Devaluation of distracting stimuli

Previous research has shown that distracting stimuli are evaluated more negatively than new stimuli in a dual task paradigm (Raymond, Fenske, & Tavassoli, 2003). The present research aimed to extend this research by showing that repeatedly selecting targets in a perceptual identification task leads to lower evaluations of distracting stimuli embedded in this task, even when participants are unaware that they will be asked to evaluate the stimuli in a subsequent (separate) task. Results indeed show that repeatedly selecting target stimuli in the presence of distracting stimuli leads to devaluation of these distracting stimuli compared to both target stimuli and new stimuli in a subsequent task. The findings of the present research indicate that devaluation of repeatedly ignored stimuli arises even when stimulus evaluation is not salient during target selection.     

Autobiographical memory specificity in adults reporting repressed,recovered, or continuous memories of childhood sexual abuse

Some psychotherapists believe that adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) are characterised by memory deficits for their childhood. Using the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT), we asked nonabused control participants and participants who reported either continuous, recovered, or repressed memories of CSA to retrieve a specific personal memory in response to either positive or negative cue words from either childhood or adolescence/adulthood. The results indicated that participants who believed they harboured repressed memories of abuse tended to exhibit the greatest difficulty retrieving specific memories from their childhood. Neither posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) nor major depression was related to diminished memory specificity.     

Application of Cognitive Load Theory to Develop a Measure of Team Cognitive Efficiency

Improving human systems integration through technologically advanced training and performance aids has become increasingly important to military transformation. Measures of improved cognitive and coordination processes arising from the employment of transformational tools are necessary to guide the refinement and future development of such technologies. In this article, we describe a cognitive load theory approach to developing a combinatory measure of individual workload and team performance following an experimental intervention involving training and a decision support system. We discuss how indicators of what we term team cognitive efficiency can improve assessing the effectiveness of transformational processes and technologies.     

Eating Together at the Firehouse: How Workplace Commensality Relates to the Performance of Firefighters

Cooperative activities among coworkers can provide valuable group-level benefits; however, previous research has often focused on artificial activities that require extraordinary efforts away from the worksite. We investigate organizational benefits that firms might obtain through various supports for coworkers to engage in commensality (i.e., eating together). We conducted field research within firehouses in a large city to explore the role that interacting over food might have for work-group performance. Using a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, our field research shows a significant positive association between commensality and work-group performance. Our findings establish a basis for research and practice that focuses on ways that firms can enhance team performance by leveraging the mundane and powerful activity of eating.     

The role of perfectionism in cognitive behaviour therapy outcomes for clinically anxious children

The main aim of this study was to determine whether pre-treatment levels of child perfectionism impacted on anxiety treatment outcomes for school-aged children. In addition, it was investigated whether child perfectionism decreased following treatment for anxiety. Participants were sixty-seven clinically anxious children aged 6–13 years (female = 34; majority Caucasian) who were enrolled in a group-based cognitive behaviour therapy program, and their parents. They completed self-report questionnaires on anxiety and depressive symptoms and were administered a diagnostic interview to determine the type and clinician rated severity of anxiety and related disorders pre- and post-treatment and at 6-month follow-up. Self- and parent-rated perfectionism were also measured pre-treatment, while a subset of children completed perfectionism measures post-treatment as well. Self-Oriented Perfectionism, but not Socially Prescribed Perfectionism, predicted poorer self-reported treatment outcome (higher levels of anxiety symptoms) immediately following treatment and at 6-month follow-up when using a multi-informant approach. Additionally, both Self-Oriented and Socially Prescribed child perfectionism significantly reduced immediately following treatment. Despite reductions in child perfectionism following anxiety treatment, higher Self-Oriented Perfectionism may impact negatively on child anxiety treatment outcome.     

What Matters to Stakeholders? Measuring Values at a University Museum

ABSTRACT

Perceptions of museum performance may be linked to individual values. This study asked members of different groups that hold a stake in a university museum (e.g., Alaska Native, Art Community, Business Community, Donors/Museum Members, Military Leaders, Science Community, K–12 Teachers, University Leaders) what they valued about their museum's performance. Results indicate that key differences exist with respect to performance indicators among some groups; however, stakeholders as a whole highly value indicators related to the human face of the museum and the collections. Museums can use these results to develop and pursue appropriate goals for specific audiences and to develop performance reports that matter to stakeholders.     

Self and modernity on trial: A reply to cergen's saturated self

Abstract

In The Saturated Self: Dilemmas of Identity in Contemporary Life, Kenneth Gergen (1991) suggests that the rising uncertainty ushered in by the postmodern age has resulted in the collapse of traditional conceptions of self, truth, and social life. Although we agree that meaning is a product of social construction, we believe that Gergen has overextended his case. We argue that there is a need to maintain a notion of personal agency in constructionist models of human functioning and that an epigenetic-systems model of development (Gottlieb, 1991a, 1991b) provides a useful framework for doing so. We also suggest that even though social frameworks structure people's observations, data from their worlds nevertheless constrain theory making and foster scientific progress. Finally, we question whether postmodernism has provided a convincing strategy for dealing with the conflicts that arise from competing value systems.     

Religious coping,stigma, and psychological functioning among HIV-positive African American women

The present study examined the role of religious coping in psychological distress and adjustment both cross-sectionally and longitudinally among 141 HIV-positive African American women. Cross-sectional analyses showed that negative religious coping was associated with poorer mental health and functioning, and greater perceptions of stigma and discrimination. Longitudinal analyses revealed that greater negative religious coping at baseline significantly predicted greater changes in mental health in a negative direction 12 months later. Positive religious coping was not associated with any measures of psychological well-being, nor did it predict any mental health outcomes at 12 months. However, participants who experienced high levels of HIV-related stigma and reported high levels of positive religious coping were less depressed than those who reported lower levels of positive religious coping. These results suggest that for this population, negative religious coping was a more salient determinant of psychological distress than positive religious coping was of psychological health.     

The effects of formal order and spatial content on reasoning in three dimensions

This study investigates the effects of formal order and spatial content on reasoning in three dimensions in view of the Formal Rules theory and the Mental Models theory of spatial reasoning. Twenty‐six subjects solved 144 spatial deductive problems that varied by the formal order of the entities (referential order, referential continuity) and the spatial content (dimension, orientation, and direction). There were two dependant variables: the correct responses and their response times. The number of mental models and the formal derivations underlying the deductions allowed comparison of opposite predictions made by the Formal Rules theory and the Mental Models theory of spatial reasoning. The results overwhelmingly supported the Mental Models theory's predictions. The effects of referential order showed that problems yielding two possible mental models were significantly more difficult than problems based on one mental model, although the former problems involved a shorter formal derivation than the latter. The effects of referential continuity also generalized the Mental Models theory's prediction to reasoning in all three dimensions. The effects of referential continuity showed that problems that required independent layouts in memory were reliably more difficult than problems that allowed the continuous integration of the entities in a mental model. We obtained these results despite the fact that the former condition required a shorter formal derivation than the latter. The effects of spatial content were also reliable despite the fact that the formal derivations were the same across spatial content. Thus, spatial deductions were significantly easier to make in 1D than in 2D and in 2D than 3D. Deductions were also significantly easier to make from left to right along the horizontal axis of a mental model, and from top to bottom along the vertical axis rather than from the respective opposite directions. The effects of spatial content suggest that mental models reproduce spatial relations relative to reference frames.