Crossmodal action selection: Evidence from dual-task compatibility

Response-related mechanisms of multitasking were studied by analyzing simultaneous processing of responses in different modalities (i.e., crossmodal action). Participants responded to a single auditory stimulus with a saccade, a manual response (single-task conditions), or both (dual-task condition). We used a spatially incompatible stimulus-response mapping for one task, but not for the other. Critically, inverting these mappings varied temporal task overlap in dual-task conditions while keeping spatial incompatibility across responses constant. Unlike previous paradigms, temporal task overlap was manipulated without utilizing sequential stimulus presentation, which might induce strategic serial processing. The results revealed dual-task costs, but these were not affected by an increase of temporal task overlap. This finding is evidence for parallel response selection in multitasking. We propose that crossmodal action is processed by a central mapping-selection mechanism in working memory and that the dual-task costs are mainly caused by mapping-related crosstalk.     

Processing approaches to cognition: The impetus from the levels-of-processing framework

Processing approaches to cognition have a long history, from act psychology to the present, but perhaps their greatest boost was given by the success and dominance of the levels-of-processing framework. We review the history of processing approaches, and explore the influence of the levels-of-processing approach, the procedural approach advocated by Paul Kolers, and the transfer-appropriate processing framework. Processing approaches emphasise the procedures of mind and the idea that memory storage can be usefully conceptualised as residing in the same neural units that originally processed information at the time of encoding. Processing approaches emphasise the unity and interrelatedness of cognitive processes and maintain that they can be dissected into separate faculties only by neglecting the richness of mental life. We end by pointing to future directions for processing approaches.     

Remembering all that and then some: Recollection of autobiographical memories after a 1-year delay

We have previously shown that repeated retrievals of remote autobiographical memories over the course of one month led to an overall increase in reported detail (Nadel, Campbell, & Ryan, 2007). The current study examined the retrieval of those same memories 1 year later in order to determine whether the level of detail remained stable or whether the memories returned to their original state. Participants reported even more details than they had recalled at least 1 year earlier, including new details that were reported for the first time. This finding was consistent across both multiple and single retrieval conditions, suggesting that the critical factor leading to the increase in recall was the passage of time. These findings provide evidence for long-term effects of repeated retrieval on memory content.     

The Effects of Note-Taking and Review on Sensemaking and Ethical Decision Making

The effectiveness of case-based learning in ethics education varies widely regarding how cases are presented. Case process instruction may impact case-based ethics education to promote sensemaking processes, ethical sensemaking strategy use, and ethical decision making (EDM) quality. This study examined two teaching techniques, notes and review, and participants completed note-taking and review activities examining a case-based scenario during an ethics education course. Results suggest that providing case notes in outline form improves sensemaking processes, strategy use, and EDM quality. In addition, combining processes of provided notes and passive review results in incremental, additive performance via certain ethical sensemaking strategies and EDM quality.     

A comparison of Asians', Hispanics', and Whites' restaurant tipping

Asians and Hispanics are perceived by many restaurant servers as poor tippers. This study tests the validity of those perceptions using data from a large restaurant chain's online customer satisfaction survey. Findings partially support servers' perceptions—Hispanics but not Asians tipped less on average than Whites after controlling for bill size, the customer's own ratings of service quality, and other variables. Discussion centers around the differences between these findings and those of a previous study and on the practical implications of the findings for restaurant managers.     

The Hemispheric Lateralization for Processing Geometric Word/Shape Combinations: The Stroop-Shape Effect

The authors conducted 4 experiments to test whether hemispheric lateralization occurs for the processing of geometric word–shape combinations. In 3 experiments, participants responded to geometric shapes combined with geometric words (square, circle, triangle). In the 4th experiment, stimuli were combinations of geometric shapes and nongeometric words. The authors predicted that it would take longer to respond in incongruent conditions (e.g., the word “square” combined with the shape of a circle) than in congruent conditions. The authors found the strongest incongruency effects for the dominant hemisphere—that is, the left hemisphere for responding to words and the right hemisphere for responding to shapes. A Shape Interfering Properties hypothesis (SIP) is a possible explanation for these results.     

Spatial Learning from Different Positions in a Room

Communication and role-taking skills were hypothesized to be positively affected by amount of preschool peer experience. Twenty Ss comprised two groups of 4-year-old boys and girls who differed in amount of preschool peer experience but were similar in age and verbal IQ. Intercorrelations among measures, as well as group differences, were assessed for two role-taking measures, a referential communication task, verbal expressive abilities, and peer-reported popularity. Cognitive egocentrism was low across tasks for both groups. Support for the role-taking construct was provided by significant correlations between tasks with IQ partialled out. Role-taking and communication skills were significantly related, although the contribution of verbal IQ to both was substantial. Significant group differences occurred in communication, but not role-taking skills. Findings are interpreted in terms of generalization of social experience to social tasks.     

The Assessment of Alexithymia in Medical Settings: Implications for Understanding and Treating Health Problems

The construct of alexithymia encompasses the characteristics of difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing feelings, externally oriented thinking, and a limited imaginal capacity. These characteristics are thought to reflect deficits in the cognitive processing and regulation of emotions and to contribute to the onset or maintenance of several medical and psychiatric disorders. In this article, we review recent methods for assessing alexithymia and examine how assessing alexithymia can inform clinical practice. Alexithymia is associated with heightened physiological arousal, the tendency to notice and report physical symptoms, and unhealthy compulsive behaviors. Alexithymic patients may respond poorly to psychological treatments, although perhaps not to cognitive-behavioral techniques, and it is unclear whether alexithymia can be improved through treatment. Interpretive problems regarding alexithymia include its overlap with other traits, whether it is secondary to illness or trauma, the possibility of subtypes, and low correlations among multiple measures. Nonetheless, we encourage the assessment of alexithymia in applied settings.     

rethinking domestic violence in theory and practice

Drawing on the author's previous work, this article suggests that conceptual advantages result from envisioning domestic violence on a larger continuum of “normalized” to “extreme” sadomasochistic interactions (including gendered interactions that can also range from “ordinary” to “deviant” in how they are perceived). Thereafter, it may be harder to ignore how redressing social inequities involving gender as well as racial and class imbalances can amount, at least in terms of prevention, to anti-domestic violence measures of one important kind. More concretely, proceeding from the assumption that domestic violence remains disturbingly common (even though its exact scope is difficult to ascertain), this article contrasts how this social problem would best be approached in theory and how it often continues to be dealt with in practice. In making this comparison, a cursory review of recent policy developments in this area, from mandatory arrest policies and laws (and the criticisms these have engendered) to more recent interest in restorative justice and collaborative empowerment, is presented and incorporated into the paper's larger argument.     

An Empirical Test of the Relationship Between Employee Theft and Low Self-Control

Although Gottfredson and Hirschi (1987, 1990 Gottfredson , M. and T. Hirschi . 1990. A General Theory of Crime . Stanford , CA : Stanford University Press. [Google Scholar]) maintain that low self-control can account for white-collar/corporate offending, there have been few and inconclusive empirical tests in this area. One area of white-collar crime, in particular, which could benefit from an examination of the role of low self-control in predicting offending, is employee theft. Although employee theft is one of the more costly and pervasive crimes impacting the American economy each year, there has been very little research examining the role of individual characteristics and personality traits in predicting this type of deviant behavior. The current research is a preliminary attempt at integrating the two bodies of literature, employee theft and low self-control.