The Simon Effect With Wheel-Rotation Responses

The authors examined clockwise and counterclockwise wheel-rotation responses to high- or low-pitched tones presented in participants' (N = 96, Experiment 1; N = 48, Experiment 2; N = 48, Experiment 3) left and right ears. In Experiment 1, a Simon effect (fastest responding when tone location and direction of wheel turn corresponded) was obtained when participants' hands were at the top or middle of the wheel but not at the bottom. With line bottom hand placement, a Simon effect was induced by instructions emphasizing hand movements but not by instructions emphasizing wheel movements (Experiment 2), and by a visual cursor controlled by the wheel but not one triggered by the response (Experiment 3). The results of the experiments showed that the nature of the task and the instructed action goal influence the direction of the Simon effect.     

Ethnic differences in illness perceptions,self-efficacy and diabetes self-care

This study assessed differences between Europeans, South Asians and Pacific Islanders in illness perceptions, self-efficacy, self-care, metabolic control and retinopathy in diabetes. We also evaluated the role of illness perceptions and self-efficacy in diabetes self-care and metabolic control within each group. A total of 86 Europeans, 86 South Asians, and 87 Pacific Islanders with type-2 diabetes completed self-report measures of illness perceptions, self-efficacy and self-care. Metabolic control and retinopathy data were collected from patient records. Results showed that Pacific Islanders and South Asians held shorter illness timeline perceptions compared to Europeans. Relative to both the other groups, Pacific Islanders also had elevated scores on three illness perceptions subscales: consequences, identity and emotional representations. They had lower medication-specific self-efficacy as well as poorer medication self-care, metabolic control and retinopathy. In all three groups, self-efficacy was fairly consistently related to self-care, but not to metabolic control. Illness perceptions were less consistently related to self-care, but were associated with metabolic control.     

Applying multiple models to predict clinicians’ behavioural intention and objective behaviour when managing children's teeth

This study used multiple theoretical approaches simultaneously to predict an objectively measured clinical behaviour. The six theoretical approaches were: The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), Common Sense Self-Regulation Model (CS-SRM), Operant Learning Theory (OLT), Action Planning (AP) and the Precaution Adoption Process (PAP), with knowledge as an additional predictor. Data on variables from these models were collected by postal survey. Data on the outcome behaviour, the evidence-based practice of placing fissure sealants, was collected from clinical records. Participants were 133 dentists (64% male) in Scotland. Variables found to predict the behaviour were: intention, attitude, perceived behavioural control, risk perception, outcome expectancies, self efficacy, habit, anticipated consequences, experienced consequences and action planning. The TPB, SCT, AP, OLT and PAP significantly predicted behaviour but the CS-SRM did not. A combined (Stepwise) regression model included only intention and action planning. Post hoc analyses showed action planning mediated effect of intention on behaviour. Taking a theory-based approach creates a replicable methodology for identifying factors predictive of clinical behaviour and for the design and choice of interventions to modify practice as new evidence emerges, increasing current options for improving health outcomes through influencing the implementation of best practice.     

Application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour in Behaviour Change Interventions: A Systematic Review

This paper reviews studies explicitly applying the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to behaviour change interventions. A systematic and multiple search strategy identified 30 papers, describing 24 distinct interventions. Studies were rarely explicit about use of the TPB. The TPB was mainly used to measure process and outcome variables and to predict intention and behaviour, and less commonly to develop the intervention. Behaviour change methods were mostly persuasion and information, with increasing skills, goal setting, and rehearsal of skills used less often. When reported, half of the interventions were effective in changing intention, and two-thirds in changing behaviour, with generally small effect sizes, where calculable. Effectiveness was unrelated to use of the theory to develop interventions. Evidence about mediation of effects by TPB components was sparse. The TPB may have potential for developing behaviour change interventions, but more comprehensive studies are needed that compare the utility of the TPB with other social cognition models and behavioural techniques.     

Tracking the trajectory of shame, guilt, and pride across the life span

The authors examined age differences in shame, guilt, and 2 forms of pride (authentic and hubristic) from age 13 years to age 89 years, using cross-sectional data from 2,611 individuals. Shame decreased from adolescence into middle adulthood, reaching a nadir around age 50 years, and then increased in old age. Guilt increased from adolescence into old age, reaching a plateau at about age 70 years. Authentic pride increased from adolescence into old age, whereas hubristic pride decreased from adolescence into middle adulthood, reaching a minimum around age 65 years, and then increased in old age. On average, women reported experiencing more shame and guilt; Blacks reported experiencing less shame and Asians more hubristic pride than other ethnicities. Across the life span, shame and hubristic pride tended to be negatively related to psychological well-being, and shame-free guilt and authentic pride showed positive relations with well-being. Overall, the findings support the maturity principle of personality development and suggest that as people age they become more prone to experiencing psychologically adaptive self-conscious emotions, such as guilt and authentic pride, and less prone to experiencing psychologically maladaptive ones, such as shame and hubristic pride.     

Is Happiness Good for Your Personality? Concurrent and Prospective Relations of the Big Five With Subjective Well‐Being

The present research examined longitudinal relations of the Big Five personality traits with three core aspects of subjective well‐being: life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect. Latent growth models and autoregressive models were used to analyze data from a large, nationally representative sample of 16,367 Australian residents. Concurrent and change correlations indicated that higher levels of subjective well‐being were associated with higher levels of Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness, and with lower levels of Neuroticism. Moreover, personality traits prospectively predicted change in well‐being, and well‐being levels prospectively predicted personality change. Specifically, prospective trait effects indicated that individuals who were initially extraverted, agreeable, conscientious, and emotionally stable subsequently increased in well‐being. Prospective well‐being effects indicated that individuals with high initial levels of well‐being subsequently became more agreeable, conscientious, emotionally stable, and introverted. These findings challenge the common assumption that associations of personality traits with subjective well‐being are entirely, or almost entirely, due to trait influences on well‐being. They support the alternative hypothesis that personality traits and well‐being aspects reciprocally influence each other over time.     

Dynamic states in working memory modulate guidance of visual attention: Evidence from an n-back paradigm

Items held in working memory (WM) can automatically bias attention when they reappear in visual displays. Recent evidence, however, suggests that WM biases of attention may be reduced under certain conditions, for example with increasing memory load. We employed a dual task paradigm to investigate how WM biases are affected by dynamic updating of memory contents. 1-back and 2-back versions of a memory task with colour stimuli were interrupted at intervals by an unrelated visual search task. Reappearance in the search display of the item that was currently active in WM guided attention, while suppressed or inactive items did not. We conclude that the rapid updating of memory contents facilitates the shifting of memory representations into different activity states on a moment-to-moment basis. The finding is consistent with models that propose that only one item can be “active” in WM at any one time to guide attention.     

Stressing the mind: the effect of cognitive load and articulatory suppression on attentional guidance from working memory

Four experiments explored the effect of cognitive load on the time course of top-down guidance of attention from working memory (WM). Observers had to search for a target presented among several distractors, with the target and distractor stimuli embedded inside different objects. On half of the trials, one of the distractor objects was cued by a matching item held in WM. When a single item was maintained in memory, search performance was impaired relative to a neutral baseline, where the memory and search displays did not match. These effects of WM on subsequent search were reduced by including a verbal suppression task during the WM and search displays, and by varying the WM load. The degree of competition for resources in WM is a key factor in determining the time course and magnitude of the interaction between WM and visual selection.     

Family caregivers of older relatives: ways of coping and change in distress

The aim of this secondary analysis was to examine the relationships between the ways in which caregivers coped with caregiving stressors and their experience of distress over time. Three coping subscales were derived from the Carers' Assessment of Management Index (CAMI) coping scale: "maintaining balance", "focusing on caregiving" and "avoidance". A proportional (relative) scoring technique was applied. The analysis was based on the responses of 115 pairs of caregivers and care recipients. Care recipients were aged 66-92 years, with no symptoms of dementia, and the majority had mild to moderate hearing impairment. Data were collected at baseline and 6 months later. Caregivers who increased the proportion of strategies endorsed in the "maintaining balance" subscale experienced a decrease in distress, irrespective of change in the proportion of strategies endorsed in the "avoidance" subscale. "Focusing on caregiving" was not significantly related to distress. The results highlight the potential benefits to these caregivers of maintaining a balance in their lives by taking breaks from caregiving.     

Strategies in landmark use by children, adults, and marmoset monkeys

Common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus jacchus), human children, and human adults learned to find a goal that was located in the center of a square array of four identical landmarks. The location of the landmark array and corresponding goal varied across trials, so the task could not be solved without using the landmark array. In Experiment 1, a matrix of discrete goal locations was presented and the landmarks surrounded and were adjacent to the correct location during training. After training, an expansion test was given in which the distance between landmarks was increased. Marmosets, children (ages 5–9), and adults all readily learned to use the landmarks to search accurately during training. On the expansion test, adults uniformly searched in the center of the array. Monkeys and children concentrated their searching near the landmarks rather than in the center. The monkeys, but not the children, searched more often on the directionally appropriate side of the landmarks than on other sides of the landmarks. In Experiment 2, children (ages 3–5) were trained with a continuous search space and with the goal farther from the landmarks so that a beaconing strategy rule could not be used. Several of the children failed to acquire the training task. Of those who learned to find the goal, three searched in the middle on expansion tests but most searched nearer to the landmarks. The “middle rule” strategy that is uniformly used by adult humans does not appear to be a preferred strategy for children or non-human primates.