Motivation to comply with task rules and multitasking performance: The role of need for cognitive closure and goal importance

In three studies, we examined the role task rules play in multitasking performance. We postulated that rules should be especially important for individuals highly motivated to have structure and clear answers, i.e., those high on need for cognitive closure (NFC). High NFC should thus be related to greater compliance with task rules. Specifically, given high goal importance, NFC should be more strongly related to a multitasking strategy when multitasking is imposed by the rules, and to a mono-tasking strategy when monotasking is imposed by the rules. This should translate into better multitasking or mono-tasking performance, depending on condition. Overall, the results were supportive as NFC was related to a more mono-tasking strategy in the mono-tasking condition (Studies 1 and 2 only) and more dual-tasking strategy in the dual-tasking condition (Studies 1–3). This translated into respective differences in performance. The effects were significant only when goal importance was high (Study 1) and held when cognitive ability was controlled for (Study 2).     

Enhanced involvement of brain vasopressin V1 receptors in cardiovascular responses to stress in rats with myocardial infarction

Stress is one of the factors provoking cardiovascular complications. The purpose of the study was to explore the role of vasopressin (VP) in central control of arterial blood pressure and heart rate under resting conditions and during stimulation by an alarming stress (air jet stress) in myocardial infarct-induced cardiac failure. Six groups of male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were subjected either to sham surgery (sham rats) or to ligation of a left coronary artery (infarcted rats). After 5 weeks both infarcted and sham rats were subjected either to intracerebroventricular infusion of artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) (sham aCSF and infarcted aCSF), [Arg8]-VP (sham VP and infarcted VP) or VP V1a receptor antagonist (d(CH2)5[Tyr(Me)2Ala-]VP, sham V1ANT and infarcted V1ANT). Air jet stress elicited significantly greater increases in mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) and heart rate in the infarcted aCSF than in the sham aCSF rats. Intracerebroventricular infusion of V1ANT significantly reduced resting MABP and MABP and heart rate increases in response to stress in the infarcted but not in the sham rats. Intracerebroventricular infusion of VP elicited a significant increase in resting MABP in the infarcted VP but not in the sham VP rats. The results provide evidence for enhanced engagement of the brain V1 VP receptors in regulation of resting MABP and in generation of exaggerated cardiovascular responses to air jet stress during the post-infarct state.     

Towards a socially situated rumouring: Historical and critical perspectives of rumour transmission

Rumours are an ubiquitous feature of people's social life and one of the oldest topics in social psychology. Rumours, which tend to spread during crisis situations, allow people to mitigate unpleasant feelings and construct a meaning of the surrounding world. Rumour transmission has been associated with a number of specific individual (e.g., anxiety, personal involvement) and situational (e.g., ambiguity, uncertainty) characteristics and studied with the serial reproduction paradigm (Allport & Postman, 1947) in laboratory settings. The main criticism of rumour research has been its focus on primarily individual‐level analyses in an attempt to explain a social phenomenon. Furthermore, the classic serial reproduction paradigm tends to omit the essential properties of interpersonal interactions and communication processes. Despite the recent and rapidly growing trend of social network methods in social and behavioural sciences, rumour research could also include a finer analysis of individuals' social characteristics and the related complexity of real‐life communication processes. Therefore, the integration of a socially situated approach to rumour transmission might be especially relevant for rumour research and promising for the study of other social phenomena by extension.     

Editorial

Editorial Introduction

Editorial     

Patients’ and Parents’ Perceptions of Appearance in Scoliosis Treated with a Brace: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

The perspective of trunk deformity is a matter of special concern for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients. No research group has ever reported interviewing patients and their parents regarding differences in perception of body appearance in the course of Cheneau brace treatment. We aimed to investigate the level of agreement in the field of concerns and perceptions of spinal appearance in relation to brace- and scoliosis-related data between parents and female patients with AIS, treated with a Cheneau brace, by means of the Spinal Appearance Questionnaire-pl (SAQ-pl). In this cross-sectional study forty-one pairs of parents and female patients with AIS were asked to separately complete the Polish versions of the Spinal Appearance Questionnaire-pl patient form (SAQ-pl patient form) and the SAQ-pl parent form. Age of patients was 13.60 years SD 1.60 (range 10–17). Patients scored 2.70 (SD 0.60) and parents scored 2.70 SD 0.60 in the total score of the SAQ-pl. The study groups do not differ significantly in regards to the SAQ-pl results. The percentage of consistent answers on SAQ-pl items ranges from 34.10 % (item 20) to 78 % (item 8). Height, age and brace-wearing time per day, were significantly related to the differences in the patient-parent General perception of body shape (r _s  = ?0.51, r _s  = ?0.34, r _s  = 0.36, respectively). Parents and female patients with AIS have similar concerns and perceptions of spinal appearance. The discrepancies in General perception of spinal appearance between parents and AIS females decrease with age of patient. Parental emotional support may contribute to minimizing the risk factors of psychological impairment, especially in late adolescents with AIS.