The effect of fear‐inducing content on memory for advertisements and on retroactive and proactive interference of programme information

The current study focused on whether fear‐inducing content in television advertisements leads to better memory for the advertisement but also impairs memory for programme information that either precedes the advertisements (retroactive interference) or that follows the advertisements (proactive interference). Fifty‐four participants (48 female) aged 18 to 55 watched a programme that had an advertisement break in the centre. This consisted of 6 advertisements with either fear‐inducing or nonfear‐inducing content. Participants were tested on their recall and recognition of the advertisement information as well as their recall of the first half and second half of the programme. The results indicated that fear‐inducing advertisements were better recalled than those that elicited no fear, and there was also evidence of proactive interference from fear‐inducing advertisements on programme recall. Limitations and implications of the study are discussed.     

Detecting nonadherence without loss in efficiency: A simple extension of the crosswise model

In surveys concerning sensitive behavior or attitudes, respondents often do not answer truthfully, because of social desirability bias. To elicit more honest responding, the randomized-response (RR) technique aims at increasing perceived and actual anonymity by prompting respondents to answer with a randomly modified and thus uninformative response. In the crosswise model, as a particularly promising variant of the RR, this is achieved by adding a second, nonsensitive question and by prompting respondents to answer both questions jointly. Despite increased privacy protection and empirically higher prevalence estimates of socially undesirable behaviors, evidence also suggests that some respondents might still not adhere to the instructions, in turn leading to questionable results. Herein we propose an extension of the crosswise model (ECWM) that makes it possible to detect several types of response biases with adequate power in realistic sample sizes. Importantly, the ECWM allows for testing the validity of the model’s assumptions without any loss in statistical efficiency. Finally, we provide an empirical example supporting the usefulness of the ECWM.     

Five Indistinguishable Spheres

Axiomathes - The significance of Max Black’s indistinguishable spheres for the nature of particles in quantum mechanics is discussed, focusing in particular on the use of the idea of weak...     

Brief Report: Exposure to Muscular Male Models Decreases Men’s Body Satisfaction

The current study was designed to examine the effect of exposure to muscular ideal bodies on body satisfaction in men. College men (N= 104) at a medium-sized mid-south university completed the Body Assessment (BA)scale, which measures body satisfaction, before and after exposure to either muscular or nonmuscular advertisements. BA scores were examined using a repeated measures (pre and post) ANOVA with muscularity of image (view images of muscular men vs. view images ofaverage men) as the between-participants factor. Results indicated that men’s self-rated body satisfaction decreased after viewing images of muscular men but did not change after viewing images of average men. Thus, it appears that men’s body satisfaction may be influenced by exposure to brief images of muscular models. These results are congruent with results of previous investigations of the effects of viewing images of thin models on women’s body satisfaction.     

Role of Surface Roughness in Hysteresis during Adhesive Elastic Contact

In experiments that involve contact with adhesion between two surfaces, as found in atomic force microscopy or nanoindentation, two distinct contact force (P) vs. indentation-depth (h) curves are often measured depending on whether the indenter moves towards or away from the sample. The origin of this hysteresis is not well understood and is often attributed to moisture, plasticity or viscoelasticity. Here we report experiments that show that hysteresis can exist in the absence of these effects, and that its magnitude depends on surface roughness. We develop a theoretical model in which the hysteresis appears as the result of a series of surface instabilities, in which the contact area grows or recedes by a finite amount. The model can be used to estimate material properties from contact experiments even when the measured P-h curves are not unique.     

Keeping the vermin out: Perceived disease threat and ideological orientations as predictors of exclusionary immigration attitudes

Integrating evolutionary and social representations theories, the current study examines the relationship between perceived disease threat and exclusionary immigration attitudes in the context of a potential avian influenza pandemic. This large‐scale disease provides a realistic context for investigating the link between disease threat and immigration attitudes. The main aim of this cross‐sectional study (N = 412) was to explore mechanisms through which perceived chronic and contextual disease threats operate on immigration attitudes. Structural equation models show that the relationship between chronic disease threat (germ aversion) and exclusionary immigration attitudes (assimilationist immigration criteria, health‐based immigration criteria and desire to reduce the proportion of foreigners) was mediated by ideological and normative beliefs (social dominance orientation, belief in a dangerous world), but not by contextual disease threat (appraisal of avian influenza pandemic threat). Contextual disease threat only predicted support for health‐based immigration criteria. The conditions under which real‐life disease threats influence intergroup attitudes are scrutinized. Convergence and dissimilarity of evolutionary and social representational approaches in accounting for the link between disease threat and immigration attitudes are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Are Psychiatric Residents Still Interested in Psychoanalysis? A Brief Report

In spite of the efficacy of the psychodynamic psychotherapies, the number of young psychiatric residents interested in psychodynamic therapies is decreasing. Our psychoanalytical group, Genden (Genève-Denver), explored the possible reasons for psychiatric residents' hesitation to get psychoanalytic training. Five psychoanalytical psychotherapists met weekly for a year in order to debate that question, focusing on personal feedbacks from all of our 100 residents in psychiatry working with us for at least 4 years. Following the residents' responses, our focus group proposed ten commonsense feedbacks for psychoanalysts regarding stimulating young psychiatric residents' interest in psychoanalytic approaches.     

Developmental pathways in oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) specifies a developmental relationship between oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD). Evidence for this link is mixed, however, and recent studies suggest that different symptom dimensions in ODD may have different outcomes. The authors examined links between ODD, CD, and their young adult outcomes in the Great Smoky Mountains Study (E. J. Costello et al., 1996), a longitudinal data set with over 8,000 observations of 1,420 individuals (56% male) covering ages 9-21 years. ODD was a significant predictor of later CD in boys but not in girls after control for comorbid CD and subthreshold CD symptomatology. Transitions between ODD and CD were less common than anticipated, however, particularly during adolescence. The authors examined characteristics and outcomes of children with pure ODD, pure CD, and combined CD/ODD. Alongside many similarities in childhood and adolescent correlates, key differences were also identified: CD largely predicted behavioral outcomes, whereas ODD showed stronger prediction to emotional disorders in early adult life. Factor analysis identified irritable and headstrong dimensions in ODD symptoms that showed differential prediction to later behavioral and emotional disorders. Overall, the results underscore the utility of retaining separate ODD and CD diagnoses in DSM-V.