Bistable perception in normal aging: perceptual reversibility and its relation to cognition

The effects of age on the ability to resolve perceptual ambiguity are unknown, though it depends on frontoparietal attentional networks known to change with age. We presented the bistable Necker cube to 24 middle-aged and OAs (older adults; 56–78 years) and 20 YAs (younger adults; 18–24 years) under passive-viewing and volitional control conditions: Hold one cube percept and Switch between cube percepts. During passive viewing, OAs had longer dominance durations (time spent on each percept) than YAs. In the Hold condition, OAs were less able than YAs to increase dominance durations. In the Switch condition, OAs and YAs did not differ in performance. Dominance durations in either condition correlated with performance on tests of executive function mediated by the frontal lobes. Eye movements (fixation deviations) did not differ between groups. These results suggest that OAs’ reduced ability to hold a percept may arise from reduced selective attention. The lack of correlation of performance between Hold and executive-function measures suggests at least a partial segregation of underlying mechanisms.     

道歉在信任修复中的作用:来自元分析的证据

采用元分析方法对道歉的信任修复效果进行探讨。通过中英文献检索,共有18篇文献36个独立样本符合元分析标准(N=4731)。元分析的结果表明,道歉在信任修复中起到一定促进作用,呈中等效应量(d=0.44)。调节效应检验发现,信任违背类型的调节作用显著,相比于诚实型信任违背,道歉对能力型信任违背有较好的修复效果。此外,控制组设置对道歉的信任修复效果具有显著的调节作用,以沉默为控制组的信任修复效果优于以否认为控制组的信任修复效果。信任类型、道歉所包含的成分以及测量工具的调节作用均不显著。     

Effect of post-encoding emotion on recollection and familiarity for pictures

Although prior studies have examined the effect of post-encoding emotional arousal on recognition memory for words, it is unknown whether the enhancement effect observed on words generalizes to pictures. Furthermore, prior studies using words have showed that the effect of emotional arousal can be modulated by stimuli valence and delay in emotion induction, but it is unclear whether such modulation can extend to pictures and whether other factors such as encoding method (incidental vs. intentional encoding) can be modulatory. Five experiments were conducted to answer these questions. In Experiment 1, participants encoded a list of neutral and negative pictures and then watched a 3-min neutral or negative video. The delayed test showed that negative arousal impaired recollection regardless of picture valence but had no effect on familiarity. Experiment 2 replicated the above findings. Experiment 3 was similar to Experiment 1 except that participants watched a 3-min neutral, negative, or positive video and conducted free recall before the recognition test. Unlike the prior two experiments, the impairment effect of negative arousal disappeared. Experiment 4, where the free recall task was eliminated, replicated the results from Experiment 3. Experiment 5 replicated Experiments 1 and 2 and further showed that the impairment effects of negative arousal could be modulated by delay in emotion induction but not by encoding method or stimuli valence. Taken together, the current study suggests that the enhancement effect observed on words may not generalize to pictures.     

Hierarchical Structure and Cross-Cultural Measurement Invariance of the Norwegian Version of the Personality Inventory for DSM–5

The Personality Inventory for DSM–5 (PID–5) was created to aid a trait-based diagnostic system for personality disorders (PDs) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed. [DSM–5]; American Psychiatric Association, 2013a American Psychiatric Association. (2013a). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). In this study, we aimed to evaluate the Norwegian version of the PID–5 by examining its score reliability, hierarchical structure, congruency with international findings, and cross-cultural measurement invariance with a matched U.S. sample. For this purpose, 503 university students (76% females) were administered the PID–5. The Norwegian PID–5 showed good score reliability and structural validity from 1 to 5 factors. The 5-factor structure was generally congruent with international findings, and support for measurement invariance across the Norwegian and a matched U.S. sample was found. Conclusively, the results indicate that scores on the Norwegian PID–5 have sound psychometric properties, which are substantially comparable with the original U.S. version, supporting its use in a Norwegian population.     

Experimental Power for Indirect Effects in Group-randomized Studies with Group-level Mediators

Mediation analyses have provided a critical platform to assess the validity of theories of action across a wide range of disciplines. Despite widespread interest and development in these analyses, literature guiding the design of mediation studies has been largely unavailable. Like studies focused on the detection of a total or main effect, an important design consideration is the statistical power to detect indirect effects if they exist. Understanding the sensitivity to detect indirect effects is exceptionally important because it directly influences the scale of data collection and ultimately governs the types of evidence group-randomized studies can bring to bear on theories of action. However, unlike studies concerned with the detection of total effects, literature has not established power formulas for detecting multilevel indirect effects in group-randomized designs. In this study, we develop closed-form expressions to estimate the variance of and the power to detect indirect effects in group-randomized studies with a group-level mediator using two-level linear models (i.e., 2-2-1 mediation). The results suggest that when carefully planned, group-randomized designs may frequently be well positioned to detect mediation effects with typical sample sizes. The resulting power formulas are implemented in the R package PowerUpR and the PowerUp!-Mediator software (causalevaluation.org).     

Help yourself by helping others: The joint impact of group member organizational citizenship behaviors and group cohesiveness on group member objective task performance change

This paper examines how a group member's individual‐targeted citizenship behavior (OCBI) and organization‐targeted citizenship behavior (OCBO) interact with a salient group‐level contextual variable, group cohesiveness, to foster positive change for that group member, starting with job self‐efficacy change, and followed by objective task performance change. Over a span of 6 months, we engaged in multilevel, multisource, multistage data collection and surveyed 587 members in 83 work groups. Our results indicate that a group member's OCBI, in comparison with OCBO, is more positively related to his or her job self‐efficacy change. Group cohesiveness was found to attenuate the relationship between a group member's OCBI and job self‐efficacy change, and conversely, to accentuate the relationship between a group member's OCBO and job self‐efficacy change. Furthermore, a group member's job self‐efficacy change mediated the interactive effects of the group member's OCBI and group cohesiveness (as well as the group member's OCBO and group cohesiveness) on his or her objective task performance change.     

Influence of plastic strain localisation on the mechanical properties of metal matrix composites

The aim of the present study is to reveal the most critical underlying factor influencing the mechanical properties of metal matrix composites (MMCs). It is shown that the mechanical properties of MMCs are essentially governed by the degree of strain localisation during plastic deformation. In other words, the MMCs exhibit superior mechanical performance only if the strain localisation is obviously inhibited and the accumulated stresses can be effectively transferred out. The work provides a new perspective in guiding the design of next-generation high-performance MMCs by suppressing the strain localisation as far as possible.     

Engagement Attentional Bias toward Value-Associated Stimuli

Recent evidence has shown that learning to associate the value of behavioral outcomes with specific stimuli (i.e., value learning/association) can induce attentional capture in a subsequent visual search task. Here we investigated the component of attentional bias toward value-associated stimuli in the dot-probe paradigm. In the training phase, participants learned to associate nonsense shape outlines with monetary wins or losses. The shapes were then used as cues in an explicit no feedback dot-probe task. Probe appeared at either the salient (congruent trial) or nonsalient location (incongruent trial). Results indicate attentional bias toward value-associated stimuli, futher more this attentional bias is driven by an engagement bias.