Neuroticism and responses to social comparison among cancer patients

The present study examined how the effects of three audiotapes containing different types of social comparison information on the mood of cancer patients depended on the level of neuroticism. On the procedural tape, a man and woman discussed the process of radiation therapy, on the emotion tape, they focussed on emotional reactions to their illness and treatment, while on the coping tape they focussed on the way they had been coping. A validation study among 115 students showed that the tapes were perceived as they were intended. The main study was conducted among 226 patients who were about to undergo radiation therapy. Compared to patients in the control group, as patients were higher in neuroticism, they reported less negative mood after listening to the procedural and the coping tape. Furthermore, as patients were higher in neuroticism, they reported less negative mood after listening to the coping tape than to the emotion tape. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) enhances conflict-triggered adjustment of cognitive control

Response conflicts play a prominent role in the flexible adaptation of behavior as they represent context-signals that indicate the necessity for the recruitment of cognitive control. Previous studies have highlighted the functional roles of the affectively aversive and arousing quality of the conflict signal in triggering the adaptation process. To further test this potential link with arousal, participants performed a response conflict task in two separate sessions with either transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS), which is assumed to activate the locus coeruleus-noradrenaline (LC-NE) system, or with neutral sham stimulation. In both sessions the N2 and P3 event-related potentials (ERP) were assessed. In line with previous findings, conflict interference, the N2 and P3 amplitude were reduced after conflict. Most importantly, this adaptation to conflict was enhanced under tVNS compared to sham stimulation for conflict interference and the N2 amplitude. No effect of tVNS on the P3 component was found. These findings suggest that tVNS increases behavioral and electrophysiological markers of adaptation to conflict. Results are discussed in the context of the potentially underlying LC-NE and other neuromodulatory (e.g., GABA) systems. The present findings add important pieces to the understanding of the neurophysiological mechanisms of conflict-triggered adjustment of cognitive control.     

Emotional facilitation of sensory processing in the visual cortex

A key function of emotion is the preparation for action. However, organization of successful behavioral strategies depends on efficient stimulus encoding. The present study tested the hypothesis that perceptual encoding in the visual cortex is modulated by the emotional significance of visual stimuli. Event-related brain potentials were measured while subjects viewed pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant pictures. Early selective encoding of pleasant and unpleasant images was associated with a posterior negativity, indicating primary sources of activation in the visual cortex. The study also replicated previous findings in that affective cues also elicited enlarged late positive potentials, indexing increased stimulus relevance at higher-order stages of stimulus processing. These results support the hypothesis that sensory encoding of affective stimuli is facilitated implicitly by natural selective attention. Thus, the affect system not only modulates motor output (i.e., favoring approach or avoidance dispositions), but already operates at an early level of sensory encoding.     

Improving Route Directions: The Role of Intersection Type and Visual Clutter for Spatial Reference

In this study, we ask whether references to paths and landmarks in route directions (RDs) are influenced by environmental complexity, zooming in on two aspects of the visual surroundings, namely intersection structure and visual clutter. Speakers are asked to produce (Experiment 1), understand (Experiment 2) and evaluate (Experiment 3) turn‐by‐turn RDs in a naturalistic setting (Google Street View panoramic pictures). We find that increased levels of visual clutter and intersections with complex structures trigger more references to landmarks and paths when participants produce RDs, longer decision times to determine what the next correct step in a route is and increased preference for landmarks. Finally, we discuss possible implications for automatic RD generation.Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Religiosity and forgiveness among first-married and remarried adults

The current study examined the relationship between religiosity and forgiveness among first-married and remarried adults. Seven hundred and eighty-seven married adults from the Flanders region in Belgium completed the Enright Forgiveness Inventory and a four-item Religiosity Scale measuring forgiveness and religiosity, respectively. The results indicated that religiosity positively correlated (p?=?0.0001, r?=?0.15) with forgiveness. There was a significant difference between the religiosity of the first-married and the remarried adults (p?=?0.0001 (two-tailed) d?=?0.61). In an analysis by gender, the women showed a statistically significantly higher religiosity than did men (p?=?0.00005 (one-tailed) d?=?0.28). Among the demographic variables, age (r?=?0.26), number of children (r?=?0.35), and number of years in marriage (r?=?0.34) showed a statistically significant (p?=?0.0001) positive correlation with religiosity. The basic purpose of this study was to inform clinicians of the value of forgiveness and religiosity in therapeutic interventions.     

Contents Index Volume 8

In a group of 62 young and 75 older subjects, LISREL models were used to predict ordered list recall from age category, self-reported strategy use and selected cognitive abilities. It was found that: (a) age differences in the strategies of associating and repetition/testing were completely explained by speed of mental processing and associative memory; (b) only these two age-related strategies were efficacious strategies, the one not age-related strategy (concentrating) was not; (c) a large proportion of the age-related variance in list recall performance was mediated by speed and associative memory; and (d) this influence of speed and associative memory on ordered list recall was partly mediated by strategies. These results support a moderate version of the production deficiency explanation of memory aging, in which age differences in efficacious strategy use are explained by age differences in basic cognitive abilities.     

Sowjetische Theoretisch-Philosophische Perspektiven zur Kybernetik in den Humanwissenschaften

In Section I, different characterizations of the theoretical status, systematic importance and possible applications of cybernetics in the human sciences are sketched, according to view points currently developing in Soviet and Eastern science. Significant differences from the Western scientific approaches are pointed out. The connection of this field with work on heuristics and systems theory is briefly dealt with. Section II gives a critical appraisal of the ideas of B. V. Birjukov on the humanization of logic. The question of the possibility of a special logic of creativity according to this and similar methods in cybernetics is outlined, followed by a short critical analysis. Section III gives a short general introduction to some problems of the comparison of formal with dialectical logic, criticizes the work of J. Erpenbeck and H. Hörz on lawlike sentences and proposes a new scheme for dialectical hypothesis formation. A Critical comparison with some recent developments in Soviet philosophy forms the conclusion.     

Filial maturity of middle-aged adult children in the context of parent care: Model and measures

There is a growing recognition of the usefulness of Blenkner's (1965) concept of filial maturity for theory and practice in the domain of adult development. This concept refers to a dynamic state of continuous successful coping with the normative task of parent care in middle-aged adult children. The objectives of the present study were (a) to begin construction of psychometrically sound filial maturity measures; (b) to test a comprehensive model of filial maturity; and (c) to explore gender differences and the role of adult child, elderly parent, and context variables as predictors of filial maturity. Subjects were 298 middle-aged adults. The Louvain Filial Maturity Scale (LFMS-A) contains sevena priori scales probing for Filial Love, Filial Obligation, Filial Helpfulness, Filial Help, Filial Autonomy, Parental Consideration, and Family Solidarity and Help. A LISREL analysis yielded a model in which Filial Love and Filial Autonomy occupied central positions and a considerable percentage of the variance in Filial Helpfulness and Help was explained by the other filial maturity dimensions. Gender differences emerged on the Filial Obligation, Filial Help, and Filial Autonomy subscales, with women scoring higher on the first two scales and men scoring higher on the last. A set of adult child, aged parent, and context variables explained a noticeable percentage of the variance in the scores on the subscales in both men and women.     

Sensitization and aversive conditioning: Effects on the startle reflex and electrodermal responding

Animal data suggest that shock sensitization as well as aversive learning potentiates the acoustic startle reflex. The present experiment tested, whether this shock sensitization also occurs in human subjects and whether it precedes aversive conditioning. Sixty subjects viewed—prior to conditioning—a series of slides of different emotional contents including the to be conditioned stimuli (CSs). Afterwards, the experimenter attached the shock electrodes and initiated shock exposure. Then, subjects were randomly assigned to view a series of two slides, each for eight acquisition trials in which one slide was followed by a shock. Subsequently, extinction trials (12 for each slide) were administered. During preconditioning, acquisition, and extinction, startle probes occurred unpredictably during and between slide viewing. Preconditioning data replicated previous results by Lang and his associates, showing that the startle response magnitude is directly related to the affective valence induced by the slides. Shock exposure strongly facilitated the startle reflex magnitude. This shock sensitization was absent for the skin conductance response. Course of learning also varied for both response systems. The data suggest that startle reflex potentiation indexes the acquisition of an avoidance disposition, which is preceded by a general sensitization of the protective reflexes. Skin conductance learning follows arousal changes and is modulated by cognitive processes.