Unconscious symmetrical inferences: A role of consciousness in event integration

Explicit and implicit learning have been attributed to different learning processes that create different types of knowledge structures. Consistent with that claim, our study provides evidence that people integrate stimulus events differently when consciously aware versus unaware of the relationship between the events. In a first, acquisition phase participants sorted words into two categories (A and B), which were fully predicted by task-irrelevant primes-the labels of two other, semantically unrelated categories (C and D). In a second, test phase participants performed a lexical decision task, in which all word stimuli stemmed from the previous prime categories (C and D) and the (now nonpredictive) primes were the labels of the previous target categories (A and B). Reliable priming effects in the second phase demonstrated that bidirectional associations between the respective categories had been formed in the acquisition phase (A<-->C and B<-->D), but these effects were found only in participants that were unaware of the relationship between the categories! We suggest that unconscious, implicit learning of event relationships results in the rather unsophisticated integration (i.e., bidirectional association) of the underlying event representations, whereas explicit learning takes the meaning of the order of the events into account, and thus creates unidirectional associations.     

Differential age effects on attention-based inhibition: inhibitory tagging and inhibition of return

The purpose of this study was to determine whether 2 forms of attentional inhibition, inhibition of return (IOR) and inhibitory tagging, are differentially affected by the aging process. The authors tested 24 younger adults (mean age = 22 years) and 24 older adults (mean age = 69 years) on a combined IOR and Stroop task (Vivas & Fuentes, 2001). As predicted, younger adults' performance was consistent with inhibitory tagging of objects at inhibited locations. Although older adults demonstrated intact IOR, there was no evidence of inhibitory tagging. The results suggest that age deficits in inhibition are selective.     

An examination of the antecedents and moderator influences of climate strength

The authors tested 3 hypotheses regarding the antecedents and moderator influences of climate strength (CS; the degree of within-unit agreement of climate perceptions). The sample consisted of 197 work units. Social interaction among unit members showed positive, statistically significant correlations with CS in goals orientation and innovation climate. Work-unit leaders' informing behavior was positively correlated with CS in the 3 climate facets measured (i.e., support, goals orientation, and innovation). CS in innovation moderated the impact of work units' innovation climate on average satisfaction and commitment. CS in goals orientation moderated the influence of work units' goal orientation on average commitment. The moderator influences showed the expected direction: CS fostered the influence of work units' climate on the criterion variables.     

Motivation in sport: an achievement goal perspective in young Spanish recreational athletes

This study examined the relationship between goal orientations, perceived motivational climate, enjoyment, satisfaction, perception of ability, and preference for tasks with different levels of difficulty in Spanish athletes. To measure these variables 323 recreational athletes completed the Spanish versions of the Perception of Success Questionnaire, Perception of Significant Others' Sport Success Criteria Questionnaire, Enjoyment/Boredom scale, and Satisfaction in Sport Questionnaire. To measure perception of ability, athletes responded to two items reflecting a general perception and a comparative perception of their ability. Finally, preference for a task of different difficulty was measured by two items reflecting preference for easy and for challenging tasks. Analysis showed that scores on a positive ego orientation and negative task orientation were associated with maladaptive motivational patterns in sport. Such patterns involve lower perceptual ability, preference for easy tasks, and less enjoyment and satisfaction in sport activities.     

Stroop interference is affected in inhibition of return

In previous research, we have shown that the processing of targets that are presented to locations subject to inhibition of return (IOR) is affected by an inhibitory tagging mechanism. This mechanism acts by disconnecting activated representations of stimuli at inhibited locations from their associated responses. In two experiments, we assessed whether this inhibitory tagging mechanism of visual attention is also applied to task-irrelevant but prepotent dimensions of target stimuli, such as words in the Stroop task. To test this hypothesis, we examined the Stroop effect in an IOR procedure. The results showed that (1) IOR can be found in a color discrimination task, (2) the Stroop interference was reduced (Experiment 1) or eliminated (Experiment 2) when stimuli appeared at cued locations, as compared with cases in which they were presented at uncued locations, and (3) the effect of inhibitory tagging was limited to the shortest stimulus onset asynchrony value, replicating previous findings. These results agree with the idea that inhibitory tagging, occurring in IOR, affects the efficiency with which color words compete for responses in Stroop-like situations.     

Semantic priming in the prime task effect: Evidence of automatic semantic processing of distractors

The automaticity of the semantic processing of words has been questioned because of the reduction of semantic priming when the prime word is processed nonsemantically--for example, in letter search (the prime task effect). In two experiments, prime distractor words produced semantic priming in a subsequent lexical decision task, but with the direction of priming (positive or negative) depending on the prime task. Lexico-semantic tasks produced negative semantic priming, whereas letter search produced positive semantic priming. These results are discussed in terms of task-based inhibition. We argue that, given the results from the distractors, the absence of semantic priming does not indicate an absence of semantic activation but reflects the action of control processes on prepotent responses when less practiced responses are needed.     

Standardization of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised in a Spanish prison sample

This investigation examined the reliability, validity, and factor structure of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) in male adult Spanish prison populations (n = 117). The interrater reliability and internal consistency coefficients were high, and similar to those obtained in other countries. This data provides support for the homogeneity and unidimensionality of the psychopathy construct in Spanish male prison samples. The analysis of factor structure also replicated the two factor solution of previous studies. The two factors showed different patterns of intercorrelations with several self-report measures of personality, demographic, and criminal history variables, which confirmed the construct validity of PCL-R. The results confirm the psychometric properties of the PCL-R as a measure of psychopathy in Spanish male inmates, and suggest that psychopathy is a construct also observed in Southern European countries.     

DISTINCTIVELY HUMAN? MEANING-MAKING AND WORLD SHAPING AS CORE PROCESSES OF THE HUMAN NICHE

Part of the task in studying human evolution is developing a deep understanding of what we share, and do not share, with other life, as a mammal, a primate, a hominin, and as members of the genus Homo. A key aspect of this last facet is gained via the examination of the genus Homo across the Pleistocene. By at least the later Pleistocene members of the genus Homo began to habitually insert shared meaning into and onto their world forming one of the bases of contemporary human abilities to develop a distinctive human niche and human culture. Meaning-laden cultural dynamics constitute the core of a ubiquitous semiotic ecosystem, which in turn structures the architecture of the complex niches and niche construction processes that characterize humanity today. Here, I offer a summary of Pleistocene evolution of the genus Homo and an argument for when and how that extensive and distinctive capacities for shared meaning-making and a particularly dynamic niche construction emerged.     

Risk factors associated with eating disorders in Mexican preadolescents with normal weight

This study aimed to identify the differences in body self-esteem, general self-esteem and eating attitudes in a representative sample of children, aged 9-12 years, attending school in México DF. The logistic regression model incorporated the variables of sex, general self-esteem, BMI, age and discrepancy between the perceived image and the ideal image. Participants with an increased risk of eating disorders were girls: a) with less general self-esteem; b) BMI at the upper range of normal weight; c) greater negative discrepancy between perceived and ideal image; d) aged 11-12 years. Higher general self-esteem would act as a protector for eating disorders, while the desire for a thinner ideal body would be a risk factor.     

Measuring well-being among Spanish older adults: development of a simplified version of Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-being

Two studies were designed to develop and obtain information about the psychometric properties of a shortened 54-item, Spanish version of Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-being adapted to older people. In Study 1, 267 older people completed the scales, and data were submitted to a principal components analysis. Then, 22 items were selected and grouped into four components (Self-confidence, Orientation to present, Stress, and Social tension) to form the Simplified Ryff's Well-being Scales. In Study 2, the new scales were administered to 107 older people. While internal consistency estimates were similar to those generally obtained for the 54-item scale, results extracted from a confirmatory factor analysis did not support any factorial model. Although the simplified scales can distinguish between conceptually different approaches to well-being, further studies are needed to obtain estimates of reliability and validity.