Word associations are formed incidentally during sentential semantic integration

Sentential context facilitates the incidental formation of word associations (e.g., Prior, A., & Bentin, S. (2003). Incidental formation of episodic associations: the importance of sentential context. Memory and Cognition, 31(2), 306-316). The present study explored the mechanism of this effect. In two experiments, unrelated word pairs were embedded in coherent or semantically anomalous sentences. Anomalous sentences included either a local or a global anomaly. During an incidental study phase, participants performed a sentence categorization task. The strength of the incidental associations formed between two nouns jointly appearing in a sentence was probed by gauging their influence on subsequent paired-associate learning and cued recall in Experiment 1, and by assessing their associative priming effect in a subsequent unexpected explicit recognition test for single words in Experiment 2. In both experiments, significant associative memory was found for noun pairs studied in coherent sentences but not for those appearing in anomalous sentences, regardless of anomaly type. In a sentence rating task, global anomalies yielded less plausible sentences than local anomalies, however both types of anomalies were equally detrimental to the sentence integration process. We suggest that sentence constituents are incidentally associated during sentence processing, particularly as a result of sentence integration and the consolidation of a mental model.     

Children with Autism and Their Friends: A Multidimensional Study of Friendship in High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study of Israeli and American preadolescent children examined characteristics of friendship in 44 children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD) compared to 38 typically developing children (TYP), as they interacted with a close friend Participants were 8-12 years of age (HFASD: Israel, n = 24; USA, n = 20; TYP: Israel, n = 23; USA, n = 15), and were matched on SES, receptive language vocabulary, child age, and gender (each study group included one girl). Multidimensional assessments included: individual behaviors of target children and observed child-friend interactions during construction and drawing scenarios; target child's and friend's self-perceived mutual friendship qualities; and mother-reported characteristics (friendship's duration/frequency; friend's age/gender/disability status). Overall, children with HFASD displayed a number of differences on individual and dyadic friendship measures. Both age and verbal abilities affected friendship behaviors. Children with HFASD and their friends perceived friendship qualities similarly, suggesting that preadolescents with HFASD have capacities for interpersonal awareness. Between-group similarities also emerged on several complex social behaviors, suggesting that friendship follows a developmental trajectory in autism and may enhance social interaction skills in autism.     

Peer victimization, depression, and suicidiality in adolescents

The association between specific types of peer victimization with depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts among adolescents was examined. A self-report survey was completed by 2,342 high-school students. Regression analyses indicated that frequent exposure to all types of peer victimization was related to high risk of depression, ideation, and attempts compared to students not victimized. Infrequent victimization was also related to increased risk, particularly among females. The more types of victimization the higher the risk for depression and suicidality among both genders. Specific types of peer victimization are a potential risk factor for adolescent depression and suicidality. It is important to assess depression and suicidality among victimized students in order to develop appropriate intervention methods.     

Me against myself: motivational conflicts and emotional development in adulthood

Two studies investigated adult age differences in the frequency and emotional consequences of motivational conflicts (i.e., feeling that one wants to or should do something else in a given situation). Study 1 compared younger and older adults. Study 2 included a more age-heterogeneous sample ranging from 20 to 70 years. Data were obtained using diary and experience-sampling methods. Multilevel regression showed that motivational conflict was associated with lower emotional well-being. With age, the frequency of motivational conflict decreased, while emotional well-being increased. Importantly, the age-related decrease in motivational conflicts partly accounted for the age-related increase in emotional well-being. Findings were consistent across studies and robust after the authors controlled for age differences in a number of control variables including time use. The authors conclude that an age-related decrease in motivational conflicts in daily life may be among the factors underlying the positive development of emotional well-being into older adulthood.     

Toward a Multidimensional Construct of Social Support: Implications of Provider's Self-Reliance and Request Characteristics

The two studies reported here sought to propose a multidimensional taxonomy for providing social support, and to use an attachment-theory framework to investigate provision of support at work. Additionally, the studies sought to explore the distinct contextual considerations that affect decisions on the type of support provided. In Study 1, case studies were presented to 164 hospital nurses, who, taking the role of the head nurse, were asked to deal with a distressed staff nurse who was either high or low tenured, and whose cause of distress was either personal or job-related. In the second study, 55 nurses with various job tenures described the support behaviors of their superiors. In both studies, support interventions and attachment styles were measured. Results provided partial evidence of the multidimensionality of social support, and indicated that it contains 4 distinct support behaviors: helping, maintenance, referral, and encouragement of self-coping. Furthermore, the distinct support behaviors were affected by different attachment styles and contextual considerations.     

Happiness and Personal Growth are Attainable in Interferon-Beta-1a Treated Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic debilitating disease. MS is associated with high rates of depression and dissatisfaction with life. “Positive psychology,” (PoP) has endeavored to better understand happiness, meaning in life and how these can be developed. There is a growing interest amongst clinicians and consumers in happiness and personal growth as indicators of patients’ well-being. To evaluate happiness and personal growth in treated relapsing-remitting (RR) MS patients compared with age and gender matched healthy subjects. The Oxford Happiness Inventory (OHI), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SLS) and the Personal Growth Initiative Scale (PGIS) were completed by 105 RR-MS patients [70 females, mean age 44.4 ± 13.3 years, Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) 3.6 ± 2.3] and 87 healthy subjects (66 females, mean age 39.7 ± 11.5 years). Scores were correlated with disease and treatment related parameters. All patients were treated for at least 6 months with interferon-beta-1a (Rebif). Mean happiness scores in MS patients for the OHI (103.1 ± 17.0), the SLS (23.9 ± 6.8) and the PGIS (40.1 ± 7.6) were not statistically different from those of healthy subjects. Categorical analysis of the SLS demonstrated a different distribution wherein more MS patients were in the “dissatisfied” subgroup (SLS score < 20) as compared to healthy subjects (24.8% vs. 12.6%, p = 0.045), while rates were similar in the extremely satisfied subgroup (SLS ≥ 30). Happiness was scored similarly in treated RR-MS patients and healthy subjects despite a greater percentage of patients reporting being dissatisfied with their lives. These findings may reflect positive treatment effects, hedonic adaptation or their combination.     

Others' anger makes people work harder not smarter: the effect of observing anger and sarcasm on creative and analytic thinking

The authors examine whether and how observing anger influences thinking processes and problem-solving ability. In 3 studies, the authors show that participants who listened to an angry customer were more successful in solving analytic problems, but less successful in solving creative problems compared with participants who listened to an emotionally neutral customer. In Studies 2 and 3, the authors further show that observing anger communicated through sarcasm enhances complex thinking and solving of creative problems. Prevention orientation is argued to be the latent variable that mediated the effect of observing anger on complex thinking. The present findings help reconcile inconsistent findings in previous research, promote theory about the effects of observing anger and sarcasm, and contribute to understanding the effects of anger in the workplace.     

Explicit memory for unattended words: the importance of being in the "no"

Recognition tests in which participants indicate whether they recognize items using binary yes/no response options have typically yielded "yes" responses at equal rates for unattended old items and new items. Because most responses to unattended stimuli in such tests are "no" responses, we reasoned that a closer examination of "no" responses might reveal memory for unattended items. We modified a classic paradigm to allow participants to indicate high and low levels of confidence in their responses. As in earlier studies, the overall proportion of "yes" responses did not differ between unattended old items and new items. However, there was a crossover effect in the "no" responses: More high-confidence "no" responses were given for new items than for unattended old items, whereas more low-confidence "no" responses were given for unattended old items than for new items. These results indicate explicit memory for unattended material presented under high perceptual load. Our findings suggest that the null effects obtained in previous studies may not have stemmed from failures of perception or memory, but rather may have been due to insufficiently sensitive memory assessment.     

Anger and happiness in virtual teams: Emotional influences of text and behavior on others’ affect in the absence of non-verbal cues

Emotions carry social influence, as evident by emotion contagion - an unconscious process attributed to mimicking of non-verbal cues. We investigate whether emotion contagion can occur in virtual teams; specifically, the emotional influence of text-based and behavior-based cues on participants’ emotion in 4-person virtual teams. In a 2 × 2 design a confederate textually communicated anger or happiness, while behaving in a resolute or flexible pattern. The team task required negotiation offering a performance based reward. We demonstrate that emotion contagion occurs in teams even when communication is only text-based. We show that behaviors are perceived as emotionally charged, resolute behavior interpreted as a display of anger, and flexibility as a display of happiness. Moreover, we demonstrate that incongruence between text-based communication of emotion and emotionally charged behaviors elicits negative emotion in fellow teammates. Our findings extend the boundaries of emotion contagion and carry implications for understanding emotion dynamics in virtual teams.