Variation in individuals' semantic networks for common knowledge is associated with false memory

Three experiments assessed the relationships between false memories of words and their degree of connectedness within individual semantic networks. In the first two experiments, participants studied associated word lists (e.g., hot, winter, ice), completed a recognition test that included related nonstudied words (e.g., cold, snow), and then rated the semantic relatedness of all word pairs including studied and nonstudied words. In the third experiment, the task order was reversed; participants completed pairwise ratings and then, two weeks later, completed the false memory task. The relatedness ratings were analysed using the Pathfinder scaling algorithm. In all experiments, items that an individual falsely recognized had higher semantic Pathfinder node densities than those items correctly rejected.     

The role of disgust emotions in the observer response to facial disfigurement

Social intrusions by observers are commonly reported by those with disfiguring conditions. This study examined the role of disgust emotions in the observer response. A group of students (N = 48) completed quantitative questionnaires measuring extent of disfigurement, whilst viewing images of faces with varying disfigurements. Another group of students (N = 84) completed quantitative questionnaires measuring level of disgust elicited by the same images. Disgust sensitivity was measured using the Disgust Scale Revised. Observers reported greater levels of disgust (p < .01) with increasing severity of facial disfigurement. Individuals with a higher disgust sensitivity reported increased levels of disgust in response to faces of mild (p = .03), moderate (p = .02) and severe (p < .01) disfigurement compared to those with a lower disgust sensitivity. This provides an explanatory framework for the avoidance reactions of observers and may be important in understanding variability in adjustment following disfigurement.     

Leadership Style and Sales Performance: A Test of the Situational Leadership® Model

This paper presents an empirical examination of the Situational Leadership® Model (SLM), which is used extensively in management training programs by major corporations and government agencies. Data from 675 salespersons and 41 branch managers in the insurance industry did not support the hypothesis that leadership styles prescribed by the SLM were associated with superior sales performance. The four styles described by the SLM were also tested, with an exploratory regression, in terms of their relative effects on sales performance. Agents working for managers who preferred the high-task, low-relationship style performed better than did agents working for managers who preferred other styles. Some implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

The reinvention of developmental neuropsychology

Geraldine Dawson and Kurt W. Fischer (Eds.) (1994). Human Behavior and the Developing Brain. New York: Guilford Press     

Treatment Effectiveness of a Brief Behavioral Intervention for Preschool Disruptive Behavior

Parent management training is an evidence-based treatment for disruptive behavior. However, the number of treatment sessions can be high, contributing to high attrition rates. The purpose of this study was to examine post-treatment, 6-month, and 1-year treatment outcomes of the Brief Behavioral Intervention. One hundred twenty children aged 2–6.5 years demonstrating clinically significant disruptive behavior were referred to an outpatient clinic for treatment and participated in the study. Attrition was below reported rates in the literature. Significant decreases in child disruptive behavior and parent stress were found from pre-to-post intervention, and improvements were maintained at follow-ups. Significant pre-to-post intervention teacher reported decreases in behavior were reported.     

The role of verbal short-term memory in task selection: How articulatory suppression influences task choice in voluntary task switching

The roles of verbal short-term memory (vSTM) in task selection and task performance processes were examined when individuals were asked to voluntarily choose which of two tasks to perform on each trial randomly. Consistent with previous voluntary task-switching (VTS) research, we hypothesized that vSTM would support random task selection by maintaining a sequence of previously executed tasks that would be used by a representativeness heuristic. Furthermore, because using a representativeness heuristic requires sufficient time for updating and comparison processes, we expected that vSTM would have a greater effect on task selection when more time was available. Participants completed VTS under concurrent articulatory suppression and foot tapping at short and long response-to-stimulus intervals (RSIs). Task selection in VTS was more repetitive under suppression than under foot tapping, but this effect did not vary with RSI, suggesting that vSTM does not maintain the sequence of executed tasks to guide task selection. Instead, vSTM is critical for maintaining the intended task and ensuring that it is carried out. In contrast to the finding that a working memory load impairs task performance, we found no difference in reaction times and no switch costs between suppression and foot-tapping conditions, suggesting that vSTM is not critical for task performance.     

Job Stress and Dyadic Synchrony in Police Marriages: A Preliminary Investigation

Despite reports documenting adverse effects of stress on police marriages, few empirical studies focus on actual emotional behaviors of officers and spouses. In this preliminary investigation, 17 male police officers and their nonpolice wives completed daily stress diaries for 1 week and then participated in a laboratory‐based discussion about their respective days. Conversations were video‐recorded and coded for specific emotional behaviors reflecting hostility and affection, which are strong predictors of marital outcomes. We examined associations between officers' job stress (per diaries and the Police Stress Survey) and couples' emotional behavior (mean levels and behavioral synchrony) using a dyadic repeated measures design capitalizing on the large number of observations available for each couple (1020 observations). When officers reported more job stress, they showed less hostility, less synchrony with their wives' hostility, and more synchrony with their wives' affection; their wives showed greater synchrony with officers' hostility and less synchrony with officers' affection. Therefore, for officers, greater job stress was associated with less behavioral negativity, potentially less attunement to wives' negativity, but potentially greater attunement to wives' affection—perhaps a compensatory strategy or attempt to buffer their marriage from stress. These attempts may be less effective, however, if, as our synchrony findings may suggest, wives are focusing on officers' hostility rather than affection. Although it will be important to replicate these results given the small sample, our findings reveal that patterns of behavioral synchrony may be a key means to better understand how job stress exacts a toll on police marriages.     

Working memory capacity modulates task performance but has little influence on task choice

Variation in the ability to maintain internal goals while resolving competition from multiple information streams has been related to individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC). In a multitask environment, task choice and task performance are influenced by internal goals, prior behavior within the environment, and the availability of relevant and irrelevant information in the environment. Using the voluntary task-switching procedure, task performance, as measured by switch costs, was related to WMC, but only at short preparation intervals. Task choice processes were only weakly related to WMC. These findings are consistent with models of cognitive control that separate task choice processes from the processes of activating and maintaining task readiness. WMC is related to regulation of specific task parameters but not to choice processes integral to the coordination of multiple sources of information.