Do tests of executive functioning predict ability to downregulate emotions spontaneously and when instructed to suppress?

Behavioral regulation is a hallmark feature of executive functioning (EF). The present study investigated whether commonly used neuropsychological test measures of EF (i.e., working memory, Stroop, trail making, and verbal fluency) were related to ability to downregulate emotion both spontaneously and when instructed to suppress emotional expressions. To ensure a wide range of EF, 24 frontotemporal lobar degeneration patients, 7 Alzheimer's patients, and 17 neurologically normal controls participated. Participants were exposed to an acoustic startle stimulus (single aversive noise burst) under three conditions: (1) unwarned, (2) warned with no instructions (to measure spontaneous emotion downregulation), and (3) warned with instructions to suppress (to measure instructed emotion downregulation). Results indicated that higher verbal fluency scores were related to greater emotion regulation (operationalized as reduction in body movement and emotional facial behavior when warned of the impending startle) in both regulation conditions. No relationships were found between emotion regulation in these conditions and the other EF measures. We conclude that, of four commonly used measures of EF, verbal fluency best indexes the complex processes of monitoring, evaluation, and control necessary for successful emotion regulation, both spontaneously and following instructions to suppress.     

The sinister attribution error: Paranoid cognition and collective distrust in organizations

Recent social psychological research on paranoid cognition has shown that when individuals are self-conscious or feel under evaluative scrutiny, they tend to overestimate the extent to which they are the target of others' attention. As a result, they make overly personalistic attributions about others' behavior. These personalistic attributions, in turn, foster a pattern of heightened distrust and suspicion regarding others' motives and intentions. Drawing on this research, the present work investigates antecedents and consequences of paranoid cognition in groups and organizations. Results of two studies are presented. Study 1 investigates how tenure in a group or organization affects individuals' self-consciousness and susceptibility to paranoid cognition. Study 2 replicates and extends the results of the first study using a new laboratory analog for studying paranoid cognition in small groups. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of their contribution to theory regarding the origins and dynamics of collective distrust and suspicion.The development of these ideas benefitted greatly from an interdisciplinary seminar on trust and norms organized by Jim Baron. I am also grateful to Susan Ashford, Steve Barley, Bill Barnett, Jon Bendor, Bob Bies, Joel Brockner, Bob Cialdini, Jane Dutton, Alice Isen, Roy Lewicki, Jim March, Joanne Martin, Maureen McNichols, Michael Morris, Jeff Pfeffer, Joel Podolny, Rick Price, Sim Sitkin, Phil Tetlock, Tom Tyler, Kathleen Valley, Karl Weick, and Mayer Zald for thoughtful comments and suggestions they provided at various stages of this research. Earlier versions of this research were presented at the University of Michigan School of Business Administration, the Asilomar Conference on Organizations, Academy of Management meetings, and the Fifth Conference on Research on Negotiation in Organizations.     

Manifest values of eminent psychologists: A content analysis of their obituaries

Obituaries published in theAmerican Psychologist (from January 1979 to December 1990,N=161) were content analyzed to create a modal demographic profile of the deceased and a ranking of the most frequently occurring value themes. Virtually all of the eminent psychologists were highly productive academicians and researchers. Typically, they were also actively involved in other professional arenas (e.g., administration, service). The majority were male (87%), white (99%), and born in the United States (86%). Ninety-seven percent had obtained Ph.D.’s, most frequently from Columbia University (16%), Harvard (11%), and Chicago (6%). Median age at death was 76. The most frequently occurring value themes written about the deceased were that they were independent-minded (67%), a good friend (61%), hard-working (53%), a good teacher/mentor (51%), and a beloved family member (35%). The implications of these data are discussed.     

Book reviews

Private Practice Youngstown, Ohio 44512     

Managing computer integrated manufacturing (CIM): A review of themes,issues, and practices

Large scale changes from traditional to computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) make fundamental alterations in the way work gets done in an organization. The incorporation of sophisticated computerized machinery into the work flow, however, is only the catalyst for a range of human resource and organizational issues. A review of the literature suggests that the management of these issues in the transition from traditional to computerized systems is critical to success. The review is presented within a time frame that encompasses the major themes of a CIM change effort. These themes include the decision phase or automation consideration, the developmental phase, the bridging phase that spans the gap between planning and implementation, and the implementation phase. Important management issues are summarized at each step, including cost justification, management commitment, planning, vendor and union relationships, employee resistance, education and training, job redesign, and organizational restructuring. Wherever applicable, specific practices and real-world examples for effectively managing these issues are presented.     

Coping In the Corporation: Sex Role Constraints

In this paper, the predictive power of status-based and socialization-based explanations of the differential rewards accruing to men and women in the corporate world are compared. Ninety-five experienced managers were asked to evaluate persuasive dialogues between two individuals in a corporate setting. Sex of the actor, sex of the other, and the influence technique used by the actor all affected the personality traits attributed to the influential actor. Our respondents perceived influential males as significantly more powerful, higher in corporate position, and warmer than identically described females. Implications of these and other findings for both male and female managers are discussed.     

Influence of attentional capture on oculomotor control

Previous research has shown that when searching for a color singleton, top-down control cannot prevent attentional capture by an abrupt visual onset. The present research addressed whether a task-irrelevant abrupt onset would affect eye movement behavior when searching for a color singleton. Results show that in many instances the eye moved in the direction of the task-irrelevant abrupt onset. There was evidence that top-down control could neither entirely prevent attentional capture by visual onsets nor prevent the eye from starting to move in the direction of the onset. Results suggest parallel programming of 2 saccades: 1 voluntary goal-directed eye movement toward the color singleton target and 1 stimulus-driven eye movement reflexively elicited by the abrupt onset. A neurophysiologically plausible model that can account for the current findings is discussed.     

Visible persistence and form correspondence in Ternus apparent motion.

Visual stimuli remain visible for some time after their physical offset (visible persistence). Visible persistence has been hypothesized to play an important role in determining the pattern of correspondence matching in the Ternus apparent-motion display. In this display, one or more elements reappears in overlapping locations at different times, whereas another element appears alternately to the right or the left of these elements. Usually either the elements are perceived to move coherently as a group (group motion), or one element may be perceived to hop over one or more other elements (element motion). According to the visible-persistence account of the perceptual organization of the Ternus display, element motion is seen when the temporal gap between elements in overlapping locations is small enough to be bridged by visible persistence; if it is not, group motion is seen. We conducted four experiments to test this visible-persistence account. In Experiments 1 and 2, a form correspondence cue (line length) was introduced to bias the visual system toward the element-motion interpretation, while visible persistence was either reduced or eliminated. The element-motion percept dominated despite the elimination of visible persistence. In Experiments 3 and 4, we found that Ternus elements presented without interruption, and thus presumably persisting over time, can be perceived in group motion. Together, the results indicate that visible persistence is neither necessary nor sufficient to account for the pattern of correspondence matches in the Ternus display.