Using addition to solve large subtractions in the number domain up to 20

This study examined 25 university students’ use of addition to solve large single-digit subtractions by contrasting performance in the standard subtraction format (12 − 9 = .) and in the addition format (9 + . = 12). In particular, we investigated the effect of the relative size of the subtrahend on performance in both formats. We found a significant interaction between format, the magnitude of the subtrahend (S) compared to the difference (D) (S > D vs. S < D), and the numerical distance between subtrahend and difference. When the subtrahend was larger than the difference and S and D were far from each other (e.g., 12 − 9 = .), problems were solved faster in the addition than in the subtraction format; when the subtrahend was smaller than the difference and S and D were far from each other (e.g., 12 − 3 = .), problems were solved faster in the subtraction than in the addition format. However, when the subtrahend and the difference were close to each other (e.g., 13 − 7 = .), there were no significant reaction time differences between both formats. These results suggest that adults do not rely exclusively and routinely on addition to solve large single-digit subtractions, but select either addition-based or subtraction-based strategies depending on the relative size of the subtrahend.     

Regulatory focus and attitudes to migrants

In two studies we examined the role of two regulatory foci (i.e., prevention and promotion) in predicting Australian's attitudes to different types of migrants. According to regulatory focus theory, promotion-focused self-regulation is concerned with nurturance and accomplishment needs and involves the pursuit of wishes and aspirations. As such, it results in sensitivity to positive outcomes and to relative pleasure from gains. On the other hand, prevention-focused self-regulation is concerned with security needs and is directed at meeting duties and obligations. As such, it results in sensitivity to negative outcome and relative pain from losses. In Study 1, as predicted, the extent of promotion focus (i.e., a concern with accomplishment and the pursuit of ideals) predicted more positive attitudes to culturally similar and economically beneficial migrants, whereas the extent of prevention focus (i.e., concern with security and meeting obligations) predicted more negative attitudes to migrants who are culturally dissimilar. In Study 2 we replicated and extended these findings, showing that the extent of promotion focus and a lack of concern with threats predicted positive attitudes to both culturally similar and economically beneficial migrants, which, in the case of the latter group, was mediated by a focus on the benefits these migrants provide. In the case of culturally dissimilar migrants, the extent of promotion focus and a concern with gains predicted more positive attitudes. However, for economically less beneficial migrants, neither the extent of promotion nor prevention focus was a predictor. Only lower concerns with threat predicted more positive attitudes to this migrant group. The results are discussed with respect to other determinants of attitudes to migrants and the implications for migration and asylum-seeker policy.     

A Comparative Study of Mystical Experience Among Christian,Muslim, and Hindu Students in Tamil Nadu,India

Hood developed a Mysticism Scale based on the theoretical work of Stace. The scale was tested by Hood and others in a comparative perspective. Using an abridged version of Hood's Mysticism Scale, we join the debate with a study of a much larger number of Christian, Muslim, and Hindu respondents (1,920 college students) living in Tamil Nadu, India. Our empirical analysis yields a moderately reliable model of mystical experience that permits comparison between the three religious traditions. We argue for the usefulness of a comparative model of vertical mysticism that combines with the complementary common characteristics of noetic quality and ineffability. Vertical mysticism has a revelatory, ineffable character and is comparable in the experience of adherents of the Christian, Islamic, and Hindu traditions.     

The Influence of Emotional Dissonance on Subjective Health and Job Satisfaction: Testing the Stress–Strain–Outcome Model

We adopted the stress–strain–outcome model ( Koeske & Koeske, 1993 ) to examine the influence of work stressors on subjective health and job satisfaction among Chinese service employees. Two independent studies were reported. In the first study, 271 employees provided cross‐sectional data on work characteristics, emotional dissonance, work strain, and job satisfaction. Structural equation modeling showed that work characteristics were related to emotional dissonance, which, in turn, was associated with work strain, with the latter eventually predicting job satisfaction. Study 2 was a 3‐month longitudinal survey with a separate sample of 155 call‐center and retail‐shop representatives. Longitudinal data showed that emotional dissonance at Time 1 significantly predicted work strain at Time 2, which predicted job satisfaction at Time 2.     

Being Hopeful and Continuing to Move Ahead: Religious Coping in Iranian Chemical Warfare Poisoned Veterans,a Qualitative Study

There is a substantial number of Iranian war veterans, exposed to sulfur mustard, who suffer from serious long term progressive health problems involving their respiratory organs, eyes, and skin. Little is known, however, about these casualties’ experiences of living with the consequences of sulfur mustard poisoning. This qualitative study aims to provide greater insight into how war veterans live with the consequences of the poisoning and involved 17 Iranian war veterans who had been poisoned by sulfur mustard during the Iran–Iraq conflict. Each participant was interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule and the data generated through this process was analyzed using constant comparative data analysis technique. Data analysis resulted in “religious beliefs and practices” as a main category, which included two sub-categories: religious value centered life and religious support. Findings suggest that religious belief assists veterans to accept the impact of poisoning on their lives and adapt their lifestyles accordingly, to participate in religious social activities and feel socially supported, and to be hopeful about the future and live their lives as fully as possible.     

RT to tactile stimuli presented ipsi- and contralaterally to the responding hand

Subjects had to react with the hand which received a tactile stimulus (uncrossed condition) or with the hand opposite to the hand which received the stimulus (crossed condition). Four experiments were conducted. In the first three, subjects knew which hand would receive the stimulus and which hand would have to respond. In the first two experiments, subjects reacted to a simple tactile stimulus while in the third subjects had to perform a tactile discrimination before responding. No significant differences in RT under the crossed and uncrossed conditions were observed in the first three experiments. In the fourth experiment, subjects did not know which hand would receive the stimulus, and they also did not know which hand would have to respond. Under these conditions, large significant differences in RT between the crossed and uncrossed condition emerged.

The study includes a criticism of a simple structural interpretation of interhemispheric transmission time (IHTT) as proposed by Bashore (1981). Support is provided for the view that in paradigms of the kind used here, allocation of attention to a psychologically defined hemispace is a more important factor in observed RT than structural links between stimulus and response mechanisms.     

Cognitive,Emotional, and Language Processes in Disclosure

Previous studies have found that writing about upsetting experiences can improve physical health. In an attempt to explain this phenomenon, 72 first-year college students were randomly assigned to write about either their thoughts and feelings about coming to college or about superficial topics for three consecutive days. Measures of language use within the writing samples and cognitive measures of accessibility and schematic organisation were collected in the weeks before and after writing. As in previous studies, writing about college was found to reduce health centre visits for illness and to improve subjects' grade point average. Text analyses indicated that the use of positive emotion words and changes in words suggestive of causal and insightful thinking were linked to health change. Improved grades, although not linked to these language dimensions, were found to correlate with measures of schematic organisation of college-relevant themes. Implications for using written language to understand cognitive and health processes are discussed.     

Relating covariation information to causal dimensions through principles of contrast and invariance

This paper examines the proposition that covariation information guides judgments about the dimensionality of attributions on the basis of causal principles of contrast and invariance, which are derived from Mill's methods of difference and agreement respectively. It is argued that the standard attribution categories specified in earlier research (e.g. person, occasion and stimulus) represent just one extreme of the attributional dimensions and require the principle of contrast, whereas additional attributional categories reflecting the opposite extreme of the dimensions (e.g. external, stable, general) require the principle of invariance. In three studies, subjects were given covariation information, and were asked to rate the properties of the likely cause along the dimensions of locus, stability, globality and control. In line with the predictions, consensus with others, consistency in time, distinctiveness between stimuli and contingency of one's actions showed the strongest effects on judgments of locus, stability, globality and control respectively. Similar results were obtained in a fourth study, where subjects had to judge the influence of eight causes with varying dimensional properties. Moreover, these judgments were rated somewhat higher given causes requiring the principle of invariance rather than the principle of contrast.