Effects of divided attention at encoding and retrieval: Further data

Division of attention (DA) at the time of learning has large detrimental effects on subsequent memory performance, but DA at retrieval has much smaller effects (Baddeley, Lewis, Eldridge, & Thomson, 1984, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 113, 518–540; Craik, Govoni, Naveh-Benjamin, & Anderson, 1996, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 125, 159–180). Experiment 1 confirmed the relatively small effects of DA on retrieval and also showed that retrieval operations do consume processing resources. The experiment also found that the effect is not attributable to a trade-off in performance with the concurrent task or to recognition decisions made on the basis of familiarity judgments. Participants made levels-of-processing (LOP) judgments during encoding to check whether deeper semantic judgments were differentially vulnerable to the effects of DA. In fact DA did not interact with LOP. Experiment 2 explored reports that the comparatively slight effect of DA on recognition accuracy is accompanied by a compensatory increase in recognition latency (Baddeley et al., 1984). The experiment replicated findings that neither DA nor differential emphasis between recognition and a concurrent continuous reaction time (CRT) task affected recognition accuracy, but also found evidence for a lawful trade-off in decision latencies between recognition and CRT performance. Further analysis showed that the relationship between response rates on the two tasks was well described by a linear function, and that this function was demonstrated by the majority of individual participants. It is concluded that the small effect of DA on recognition performance is attributable to a trade-off within the recognition task itself; accuracy is maintained by a compensatory increase in decision latency.     

Effects of aging on action-intentional programming

Background: Action-intentional programs control “when” we initiate, inhibit, continue, and stop motor actions. The purpose of this study was to learn if there are changes in the action-intentional system with healthy aging, and if these changes are asymmetrical (right versus left upper limb) or related to impaired interhemispheric communication. Methods: We administered tests of action-intention to 41 middle-aged and older adults (61.9 ± 12.3 years). Results: Regression analyses revealed that older age predicted a decrement in performance for tests of crossed motor response inhibition as well as slower motor initiation with the left hand. Conclusion: Changes in action-intention with aging appear to be related to alterations of interhemispheric communication and/or age-related right hemisphere dysfunction; however, further research is needed to identify the mechanisms for age-related changes in the brain networks that mediate action-intention.     

Relationships of Contextual Factors and Personal Identity to Externalizing Problem Behavior Among Iranian Early Adolescents

In the present study, we evaluated a model of relations among contextual factors (family, school, and peer group), personal identity (i.e., coherence and confusion), and problem behavior among Iranian adolescents. The sample consisted of 765 Iranian adolescents and 615 primary caregivers. Results indicated that family functioning (adolescent report) was related to adolescent problem behavior (a) directly and (b) indirectly through identity confusion. Peer support on the other hand was solely indirectly related to adolescent problem behavior through identity confusion. School functioning was also significantly and negatively related to adolescent problem behavior. The present findings suggest that identity and contextual factors play important roles in steering Iranian adolescents toward or away from behavior problems. Implications for further research are discussed.     

SOCIAL RESEARCH ON SCIENCE AND RELIGION IN NORDIC COUNTRIES

This article presents a review of the literature on science and religion in Nordic countries. Seventy-seven articles, books, and chapters on the topic were collected from five major scholarly databases between 1997 and 2018. We scrutinized how research in this data set was engaged with social scientific research. Most of the research was not social scientific. It was primarily philosophical, theological, and historical research; very little presented empirical and theoretical social scientific research. The studies reflected societal discussions, bringing out some cultural dimensions and social issues, but not specifically in the Nordic context. Some societal aspects were highlighted, such as ethics and climate change, but these were not necessarily tied to the Nordic societies. We propose that in the Nordic context there seems to be a need for social scientific research on science and religion. This research could use theoretical perspectives from, for instance, sociology, science and technology studies, higher education studies, and anthropological research.     

An Investigation of Islamic Well-Being and Mental Health

The overall aim of this study was to develop the Islamic Well-Being Scale and examine the relationship between mental health and Islamic well-being. In this study, four sub-studies were performed to create the one-factor Islamic Well-Being Scale, perform a confirmatory factor analysis and validate the Islamic Well-Being Scale, differentially predict ill-being and well-being outcomes using the Islamic Well-Being Scale, and compare individuals with different Islamic belief levels using the Islamic Well-Being Scale. In total, 170 adults, 209 adults, 216 theological faculty students and 152 undergraduate educational faculty students participated in each sub-study. Several scales related to well-being and ill-being were used in this study. The Islamic Well-Being Scale was found to be valid and reliable. Islamic well-being was related to certain indicators of well-being and ill-being.

     

The Comparison of Death Anxiety,Obsession, and Depression Between Muslim Population with Positive and Negative Religious Coping

Death anxiety, obsession, and depression constitute three dimensions of death distress which can be influenced by religious coping in religious individuals. The aim of this study was to compare death anxiety, depression, and obsession between Muslims with positive and negative religious coping. In a cross-sectional study, a sample of 339 participants were selected via stratified random sampling method. The participants were screened using the Brief Religious Coping Scale, in which 60 individuals were identified to have positive religious coping and 62 individuals were recognized as individuals with negative religious coping. They responded to Death Anxiety Scale, Death Obsession Scale, and Death Depression Scale. The data were analyzed using factor analysis and multiple analysis of variance. The results of principal component analysis showed that death anxiety, death obsession, and death depression were separate factors of death distress. The results also revealed that individuals with negative religious coping gained higher scores than those with positive religious coping in all the three variables of death anxiety, obsession, and depression. Consistent with the previous studies and Terror Management Theory, this finding lays emphasis on the role of positive religious coping in reducing death distress and the possible consequent psychopathology.

     

Analysing applications of neuromarketing in efficacy of programmatic advertising

In this paper, there is exploration of the concept of neuromarketing as a newly developed strategy with economic potential deriving from human brain research. The central notion of the essay is that programmatic advertising can be used to better comprehend the idea of neuromarketing and its impact on consumers' decision-making. So neuromarketing involves the scientific observation of brainwave activity, eye tracking, and skin response to determine how people's brains react to advertisements and other brand-related communications. By studying the brain, these neuromarketing strategies can forecast how consumers will make decisions. The neuromarketing tactics' benefits and constraints are studied on a number of market input devices in the paper. The influence of various techniques of neuromarketing is studied from the available research studies and literature. In the recent years, the neuromarketing concept has been able to garner a lot of importance in its contribution to the marketing, advertising, and programmatic advertising has been immensely helped by the understanding of consumer decision making. The consumer behaviour has been able to be comprehended through neuromarketing techniques which are one of the key pillars of the purpose and running of programmatic advertising. A neuromarketing study shall be the helping hand for increasing customer base, market leadership, and converting them to loyal customers. It will help in programmatic advertising through the understanding of the advertiser with respect to the likes and wants of the customers and how consumer attention can be drawn. The consumer behaviour can be understood by the marketers in terms of how the consumers react to the advertising.     

The Self- and Other-Blame Scale (SOBS). The background and presentation of a new instrument for measuring blame in families

This article presents an account of the development and reliability of an observational instrument to measure blame: the Self- and Other-Blame Scale (SOBS). Fifty-one eating disordered patients together with eighty of their relatives were interviewed using a semi-structured family interview. Videotapes were assessed by two independent raters. Inter-rater reliability was good for both dimensions of SOBS: self-blame (SB) and other-blame (OB). One of the aims in developing the instrument was to be able to explore the relationship between self- and other-blame and criticism. Preliminary data are presented showing the distribution of SOBS scores within families rated as high or low on Expressed Emotion (EE). High EE was associated with high levels of self-blame in the parents, but not in the patients. Fathers in high EE families were more blaming of the patient than those in Low EE families but this was not true for mothers' levels of daughter blaming.     

A portable four-channel cassette recording system for short-term electroencephalogram in the field

A portable four-channel electroencephalogram (EEG) cassette recording system has been designed which offers good performance, is simple to construct, and moderate in cost. The recorder is compatible with a commercially available, portable, battery-operated power source, and is therefore usable in the field where line power is unavailable. The system incorporates a small, lightweight, portable, battery-powered oscilloscope which provides monitoring and playback capability. While a few experimental portable EEG recorders have been reported in recent years with more channel capacity or perhaps lighter weight, the engineering details of these units are rarely published and, in any event, would require a substantial effort for most electronics support shops to reproduce. The recording system described here, however, should be within the capability of most electronics support groups to assemble in a very short time and provide good performance.     

Measuring Attitudes in Test-Alien Cultures: When Illiteracy and Unfamiliarity Do Not Matter

This study reports the construction of an attitude scale called a "Shah attitude scale." This scale overcomes the problems of scale construction and attitude measurement in test-alien cultures peculiar to Western scales. The major problems with the use of these scales are the non-correspondence of the samples used in scale construction and attitude measurement, difficulty of their use with the illiterate and rural samples, unfamiliarity of their verbal character and the response modality. Our scale is simple to construct and can be easily used with every section of society. Its conceptualization and development is based upon the agreed upon bipolar definition of attitude and the ideas derived from well-known attitude scales. The scale is based upon trait adjectives and can be used easily in cross-cultural attitudinal studies.