Implicit memory bias for eating- and body appearance-related sentences in eating disorders: an application of Jacoby's white noise task

Jacoby's white noise task and an explicit recognition task were used to investigate whether individuals with eating disorders demonstrate implicit memory bias and explicit memory bias, respectively, for information related to eating and body appearance. Included were 33 women with eating disorders (seven with anorexia nervosa and 26 with bulimia nervosa), 29 with nonclinical eating disorder-related concerns, and 36 healthy controls. Results showed partial support for implicit memory bias but no support for explicit memory bias. These findings suggest that eating disorders may be characterized by relative initial automatic bias for eating disorder-relevant information but not by bias at later stages of information processing. However, previous studies have demonstrated explicit memory bias in eating disorders, which is inconsistent with this interpretation. Future research is required to clarify the precise cognitive biases associated with eating disorders.     

Cognitive biases in three prediction tasks: A test of the cognitive model of depression

Cognitive therapy for depression is based on an assumption that depressed individuals have inaccurate, negative biases. Whether this assumption is accurate remains unresolved. Thus, this study sought to examine the relationship between depressive symptoms and bias in three sets of predictions (i.e., predictions of future life events, how one would be rated by a significant other, and performance on a vocabulary test). Following study announcements made to a subset of people pre-screened for depressive symptoms, 85 participants with widely varying depressive symptoms (17 of whom met diagnostic criteria for depression) made predictions on three judgment tasks and the outcomes for these tasks were assessed. Optimistic/pessimistic biases were related to depressive symptoms for each of the three tasks. Participants with high levels of depressive symptoms and depressed participants exhibited substantial pessimistic bias. Those high in depressive symptoms exhibited significant pessimistic bias on all three tasks. Participants meeting diagnostic criteria for depression exhibited pessimistic bias on two of three tasks. There was no evidence that depressive symptoms were associated with greater accuracy in judgments. Results are largely consistent with cognitive models of depression which postulate that depression is associated with pessimistic biases.     

Identität und die Ambivalenz gegenüber Fremdem

Zusammenfassung   Anhand der Erz?hlung Ein altes Blatt und des Films Easy Rider wird die Ambivalenz gegenüber Fremdem aufgezeigt: Liebe (Xenophilie) und Hass (Xenophobie) markieren die beiden Pole. Es geht dann um die Entwicklung eines psychoanalytischen Begriffs des allt?glich-lebensweltlichen Selbstseins, der diese Ambivalenz abbildet. Dazu wird das Konzept der Identit?t herangezogen. über Eriksons Verst?ndnis hinausgehend wird Identit?t nicht nur von ihrer Leistungsseite her gesehen, der Schaffung einer einigerma?en als geordnet und sinnhaft erfahrenen Welt (Positivit?t der Identit?t). Diese Leistung wird zugleich als Abwehr verstanden, wobei das Abgewehrte als der Identit?t ebenfalls zugeh?rig betrachtet wird (Negativit?t der Identit?t). Identit?t ist durch eine konflikthafte Dynamik von Selbsterhaltung und Selbstaufhebung gepr?gt. Im allt?glich-lebensweltlichen Kontext dominiert die Selbsterhaltungstendenz. In der Ambivalenz gegenüber Fremdem spiegelt sich die Dynamik von Selbsterhaltung (Ablehnung) und Selbstaufhebung (Anziehung). Genauer noch ist die Anziehung durch das Fremde als M?glichkeit zu verstehen, das Last- und Zwanghafte der Identit?tspositivit?t zu ver?ndern, d. h. ein Anderer werden zu k?nnen. Auf der Grundlage dieser überlegungen werden zwei Aspekte der Identit?t in der Postmoderne dargestellt: die Entwicklung einer adoleszent anmutenden Identit?tsstruktur und die Bedeutung der enormen Fülle von Fremdem, die die Globalisierung mit sich bringt. Ein Fallbeispiel zeigt, wie sich eine Angstsymptomatik als Ausdruck eines Identit?tswiderstands gegen die durchgreifende ?konomisierung der Arbeitsumgebung verstehen l?sst. Das klinische Material macht deutlich, dass die vorangehenden überlegungen auch für den klinischen Diskurs von Relevanz sind.

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Identity and ambivalence towards the stranger

Abstract   On the basis of the tale An Old Leaf and the movie Easy Rider, it will be shown that people have a deep-seated ambivalence towards what they recognize as extraneous to their own way of being. Xenophilia (attraction, love) and xenophobia (repulsion, hatred) are the two poles of the ambivalence. A psychoanalytic concept of being in one’s own everyday life-world in a way which comprehends the ambivalence of xenophilia and xenophobia is formulated. For this purpose the concept of personal identity is used. In contrast to Erikson identity is not restricted to its function of constituting an inner world for the subject, which is at least to a certain degree ordered and meaningful (positivity of identity). Rather, the positivity of identity is functioning defensively as well. What is fended off is not annihilated mentally, but it belongs to the subject’s identity (negativity of identity). Personal identity is thus conceptualized as a dynamic structure with two opposing forces, viz. identity-maintenance (mirrored in xenophobia), and identity-suspension (mirrored in xenophilia). In postmodernity the structure of identity resembles an adolescent one with the centre of identity shifting from the positivity of identity in the direction of its negativity. Due to processes of globalization there is a growing burden of influences on the subject’s identity that come from beyond the everyday life-world. Case material is presented that shows the clinical relevance of the ideas that have been developed. Severe symptoms of anxiety could be understood as an identity-maintaining resistance by opposing the transformation of the patient’s working conditions for the purpose of short-term economic goals only.

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überarbeitete Fassung eines Vortrags, gehalten anl?sslich der DPG-Jahrestagung „Psychoanalyse in Zeiten der Globalisierung. Struktur und Identit?t im Wandel“, 22.–25. 5. 2008 in München     

Does Acquisitive Self‐Presentation in Personality Self‐Ratings Enhance Validity? Evidence from two experimental field studies

The aim of the present research was to demonstrate that acquisitive self‐presentation in personality scales is not a barrier to their criterion‐related validities in human resource contexts, but rather a means to improve them. A pilot study (Study 1) with 96 job incumbents provided preliminary positive evidence. In Study 2, in the experimental group (n=99), the instructions asked job incumbents to work on a Big‐Five personality inventory (BFI‐K) as if they took part in a personnel selection procedure for a personally very attractive position. In the control group (n=93) of Study 2, job incumbents were asked to answer the inventory items honestly. As expected, the correlation between the self‐ratings of the motive to get along (i.e., which comprises emotional stability, conscientiousness, and agreeableness) and contextual performance assessments was significantly higher in the experimental group than in the control group in Study 2. Additionally, the correlation between the self‐ratings of the motive to get ahead (i.e., which comprises extraversion and openness to experience) and task performance and leadership assessments was significantly higher in the experimental group than in the control group in Study 2. It is proposed that responding to a personality inventory in a human resource decision situation should be conceptualized as a workplace simulation.     

心理治疗效果评定量表（简式）在中、德应用的心理测量学研究

419名中国和德国被试参加了本研究,并回答了若干简式心理健康量表。所选的这套量表能对心理治疗不同阶段的效果（Howard’s阶段模型：重新认识期-转变期-康复期）进行测查。本研究目的在于考察这些简式量表能否用于认知-行为治疗跨文化培训项目中的质量管理。结果显示,这些量表在中德两种文化背景下都有很高的信度和效度（聚合效度和敏感性）。尽管项目间的高相关似乎提示心理健康模型只有一个维度,但探索性因素和理论分析则更支持心理健康是一个分为8个亚维度的模型,其中每个亚维度或者与基础情绪、或者与社会性情感相连关联。本文最后就研究结果及其对心理治疗质量控制的意义进行了详细讨论     

The importance of narcissism in predicting proactive and reactive aggression in moderately to highly aggressive children

The present study examined the importance of psychopathy-linked narcissism in predicting proactive and reactive aggression and conduct problems in a group of 160 moderately to highly aggressive children (mean age of 10 years, 9 months). Children's self-report of self-esteem and parent and teacher report of dimensions of psychopathy [narcissism, callous-unemotional (CU) traits, and impulsivity], proactive and reactive aggression, and conduct problems were collected. Composites of parent and teacher ratings of children's behavior were used. Consistent with the study's hypotheses, narcissism predicted unique variance in both proactive and reactive aggression, even when controlling for other dimensions of psychopathy, demographic variables associated with narcissism, and the alternative subtype of aggression. As hypothesized, impulsivity was significantly associated with only reactive aggression. CU traits were not related to proactive or reactive aggression once the control variables were entered. All dimensions of psychopathy predicted unique variance in conduct problems. Consistent with prediction, narcissism was not significantly related to general self-esteem, providing support that narcissism and self-esteem are different constructs. Furthermore, narcissism and self-esteem related differentially to proactive aggression, reactive aggression, and conduct problems. Furthermore, narcissism but not self-esteem accounted for unique variance in aggression and conduct problems. The importance of narcissism in the prediction of aggressive behaviors and clinical implications are discussed.     

The Role of Simple Semantics in the Process of Artificial Grammar Learning

This study investigated the effect of semantic information on artificial grammar learning (AGL). Recursive grammars of different complexity levels (regular language, mirror language, copy language) were investigated in a series of AGL experiments. In the with-semantics condition, participants acquired semantic information prior to the AGL experiment; in the without-semantics control condition, participants did not receive semantic information. It was hypothesized that semantics would generally facilitate grammar acquisition and that the learning benefit in the with-semantics conditions would increase with increasing grammar complexity. Experiment 1 showed learning effects for all grammars but no performance difference between conditions. Experiment 2 replicated the absence of a semantic benefit for all grammars even though semantic information was more prominent during grammar acquisition as compared to Experiment 1. Thus, we did not find evidence for the idea that semantics facilitates grammar acquisition, which seems to support the view of an independent syntactic processing component.     

From Equality‐Based Respect to Environmental Activism: Antecedents and Consequences of Global Identity

Global identity reflects social identification with the world and the largest, most inclusive human ingroup and is generally associated with behavior that serves the world and all humans, such as transnational cooperation or proenvironmental engagement. While the outcomes of being globally identified are well‐established, the antecedents of global identity are only partially explored. Drawing from research suggesting that respect fosters identification in small groups, we argue that the general experience of being respected as an equal by others increases global identification. In an online study with 469 Germans (students and nonstudents), we tested the relation between equality‐based respect and global identification in a structural equation model, with proenvironmental intentions and donation behavior as outcome variables. As expected, equality‐based respect, but not other forms of social recognition (need‐based care and achievement‐based social esteem), predicted global identity while higher global identity, in turn, predicted proenvironmental activism. These effects were substantial beyond known predictors of proenvironmental behavior and thus suggest that equality‐based respect represents an important facet of responses to global challenges.     

Attention and interpretation processes and trait anger experience,expression, and control

This study explored attention and interpretation biases in processing facial expressions as correlates of theoretically distinct self-reported anger experience, expression, and control. Non-selected undergraduate students (N?=?101) completed cognitive tasks measuring attention bias, interpretation bias, and Spielberger’s State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI-2). Attention bias toward angry faces was associated with higher trait anger and anger expression and with lower anger control-in and anger control-out. The propensity to quickly interpret ambiguous faces as angry was associated with greater anger expression and its subcomponent of anger expression-out and with lower anger control-out. Interactions between attention and interpretation biases did not contribute to the prediction of any anger component suggesting that attention and interpretation biases may function as distinct mechanisms. Theoretical and possible clinical implications are discussed.