Recalled aspects of original encoding strategies influence episodic feelings of knowing

We tested the hypothesis that the feeling of knowing (FOK) after a failed recall attempt is influenced by recalling aspects of the original encoding strategy. Individuals were instructed to use interactive imagery to encode unrelated word pairs. We manipulated item concreteness (abstract vs. concrete) and item repetitions at study (one vs. three). Participants orally described the mediator produced immediately after studying each item, if any. After a delay, they were given cued recall, made FOK ratings, and attempted to recall their original mediator. Concreteness and item repetition enhanced strategy recall, which had a large effect on FOKs. Controlling on strategy recall reduced the predictive validity of FOKs for recognition memory, indicating that access to the original aspects of encoding influenced FOK accuracy. Confidence judgments (CJs) for correctly recognized items covaried with FOKs, but FOKs did not fully track the strategy recall associations with CJs, suggesting emergent effects of strategy cues that were elicited by recognition tests but not accessed at the time of the FOK judgment. In summary, cue-generated access to aspects of the original encoding strategy strongly influenced episodic FOKs, although other influences were also implicated.     

Adolescents’ neural response to social reward and real-world emotional closeness and positive affect

Feeling emotionally close to others during social interactions is a ubiquitous and meaningful experience that can elicit positive affect. The present study integrates functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to investigate whether neural response to social reward (1) is related to the experience of emotional closeness and (2) moderates the association between emotional closeness and positive affect during and following social interactions. In this study, 34 typically developing adolescents (ages 14–18 years) completed a social-reward fMRI task, a monetary-reward fMRI task, and a 2-week EMA protocol regarding their social and affective experiences. Adolescents with greater right posterior superior temporal sulcus/temporoparietal junction (pSTS/TPJ) response to social reward reported greater mean momentary emotional closeness. Neural response to social reward in the right pSTS/TPJ moderated how strongly momentary emotional closeness was associated with both concurrent positive affect and future peak happiness, but in different ways. Although emotional closeness had a significant positive association with concurrent positive affect among adolescents at both high and low right pSTS/TPJ response based on a follow-up simple slopes test, this association was stronger for adolescents with low right pSTS/TPJ response. In contrast, emotional closeness had a significant positive association with future peak happiness among adolescents with high right pSTS/TPJ response, but not among those with low right pSTS/TPJ response. These findings demonstrate the importance of neural response to social reward in key social processing regions for everyday experiences of emotional closeness and positive affect in the context of social interactions.     

The Association Between Strength of Religious Faith and Coping with American Terrorism Regarding the Events of September 11, 2001

This study examined the association between strength of religious faith and coping with the terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001, the resulting war in Afghanistan, and subsequent anthrax attacks. The participants included 97 students from a West Coast Catholic university. Measures included the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire, the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, the Symptom Check List-90-Revised, the Impact of Event Scale, a 10-point stress, coping, and importance of faith scale, and an author-developed questionnaire assessing demographic as well as qualitative questions regarding coping with terrorism. Results suggest that strength of religious faith was not associated with coping with terrorism.     

Type-D personality and body image in men: The role of exercise status

The ‘Distressed’ or Type-D personality is described by the interaction between high levels of negative affectivity and social inhibition. This study investigated the prevalence of Type-D personality in men of different exercise status, the association between Type-D and body image perceptions, and the moderating effect of exercise status. Participants were 564 British males aged between 18 and 55 years. Of these 200 were classified as sedentary, 148 as active and 216 as weight trainers. Participants completed the DS14 and Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire. Results showed that more individuals were classified as Type-D in the sedentary group (45%) than the two active groups, and in the weight training (24.5%) than the active (14.2%) group. Both Type-D and a sedentary lifestyle were associated with a significantly poorer body image. However, exercise mode was not associated with body image differences. Sedentary Type-D men scored significantly lower in Body Areas Satisfaction and higher in Self-Classified Weight than both active groups. Regular exercise might provide a pathway for Type-D men to develop a more positive body image.     

Pubertal development and behavior: Hormonal activation of social and motivational tendencies

Adolescence is a time of dramatic changes including rapid physical growth, the onset of sexual maturation, the activation of new drives and motivations, and a wide array of social and affective changes and challenges. This review focuses on behavioral changes in this interval and is organized by the claim that a key set of these adolescent changes are part of a more general re-orientation of social behavior. More specifically we hypothesize that pubertal maturation is associated with the activation of social and motivational tendencies, which in turn influence behavior and emotion in adolescence depending upon interactions with social context. We focus on evidence for two examples of these motivational changes: (1) increases in sensation-seeking (motivational tendency to want to experience high-intensity, exciting experiences) and (2) stronger natural interest in—and pursuit of—contact with peers and potential romantic partners. We consider how these motivational changes contribute to the broader social re-orientation of adolescence, including exploration of social experiences, development of skills and knowledge relevant to taking on adult social roles, individuation from family, and establishment of an individual identity, all of which represent core developmental tasks during this period in the life span ( 9, 16 and 62). The paper also emphasizes the importance of investigating and understanding the direct influences of puberty on behavior and disentangling these from the broader set of changes during adolescent development.     

Working memory training in older adults: evidence of transfer and maintenance effects

Few studies have examined working memory (WM) training-related gains and their transfer and maintenance effects in older adults. This present research investigates the efficacy of a verbal WM training program in adults aged 65-75 years, considering specific training gains on a verbal WM (criterion) task as well as transfer effects on measures of visuospatial WM, short-term memory, inhibition, processing speed, and fluid intelligence. Maintenance of training benefits was evaluated at 8-month follow-up. Trained older adults showed higher performance than did controls on the criterion task and maintained this benefit after 8 months. Substantial general transfer effects were found for the trained group, but not for the control one. Transfer maintenance gains were found at follow-up, but only for fluid intelligence and processing speed tasks. The results are discussed in terms of cognitive plasticity in older adults.     

The Dynamic Interplay Between Satisfaction With Intimate Relationship Functioning and Daily Mood in Low‐Income Outpatients

Substantial research supports bidirectional links between intimate relationship discord and individual psychopathology, including depressive symptoms. However, few studies have utilized daily diary methods to capture the micro‐level processes underlying the association between couple discord and depression, particularly among populations that are at elevated risk for both interpersonal and individual dysfunction. To address this gap, we examined whether daily changes in satisfaction with relationship functioning were associated with daily changes in negative affect and positive affect over the span of 2 weeks among mental health outpatients of low socioeconomic status. Participants were 53 low‐income outpatients from community mental health clinics who completed a semi‐structured interview about the quality of their intimate relationships followed by 14 daily reports of positive and negative mood and satisfaction with relationship functioning across several domains. Growth curve analytic techniques revealed the hypothesized bidirectional relations. Decline in satisfaction with relationship functioning predicted escalation in negative affect and deterioration in positive affect over 2 weeks, and deterioration of mood predicted declining satisfaction with relationship functioning. This study extends existing knowledge about couple dysfunction and individual psychopathology by highlighting the immediate nature of this dynamic process as it unfolds over time.     

Optische Versuche über Ruhe und Bewegung

Ohne Zusammenfassung Mit 20 Textabbildungen. Dissertation der Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakult?t Frankfurt a. M.