggerated when the source is seen to be highly credible.     

Adherence to sport injury rehabilitation programs

Abstract

Adherence to sport injury rehabilitation prognms has emerged as a prime area of interest in the psychology of sport injury. In this article, behaviors typically involved in sport injury rehabilitation adherence are described. research findings on sport injury rehabilitation adherence are reviewed. and theoretical, methodological. and practical issues associated with sport injury rehabilitation research are identified and discussed. Primary recommendations resulting from the literature reviewed include use of conceptual models to guide research efforts, use of prospective resexch designs and standardized, psychometrically-sound measures of key constructs. and resolution of the question of whether enhancing adherence actually improves rehabilitation outcomes before interventions targeted at adherence behavior are developed, implemented, and evaluated.     

The Relation of Internet Searching to Club Drug Knowledge and Attitudes

The effects of the recent explosion of Internet-based health information are little understood. Past research suggests that Internet information on drugs such as ecstasy and speed could increase knowledge of the drugs' potential danger while at the same time making attitudes towards them more accepting. To examine this question, a laboratory experiment was conducted in which participants were randomly assigned to search the Internet for information on "club drugs" or on an unrelated topic. Among those with no history of drug use, Internet searchers came to know more than nonsearchers about ecstasy and speed, and rated more highly the benefit of club drugs and their social disinhibiting effects. Among participants with a history of drug use, Internet searchers and nonsearchers showed fewer differences. The three main findings of this study were that searching increased knowledge, while normalizing risky behavior, but primarily for novices. This leads to the conclusion that people new to a health behavior may be most porous to new ideas presented on the Internet as they stabilize their mental model of the behavior.