Attentional capture by singletons is contingent on top-down control settings: Evidence from electrophysiological measures

The present study examined whether the capture of spatial attention is driven by stimulus salience (e.g., object uniqueness) or by a match to current attentional control settings (contingent capture). We measured the N2pc effect, a component of the event-related brain potential thought to reflect lateralized attentional allocation. On every trial, a noninformative cue display containing a colour singleton box was followed by a target display of letters. Participants searched for a target letter in a specified colour (in Experiments 1–3) or within a specified shape (in Experiment 4) while ignoring other stimuli. The key manipulation was whether the singleton cue contained the target-defining feature (e.g., a specific colour). Experiment 1 revealed signs of attention capture—a cue validity effect and an N2pc effect—only for singleton cues that contained the target-defining feature. This pattern persisted even when we increased the salience of the singleton box (Experiments 2 and 3). Irrelevant colour singletons also failed to produce a significant N2pc effect when the target was defined based on shape rather than colour (Experiment 4). We conclude that attention capture is strongly contingent on top-down attentional control settings, not bottom-up stimulus salience.     

Perfectionism,discrepancies, and depression: Testing the perfectionism social disconnection model in a short-term,four-wave longitudinal study

Perfectionistic concerns (i.e., negative reactions to failures, exaggerated concerns over others’ criticism and expectations, and nagging self-doubts) are linked to social disconnection and depressive symptoms. According to the perfectionism social disconnection model, perfectionistic concerns contribute to social disconnection (i.e., feeling rejected, excluded, and unwanted by others) which, subsequently, contributes to depressive symptoms. The social world is replete with chances for interpretations. In interpreting their social worlds, people high in perfectionistic concerns tend to perceive interpersonal discrepancies, a distressing form of social disconnection that involves perceptions of others as dissatisfied with them and as disapproving of them. These interpretations are also conceptualized as having depressing consequences for people high in perfectionistic concerns. This study tested whether perceived interpersonal discrepancies mediate the relation between perfectionistic concerns and depressive symptoms; 240 participants were recruited and this mediational model was tested with a four-wave, 4-week longitudinal design. Structural equation modeling with bootstrapped tests of mediation indicated the perfectionistic concerns-depressive symptoms relationship was mediated by interpersonal discrepancies (even after controlling for perfectionistic strivings). People high in perfectionistic concerns perceive others as dissatisfied with them and as disapproving of them. Feeling rejected, excluded, and unwanted by others, people high in perfectionistic concerns are vulnerable to depression.     

Some variables affecting dentists' assessment of patients' distress

Dental students estimated the pain distress and discomfort of their patients after patients received a Class II restoration (simple filing). Dentist's estimates of patient pain accounted for 36% of the variance in patient self-report responses. Dentist accuracy was significantly lower, however, for estimates of anxiety and distress. Dentist accuracy was unaffected by patient's degree of self-monitoring. There was a tendency for female dentists to demonstrate greater accuracy than male dentists, but this effect was nonsignificant. In addition, dentists' accuracy in assessing overall patient discomfort was significantly lower in that segment of the treatment procedure that was most stressful for the dentists. This article discusses theoretical explanations for this latter effect.     

Eye movements enhance memory for individuals who are strongly right-handed and harm it for individuals who are not

Subjects who make repetitive saccadic eye movements before a memory test subsequently exhibit superior retrieval in comparison with subjects who do not move their eyes. It has been proposed that eye movements enhance retrieval by increasing interaction of the left and right cerebral hemispheres. To test this, we compared the effect of eye movements on subsequent recall (Experiment 1) and recognition (Experiment 2) in two groups thought to differ in baseline degree of hemispheric interaction—individuals who are strongly right-handed (SR) and individuals who are not (nSR). For SR subjects, who naturally may experience less hemispheric interaction than nSR subjects, eye movements enhanced retrieval. In contrast, depending on the measure, eye movements were either inconsequential or even detrimental for nSR subjects. These results partially support the hemispheric interaction account, but demand an amendment to explain the harmful effects of eye movements for nSR individuals.     

A future-oriented Retirement Transition Adjustment Framework

This theoretical paper presents a person–environment fit framework that extends the Minnesota Theory of Work Adjustment to retirement transition and adjustment. The proposed Retirement Transition and Adjustment Framework (RTAF) also accommodates dynamic intra-individual and environment change over time, configural combinations of variables, and an ecological perspective to psychological-level decisions. The RTAF permits the collection of frequently sampled longitudinal person and environment data, allows for a detailed analysis of change and responsiveness, and can accommodate external influences from the family team, and social, economic and political policies. The paper concludes by using the RTAF to illustrate the types of psychological measurement and analysis opportunities likely to emerge in light of developments in the web, virtual reality, personal informatics and computing and information technology generally.     

Re-examining the Relationship Between Need for Cognition and Creativity: Predicting Creative Problem Solving Across Multiple Domains

Prior studies have demonstrated inconsistent findings with regard to the relationship between need for cognition and creativity. In our study, measurement issues were explored as a potential source of these inconsistencies. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to examine the factor structure underlying the 18-item need for cognition scale in three independent samples drawn from three prior studies. In addition, the relationships between need for cognition and the quality, originality, and elegance of creative problem solutions across multiple domains of performance were analyzed. Across all 3 samples, the bifactor model fit the data better than the 2-factor and 1-factor need for cognition models. After controlling for method-specific variance, the trait factor of the bifactor model showed consistently positive relationships with all 3 facets of creative performance and showed stronger relationships with these facets than the composite score results reported in prior studies. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Attention to the hands disrupts skilled typewriting: The role of vision in producing the disruption

Drawing typists' attention to their hands by asking them to type only letters assigned to the left or the right hand disrupts their performance, slowing the rate of typing and increasing errors. In this article we test the hypothesis that slowing occurs because typists watch their hands to determine which hand types which letter. Skilled typists were cued to type letters of one hand or of both hands while they could view their hands on the keyboard and while their vision was blocked by a box placed over the keyboard. Typing was slower when letters of one hand were typed than when letters of both hands were typed, and the slowing was greater when the hands were covered than when they were not. This supports the hypothesis that slowing occurs because typists watch their hands. However, typists were able to type letters of one hand when the keyboard was covered, so typists must have monitored kinesthetic information as well.