"I've also experienced loss and fear": Effects of prior similar experience on empathy

Although it is frequently argued that empathy is increased by similar experiences, this idea has rarely been tested. This study investigated the relationship between empathy and prior similar experience. Participants read four different stories and rated the degree of empathy they felt. They also reported the extent to which they had prior similar experience of the events in the stories. We found that these self-reports of prior similar experience increased empathy for the persons in the stories. Similar experience may be an important situational antecedent for feeling empathy for another person. Pointing out similarities among experiences may be a fruitful means of training empathy.     

Brain dynamics of word familiarization in 20-month-olds: effects of productive vocabulary size

The present study investigated the brain mechanisms involved during young children's receptive familiarization with new words, and whether the dynamics of these mechanisms are related to the child's productive vocabulary size. To this end, we recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) from 20-month-old children in a pseudoword repetition task. Results revealed distinct patterns of repetition effects for children with large and small productive vocabularies. High producers showed evidence of recognizing the novel words already after three presentations, while the low producers needed five presentations to display a recognition effect. The familiarization process was manifested in the modulations of two components, the N200-400 and a later fronto-central component, which appeared to increase in amplitude until a certain level of encoding was reached and then decrease with further repetition. These findings suggest a relation between the onset of the productive vocabulary spurt and the rate of receptive word familiarization.     

Relationship between heart rate variability and cognitive function during threat of shock

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between resting heart rate variability (HRV) and cognitive functions during threat of shock. A Continuous Performance Task and a Working Memory Task were used to measure cognitive functions. Sixty-five male participants from the Royal Norwegian Navy participated. HRV was measured during baseline, test conditions and recovery. Participants were randomly assigned into non-threat and threat groups. Based on the median split of the high frequency (HF) spectral power, groups were divided into two additional groups. Overall, the high HRV participants showed superior performance on cognitive tasks independent of non-threat or threat conditions. During threat condition the low HRV group showed improved performance. Thus, individuals with high HRV were more stress tolerant and resilient in the face of environmental changes. The results from the study might have implications with regard to performance in operational settings, but also for other fields of psychological research such as individual differences, anxiety and coping.     

The impact of regulatory focus on affective responses to social discrimination

The impact of individuals' regulatory focus and the domain of outcomes (non‐gains vs. losses) on the target's affective responses to social discrimination were tested. Based on regulatory focus theory (Higgins, 1997 ), it was predicted that a prevention focus would lead to more anger and agitation after social discrimination, because experiencing social discrimination is similar to experiencing failure. This pattern was predicted to be more pronounced when social discrimination was based on losses than when social discrimination was based on non‐gains (i.e., when the in‐group was evaluated more negatively vs. less positively compared to the out‐group). The results of three studies using chronic and situationally induced regulatory focus confirmed these predictions. No effect was found for the promotion focus. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Frames of reference and cooperative social decision-making

Cooperative decision-making was studied as a function of the decision-makers' own, and the interdependent other party's gain or loss frame. As expected, results showed that (a) an own gain frame produced less cognitive activity than an own loss frame and (b) other's loss frame caused more cooperation than other's gain frame, but only in case of an own gain frame.     

Self-Serving Evaluations of Conflict Behavior and Escalation of the Dispute1

There is good evidence that people generally tend to evaluate behaviors, contributions, and outcomes in terms favorable to the self. The present series of studies expands this finding by showing that professional negotiators (Study 1), governmental decision makers (Study 2), and organizational consultants (Study 3) make self-serving evaluations of conflict behavior: They view their own conflict behaviors as more constructive and as less destructive than those of their opponents. In addition, results revealed that self-serving evaluation of conflict behavior is associated with increased frustration, with reduced problem solving, and with enhanced likelihood of future conflict. It is argued that these findings expand the conflict literature in that they provide better insight into the motivational-cognitive antecedents and consequences of conflict escalation.     

Chronometric analysis of apparent spotlight failure in endogenous visual orienting

Subjects made speeded responses to peripheral luminance increments or decrements preceded by informative central precues. In 4 experiments one of these stimuli was much more likely to occur than the other. In a simple detection task, the likely and unlikely stimuli showed equivalent cuing effects. In a discrimination task (bright/dim), the likely stimuli showed cuing but the unlikely one did not (spotlight failure), and there was a tendency to make the likely response when the unlikely stimulus occurred at the cued location. In Experiment 5, the 2 stimuli were equally likely, and a choice was required. Large cuing effects were observed for both stimuli with no evidence of a speed-accuracy trade-off. A logogen-activation framework is described within which criterion and sensitivity adjustments are needed to accommodate the full pattern of results. Endogenous orienting appears to enhance processing of all stimuli at attended (relative to unattended) locations, an effect that may be masked by specific stimulus or response expectancies.     

How rock music videos can change what is seen when boy meets girl: Priming stereotypic appraisal of social interactions

An experiment demonstrated the capacity of sex role stereotyped portrayals of women and men found in popular rock music videos to alter impressions formed of a man and a woman who subsequently were seen interacting. The results indicated that stereotypic rock music videos increased the accessibility of (i.e., primed) sex role stereotypic schemas, dramatically changing impressions of the interactants. Of particular interest were judgments of skill, indicating that impressions formed by subjects who had watched sex role stereotypic videos, but not by those who had watched neutral videos, seemed guided by the principles of chivalry: droit de seiquneur for her and noblesse oblige for him. A process whereby rock music videos perpetuate sex role stereotypes was described.The authors are indebted to M. Kaseta and M. McCliment who served as the actors, and to C. Alexander, G. Bause, M. Case, K. Glassco, J. Grauer, K. Hannula, S. King, F. Kirsch, J. Minor, G. Rinehart, A. Saghy, D. Schnering, J. Sweeney, and R. Unakar who served as experimenters.