Self‐Report and Psychophysiological Responses to Fear Appeals

This study was designed to assess the relationship between self‐report and psychophysiological responses to fear appeals and behavioral changes elicited by these. Ninety‐two subjects watched one of four messages that varied in level of threat (high vs. low) and efficacy (high vs. low). Concomitantly, psychophysiological measures (heart rate and skin conductance) were registered. Perceived threat and efficacy varied according to the characteristics of the message. High‐threat messages elicited significantly different levels of autonomic arousal than low‐threat messages. Following of behavioral recommendation was higher among subjects who were exposed to the high threat / high efficacy stimulus, those who reported high perceived threat, and for those who showed an autonomic response pattern related to the facilitation of attentional processes.     

The Message of a Bottle: A Discussion of “Trump Cards and Klein Bottles: On the Collective of the Individual”

Relational psychoanalysis’ promise is to connect the personal and the collective/political. Through a phenomenological approach, this comment attempts to describe the subjective effects of the “Great History” in the analytic couple dynamics. Starting from the concepts of intersubject, vinculo and the one-to-many forms of relations –proposed by Francisco González– it expatiates on “resonance” as a way to recover fragments of experience shattered by trauma and “consonance” as a means to visualize this phenomena in other collectives, as a trans-collective experience. The piece invites the possibility of creating new analytic experiential object: the Klein Bottle. By entangling the individual with the multiple and history with the present, it opens new dimensions of meaning. It can be used both to deconstruct a fixated pleat of subjectivity and to open new forms of polyphonic relationality. This approach is offered as a path through which we analysts can rejoin to the march of history.     

Language Measurement Equivalence of the Ethnic Identity Scale With Mexican American Early Adolescents

The current study considers methodological challenges in developmental research with linguistically diverse samples of young adolescents. By empirically examining the cross-language measurement equivalence of a measure assessing three components of ethnic identity development (i.e., exploration, resolution, and affirmation) among Mexican American adolescents, the study both assesses the cross-language measurement equivalence of a common measure of ethnic identity and provides an appropriate conceptual and analytical model for researchers needing to evaluate measurement scales translated into multiple languages. Participants are 678 Mexican-origin early adolescents and their mothers. Measures of exploration and resolution achieve the highest levels of equivalence across language versions. The measure of affirmation achieves high levels of equivalence. Results highlight potential ways to correct for any problems of nonequivalence across language versions of the affirmation measure. Suggestions are made for how researchers working with linguistically diverse samples can use the highlighted techniques to evaluate their own translated measures.     

Causality and Contingency: Some Conceptual Considerations

The Psychological Record - The logical features of causality (necessary connection, succession, and contiguity) are examined in regard to respondent and operant behaviors. It is emphasized that...     

Effects of making errors in learning a foreign language

ABSTRACT

Kornell, Hays, and Bjork ([2009]. Unsuccessful retrieval attempts enhance subsequent learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 35, 989–998) showed that incorrect guesses do not necessarily harm and might even improve the retention of information on a subsequent test. We sought to replicate the finding using educationally relevant stimuli. In two experiments, our participants either translated sentences in a foreign language receiving immediate feedback (errorful condition), or copied and studied the correct translation (errorless condition). After this training phase, a final test with the same sentences showed that translating sentences wrongly during training did not lower the accuracy of the errorful as compared to the errorless condition. Overall there was evidence that errorful training produced superior learning of the meaning and grammar of the foreign language sentences. The results support the idea that search processes activate a greater network of related knowledge in the errorful than in the errorless condition.     

Glycosylated Hemoglobin Level,Race/Ethnicity,and Cognition in Midlife and Early Old Age

Empirical evidence linking racial/ethnic differences in glycosylated hemoglobin levels (HbA1c) to cognitive function in midlife and early old age is limited. We use biomarker data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS, 2006–2014), on adults 50–64 years at baseline (57–73 years by 2014), and fit multinomial logistic regression models to assess the association between baseline HbA1c, cognitive function (using Langa–Weir classifications) and mortality across 8 years. Additionally, we test for modification effects by race/ethnicity. In age- and sex-adjusted models high HbA1c level was associated with lower baseline cognition and higher relative risk ratios (RRR; vs. normal cognition) for cognitive impairment no dementia (CIND; RRR = 2.3; 95%CI = [1.38;3.84]; p < .01), and dementia (RRR = 4.00; 95%CI = [1.76;9.10]; p < .01). Adjusting for sociodemographic, behavioral risk factors, and other health conditions explained the higher RRR for CIND and attenuated the RRR for dementia by approximately 30%. HbA1c levels were not linked to the slope of cognitive decline, and we found no evidence of modification effects for HbA1c by race/ethnicity. Targeting interventions for glycemic control in the critical midlife period can protect baseline cognition and buffer against downstream development of cognitive impairment. This can yield important public health benefits and reductions in burdens associated with cognitive impairment, particularly among race/ethnic minorities who are at higher risk for metabolic diseases.     

Social cognitive predictors of peer acceptance at age 5 and the moderating effects of gender

In this study we examined the effects of social intelligence, empathy, verbal ability and appearance‐reality distinction on the level of peer acceptance, as well as the moderating role of gender. Participants were 98 five‐year‐old children (43 boys and 55 girls; mean age 5 years 3 months for boys and girls). Our results showed a main effect of social intelligence on peer acceptance, as well as several other effects that were moderated by gender: a significant and positive effect of verbal ability on social acceptance was found for boys; appearance‐reality distinction was found to have a positive effect on social acceptance in the case of girls; and although empathy had a significant positive effect on social acceptance for both boys and girls, this effect was more pronounced among boys. Our results suggest that abilities promoting peer acceptance are different for boys and girls.