The time for doing is not the time for change: effects of general action and inaction goals on attitude retrieval and attitude change

Implicit in many informal and formal principles of psychological change is the understudied assumption that change requires either an active approach or an inactive approach. This issue was systematically investigated by comparing the effects of general action goals and general inaction goals on attitude change. As prior attitudes facilitate preparation for an upcoming persuasive message, general action goals were hypothesized to facilitate conscious retrieval of prior attitudes and therefore hinder attitude change to a greater extent than general inaction goals. Experiment 1 demonstrated that action primes (e.g., "go," "energy") yielded faster attitude report than inaction primes (e.g., "rest," "still") among participants who were forewarned of an upcoming persuasive message. Experiment 2 showed that the faster attitude report identified in Experiment 1 was localized on attitudes toward a message topic participants were prepared to receive. Experiments 3, 4, and 5 showed that, compared with inaction primes, action primes produced less attitude change and less argument scrutiny in response to a counterattitudinal message on a previously forewarned topic. Experiment 6 confirmed that the effects of the primes on attitude change were due to differential attitude retrieval. That is, when attitude expression was induced immediately after the primes, action and inaction goals produced similar amounts of attitude change. In contrast, when no attitude expression was induced after the prime, action goals produced less attitude change than inaction goals. Finally, Experiment 7 validated the assumption that these goal effects can be reduced or reversed when the goals have already been satisfied by an intervening task.     

Naïve definitions of action and inaction: The continuum,spread, and valence of behaviors

The cohesiveness of a society depends, in part, on how its individual members manage their daily activities with respect to the goals of that society. Hence, there should be a degree of social agreement on what constitutes action and what constitutes inaction. The present research investigated the structure of action and inaction definitions, the evaluation of action versus inaction, and individual differences in these evaluations. Action–inaction ratings of behaviors and states showed more social agreement at the ends of the inaction–action continuum than at the middle, suggesting a socially shared construal of this definition. Action–inaction ratings were also shown to correlate with the valence of the rated behaviors, such that the more active the behavior, the more positive its valence. Lastly, individual differences in locomotion, need for closure, and Christian religious beliefs correlated positively with a preference for action. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Being active and impulsive: The role of goals for action and inaction in self-control

Although self-control often requires behavioral inaction (i.e., not eating a piece of cake), the process of inhibiting impulsive behavior is commonly characterized as cognitively active (i.e., actively exerting self-control). Two experiments examined whether motivation for action or inaction facilitates self-control behavior in the presence of tempting stimuli. Experiment 1 used a delay discounting task to assess the ability to delay gratification with respect to money. Experiment 2 used a Go/No-Go task to assess the ability to inhibit a dominant but incorrect motor response to the words ??condom?? and ??sex??. The results demonstrate that goals for inaction promote self-control, whereas goals for action promote impulsive behavior. These findings are discussed in light of recent evidence suggesting that goals for action and inaction modulate physiological resources that promote behavioral execution.     

Phonological coding in reading comprehension: The importance of individual differences

Abstract

In two experiments, texts were presented word by word at a fixed pace to subjects high or low in test anxiety, under various concurrent interference conditions: no interference, articulatory suppression, finger tapping, unattended meaningful speech, reversed (meaningless) speech and nonword (meaningless) speech. High-anxiety subjects produced overt articulation more frequently than low-anxiety subjects, especially in the speech conditions. There was an interaction between anxiety and interference on comprehension performance: Conditions thought to interfere with phonological coding (i.e. articulatory suppression and nonword speech) were detrimental to comprehension for high but not for low-anxiety subjects; in contrast, there were no differences in comprehension performance as a function of anxiety under conditions causing no (proper) phonological interference (i.e. no interference, finger tapping and reversed speech). There were mixed results in the meaningful speech condition, partly attributable to its semantic interference component. These findings reveal that the use and importance of phonological coding in reading comprehension vary with differences in test anxiety-high-anxiety subjects are vulnerable to disruptive effects on phonological coding. This suggests that high-anxiety individuals are especially likely to resort to speech-based coding during reading, and that phonological coding has a compensatory role for them.     

Memory retrieval in treating adult survivors of sexual abuse

Abstract

Therapists working with adult survivors of sexual abuse must be sensitive to the powerful ambivalence such clients have toward addressing their victimization. They fear experiencing the significant emotional turmoil which occurs in therapy and the powerful loyalty conflicts they encounter in their families-of-origin. Establishing rapport and allowing clients to set the pace for disclosing and addressing their abuse are critical components of the therapy process. The authors describe effective Ericksonian approaches for establishing these critical treatment elements. Ericksonian techniques for utilizing the client's internal resources and retrieving repressed memories are also discussed, followed by case examples illustrating specific hypnotic methods.     

Gender differences in children's divergent thinking

Block's theory (1984) of gender differences was examined to determine if it could explain inconsistencies in the reports of gender differences and the personality correlates of creativity in children. Additionally, an investigation of 244 gifted children in grades 4 to 8 is described. Two divergent thinking tests, each with a familiar and an unfamiliar item, were used to test cognitive style. The Dependency Proneness Test was used to measure independence, and the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation‐Behavior Children was used to measure social orientation. No gender differences were found on the measures of personality and cognitive style, and no significant association was found between cognitive style and personality. The results were discussed in light of the moderating influence of sex‐role flexibility and the relative freedom boys and girls experience in peer groups and play.     

Why are Wise People Happier? An Explanatory Model of Wisdom and Emotional Well-Being in Older Adults

This research investigated the relation between wisdom and emotional well-being in older adults, with an aim to elucidate pathways of positive development in adulthood. Three-hundred and sixty recently retired individuals completed a series of questionnaires including measures of wisdom, dispositional coping, perceived control, life engagement, and positive and negative affect. Structural equation modeling controlling for social desirability, health, and sociodemographic variables revealed that problem-focused coping, positive reappraisal coping, perceived control and life engagement mediate the positive relation between wisdom and positive affect. In addition, perceived control and life engagement, but not dispositional coping, were found to mediate the negative relation between wisdom and negative affect. The results demonstrate that higher levels of perceived control and life engagement in conjunction with an increased use of problem-focused and positive reappraisal coping account for the enhanced emotional well-being associated with wisdom. Findings are discussed in terms of the characteristics of wise individuals that promote positive aging.     

Utilidad de ambientes en el estudio de mapas cognitivos

Resumen

Los objetivos de este estudio son, primero manipular varios parámetros estructurales como la «tipicidad semántica», la «densidad métrica» y el «trazado de calles». Segundo, analizar la influencia de los atributos semánticos de los edificios y el tipo de aprendizaje ambiental en la adquisición del conocimiento ambiental. Además, se utilizaron mapas urbanos ficticios para manipular los parámetros físicos de un contexto urbano. En el primer experimento, cuando se presentaban los atributos semánticos, las estimaciones de distancias eran significativamente más precisas que cuando no se ofrecían los atributos. En un segundo experimento, se pusieron a prueba las dos hipótesis de «tipicidad semántica» (Sadalla, Burroughs y Staplin, 1980) y «densidad métrica» (Hoyoak y Mah, 1982). Los resultados mostraron que las distorsiones estaban influidas principalmente por la densidad. Sin embargo, no había efecto de las otras variables físicas: tipicidad y estructura urbana. Se concluye que los mapas ficticios pueden producir un aprendizaje comparable al adquirido por experiencia directa.     

Los efectos placebo en la psicología experimental y clínica

RESUMEN

Este trabajo comienza planteando que el término “placebo” se ha convertido en un cajón de sastre en el que los autores engloban diferentes, y a menudo opuestas y dispares, concepciones. Después de destacar la atención creciente a los efectos placebo en la psicología actual y la tendencia a la convergencia entre distintos enfoques en psicoterapia, la autora aborda las divergencias y dificultades para definir placebo aludiendo a concepciones de diferentes autores y centrándose en el planteamiento de Grünbaum (1985). Avia coincide con Brody (1985) en que el problema de nuestro desconocimiento sobre qué sea placebo afecta, recíprocamente, a nuestra falta de conocimiento sobre lo que debe considerarse terapia, ofreciendo algunas reflexiones en torno a posibles explicaciones de este fenómeno y destacando la débil frontera que separa éstas de las explicaciones sobre ciertas variables cognitivas. La autora concluye la presentación de este dossier afirmando que será a partir de la elaboración teórica y el trabajo de investigación como podremos profundizar en el conocimiento del fenómeno placebo.     

Associating versus proposing or associating what we propose: comment on Gawronski and Bodenhausen (2006)

This commentary highlights the strengths of the associative-propositional evaluation model. It then describes problems in proposing a qualitative separation between propositional and associative processes. Propositional processes are instead described as associative. Propositions are ordered associations, whereas many other associations do not depend on the order of the involved elements. Implications of this alternative definition for the phenomenology of thought and for social psychology are discussed.