Some boundary conditions of the expressor culture effect in emotion recognition: Evidence from Hong Kong Chinese perceivers

In a recent review of the emotion recognition literature, Elfenbein and Ambady (2002) found that recognition is generally more accurate for perceivers from the same cultural group as the emotion expressors. In two studies conducted in Hong Kong, we found little evidence for such expressor culture effect. In contrast, a reverse trend was found in the recognition of several emotions. We interpret these findings in terms of the unique display and decoding rules of emotions in Asian contexts. In addition, the effects of expressor culture were observed only in non-pleasant emotions, but not in happiness. Finally, reaction time data revealed that identification of happiness is an automatic, holistic process, identification of non-pleasant emotions is a relatively capacity-consuming, piecemeal process.     

直觉研究述评

直觉是不经过逻辑的、有意识的推理而识别或了解事物的能力。直觉包含认知、情感和行为等成分。对直觉常采用个案法、心理测量法、实验法和神经生理学方法进行研究。该文对直觉的本质进行了探讨,认为直觉思维与无意识认知加工有许多共同特征。最后,提出了三个有待进一步研究的问题     

Current Directions in Personnel Selection Research

Abstract— For many decades, the focus of personnel selection research was on developing selection tests that maximized prediction of job performance; the approach was typically lacking in theoretical bases. The past two decades saw significant shifts in research to a focus on the nature of constructs and their interrelationships, characterized by an approach that emphasizes theoretical understanding of the phenomena under investigation. This article provides an overview of how a construct-oriented approach underlies major current directions in scientific research on personnel selection. Emerging trends that are likely to constitute issues of enduring importance are discussed.     

Are there bilingual advantages on nonlinguistic interference tasks? Implications for the plasticity of executive control processes

It has been proposed that the unique need for early bilinguals to manage multiple languages while their executive control mechanisms are developing might result in long-term cognitive advantages on inhibitory control processes that generalize beyond the language domain. We review the empirical data from the literature on nonlinguistic interference tasks to assess the validity of this proposed bilingual inhibitory control advantage. Our review of these findings reveals that the bilingual advantage on conflict resolution, which by hypothesis is mediated by inhibitory control, is sporadic at best, and in some cases conspicuously absent. A robust finding from this review is that bilinguals typically outperform monolinguals on both compatible and incompatible trials, often by similar magnitudes. Together, these findings suggest that bilinguals do enjoy a more widespread cognitive advantage (a bilingual executive processing advantage) that is likely observable on a variety of cognitive assessment tools but that, somewhat ironically, is most often not apparent on traditional assays of nonlinguistic inhibitory control processes.     

Behavioral specifications of reward-associated long-term memory enhancement in humans

Recent functional imaging studies link reward-related activation of the midbrain substantia nigra-ventral tegmental area (SN/VTA), the site of origin of ascending dopaminergic projections, with improved long-term episodic memory. Here, we investigated in two behavioral experiments how (1) the contingency between item properties and reward, (2) the magnitude of reward, (3) the uncertainty of outcomes, and (4) the contextual availability of reward affect long-term memory. We show that episodic memory is enhanced only when rewards are specifically predicted by the semantic identity of the stimuli and changes nonlinearly with increasing reward magnitude. These effects are specific to reward and do not occur in relation to outcome uncertainty alone. These behavioral specifications are relevant for the functional interpretation of how reward-related activation of the SN/VTA, and more generally dopaminergic neuromodulation, contribute to long-term memory.     

Attributional Retraining: reducing the likelihood of failure

Failing a course is an acutely negative event for first-year university students, and a major contributor to high attrition rates at North American universities. Despite its prevalence, course failure receives relatively little research attention. What can be done to reduce course failure and help first-year students remain in university? This study examined the efficacy of an Attributional Retraining treatment intervention to reduce course failure in an Introductory Psychology course. Attributional Retraining is designed to restructure students’ causal explanations of poor performance by encouraging controllable attributions such as effort and strategy in place of immutable causes such as academic ability or intelligence. Relative to students in the control group, first-year students who received Attributional Retraining were less likely to fail the Introductory Psychology course (14.6% vs. 6.4%). This finding emerged beyond the effects of several well-established predictors of academic outcomes including student background characteristics (i.e., age, gender, and past academic performance) and learning environment variables (student registration status and participation in a first-year orientation program), suggesting the utility of Attributional Retraining for students with varying backgrounds and in different educational contexts. To the extent that Attributional Retraining is effective, inexpensive, and relatively easy to administer it may be a viable option for inclusion in orientation programs designed to reduce course failure and attrition among first-year university students.     

Comparing standardized coefficients in structural equation modeling: a model reparameterization approach

We propose a two-stage method for comparing standardized coefficients in structural equation modeling (SEM). At stage 1, we transform the original model of interest into the standardized model by model reparameterization, so that the model parameters appearing in the standardized model are equivalent to the standardized parameters of the original model. At stage 2, we impose appropriate linear equality constraints on the standardized model and use a likelihood ratio test to make statistical inferences about the equality of standardized coefficients. Unlike other existing methods for comparing standardized coefficients, the proposed method does not require specific modeling features (e.g., specification of nonlinear constraints), which are available only in certain SEM software programs. Moreover, this method allows researchers to compare two or more standardized coefficients simultaneously in a standard and convenient way. Three real examples are given to illustrate the proposed method, using EQS, a popular SEM software program. Results show that the proposed method performs satisfactorily for testing the equality of standardized coefficients.     

Positive reactions to tobacco predict relapse after cessation

Among chronic smokers, individual differences in subjective reactions to smoking may characterize important facets of nicotine dependence that relate to abstinence-induced craving, withdrawal symptom profiles, and risk for relapse. Although the negative reinforcing properties of smoking have achieved prominent positions in models of relapse (Baker, Brandon, & Chassin, 2004), vulnerability to relapse risk may also arise from seeking positive reinforcement from smoking (Shiffman & Kirchner, 2009). In this study, 183 cessation-motivated smokers provided subjective craving, positive and negative reactions to standardized cigarettes following overnight abstinence. Level of craving, negative mood, and positive mood after overnight abstinence were significantly predictive of withdrawal on quit-day. Increased positive reactions to smoking were uniquely predictive of relapse after quitting (Hazard Ratio = 1.22, p < .001). Individual differences in positive reactions to smoking may be important markers of neurobiological systems that promote dependence and interfere with cessation efforts.     

Transfer of attachment functions and adjustment among young adults in China

This study was designed to examine the process of attachment transfer from parents to peers, as well as factors related to this transfer process among Mainland Chinese. A total of 147 Chinese college students (with a mean age of 21.44) completed questionnaires that measured attachment style, attachment transfer, attachment support from various figures, loneliness, positive/negative affects, and self-esteem. Major findings of the current study include the following: (a) Hazan and Shaver's sequential model of attachment transfer was generalized to the Chinese sample; (b) the extent of attachment transfer was found to be associated with participants' emotional states (loneliness and positive affect) and was a significant predictor of these emotional states beyond the effects of attachment style and attachment support. As one of the first studies exploring the phenomenon of attachment transfer among young Chinese adults, conceptual and applied implications of these findings are discussed.     

Random number generation deficit in early schizophrenia

Random number generation with a written response mode provides a potentially appealing marker for executive processes. Impaired performance on written random number generation tasks has been reported in chronic schizophrenic patients. However, no study has investigated whether such a deficit occurs in early schizophrenia and whether its profile and severity are similar to those in patients with chronic illness. This study investigated the ability to generate random numbers in patients with early schizophrenia (n = 44) and a healthy control group (n = 48). Patients were less able to maintain several production strategies and generated more stereotyped response sequences, whereas their abilities to identify randomness with an even-handed treatment of digits and to monitor the equality of occurrence of single digits appeared to remain intact. These results provide evidence that some aspects of the deficits in random number generation among chronic schizophrenic patients are also present at early psychotic episode, while some other aspects are relatively less affected in the early years.