Context-dependent activation of reduced autobiographical memory specificity as an avoidant coping style

According to the affect-regulation hypothesis (Williams et al., 2007), reduced autobiographical memory specificity (rAMS) or overgeneral memory (OGM) might be considered a cognitive avoidance strategy; that is, people learn to avoid the emotionally painful consequences associated with the retrieval of specific negative memories. Based on this hypothesis, one would predict significant negative associations between AMS and avoidant coping. However, studies investigating this prediction have led to equivocal results. In the present study we tested a possible explanation for these contradictory findings. It was hypothesized that rAMS (in part) reflects an avoidant coping strategy, which might only become apparent under certain conditions, that is, conditions that signal the possibility of 'danger.' To test this hypothesis, we assessed AMS and behavioral avoidance but experimentally manipulated the instructions. In the neutral condition, two parallel versions of the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) were presented under neutral instructions. In the threat condition, the first AMT was presented under neutral instructions, while the second AMT was presented under 'threat instructions.' Results showed no significant correlations between avoidance and OGM under neutral conditions but significant and markedly stronger correlations under threat conditions, with more avoidance being associated with fewer specific and more categoric memories. In addition, high avoiders showed a stronger reduction in AMS in the threat condition as compared with the neutral condition, while low avoiders showed no such difference between conditions. The data confirm that OGM can be considered as part of a broader avoidant coping style. However, more importantly, they show that, at least in nonclinical individuals, the activation of this coping style may depend on the context.     

Three processes underlying the carry effect in addition--evidence from eye tracking

Recent research indicated that processes of unit-decade integration pose particular difficulty on multi-digit addition. In fact, longer response latencies as well as higher error rates have been observed for addition problems involving a carry operation (e.g., 18 +27) compared to problems not requiring a carry (e.g., 13 +32). However, the cognitive instantiation of this carry effect remained unknown. In the current study, this question was pursued by recording participants' eye fixation behaviour during addition problem verification. Analyses of the eye fixation data suggested a prominent role of the unit digits of the summands. The need for a carry seems to be recognized very early during the encoding of the problem after initial unit sum calculation has established the basis for the no carry/carry detection. Additionally, processes related to the actual carry execution seemed to be associated with the processing of the decade digit of the solution probe but were less unambiguous. Taken together, our findings indicate that unit-based calculations and the associated recognition that a carry is needed as well as its completion determine the difficulty of carry addition problems. On a more general level, this study shows how the nature of numerical-cognitive processes can be further differentiated by the evaluation of eye movement measures.     

Strictly for Evangelical Parenting Support? The Case of Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS)

Parenting poses a unique set of opportunities and challenges for both mothers who work for pay and for those who stay at home across the United States today. Specific types of ??work-family?? mothers?? groups have thus emerged as a way for these parents to provide support, information, and advocacy to one another in friendly communities. This study analyzes the boundary work undertaken by one national Christian mothers?? group, Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS), to maximize its membership base and distinguish it from other work-family mothers?? organizations. In this article, I first probe how MOPS engages in a particular presentation of self that I call ??open evangelism?? to market its organization. Open evangelism combines both an open (nonreligious) and evangelical philosophy to appeal to a diversity of mothers across the country. I then use data collected from 25 in-depth interviews with MOPS members in 2009 in order to assess if and how this open evangelism is, in fact, experienced by members at the chapter level. I find that both open and evangelical themes emerge when members describe the benefits that they receive from joining the group and the challenges presented by parenthood, thereby suggesting that MOPS is successful in its self-presentation. I conclude with MOPS?? prospects for survival and growth in the competitive world of both religious and nonreligious mothers?? organizations.     

The Natural Order of Disorder: Pedophilia,Stranger Danger and the Normalising Family

Over the past two decades critics have challenged the validity of pedophilia as a mental disorder and have implored us to think differently about child sexuality as well as incidences of sexual contact and intimacy between adults and children or adolescents. This growing literature provides compelling evidence against using a medical framework for understanding and responding to pedophilia, yet most people in the English-speaking world still cling to a post-World War Two construction of the pedophile as a dangerous stranger, pathologically unable to control his insatiable sexual desire for young people. This article aims to address this particular dilemma. Drawing on the work of Ann Laura Stoler, it argues that the construction of the pedophile is a vector of normalisation processes, “a tactic in the internal fission of society into binary oppositions, and means of creating ‘biologized’ internal enemies, against whom society must defend itself”. As a social construction, the pedophile persists because it plays an important ideological function in modern society: it affirms the white, middle-class, ‘traditional’ heterosexual family as the ideal site for the production and reproduction of social and political norms.     

Generational differences in young adults' life goals, concern for others, and civic orientation, 1966-2009

Three studies examined generational differences in life goals, concern for others, and civic orientation among American high school seniors (Monitoring the Future; N = 463,753, 1976-2008) and entering college students (The American Freshman; N = 8.7 million, 1966-2009). Compared to Baby Boomers (born 1946-1961) at the same age, GenX'ers (born 1962-1981) and Millennials (born after 1982) considered goals related to extrinsic values (money, image, fame) more important and those related to intrinsic values (self-acceptance, affiliation, community) less important. Concern for others (e.g., empathy for outgroups, charity donations, the importance of having a job worthwhile to society) declined slightly. Community service rose but was also increasingly required for high school graduation over the same time period. Civic orientation (e.g., interest in social problems, political participation, trust in government, taking action to help the environment and save energy) declined an average of d = -.34, with about half the decline occurring between GenX and the Millennials. Some of the largest declines appeared in taking action to help the environment. In most cases, Millennials slowed, though did not reverse, trends toward reduced community feeling begun by GenX. The results generally support the "Generation Me" view of generational differences rather than the "Generation We" or no change views.     

Adjective–noun order as representational structure: Native-language grammar influences perception of similarity and recognition memory

This article describes two experiments linking native-language grammar rules with implications for perception of similarity and recognition memory. In prenominal languages (e.g., English), adjectives usually precede nouns, whereas in postnominal languages (e.g., Portuguese), nouns usually precede adjectives. We explored the influence of such rules upon similarity judgments about, and recognition of, objects with multiple category attributes (one nominal attribute and one adjectival attribute). The results supported the hypothesized primacy effect of native-language word order such that nouns generally carried more weight for Portuguese speakers than for English speakers. This pattern was observed for judgments of similarity (i.e., Portuguese speakers tended to judge objects that shared a noun-designated attribute as more similar than did English speakers), as well as for false alarms in recognition memory (i.e., Portuguese speakers tended to falsely recognize more objects if they possessed a familiar noun attribute, relative to English speakers). The implications of such linguistic effects for the cognition of similarity and memory are discussed.     

Navigating Middle Grades: Role of Social Contexts in Middle Grade School Climate

During early adolescence, most public school students undergo school transitions, and many students experience declines in academic performance and social-emotional well-being. Theories and empirical research have highlighted the importance of supportive school environments in promoting positive youth development during this period of transition. Despite this, little is known about the proximal social and developmental contexts of the range of middle grade public schools US students attend. Using a cross-sectional dataset from the eighth grade wave of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Cohort 1998–1999, the current study examines the middle grade school social context from the perspectives of administrators and teachers in public schools with typical grade configurations (k–8 schools, middle schools, and junior high schools) and how it relates to students’ perceptions of school climate. We find that administrators and teachers in k–8 schools perceive a more positive school social context, controlling for school structural and demographic characteristics. This school social context, in turn, is associated with students’ perceptions of their schools’ social and academic climate. Implications for educational policy and practice are discussed.     

Anger motivates costly punishment of unfair behavior

In this article we provide empirical support for anger as an underlying mechanism of costly punishment in three studies. A first study showed that participants punished other players more the less these players cooperated in a Public Goods Game and that this effect was mediated by experienced anger. A second study showed that participants appraised non-cooperation in a Sequential Trust Game (STG) as more unfair than cooperation and that they imposed more costly punishment on unfair others as compared to fair others. The effect of appraised unfairness on imposed punishment was mediated by anger. Moreover, a third study showed that following an anger induction in an unrelated task, participants imposed more costly punishment on unfair players in a subsequent STG.