Alexithymia, Cumulative Feedback, and Differential Response Patterns on the Iowa Gambling Task

ABSTRACT Although the role of emotional processing is central to contemporary models of risky decision making, to date the role of trait emotional understanding has not been explored experimentally in this context. The current experiment ( N =326) explores the role of alexithymia with respect to performance on the standard Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and a version where cumulative financial feedback is obscured. Standard learning on the IGT was observed for those low in alexithymia. Those high in alexithymia learned to avoid disadvantageous decks over the first half of the task. However, over the later trials they showed a change in performance, shifting from advantageous to disadvantageous and back to advantageous decks again (termed an "explore-learn-change-return" strategy). It is argued that this is due to an inability to fully consolidate earlier learning and reduced sensitivity to losses. The absence of cumulative feedback independently resulted in reduced performance.     

Extending SME to Handle Large‐Scale Cognitive Modeling

Analogy and similarity are central phenomena in human cognition, involved in processes ranging from visual perception to conceptual change. To capture this centrality requires that a model of comparison must be able to integrate with other processes and handle the size and complexity of the representations required by the tasks being modeled. This paper describes extensions to Structure‐Mapping Engine (SME) since its inception in 1986 that have increased its scope of operation. We first review the basic SME algorithm, describe psychological evidence for SME as a process model, and summarize its role in simulating similarity‐based retrieval and generalization. Then we describe five techniques now incorporated into the SME that have enabled it to tackle large‐scale modeling tasks: (a) Greedy merging rapidly constructs one or more best interpretations of a match in polynomial time: O(n²log(n)); (b) Incremental operation enables mappings to be extended as new information is retrieved or derived about the base or target, to model situations where information in a task is updated over time; (c) Ubiquitous predicates model the varying degrees to which items may suggest alignment; (d) Structural evaluation of analogical inferences models aspects of plausibility judgments; (e) Match filters enable large‐scale task models to communicate constraints to SME to influence the mapping process. We illustrate via examples from published studies how these enable it to capture a broader range of psychological phenomena than before.     

Hope for the Future and Avoidance of the Present: Associations with Well-being in Older Adults

Positive psychology and third wave cognitive behavioral therapy approaches have seldom been applied to older adults. This study therefore examined whether two concepts drawn from these areas, hope for the future and avoidance in the present, were associated with well-being in a sample of 259 older adults (65–94 years). Hope was measured as a stable trait. Experiential avoidance was measured as avoidance of present internal and external events. Respondents also completed two well-being measures: hedonic (positive and negative affect) and eudeimonic (meaning in life). Path analyses showed that high hope was significantly associated with high positive affect, and high meaning in life; and high experiential avoidance was associated with high negative affect and low meaning in life. This was also true when both (hope and avoidance) were taken into account, along with sociodemographic variables and perceived health. Many of the pathways between hope and well-being, and between experiential avoidance and well-being appear to be bidirectional. However the path from hope to positive affect was stronger than that from positive affect to hope. Further research is needed to clarify each of these points. Both hope for the future and lack of avoidance in the present are important for well-being in older adulthood and interventions targeting these processes may enhance positive aging and contribute to a sense of having a meaningful life.     

Do humans prefer altruistic mates? Testing a link between sexual selection and altruism towards non‐relatives

Humans are often seen as unusual in displaying altruistic behaviour towards non‐relatives. Here we outline and test a hypothesis that human altruistic traits evolved as a result of sexual selection. We develop a psychometric scale to measure mate preference towards altruistic traits (the MPAT scale). We then seek evidence of whether mate choice on the basis of altruistic traits is present and find it in one study (N=170 couples). We also predict that a stronger female MPAT, as measured by responses to the MPAT scale, will be expressed – a result found in all three studies (Ns=380, 340, and 398). Both sets of results are consistent with the hypothesized link between human altruism towards non‐relatives and sexual selection.     

Influences on Counselor Race Preferences: Distinguishing Black Racial Attitudes From Black Racial Identity

The authors examined differential contributions of Black racial identity and racial attitudes toward Whites in determining counselor preferences. Results indicated that racial attitudes accounted for a significant portion of the variance in same‐race counselor preference. In addition, Black racial attitudes were distinguished from racial identity as independent contributors to counselor preferences. Los autores examinaron contribuciones diferenciales de indentidad racial y actitudes raciales de individuos Negros hacia Blancos para determinar las preferencias por un consejero u otro. Los resultados indicaron que las actitudes raciales se hallaban detrás de una porción significativa de la varianza en la preferencia por un consejero de la misma raza. Además, las actitudes raciales de individuos Negros se distinguieron de la identidad racial como factores independientes de influencia en las preferencias por ciertos consejeros.     

Temporal dynamics of guilt: changes in the role of interpersonal and intrapsychic factors

Baumeister, Stillwell and Heatherton (1994) argue that guilt serves primarily interpersonal functions and take issue with more traditional intrapsychic accounts of guilty feelings, in which causality, responsibility, and blame are emphasized. We examined the validity of these claims by asking 198 college students to imagine that they destroyed the valued property of either their best friend or mother, under each of three conditions of causal responsibility (accidental, foreseeable, unjustifiably intended). They then rated the reactions they anticipated from the victim (anger, disappointment; change in impression of the perpetrator), their perceived blameworthiness, aspects of causality, and how guilty they would feel immediately after perpetrating the harm as well as an entire day later. Imagined guilt was curvilinearly related to responsibility at time 1, but linearly at time 2. Results suggest that people only weigh interpersonal concerns more heavily after time has elapsed, but that both factors integrally affect feelings of guilt. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A randomized clinical trial of three prompting systems to teach tact relations

Prompts are commonly used during discrete trial teaching for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Three commonly used prompting systems include constant time delay, most-to-least prompting, and flexible prompt fading. Most of the research demonstrating the effectiveness of these three prompting strategies have been completed through the use of single subject experimental designs. Some within the field of behaviorally based approaches to ASD interventions have called for more randomized clinical trials of these approaches. The purpose of the present study was to compare these 3 prompting systems to teach tact relations for 27 individuals diagnosed with ASD through a randomized clinical trial without a control group with respect to pre–post responding, generalization, sessions to mastery, and responding during teaching. Overall, minimal differences were observed across the 3 systems. The results are discussed with respect to future research and clinical application of the methods evaluated.