The level of subjective visibility at different stages of memory processing

Recent research suggests that the content of iconic memory (IM) and fragile visual short-term memory could be associated with a similar level of conscious accessibility as working memory (WM). The results of our studies, in which we used a subjective visibility scale in a partial-report change detection paradigm, indicate that it is possible to distinguish separate stages of memory based on both discriminative accuracy and conscious accessibility. The highest scores were associated with IM and the lowest with WM, while somewhere in the middle there was fragile memory. Based on classical assumptions, WM accessibility should be greater than the other two types of memory; however, our study showed that this might not always be the case. We discuss the potential sources of this outcome, of which one may be the task construction, as we only tested items that were directly in the focus of attention.     

A laboratory model for evaluating relapse of undesirable caregiver behavior

The success of behavioral treatments like functional communication training depends on their continued implementation outside of the clinical context, where failures in caregiver treatment adherence can lead to the relapse of destructive behavior. In the present study, we developed a laboratory model for evaluating the relapse of undesirable caregiver behavior that simulates two common sources of disruption (i.e., changes in context and in treatment efficacy) believed to affect caregiver treatment adherence using simulated confederate destructive behavior. In Phase 1, the caregiver's delivery of reinforcers for destructive behavior terminated confederate destructive behavior in a home‐like context. In Phase 2, the caregiver implemented functional communication training in a clinical context in which providing reinforcers for destructive or alternative behavior terminated confederate destructive behavior. In Phase 3, the caregiver returned to the home‐like context, and caregiver behavior produced no effect on confederate destructive or alternative behavior, simulating an inconsolable child. Undesirable caregiver behavior relapsed in three of four treatment‐adherence challenges.     

The Sense of Quality of Life and Religious Strategies of Coping with Stress in Prison Inmates

The aim of the presented research was to analyze differences in religious strategies of coping with stress in a group of prison inmates characterized by different levels of the sense of quality of life—general, psychophysical, psychosocial, personal, and metaphysical. The participants were 390 males, aged 19–68 years, serving sentences in prisons in Poland. The measures used were the Sense of Quality of Life Questionnaire by M. Stra?-Romanowska and K. I. Pargament’s RCOPE Questionnaire. As expected, individuals with a high sense of quality of life—both general and pertaining to specific dimensions—more often chose positive religious strategies, whereas participants with a low sense of quality of life more often chose negative strategies. The exception was the metaphysical aspect of the quality of life: individuals with a high intensity of this dimension more often chose some of the positive as well as negative religious strategies.     

Stereotypes as justifications for prior intergroup discrimination: Studies of Scottish national stereotyping

Two studies provide support for the group‐justification approach to stereotyping (Tajfel, 1981 ; Huici, 1984 ). This approach contends that stereotypes not only serve cognitive functions for individuals but also provide a means of justifying prior intergroup discrimination. Study 1 investigated whether the content of the Scottish ingroup stereotype changes due to the prior expression of intergroup discrimination. Scottish students were primed with either a ‘differentiation’ or a ‘fairness’ ingroup norm and completed two intergroup judgement tasks. Other Scottish students were primed only with a ‘differentiation’ ingroup norm, while a control group received no prime or judgement tasks. Only participants who experienced the ‘differentiation’ ingroup norm prime and the intergroup judgement tasks changed the content of their ingroup stereotype as an attempt to justify their discriminatory behaviour. Study 2 examined whether Scottish students would use both positive ingroup and negative outgroup stereotypes to rationalize intergroup discrimination. Students who experienced a ‘differentiation’ ingroup norm prime and intergroup judgement tasks showed the highest level of superior recall for positive ingroup and negative outgroup stereotype‐consistent words compared to stereotype‐neutral words. This finding suggests that the expression of intergroup discrimination activates the use of both positive ingroup and negative outgroup stereotypes. Together the findings of these two studies provide empirical support for the notion that stereotypes serve social as well as cognitive functions. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Self‐disclosure in computer‐mediated communication: The role of self‐awareness and visual anonymity

Three studies examined the notion that computer‐mediated communication (CMC) can be characterised by high levels of self‐disclosure. In Study One, significantly higher levels of spontaneous self‐disclosure were found in computer‐mediated compared to face‐to‐face discussions. Study Two examined the role of visual anonymity in encouraging self‐disclosure during CMC. Visually anonymous participants disclosed significantly more information about themselves than non‐visually anonymous participants. In Study Three, private and public self‐awareness were independently manipulated, using video‐conferencing cameras and accountability cues, to create a 2 × 2 design public self‐awareness (high and low)×private self‐awareness (high and low). It was found that heightened private self‐awareness, when combined with reduced public self‐awareness, was associated with significantly higher levels of spontaneous self‐disclosure during computer‐mediated communication. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Incremental Validity of Perceived Control Dimensions in the Differential Prediction of Interpretive Biases for Threat

This study evaluated whether a diminished perception of control over environmental and interoceptive events differentially predicted interpretive biases for threat for ambiguous scenarios. The sample had 95 participants without a history of psychopathology. Results indicated that the internal dimension of the Anxiety Control Questionnaire (ACQ; R. M. Rapee, M. G. Craske, T. A. Brown, & D. H. Barlow, 1996) was predictive of interpretive biases for internal scenarios above and beyond demographic variables, subclinical panic attack history, and state anxiety; the external control subscale of the ACQ also was predictive of internal rank-ordered responses. The ACQ external dimension was predictive of interpretive responses for external scenarios beyond the effects accounted for by the other predictor variables, including perceived control for internal events. These findings provide initial correlational evidence consistent with cognitive–behavioral accounts of panic disorder that posit a perceived lack of control over aversive events may exacerbate an interpretive bias for threat.     

A Comparison of the 1988 and 1994 Diagnostic Criteria for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is an illness that involves severe, prolonged fatigue as well as neurological, immunological, and endocrinological system pathology. Because the pathogenesis of CFS has yet to be determined, case definitions have relied on clinical observation in classifying signs and symptoms for diagnosis. In an attempt to address various criticisms and inconsistencies in diagnostic criteria, there have been several revisions of the CFS case definition. The current investigation examined the differences between 1988 and 1994 definitions as well as participants who had a psychiatric explanation for their fatigue. Dependent measures included psychiatric comorbidity, symptom frequency, and functional impairment. The 1988 criteria, compared to the 1994 criteria, appeared to select a group of participants with more symptomatology and functional impairment, but these groups did not significantly differ in psychiatric comorbidity. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Tableaux and Dual Tableaux: Transformation of Proofs

We present two proof systems for first-order logic with identity and without function symbols. The first one is an extension of the Rasiowa-Sikorski system with the rules for identity. This system is a validity checker. The rules of this system preserve and reflect validity of disjunctions of their premises and conclusions. The other is a Tableau system, which is an unsatisfiability checker. Its rules preserve and reflect unsatisfiability of conjunctions of their premises and conclusions. We show that the two systems are dual to each other. The duality is expressed in a formal way which enables us to define a transformation of proofs in one of the systems into the proofs of the other. Presented by Wojciech Buszkowski