Individual differences in cardiac vagal tone are associated with differential neural responses to facial expressions at different spatial frequencies: An ERP and sLORETA study

A previous study has shown that greater cardiac vagal tone, reflecting effective self-regulatory capacity, was correlated with superior visual discrimination of fearful faces at high spatial frequency Park et al. (Biological Psychology 90:171?C178, 2012b). The present study investigated whether individual differences in cardiac vagal tone (indexed by heart rate variability) were associated with different event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in response to fearful and neutral faces. Thirty-six healthy participants discriminated the emotion of fearful and neutral faces at broad, high, and low spatial frequencies, while ERPs were recorded. Participants with low resting heart rate variability??characterized by poor functioning of regulatory systems??exhibited significantly greater N200 activity in response to fearful faces at low spatial frequency and greater LPP responses to neutral faces at high spatial frequency. Source analyses??estimated by standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA)??tended to show that participants with low resting heart rate variability exhibited increased source activity in visual areas, such as the cuneus and the middle occipital gyrus, as compared with participants with high resting heart rate variability. The hyperactive neural activity associated with low cardiac vagal tone may account for hypervigilant response patterns and emotional dysregulation, which heightens the risk of developing physical and emotional problems.     

A Reflection on the Growth and Decline of the Korean Protestant Church

This article examines the reasons for the growth and decline of the Korean Protestant Church during the following five periods:

• In the early period of settlement (1884–1909), growth originated from the emancipation motif, modern values, the Christian's moral life, the Revival experience, Bible study, and the prayer culture. The Korean church did not polarize evangelism and social action.
• During Japanese domination (1910–1945), growth came from the respect of the people toward the church. The church served the nation, consoled and healed the minds of the people, and gave brave witness of their faith in God. However, political persecution, economic devastation, socialist influences, and finally the coercion of the Shinto shrine worship to the church blocked church growth.
• During the recovery time (1945–1960), the social anomie after the nation's liberation and the Korean War ironically became a seedbed for church growth. However, the church improperly made her image pro‐government and pro‐America.
• During the time of industrialization and urbanization (1960–1995), Korean Protestantism achieved great growth and the highest percentage. Most of the Korean Protestant churches in cities, taking advantage of the mass rural–city migration, were actively involved in evangelism and church planting. University mission organizations and military missions were most active. Yet, they did not do well in terms of holistic evangelism. On the other hand, the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK), the Urban Rural Mission (URM,) the minjung churches and others carried out social mission work.
• After the time of urbanization (1995–2005), church membership began to decrease. The Protestant church‐planting policy in city areas became inappropriate. In addition, the church's political conservatism fell out of favour with the young generation.

     

The source of dual-task limitations: Serial or parallel processing of multiple response selections?

Although it is generally recognized that the concurrent performance of two tasks incurs costs, the sources of these dual-task costs remain controversial. The serial bottleneck model suggests that serial postponement of task performance in dual-task conditions results from a central stage of response selection that can only process one task at a time. Cognitive-control models, by contrast, propose that multiple response selections can proceed in parallel, but that serial processing of task performance is predominantly adopted because its processing efficiency is higher than that of parallel processing. In the present study, we empirically tested this proposition by examining whether parallel processing would occur when it was more efficient and financially rewarded. The results indicated that even when parallel processing was more efficient and was incentivized by financial reward, participants still failed to process tasks in parallel. We conclude that central information processing is limited by a serial bottleneck.     

The Role of Attachment and Stigma in the Relationship Between Stress and Attitudes Toward Counseling in South Korea

Using structural equation modeling, the authors investigated the mediators between stress and attitudes toward seeking professional help among 298 undergraduate students in South Korea. Results indicated that attachment styles (avoidance and anxiety) and stigma (public and self‐stigma) mediated the relationship between stress and attitudes toward seeking help. Furthermore, public and self‐stigma had different paths depending on attachment styles related to help seeking. Regarding previous counseling experience, differences in the relationships between stress, attachment styles, stigma, and attitudes toward seeking help were evident.     

Impression management motive and voice: Moderating effects of self‐monitoring,self‐efficacy,and voice instrumentality

The purpose of this study is to examine how employees’ impression management motive influences their voice by considering dispositional and situational variables. Drawing on the theory of self‐motive, we hypothesized that voice would be more positively related to impression management motive than prosocial motive. In addition, based on the interactional approach of motive and trait and trait activation theory, we hypothesized that the relationship between impression management motive and voice would be moderated by self‐monitoring, self‐efficacy, and voice instrumentality. Using a sample of 307 supervisor–subordinate dyads from South Korea, we found that, although prosocial motive had a positive influence on voice, impression management motive had a stronger influence on voice than prosocial motive. We also found that the positive influence of impression management motive on voice was stronger for employees with high levels of self‐monitoring, self‐efficacy, and voice instrumentality. This study helps verify the boundary conditions as to when impression management motive is strongly related to voice. In addition, this study will provide theoretical clues for resolving the inconsistent findings on the relationship between impression management motive and voice.     

Cognition- and Affect-Based Trust and Feedback-Seeking Behavior: The Roles of Value,Cost, and Goal Orientations

We examined how subordinates’ cognition- and affect-based trust in supervisors influences their feedback-seeking behavior (FSB) by considering the different cost/value perception of FSB and goal orientation (i.e., learning and performance goal orientations). Using data from 194 supervisor-subordinate dyads in South Korea, we conducted multiple regression analyses to test our hypotheses. The results showed that, whereas subordinates’ cognition-based trust in supervisors positively influenced their FSB through increasing the perceived value of feedback received from supervisors, their affect-based trust in supervisors positively influenced their FSB through decreasing the perceived value of FSB. Additionally, we found that, when subordinates had high levels of learning goal orientation, the increasing influence of cognition-based trust on the value of feedback was stronger; in contrast, when subordinates had low levels of performance goal orientation, the decreasing influence of affect-based trust on the cost of FSB was stronger. The theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research were discussed.     

Beliefs do not come in degrees

Philosophers commonly say that beliefs come in degrees (or that beliefs are graded or that there are partial beliefs). Drawing from the literature, I make precise three arguments for this claim: an argument from degrees of confidence, an argument from degrees of firmness, and an argument from natural language. I show that they all fail. I also advance three arguments that beliefs do not come in degrees: an argument from natural language, an argument from intuition, and an argument from the metaphysics of degrees. On the basis of these arguments, I conclude that beliefs do not come in degrees.     

A new puzzle about belief and credence

I present a puzzle about belief and credence, which takes the form of three independently supported views that are mutually inconsistent. The first is the view that S has a modal belief that p (e.g., S believes that probably-p) if and only if S has a corresponding credence that p. The second is the view that S believes that p only if S has some credence that p. The third is the view that, possibly, S believes that p without a modal belief that p. [Word Count: 85]     

Aggression against middle and high school teachers: Duration of victimization and its negative impacts

Prior research indicates that student aggression against teachers is widespread, and it has negative impacts on victimized teachers’ emotional and physical well-being and job performance. However, little is known about the relationship between the recency and duration of victimization and teachers’ thoughts about quitting the teaching profession and related job dissatisfaction and disconnectedness to school. Analyses of data from a longitudinal study of 1,236 US teachers fills these gaps. The study found that many teachers experienced theft/vandalism and sexual harassment victimization that was limited to just 1 year. In contrast, sizeable proportions of teachers experienced verbal abuse and nonphysical contact aggression that occurred over 2 years. Multiple regression analyses showed that teachers who reported recent or multiyear victimization had lower levels of connectedness to school, less job satisfaction, and more thoughts about ending their teaching careers. These results may indicate that unless victimization recurs, negative effects of victimization are contemporaneous and are less likely to persist. Additional research is needed to examine victimization over longer than 2 years, investigate the effects of the frequency of different types of aggression against teachers, and identify school policies and interventions that weaken the connection of victimization to negative outcomes.