Affective priming of nonaffective semantic categorization responses

Recent studies have shown that robust affective priming effects can be obtained when participants are required to categorize the targets on the basis of their valence, but not when participants are asked to categorize the targets on the basis of nonaffective features. On the basis of this pattern of results, it has been argued that affective priming is due to processes that operate at a response selection stage rather than to processes that operate at an encoding stage. We demonstrate (a) that affective priming of nonaffective semantic categorization responses can be obtained when participants assign attention to the affective stimulus dimension, and (b) that affective priming in the standard evaluative categorization task is strongly reduced when participants assign attention to nonaffective stimulus features. On the basis of these findings, we argue (a) that processes operating at an encoding stage do contribute to the affective priming effect, and (b) that automatic affective stimulus processing is reduced when participants selectively attend to nonaffective stimulus features.     

Meta-analysis of the association between rumination and reduced autobiographical memory specificity

The CaRFAX model, proposed by Williams J. M. G. (2006. Capture and rumination, functional avoidance, and executive control (CaRFAX): Three processes that underlie overgeneral memory. Cognition and Emotion, 20, 548–568. doi:10.1080/02699930500450465; Williams, J. M. G., Barnhofer, T., Crane, C., Herman, D., Raes, F., Watkins, E., &; Dalgleish, T. (2007). Autobiographical memory specificity and emotional disorder. Psychological Bulletin, 133(1), 122–148. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.122) posits that reduced autobiographical memory specificity, a key factor associated with the emergence and maintenance of emotional disorders, may result from heightened rumination. We provide the first meta-analysis of the relation between autobiographical memory specificity and trait rumination. PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES and MEDLINE databases were searched and the following were extracted: the correlation between the number of specific memories recalled in the Autobiographical Memory Test and self-reported trait rumination scores, and its sub-factors – brooding and reflection. The pooled effect size for the correlation between memory specificity and trait rumination was small (d?=??.05) and did not differ significantly from zero (p?=?.09). The effect sizes for the correlation with brooding and reflection were not significantly different from zero. There is limited support for the association between trait rumination and memory specificity suggested in CaRFAX.     

Pre-extinction of sensory preconditioned electrodermal activity

In the present study, sensory preconditioning of human electrodermal activity was demonstrated. In the first phase of the experiment, two pairs of neutral pictures of human faces were presented (A/B and C/D) sequentially. In the second phase, one picture of one pair was immediately followed by an electrocutaneous stimulus (B+), and one picture of the other pair was not (D-). In the third phase the other picture of each pair (A and C) was tested. The effect of A and C alone presentations (pre-extinction) between the first and the second phase was investigated. When only those participants that showed reliable B+/D- differentiation were considered, the extinction group did not show stronger conditioned electrodermal activity to A than to C, whereas the control group did. These findings suggest that sensory preconditioning of anticipatory/preparatory responding only occurs when the pre-conditioned stimulus (A) actually predicts the conditioned stimulus (B).     

Context Matters,but How Much? Latent state–trait analysis of cognitive ability assessments

Cognitive abilities are thought to represent temporally stable constructs, however, accumulating evidence suggests that effects of the measurement situation could affect its measurement (e.g., effects of test motivation, stress level). The present study modeled these effects explicitly in a latent variables approach. In contrast to previous studies, we investigated participants (job candidates) in repeated high‐stakes settings (N = 188). We found that cognitive ability measurements in high‐stakes settings not only reflect a stable latent trait and random measurement error, but also systematic effects of the test setting. Our results support the application of cognitive ability tests in organizational contexts but have implications for its use in applied settings such as personnel selection.