Effect of forced laughter on mood

This study examined the effect of a brief period of forced laughter on the mood of adults. Participants (N=17) rated their mood before and after 1 min. of forced laughter. Although the participants generally rated their mood as positive prior to the intervention, after forced laughter more participants rated positive affect significantly higher.     

PRISONER'S MISTRUST

The standard, non‐repeated prisoner's dilemma poses no true dilemma about rationality, we argue. What the prisoners ought rationally to do, unless they are selfless, depends on the relationship of trust that they have or lack with one another. This helps to diffuse the apparent conflict between individual and collective rationality. If the prisoners have reason to trust one another, pursuing a joint strategy would be rational for them. In the absence of trust, pursuing an individual strategy would be rational. The solution that is supposed to be puzzling – because each prisoner confessing is worse for both than the alternative on which both remain silent – is simply the rational solution for persons who have no reason to trust one another. Philosophers have been misled by the apparent availability of the better alternative. Collective rationality is not relevant for persons who do not stand in a trusting relationship. When they do, there is no unresolved conflict between their individual and collective points of view. ¹ 1 We thank Virginia Held and Michael W. Klein for helpful discussion and the Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics, Harvard University for generous fellowship support.
     

Fluency misattribution and visual hindsight bias

We tested a fluency-misattribution theory of visual hindsight bias, and examined how perceptual and conceptual fluency contribute to the bias. In Experiment 1a observers identified celebrity faces that began blurred and then clarified (Forward baseline), or indicated when faces that began clear and then blurred were no longer recognisable (Backward baseline). In surprise memory tests that followed, observers adjusted the degree of blur of each face to match what the faces looked like when identified in the corresponding baseline condition. Hindsight bias was observed in the Forward condition: During the memory test observers adjusted the faces to be more blurry than when originally identified during baseline. These same observers did not show hindsight bias in the Backward condition: Here, they adjusted faces to the exact blur level at which they identified the faces during baseline. Experiment 1b tested a combined condition in which faces were viewed in a Forward progression at baseline but in a Backward progression at test. Hindsight bias was observed in this condition but was significantly less than the bias observed in the Experiment 1a Forward condition. Experiments 1a and 1b provide support for the fluency-misattribution account of visual hindsight bias: When observers are made aware of why fluency has been enhanced (i.e., in the Backward condition) they are better able to discount it, and as a result show reduced or no hindsight bias. In Experiment 2, observers viewed faces in a Forward progression at baseline and then in a Forward upright or inverted progression at test. Hindsight bias occurred in both conditions, but was greater for upright than inverted faces. We conclude that both conceptual and perceptual fluency contribute to visual hindsight bias.     

On-line control of pointing is modified by unseen visual shapes

Shapes that are rendered invisible through backward masking are still able to influence motor responses: this is called masked priming. Yet it is unknown whether this influence is on the control of ongoing action, or whether it merely influences the initiation of an already-programmed action. We modified a masked priming procedure (Schmidt, 2002) such that the critical prime-mask sequence was displayed during the execution of an already-initiated goal-directed pointing movement. Psychophysical tests of prime visibility indicated that the identity of the prime shapes were not accessible to participants for conscious report. Yet detailed kinematic analysis of the finger in motion revealed that masked primes had an influence on the pointing trajectories within 277ms of their appearance, 56ms earlier than the trajectory deviations observed in response to the visible masks. These results indicate that subliminal shapes can indeed influence the control of ongoing motor activity.     

Inferior colliculus lesions impair eyeblink conditioning in rats

The neural plasticity necessary for acquisition and retention of eyeblink conditioning has been localized to the cerebellum. However, the sources of sensory input to the cerebellum that are necessary for establishing learning-related plasticity have not been identified completely. The inferior colliculus may be a source of sensory input to the cerebellum through its projection to the medial auditory thalamus. The medial auditory thalamus is necessary for eyeblink conditioning in rats and projects to the lateral pontine nuclei, which then project to the cerebellar nuclei and cortex. The current experiment examined the role of the inferior colliculus in auditory eyeblink conditioning. Rats were given bilateral or unilateral (contralateral to the conditioned eye) lesions of the inferior colliculus prior to 10 d of delay eyeblink conditioning with a tone CS. Rats with bilateral or unilateral lesions showed equivalently impaired acquisition. The extent of damage to the contralateral inferior colliculus correlated with several measures of conditioning. The findings indicate that the contralateral inferior colliculus provides auditory input to the cerebellum that is necessary for eyeblink conditioning.     

Patients with schizophrenia demonstrate dissociation between affective experience and motivated behavior

Self-reported emotional experience does not differ between patients with schizophrenia and healthy individuals, suggesting that the anhedonia in schizophrenia instead reflects decoupling of affect from motivated behavior. In 2 behavioral conditions, participants with schizophrenia and healthy participants were able to prolong or decrease exposure to stimuli while stimuli were present or alter the likelihood of future exposure to stimuli on the basis of internal representations. They also provided self-reports of affective experience. Patients showed weaker correspondence between behavior and ratings than did comparison participants. The effect was amplified when patients responded on the basis of internal rather than evoked stimulus representations. These data suggest that the motivational deficits in schizophrenia reflect problems in the ability to translate experience into action.     

The Varieties of Forgiveness Experience: Working toward a Comprehensive Definition of Forgiveness

The definition of forgiveness was explored in a group of 270 young adults, and the underlying dimensions of their definitions compared with those of philosophers, theologians and psychological researchers. Three dimensions were identified: orientation (self, other), direction (passive letting go of negative experiences, active enhancement of positive experiences) and form (emotion, cognition and behavior). Definitions employing a passive letting go of negative experiences were associated with more state forgiveness. Gender differences were found in state forgiveness and in the employment of passive vs. active dimensions of forgiveness. Dr. Kathleen A. Lawler-Row is Professor of Psychology at East Carolina University. Her work focuses on the physiological and health correlates of forgiveness. Correspondence to Dr. K. A. Lawler-Row, e-mail: rowk@ecu.edu. Cynthia Scott and Meirav Edlis-Matityahou are graduate students in the Experimental and Counseling (respectively) programs at the University of Tennessee. Rachel Raines and Erin Moore are undergraduate students working with Dr. Lawler-Row in the department of psychology.     

Attachment and cognitive skills: An investigation of mediating mechanisms

Associations between maternal attachment patterns and cognitive skills at first grade were examined, and mediators of identified associations tested using Phase I and II data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Care and Youth Development, a prospective study of 1364 children and families from birth through sixth grade. There were three main findings. First, ambivalent and insecure/other attachment patterns were negative predictors of cognitive skills. Second, the association between ambivalent attachment and cognitive skills was mediated by children's behaviors related to testing. Third, the association between insecure/other attachment and cognitive skills was mediated by children's exploration, maternal instruction, children's social relationships, and children's behaviors related to testing. Implications for attachment theory and education are discussed.