Semantic priming of person recognition: Categorial priming may be a weaker form of the associative priming effect

An interactive activation and competition account (Burton, Bruce, & Johnston, 1990) of the semantic priming effect in person recognition studies relies on the fact that primes and targets (people) have semantic information in common. However, recent investigations into the type of relationship needed to mediate the semantic priming effect have suggested that the prime and target must be close associates (e.g., Barry, Johnston, & Scanlan, 1998; Young, Flude, Hellawell, & Ellis, 1994). A review of these and similar papers suggests the possibility of a small but non-reliable effect based purely on categorial relationships. Experiment 1 provided evidence that when participants were asked to make a name familiarity decision it was possible to boost this small categorial effect when multiple (four) primes were presented prior to the target name. Results from Experiment 2 indicated that the categorial effect was not due to the particular presentation times of the primes. This boosted categorial effect was shown to cross domains (names to faces) in Experiment 3 and persist in Experiment 4 when the task involved naming the target face. The similarity of the pattern of results produced by the associative priming effect and this boosted categorial effect suggests that the two may be due to the same underlying mechanism in semantic memory.     

The Psychological Well-Being of Women in Their Middle Years

In summary, educated, married women in their fifties generally appear to be happy regardless of their employment status, age, so-cioeconomic status, educational level, husband's attitude, life stressors, and menopausal symptoms. The empty nest transition does not seem to be anything near a universal problem for well-educated middle-aged women. It may, however, act as a "trigger event" for women with other significant problems, just as illness or retirement might trigger distress in some women. The empty nest transition does appear to be very important to women, but it seems that coping ability may be predictive of who will successfully deal with the adjustment. One implication of this finding for psychologists dealing with women in this stage is to teach general coping skills and apply them to specific problem areas relevant to this life stage such as empty nest, career decisions, retirement planning, health care, religion, recreation, and financial security.     

Can Computer‐Mediated Interventions Change Theoretical Mediators of Safer Sex? A Meta‐Analysis

The purpose of this study was to conduct a meta‐analysis of computer‐mediated interventions (CMIs) aimed at changing theoretical mediators of safer sex. Meta‐analytic aggregation of effect sizes from k = 20 studies indicated that CMIs significantly improved HIV/AIDS knowledge, d = .276, p < .001, k = 15, N = 6,625; sexual/condom attitudes, d = .161, p < .001, k = 12, N = 5,816; and condom self‐efficacy, d = .186, p < .001, k = 10, N = 3,308. Although assessed in fewer studies, CMIs also significantly increased perceived susceptibility, condom communication, and condom intentions. Effect sizes were found to be of similar magnitude to human‐delivered interventions. Exploratory analysis of moderating influences detected few significant variables. Implications for the development and testing of CMIs are discussed.