Emotional expressivity in men and women: Stereotypes and self-perceptions

Three studies were conducted to assess prevalent stereotypes regarding men's and women's emotional expressivity as well as self-perceptions of their emotional behaviour. Emotion profiles were employed to assess both modal emotional reactions and secondary emotional reactions to hypothetical events and personal experiences. In Study 1 we asked how men and women in general would react to a series of hypothetical emotional events. In Study 2 we asked how participants themselves expected to react to these same situations and in Study 3 we asked participants to report a personal emotional event in narrative form. Two gender differences emerged across all three studies. Specifically, women were expected to be more likely to react with sadness to negative emotion-eliciting events in general. They also expected themselves to be more likely to react with sadness as well as to cry and to withdraw more when experiencing negative emotional events. Finally, women report more sadness when describing personal events. In contrast, men were expected to react with more happiness/serenity during negative emotional situations. Also, they expect themselves to react more frequently this way as well as to laugh and smile more and to be more relaxed in negative situations. Finally, men tend to report more happiness when describing negative personal events. In sum, the present study gives a more detailed portrayal of how men and women are expected and expect themselves to react to specific emotional situations and presents some evidence that these expectations may influence the way they reconstruct emotional events from their past.     

Importance effects on performance in event-based prospective memory tasks

In the present study we manipulated the importance of performing two event-based prospective memory tasks. In Experiment 1, the event-based task was assumed to rely on relatively automatic processes, whereas in Experiment 2 the event-based task was assumed to rely on a more demanding monitoring process. In contrast to the first experiment, the second experiment showed that importance had a positive effect on prospective memory performance. In addition, the occurrence of an importance effect on prospective memory performance seemed to be mainly due to the features of the prospective memory task itself, and not to the characteristics of the ongoing tasks that only influenced the size of the importance effect. The results suggest that importance instructions may improve prospective memory if the prospective task requires the strategic allocation of attentional monitoring resources.     

Prospective strategies underlie the control of interceptive actions

The purpose of this study was to test whether a constant bearing angle strategy could account for the displacement regulations produced by a moving observer when attempting to intercept a ball following a curvilinear path. The participants were asked to walk through a virtual environment and to change, if (deemed) necessary, their walking speed so as to intercept a moving ball that followed either a rectilinear or a curvilinear path. The results showed that ball path curvature did indeed influence the participants' displacement kinematics in a way that was predicted by adherence to a constant bearing angle strategy mode of control. Velocity modifications were found to be proportional to the magnitude of target curvature with opposing curvatures giving rise to mirror displacement velocity changes. The role of prospective strategies in the control of interceptive action is discussed.     

Evaluating the MSCEIT V2.0 via CFA: comment on Mayer et al. (2003)

This investigation uncovered several substantial errors in the confirmatory factor analysis results reported by J. D. Mayer, P. Salovey, D. R. Caruso, and G. Sitarenios (see record 2003-02341-015). Specifically, the values associated with the close-fit indices (normed fit index, Tucker-Lewis Index, and root-mean-square error of approximation) are inaccurate. A reanalysis of the Mayer et al. subscale intercorrelation matrix provided accurate values of the close-fit indices, which resulted in different evaluations of the models tested by J. D. Mayer et al. Contrary to J. D. Mayer et al., the 1-factor model and the 2-factor model did not provide good fit. Although the 4-factor model was still considered good fitting, the non-constrained 4-factor model yielded a non-positive definite matrix, which was interpreted to be due to the fact that two of the branch-level factors (Perceiving and Facilitating) were collinear, suggesting that a model with 4 factors was implausible.     

Forgetting of intentions in demanding situations is rapid

Demanding work settings often require the deferral of intended actions. In 3 experiments, participants were to withhold a response until they encountered a task change (which occurred 5, 15, or 40 sec later). To approximate highly demanding settings, the experimenters sometimes divided attention during the delay period. During some of the delays the experimenters interrupted the participants with an additional task (Experiment 1). Demanding conditions as well as interruptions revealed rapid forgetting of intentions at levels that would be considered significant in applied settings. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that this rapid forgetting was not reduced by strategic rehearsal and implementation intention strategies. The results suggest that maintaining intentions over brief delays is not a trivial task for the human cognitive system.     

Langage et individuation

Sans résumé     

"Brain-Specific" Nutrients: A Memory Cure?

Contents:
Nootropics, the Aging Brain, and Neural Bases of Learning and Memory, p.13
Phosphatidylserine, p.16
Choline, p.23
Piracetam, p.24
Vinpocetine, p.26
Acetyl-L-Carnitine, p.28
Antioxidants, p.30
Future Work and More Fine-Grained Analyses of Memory, p.32
Summary and Concluding Remarks, p.34     

A Meta-Analysis of Neuropsychological Predictors of Outcome Following Stroke and Other Non-Traumatic Acquired Brain Injuries in Adults

Neuropsychology Review - A number of cognitive abilities have been reported to predict outcome following a non-traumatic acquired brain injury (ABI) in adults. However, the results are...     

Effort awareness and sense of volition in schizophrenia

Contemporary experimental research has emphasised the role of centrally generated signals arising from premotor areas in voluntary muscular force perception. It is therefore generally accepted that judgements of force are based on a central sense, known as the sense of effort, rather than on a sense of intra-muscular tension. Interestingly, the concept of effort is also present in the classical philosophy: to the French philosopher Maine de Biran [Maine de Biran (1805). Mémoire sur la décomposition de la pensée (Tome III), Vrin, Paris (1963)], the sense of effort is the fundamental component of self-experience, the landmark of the exercise of the will. In the present review, after a presentation of the nature and neurophysiological bases of effort sensation, we will examine its possible involvement in the neurocognitive process of agency. We will further focus on delusions of alien control in schizophrenic patients. Experimental data suggest that these patients have an abnormal awareness of effort caused by cerebral anomalies in the frontal and parietal lobes.     

The Read-Recite-Review Study Strategy: Effective and Portable

ABSTRACT— Two experiments with college students investigated the effectiveness of the 3R (read-recite-review) strategy for learning from educational texts. The 3R strategy was compared with rereading and note-taking study strategies using free-recall, multiple-choice, and short-answer inference tests immediately after study and after a 1-week delay. In Experiments 1 and 2, 3R improved immediate and delayed free recall of fact-based passages, relative to the rereading and note-taking strategies. In Experiment 2 , which used longer, more complex passages on engineering topics, performance on multiple-choice and problem-solving items was better in the 3R than in the rereading condition, and was equivalent in the 3R and note-taking conditions, though 3R took less study time than note taking. An inherent advantage of 3R relative to other testing methods for improving learning is that 3R is under the learner's control. These results indicate that it is also an efficacious study technique that capitalizes on the mnemonic potency of retrieval and feedback.