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.     

Counteractive evaluation: Asymmetric shifts in the implicit value of conflicting motivations

Four studies investigate asymmetric shifts in the implicit value of goal and temptation that pose a self-control dilemma. We find that accessible goals reduce the implicit positive valence of tempting alternatives, whereas accessible temptations increase the implicit positive valence of goal alternatives. We observe these asymmetric shifts across two self-regulatory domains: healthful food consumption (vs. indulgence) and the pursuit of academic excellence (vs. leisure). These findings suggest that two conflicting motivations can exert opposite influence on each other’s implicit evaluation.     

The Development of Sensory Over-responsivity From Infancy to Elementary School

Some infants experience atypical levels of over-responsivity to sensations, which limit their ability to interact and explore their environment. Yet, little is known about typical development of over-responsivity during infancy or whether the presence of extreme over-responsivity in infancy is a predictor of clinically significant sensory over-responsivity (SOR) at school-age. This study followed a representative sample of children (n = 521, 47% boys) at four time points from infancy (mean ages in months Year 1 = 18.23, Year 2 = 30.39, Year 3 = 39.40) to elementary school-age (mean age = 7.97 years). SOR was measured via parent report. A latent growth curve model predicting SOR at school age from the intercept and slope of Sensory Sensitivity between Years 1–3 showed excellent fit with the data. Both early sensory sensitivities and change in early sensitivities were associated with SOR status at school-age.     

Evaluating the evaluator: The effects of the valence,sequence and target of evaluations on the perception of the evaluator

People commonly want to be perceived as intelligent, as well as be liked by others. Previous research has demonstrated that people who wish to appear intelligent tend to criticise others, and that criticising others indeed leads to the perception of high intelligence. In the current research we hypothesised and found that this is not the case when (a) the criticism is targeted towards the people who form the impression, and (b) the criticism is targeted towards those with whom the people who form the impression have just interacted. In both cases, participants in our study liked evaluators less when they used criticism than when they used praise. Moreover, they perceived the evaluators as less intelligent. We also demonstrated that in cases of mixing praise with criticism, the sequence of the evaluation interacted with the target of the evaluation in influencing liking. We found a greater liking for evaluators whose evaluation changed from negative to positive rather than vice versa, but only when the perceiver was the target of the evaluation. The discussion centres on the potential underlying mechanisms for these results, as well as on the practical applications of the results and directions for future research.     

Pursuing Goals with Others

This article explores motivation in a social context: how people pursue goals with others, with information on others, and for the self and others. As people incorporate close others into their extended selves (Aron et al., 1991 ), they begin to treat others' actions and outcomes as partially their own. This tendency, in turn, has implications for coordinating goal pursuits with others and for the preference for actions that maximize the total benefits for the self and others. To demonstrate these principles – coordination and joint‐benefits maximization – we first explore coordination in pursuing goals with others (i.e., working in teams), showing that people respond to others' actions and lack of action similarly to how they respond to their own actions and lack of action. We next explore coordination in pursuing goals with information on others, showing that people conform to others' preferences and attitudes yet choose actions that complement others' actions. Finally, we review research on pursuing goals for the self and others, showing that people wish to maximize the total benefits for the group.     

Subgoals as substitutes or complements: the role of goal accessibility

The self-regulation process often involves breaking an ongoing goal (e.g., keeping in shape) into many individual, constituent subgoals that monitor actual actions (e.g., eating healthy meals, going to the gym). The article examines how pursuing each of these subgoals may influence subsequent goal pursuit. The authors show that when people consider success on a single subgoal, additional actions toward achieving a superordinate goal are seen as substitutes and are less likely to be pursued. In contrast, when people consider their commitment to a superordinate goal on the basis of initial success on a subgoal, additional actions toward achieving that goal may seem to be complementary and more likely to be pursued. These predictions were tested in four studies that explored the conditions under which subgoals attainment have a counterproductive versus favorable effect on further pursuit of similar actions.     

The latent structure of posttraumatic stress disorder: a taxometric investigation of reactions to extreme stress

Mental health professionals have debated whether posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be qualitatively distinguished from normal reactions to traumatic events. This debate has been fueled by indications that many trauma-exposed individuals evidence partial presentations of PTSD that are associated with significant impairment and help-seeking behavior. The authors examined the latent structure of PTSD in a large sample of male combat veterans. Three taxometric procedures-MAMBAC, MAXEIG, and L-Mode-were performed with 3 indicator sets drawn from a clinical interview and a self-report measure of PTSD. Results across procedures, consistency tests, and analysis of simulated comparison data all converged on a dimensional solution, suggesting that PTSD reflects the upper end of a stress-response continuum rather than a discrete clinical syndrome.