Seeing bad does good: Relational benefits of accuracy regarding partners’ negative moods

When would greater empathic accuracy (EA) be an asset and when would it not? In two studies of romantic couples (both employing daily diaries, the second also involving a lab-based video-recall paradigm), we explored the associations between EA (at the day-level, person-level, and in the lab) and an important relationship outcome: negative relationship feelings. Our results show that accuracy is tied more strongly to this relational outcome when negative (vs. positive) moods are the target of empathic judgments. The association between accuracy and (better) feelings was true for both perceivers and targets. Importantly, these associations emerged only in diary-based accuracy scores, and not in the lab-based ones. These results further support the importance of everyday empathic accuracy. They also highlight the need to consider such accuracy as multi-faceted, and in particular, to recognize the differential role of attending to our partners’ negative versus positive moods in daily life.     

Pursuing goals with others: group identification and motivation resulting from things done versus things left undone

This article addresses what factors best motivate individuals to work toward shared goals. We propose that when individuals do not identify highly with a group, their contributions will mimic others': An emphasis on things done will increase their contributions toward achieving a goal, because such emphasis suggests the goal is worth pursuing. Conversely, we propose that when individuals identify highly with a group, their contributions will compensate for others': An emphasis on things left undone will increase their own contributions, because missing contributions suggest insufficient progress toward a goal they already consider worthwhile. Five studies lend support to these predictions by measuring contributions to goals centered on idea generation and helping victims of various global disasters (earthquake in Haiti, wildfires in Southern California, rioting in Kenya).     

Mental layout extrapolations prime spatial processing of scenes

Four experiments examined whether scene processing is facilitated by layout representation, including layout that was not perceived but could be predicted based on a previous partial view (boundary extension). In a priming paradigm (after Sanocki, 2003), participants judged objects' distances in photographs. In Experiment 1, full scenes (target), partial scenes, and two control primes were used. Partial scenes excluded the target objects' locations, but these areas could be predicted. Full and partial scenes produced equal performance facilitation. In Experiment 2, task-irrelevant partial scene primes were also tested. These primes did not facilitate performance (i.e. simple scene previews did not help). Experiment 3 showed that a partial prime's utility depended on the area of the scene that would be tested; the task-irrelevant primes used in Experiment 2 were useful for other distance judgments. Experiment 4 showed that partial scene facilitation is not limited to the area immediately surrounding the prime. The study demonstrated that perceived and mentally extrapolated layouts are equally effective.     

Estimating the validity of the guilty knowledge test from simulated experiments: the external validity of mock crime studies

This experiment was designed to examine the external validity of the standard mock-crime procedure used extensively to evaluate the validity of polygraph tests. The authors manipulated the type of mock-crime procedure (standard vs. a more realistic version) and the time of test (immediate vs. delayed) and examined their effects on the validity of the Guilty Knowledge Test (GKT) and the recall rate of the relevant items. The results indicated that only the type of mock-crime affected the 2 outcome variables. The realistic procedure was associated with a lower recall rate and weaker detection efficiency than the standard procedure. However, these effects were mediated by the type of GKT questions used. Practical implications of these results are discussed.     

The Mullen scales of early learning: ceiling effects among preschool children

Two cognitive tests were administered to typically developing children (36–67 months): the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL), which is appropriate for very young children and thus often used in research with atypical samples (e.g., children with Autism Spectrum Disorder), and the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC). This was done in order to re-examine possible MSEL ceiling effects in a new sample and achieve a more in-depth understanding of these ceiling effects, if indeed present. Results indicated that among children ranging in age from 51 to 68 months, MSEL scores were significantly lower than K-ABC scores, and that with increasing age the number of children who completed the MSEL without establishing a ceiling level increased. Our results indicated that the MSEL scores are affected by ceiling effects and, therefore, the test underestimates cognitive abilities among older and more cognitively able children.     

Spatial attention can be biased towards an expected dimension

A commonly held view in both exogenous and endogenous orienting is that spatial attention is associated with enhanced processing of all stimuli at the attended location. However, we often search for a specific target at a particular location, so an observer should be able to jointly specify the target identity and expected location. Whether attention can bias dimension-specific processes at a particular location is not yet clear. We used a dual task to examine the effects of endogenous spatial cues on the accuracy of perceptual judgments of different dimensions. Participants responded to a motion target and a colour target, presented at the same or different locations. We manipulated a central cue to predict the location of the motion or colour target. While overall performance in the two tasks was comparable, cueing effects were larger for the target whose location was predicted by the cue, implying that when attending a particular location, processing of the likely dimension was preferentially enhanced. Additionally, an asymmetry between the motion and colour tasks was seen; motion was modulated by attention, and colour was not. We conclude that attention has some ability to select a dimension at a particular location, indicating integration of spatial and feature-based attention.     

Self-Control: A Function of Knowing When and How to Exercise Restraint

ABSTRACT— To successfully pursue a goal in the face of temptation, an individual must first identify that she faces a self-control conflict. Only then will the individual exercise self-control to promote goal pursuit over indulging in temptation. We propose a new model that distinguishes between the problems of conflict identification and those of conflict resolution. We then review research on the factors that influence conflict identification and those that determine conflict resolution.     

Action video game experience reduces the cost of switching tasks

Video game expertise has been shown to have beneficial effects for visual attention processes, but the effects of action video game playing on executive functions, such as task switching and filtering out distracting information, are less well understood. In the main experiment presented here, video game players (VGPs) and nonplayers (nVGPs) switched between two tasks of unequal familiarity: a familiar task of responding in the direction indicated by an arrow, and a novel task of responding in the opposite direction. nVGPs had large response time costs for switching from the novel task to the familiar task, and small costs for switching from the familiar task to the novel task, replicating prior findings. However, as compared to the nVGPs, VGPs were more facile in switching between tasks, producing overall smaller and more symmetric switching costs, suggesting that experience with action video games produces improvements in executive functioning. In contrast, VGPs and nVGPs did not differ in filtering out the irrelevant flanking stimuli or in remembering details of aurally presented stories. The lack of global differences between the groups suggests that the improved task-switching performance seen in VGPs was not due to differences in global factors, such as VGPs being more motivated than nVGPs.     

The dynamics of self-regulation

Research on the dynamics of self-regulation addresses situations in which people select goal-directed actions with respect to other existing or still missing actions towards accomplishing that goal. In such situations people can follow two possible patterns: they can highlight a goal by attending to it more if they have attended to it, or they can balance their goals by attending to a goal more if they have not attended to it. The choice of which pattern to follow depends on the representation of goal actions: when actions signal commitment, people highlight, and when actions signal progress, people balance. We identify several variables that determine whether people follow a dynamic of commitment-induced highlighting or progress-induced balancing. We then discuss the implications of this model for seeking, giving, and responding to feedback.