Psychometric properties of the Situational Inventory of Body-Image Dysphoria-Short form in a Spanish sample

The primary objective of this study was to translate and validate Situational Inventory of Body-Image Dysphoria-Short form (SIBID-S) in a Spanish population. The scale consists of 20 items to assess the frequency of dysphoric body-image emotions in certain situational contexts, using a five-point rating scale. The questionnaire was administered to 214 women between the ages of 14 and 29 years, from primary and secondary schools and a university. Principal components analysis indicated a one-factor structure for the entire sample and both younger (<18) and older (≥18) participants. Internal consistency was high (0.94), and the test–retest reliability over 1 month ranged between 0.89 and 0.93. The SIBID-S showed good convergent validity in relation to other pertinent measures of body image, eating pathology, and self-esteem. Moreover, the SIBID-S was differentiated low-risk, subclinical eating disturbed, and clinical eating disordered patients. Results support the potential utility of the SIBID-S in the Spanish female population, including a younger group than previously studied, as well as its usefulness in the assessment of body image among females varying in degrees of eating pathology.     

Manipulating inattentional blindness within and across sensory modalities

People often fail to consciously perceive visual events that are outside the focus of attention, a phenomenon referred to as inattentional blindness or IB (i.e., Mack & Rock, 1998). Here, we investigated IB for words within and across sensory modalities (visually and auditorily) in order to assess whether dividing attention across different senses has the same consequences as dividing attention within an individual sensory modality. Participants were asked to monitor a rapid stream of pictures or sounds presented concurrently with task-irrelevant words (spoken or written). A word recognition test was used to measure the processing for unattended words compared to word recognition levels after explicitly monitoring the word stream. We were able to produce high levels of IB for visually and auditorily presented words under unimodal conditions (Experiment 1) as well as under crossmodal conditions (Experiment 2). A further manipulation revealed, however, that IB is less prevalent when attention is divided across modalities than within the same modality (Experiment 3). These findings are explained in terms of the attentional load hypothesis and suggest that, contrary to some claims, attention resources are to a certain extent shared across sensory modalities.     

Compensatory and mimetic conditioned responses to effects of heroin in addicted persons

Study 1: The aim of this study was to analyze in persons detoxified of heroin, compensatory conditioned responses (CCRs) that are opposite to the unconditioned physiological, and subjective effects that are induced by this substance. The procedure consisted in presenting slides with images of neutral stimuli (NSs) and conditioned stimuli (CSs) of heroin to both non-addicted and detoxified addicted persons. The evaluated responses were heart rate (HR) and desire for heroin (DH). Study 2: The aim was to facilitate the emission of mimetic conditioned responses (MCRs) to the unconditioned physiological, and subjective effects of heroin in detoxified heroin addicts. Three different stimulus series were manipulated: SA, during which the participant remained alone; SB, administration of a needle prick given by the researcher; SC, performance of the "pump" ritual without drug by the participants. The responses measured were HR and DH. The results of both studies are considered, respectively, to be indicators of compensatory and mimetic conditioned responses.     

Spoonish spanerisms: A lexical bias effect in Spanish

Lexical bias is the tendency for phonological errors to form existing words at a rate above chance. This effect has been observed in experiments and corpus analyses in Germanic languages, but S. del Viso, J. M. Igoa, and J. E. García-Albea (1991) found no effect in a Spanish corpus study. Because lexical bias plays an important role in the debate on interactivity in language production, the authors reconsidered its absence in Spanish. A corpus analysis, which considered relatively many errors and which used a method of estimating chance rate that is relatively independent of total error number, and a speech-error elicitation experiment provided converging evidence for lexical bias in Spanish. The authors conclude that the processing mechanisms underlying this effect hold cross-linguistically.     

Enhancing the transfer of computer-assisted training proficiency in geographically distributed teams

The authors examined factors that determine whether knowledge gained from computer-assisted (i.e., technology-based) team training in a geographically distributed team (GDT) context transfers to organizational results. They examined the moderating effects of team trust, technology support, and leader experience on the relation between teams' average individual training proficiency on a computer-assisted (i.e., CD-ROM-based) training program and team performance as assessed by team customer satisfaction ratings. Using data collected from 40 GDTs in a high-technology company, the authors found that the relation between teams' average training proficiency and team performance was complex and moderated by several factors. In particular, teams' average training proficiency had a positive association with customer satisfaction when GDTs were higher, rather than lower, in both trust and technology support and when team leaders had longer, rather than shorter, levels of tenure with their specific team.     

Processes leading to confidence and accuracy in sentence recognition: a metamemory approach

We propose that memory confidence is based on the processes and products of the just-completed memory task, along with the participants' metamemory beliefs about the relation of these processes and products to memory accuracy. We tested this metamemory approach to confidence by having participants carry out a simple recognition memory task with deceptive and nondeceptive items. The deceptive items were sentences that contained a possible synonym substitution, thus allowing errors based on gist memory. For nondeceptive items, high confidence was associated with high accuracy. For deceptive items the relationship reversed; high confidence was associated with low accuracy. A memory process questionnaire was developed that provided more differentiated phenomenal reports than the traditional know/remember distinction. For nondeceptive items, metamemory beliefs tended to be valid indicators of accuracy, but for deceptive items involving unconscious reconstructive memory processes, they tended to be invalid indicators of memory accuracy. The overall results lend strong support for our metamemory approach to memory confidence.     

Comorbidity in youth with specific phobias: Impact of comorbidity on treatment outcome and the impact of treatment on comorbid disorders

The purpose of the present study was twofold. In an analysis of data from an existing randomized control trial of brief cognitive behavioral treatment on specific phobias (One-Session Treatment, OST; Ollendick et al., 2009), we examined 1) the effect of comorbid specific phobias and other anxiety disorders on treatment outcomes, and 2) the effect of treatment of the specific phobia on these co-occurring disorders. These relations were explored in 100 youth presenting with animal, natural environment, situational, and “other” types of phobia. Youth were reliably diagnosed with the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV: Child and Parent versions (Silverman & Albano, 1996). Clinician severity ratings at post-treatment and 6-month follow-up were examined as were parent and child treatment outcome satisfaction measures. Results indicated that the presence of comorbid phobias or anxiety disorders did not affect treatment outcomes; moreover, treatment of the targeted specific phobias led to significant reductions in the clinical severity of other co-occurring specific phobias and related anxiety disorders. These findings speak to the generalization of the effects of this time-limited treatment approach. Implications for treatment of principal and comorbid disorders are discussed, and possible mechanisms for these effects are commented upon.     

Shared learning shapes human performance: Transfer effects in task sharing

We investigated whether performing a task with a co-actor shapes the way a subsequent task is performed. In four experiments participants were administered a Simon task after practicing a spatial compatibility task with an incompatible S-R mapping. In Experiment 1 they performed both tasks alongside another person; in Experiment 2 they performed the spatial compatibility task alone, responding to only one stimulus position, and the Simon task with another person; in Experiment 3, they performed the spatial compatibility task with another person and the Simon task alone; finally, in Experiment 4, they performed the spatial compatibility task alone and the Simon task with another person. The incompatible practice eliminated the Simon effect in Experiments 1 and 4. These results indicate that when a task is distributed between two participants with each one performing a different part of it, they tend to represent the whole task rather than their own part of it. This experience can influence the way a subsequent task is performed, as long as this latter occurs in a social context.