Visual attention and emotional memory: recall of aversive pictures is partially mediated by concurrent task performance

The emotional enhancement of memory is often thought to be determined by attention. However, recent evidence using divided attention paradigms suggests that attention does not play a significant role in the formation of memories for aversive pictures. We report a study that investigated this question using a paradigm in which participants had to encode lists of randomly intermixed negative and neutral pictures under conditions of full attention and divided attention followed by a free recall test. Attention was divided by a highly demanding concurrent task tapping visual processing resources. Results showed that the advantage in recall for aversive pictures was still present in the DA condition. However, mediation analyses also revealed that concurrent task performance significantly mediated the emotional enhancement of memory under divided attention. This finding suggests that visual attentional processes play a significant role in the formation of emotional memories.     

Deflationism,Meaning and Truth-Conditions

Philosophical Studies -     

Women’s Introduction to Alternative Sexual Behaviors through Erotica and Its Association with Sexual and Relationship Satisfaction

Women’s interests in bondage, discipline, dominance/submission, and sadism/masochism (BDSM) behaviors are one of the most poorly understood research topics, even though erotica novels—typically read by women—are increasingly including these activities. The present study explored potential links between women’s engagement in BDSM behaviors, consumption of erotica literature, relationship communication and satisfaction, and overall well-being using a multi-study approach. Results from three exploratory studies using multiple methodologies revealed a positive association between erotica, BDSM behaviors, and physical satisfaction, but brought attention to the relatively little information available for women who are interested in practicing alternative sexual behaviors. Practical suggestions for social scientists and mental health professionals are provided.     

Proper methodologies for psychological and sociological studies conducted via the Internet

This paper outlines specific methodologies for conducting research via computer networks. We discuss advantages of Internet experimentation over previous modes of telecommunication-facilitated research and characterize features of studies that can benefit from Internet access and those which are unlikely to. We point out pitfalls and suggest a range of potential solutions in terms of specific practical techniques for managing the design, dissemination, and collection of Internet materials. We also discuss techniques for minimizing attrition and for adapting to recalcitrance presented by “hacker” vandalism.     

Concepts and methods of explicit marital negotiation training with the marriage contract game

Abstract

The Marriage Contract Game was designed to help couples negotiate relationship and task problems in an explicit, rational manner. This paper describes the game's conceptual ties to modes of behavioral family intervention and to the social psychology of bargaining. The game's procedures are described in detail to permit the replication and dismantling required for empirical investigation. The paper concludes with an example of the game's application to a distressed couple.     

The representational status of pretence: Evidence from typical development and autism

The question of whether understanding pretend play requires meta‐representational skill was examined among typically developing children and individuals with autism. Participants were presented with closely equated true and false pretence trials in which they had to judge a protagonist's pretend reading of a situation, which either matched or differed from their own. Results showed that individuals' theory of mind abilities determined their performance on false, but not true, pretence trials. These findings imply that meta‐representation is involved when an individual has to make sense of a pretend state of mind that differs from their own, but, crucially, they also show that pretend play can often be understood without meta‐representational competence.     

The Italian job?: Comparing theory of mind performance in British and Italian children

Cross‐cultural research on theory of mind is relatively recent and largely restricted to comparisons of children from Western versus non‐Western samples; much less is known about variation within Western cultures. This study compared 5‐ to 6‐year‐olds from Britain and Italy (matched for age, verbal age, gender, and maternal education; N = 140), on tests tapping children's understanding of 1st and 2nd order false belief and mixed emotions. Overall, British children outperformed Italian children; group differences were clearest for tests of false‐belief understanding. These results are discussed in relation to contrasts in family talk about mental states, schooling, language comprehension, and cultural factors in Britain and Italy.     

Nostalgic recollections of high and low narcissists

Two functions of nostalgia are consistently documented in the literature: self-positivity and social connectedness. These reflect agency and communion, respectively. Such dimensions are polarized no more than in narcissists, who are high in agency and low in communion. In three studies we tested whether high and low narcissists differ in the content of nostalgic recollections, whether they become nostalgic about different objects, and whether nostalgia serves different functions for them. High (versus low) narcissists made more agentic references in their narratives and manifested nostalgic proclivity toward agentic objects. Furthermore, nostalgia served a self-positivity function, but not a social connectedness function, for high (versus low) narcissists. Findings highlight the relevance of personality—narcissism, in particular—for the experience of nostalgia.