A meta-analysis of 25 years of mood-creativity research: hedonic tone, activation, or regulatory focus?

This meta-analysis synthesized 102 effect sizes reflecting the relation between specific moods and creativity. Effect sizes overall revealed that positive moods produce more creativity than mood-neutral controls (r= .15), but no significant differences between negative moods and mood-neutral controls (r= -.03) or between positive and negative moods (r= .04) were observed. Creativity is enhanced most by positive mood states that are activating and associated with an approach motivation and promotion focus (e.g., happiness), rather than those that are deactivating and associated with an avoidance motivation and prevention focus (e.g., relaxed). Negative, deactivating moods with an approach motivation and a promotion focus (e.g., sadness) were not associated with creativity, but negative, activating moods with an avoidance motivation and a prevention focus (fear, anxiety) were associated with lower creativity, especially when assessed as cognitive flexibility. With a few exceptions, these results generalized across experimental and correlational designs, populations (students vs. general adult population), and facet of creativity (e.g., fluency, flexibility, originality, eureka/insight). The authors discuss theoretical implications and highlight avenues for future research on specific moods, creativity, and their relationships.     

Health-engagement control strategies and 2-year changes in older adults' physical health

This study examined the associations between older adults' daily physical symptoms (e.g., chest pain or difficulty breathing) and 2-year changes in chronic health problems (e.g., cardiovascular disease or cancer) and in functional problems (e.g., difficulty dressing or moving around at home). We reasoned that these associations depend on a person's active control processes aimed at counteracting physical health problems (i.e., health-engagement control strategies, or HECS). In particular, we hypothesized that high levels of HECS buffer the adverse effect of daily physical symptoms on increases in chronic and functional health problems. We found that daily physical symptoms were associated with declines in chronic and functional health among older adults who were not engaged in addressing their health problems, but not among their counterparts who reported high levels of HECS. These findings suggest that active control strategies play an important role in the maintenance of older adults' physical health.     

Time course and efficiency of protein synthesis inhibition following intracerebral and systemic anisomycin treatment

Since its discovery in the 1960s, anisomycin has been used for studying the impact of protein synthesis for manifold cerebral processes such as long-term plastic changes after learning. The common limitation of nearly all pharmacological experiments, including anisomycin treatment, is to precisely verify the affected brain regions. Here we illustrate anisomycin effects on protein synthesis in distinct brain regions of mice (C57BL/6JOlaHsd), revealing differences between three modes of anisomycin application (subcutaneous, s.c.; intraperitoneal, i.p.; local microinfusions into the hippocampus). Our method is based on inhibition of the incorporation of the radioactively-labelled amino acids [(35)S]-Methionine/Cysteine into newly synthesised proteins. Washing the brain slices before autoradiography removes pools of amino acids, which have not been incorporated into newly synthesised proteins, thus, illustrating pure protein synthesis. By comparing different routes of systemic anisomycin application (i.p. versus s.c.; 150 mg/kg) it became evident that the effect of i.p. injection of anisomycin is fully reversed after 6 h, whereas s.c. injection is inhibiting protein synthesis in the hippocampus even 9 h after application. Local microinfusions of anisomycin into the hippocampus were shown to have long-lasting effects as well, which reversed as late as 9 h after injection. The diffusion of anisomycin was maximal at 3 h after injection and more precisely confined to the intended area using a lower dose (20 microg/site) instead of the commonly used dose of 62.5 microg/site. The broad time window of anisomycin action, as revealed in our study, has to be considered, if it comes to the interpretation of time course studies within the context of protein synthesis-dependent processes.     

Living in History: How War, Terrorism, and Natural Disaster Affect the Organization of Autobiographical Memory

ABSTRACT— Memories of war, terrorism, and natural disaster play a critical role in the construction of group identity and the persistence of group conflict. Here, we argue that personal memory and knowledge of the collective past become entwined only when public events have a direct, forceful, and prolonged impact on a population. Support for this position comes from a cross-national study in which participants thought aloud as they dated mundane autobiographical events. We found that Bosnians often mentioned their civil war and that Izmit Turks made frequent reference to the 1999 earthquake in their country. In contrast, public events were rarely mentioned by Serbs, Montenegrins, Ankara Turks, Canadians, Danes, or Israelis. Surprisingly, historical references were absent from (post–September 11) protocols collected in New York City and elsewhere in the United States. Taken together, these findings indicate that it is personal significance, not historical importance, that determines whether public events play a role in organizing autobiographical memory.     

Religion and Support for Suicide Attacks

ABSTRACT— In four studies carried out across different cultural, religious, and political contexts, we investigated the association between religion and popular support for suicide attacks. In two surveys of Palestinians and one cognitive priming experiment with Israeli settlers, prayer to God, an index of religious devotion, was unrelated to support for suicide attacks. Instead, attendance at religious services, thought to enhance coalitional commitment, positively predicted support for suicide attacks. In a survey of six religions in six nations, regular attendance at religious services positively predicted a combination of willing martyrdom and out-group hostility, but regular prayer did not. Implications for understanding the role of religion in suicide attacks are discussed.     

No Retrieval-Induced Forgetting Under Stress

ABSTRACT— Stress affects memory, yet no study has investigated the effects of stress on memory inhibition: Remembering not only facilitates later recall, but also inhibits retrieval of related material, a phenomenon known as retrieval-induced forgetting. We investigated the effects of stress on this mechanism, which is thought to adaptively guide memory selection. Participants learned categorized lists and were then exposed to either a psychosocial laboratory stressor or a cognitively challenging control treatment. They then actively retrieved parts of the previously learned material. Finally, memory for all initially learned items was tested. In the stress group, unlike in the control group, intervening retrieval practice did not impair final recall. Moreover, salivary cortisol levels increased and psychological well-being decreased in the stress group only. Thus, psychosocial stress abolishes retrieval-induced forgetting. This effect may result from stress-induced hormone release from the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and may have implications for educational, legal, and clinical issues.     

Cognitive performance in patients with burnout, in relation to diurnal salivary cortisol

This study investigated cognitive performance in patients with burnout, in relation to the flexibility of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Clinical cases with work stress-induced burnout (n = 65), and demographically matched, healthy reference subjects (n = 65), were given six neuropsychological tests and a self-rating scale for cognitive problems. Diurnal salivary cortisol was measured among burnout cases and an external reference group (n = 174), including a dexamethasone suppression test (DST) among burnout cases. Compared with referents, the burnout group under-performed in a cognitive speed test (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) Digit Symbol), but not in any other test of sustained attention, episodic memory, or vocabulary. Burnout cases had considerably more subjective cognitive problems, but ratings were unrelated to test performance. Compared with referents, burnout cases had similar morning salivary cortisol levels and similar awakening response, but lower evening cortisol. Among burnout cases, lower diurnal cortisol variability was related to slower performance in several tests. The DST response showed no consistent relationship with any cognitive parameter. Hence, despite considerable subjective cognitive problems, the burnout group showed only a partial, mild deviation in cognitive performance. A flatter diurnal cortisol profile was related to lower cognitive processing speed, but diurnal cortisol pattern and DST response were normal, suggesting a maintained HPA axis flexibility.     

Counseling Without Truth: Toward a Neopragmatic Foundation for Counseling Practice

The author presents an overview of contemporary developments in philosophy regarding the status of truth and discusses the implications of these ideas for the practice of counseling. Counseling without truth is presented as a desirable option when a neopragmatic frame of reference is adopted.