The modality effect in false recognition: Evidence for test-based monitoring

False recognition in the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm has been shown to be greater following auditory study than following visual study, but there are competing explanations for this effect. We generalized this phenomenon in Experiment 1, finding an equivalent modality effect for associative (DRM) lists and categorized lists. Because conscious generationand subsequent monitoring of related lures during study is infrequent for categorized lists, this result is inconsistent with the idea that the modality effect is due to a study-based monitoring process. An alternative explanation is that visual study impairs relational processing relative to auditory study, which could cause a modality effect by lowering false recognition of related lures. We tested this idea in Experiment 2, by switching to a meaning-based test that is sensitive only to the retrieval of relational information. A modality effect was not obtained for either type of list on this test. The results from both experiments were predicted by a test-based monitoring account, rather than by the study-based monitoring or relational processing accounts.     

Are nonconscious processes sufficient to produce false memories?

Seamon, Luo, and Gallo (1998) reported evidence that nonconscious processes could produce false recognition in a converging-associates task, whereby subjects falsely remember a nonstudied lure (e.g., sleep) after studying a list of related words (bed, rest, awake...). Zeelenberg, Plomp, and Raaijmakers (2003) failed to observe this false recognition effect when list word recognition was at chance. We critically evaluate the evidence for nonsconscious processing and report the results of a new experiment designed to overcome previous methodological limitations. Consistent with Seamon et al., we found that conscious activation of a related lure during study was not necessary for its subsequent recognition; consistent with Zeelenberg et al., we found no evidence for recognition of related lures under conditions where there was no memory for studied words. It is currently unknown whether conscious recollection of the studied items is necessary for false recognition or if nonconscious activation of the lure is sufficient.     

Hostility and quality of life among Hispanics/Latinos in the HCHS/SOL Sociocultural Ancillary Study

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine if hostility is associated with physical and mental health-related quality of life (QoL) in US. Hispanics/Latinos after accounting for depression and anxiety.

Methods: Analyses included 5313 adults (62% women, 18–75 years) who completed the ancillary sociocultural assessment of the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos. Participants completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, Spielberger Trait Anxiety Scale, Spielberger Trait Anger Scale, Cook–Medley Hostility cynicism subscale and Short Form Health Survey. In a structural regression model, associations of hostility with mental and physical QoL were examined.

Results: In a model adjusting for age, sex, disease burden, income, education and years in the US., hostility was related to worse mental QoL, and was marginally associated with worse physical QoL. However, when adjusting for the influence of depression and anxiety, greater hostility was associated with better mental QoL, and was not associated with physical QoL.

Conclusions: Results indicate observed associations between hostility and QoL are confounded by symptoms of anxiety and depression, and suggest hostility is independently associated with better mental QoL in this population. Findings also highlight the importance of differentiating shared and unique associations of specific emotions with health outcomes.     

Automatic activation of phonological information in reading: Evidence from the semantic relatedness decision task

A semantic relatedness decision task was used to investigate whether phonological recoding occurs automatically and whether it mediates lexical access in visual word recognition and reading. In this task, subjects read a pair of words and decided whether they were related or unrelated in meaning. In Experiment 1, unrelated word-homophone pairs (e.g., LION-BARE) and their visual controls (e.g., LION-BEAN) as well as related word pairs (e.g., FISH-NET) were presented. Homophone pairs were more likely to be judged as related or more slowly rejected as unrelated than their control pairs, suggesting phonological access of word meanings. In Experiment 2, word-pseudohomophone pairs (e.g., TABLE-CHARE) and their visual controls (e.g., TABLE-CHARK) as well as related and unrelated word pairs were presented. Pseudohomophone pairs were more likely to be judged as related or more slowly rejected as unrelated than their control pairs, again suggesting automatic phonological recoding in reading.     

Evidence that nonconscious processes are sufficient to produce false memories

Are nonconscious processes sufficient to cause false memories of a nonstudied event? To investigate this issue, we controlled and measured conscious processing in the DRM task, in which studying associates (e.g., bed, rest, awake...) causes false memories of nonstudied associates (e.g., sleep). During the study phase, subjects studied visually masked associates at extremely rapid rates, followed by immediate recall. After this initial phase, nonstudied test words were rapidly presented for perceptual identification, followed by recognition memory judgments. On the perceptual identification task, we found significant priming of nonstudied associates, relative to control words. We also found significant false recognition of these nonstudied associates, even when subjects did not recall this word at study or identify it at test, indicating that nonconscious processes can cause false recognition. These recognition effects were found immediately after studying each list of associates, but not on a delayed test that occurred after the presentation of several intervening lists. Nonconscious processes are sufficient to cause this memory illusion on immediate tests, but may be insufficient for more vivid and lasting false memories.     

A Study of Religiosity and Psychological Well-being Among African Americans: Implications for Counseling and Psychotherapeutic Processes

This study examined whether a relationship exists between religious orientation as a therapy intervention and the degree of depression, coping behavior and self-esteem among African American adults. In addition, the relationship and predictive power of selected religious and socio-demographic variables and religious orientation as a therapy intervention were studied. African American adults were randomly selected to participate in this empirical study. Age had a significant independent effect on intrinsic religiosity and extrinsic religiosity and a linear relationship was found between extrinsic religiosity and the seven demographic predictor variables at the .05 level of significance.     

The Heart and the Head: On Choosing Experiences Intuitively and Possessions Deliberatively

An enduring question in the field of judgment and decision making is when people are likely to choose on the basis of intuition and when they are likely to pursue a more deliberative decision strategy. Here, we attempt to shed light on that question by examining whether people tend to weight intuition more heavily when making experiential purchases, and to weight deliberation more heavily when making material purchases. Results from seven studies indicate that they do. In Study 1 (and a replication), participants expressed an explicit preference for choosing experiential purchases intuitively and material purchases analytically. In Study 2 (and a replication), participants anticipated experiencing more regret after going against reason for material purchases and going against intuition for experiential purchases. Participants in Study 3 who were asked to think about an experiential purchase wanted to see the relevant information presented by alternative, which facilitates intuitive/holistic processing, more than did those who were asked to consider a material purchase. In two additional studies, participants who were induced to think intuitively chose experiential purchases more often (Study 4) and reported a higher willingness to pay for them (Study 5) compared with participants induced to think analytically. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Baby FaceTime: can toddlers learn from online video chat?

There is abundant evidence for the ‘video deficit’: children under 2 years old learn better in person than from video. We evaluated whether these findings applied to video chat by testing whether children aged 12–25 months could form relationships with and learn from on‐screen partners. We manipulated social contingency: children experienced either real‐time FaceTime conversations or pre‐recorded Videos as the partner taught novel words, actions and patterns. Children were attentive and responsive in both conditions, but only children in the FaceTime group responded to the partner in a temporally synced manner. After one week, children in the FaceTime condition (but not the Video condition) preferred and recognized their Partner, learned more novel patterns, and the oldest children learned more novel words. Results extend previous studies to demonstrate that children under 2 years show social and cognitive learning from video chat because it retains social contingency. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/rTXaAYd5adA     

Association between socioeconomic status and metabolic syndrome in women: testing the reserve capacity model

OBJECTIVE: Low socioeconomic status (SES) environments may impede the development of a bank of resources, labeled reserve capacity, and may also be stressful, thereby depleting available reserves. In consequence, lower SES persons may experience more negative emotions, leading to adverse health consequences. The authors tested the reserve capacity model in relation to the metabolic syndrome. DESIGN: There were 401 initially healthy women who followed longitudinally for 12 years. Self-reported characteristics, stressors, and cardiovascular risk factors were measured repeatedly. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate hypothesized relationships. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Metabolic syndrome factor. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analysis verified reserve capacity as the aggregate of optimism, self-esteem, and social support, and negative emotion as the aggregate of depressive symptoms, anger, and tension. Structural equation modeling showed two pathways to the metabolic syndrome factor, (chi2(59) = 111.729, p < .0001 chi2/df = 1.894; CFI = .956; RMSEA = .047): direct from low SES to the metabolic syndrome factor (B = -0.19, t = -3.24, p = .001); and indirect, from low SES to low reserve capacity to high negative emotions to the metabolic syndrome factor (B = -0.024, t = -2.05, p = .04). CONCLUSION: Low SES may increase risk for metabolic syndrome, in part, through reserve capacity and negative emotions.