Moderating effects of three coping strategies and self-esteem on perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms: A minority stress model for Asian international students

This study examined 3 coping strategies (reflective, suppressive, and reactive), along with self-esteem, as moderators of the relation between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms. International students (N = 354) from China, India, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong provided data via an online survey. The role of perceived general stress was statistically controlled. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated a significant direct effect of perceived discrimination, a significant 2-way interaction of perceived discrimination and suppressive coping, and a significant 3-way interaction of perceived discrimination, reactive coping, and self-esteem in predicting depressive symptoms. An increased tendency to use suppressive coping appeared to strengthen the association between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms. In contrast, the association between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms was not significant when reactive coping was infrequently used, but only for students with relatively high self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).     

Goal orientation profiles and task performance growth trajectories

Goal orientation theories were used to generate predictions regarding the moderating effect of goal orientation profiles on task performance growth trajectories. Participants were given multiple trials of practice on an air traffic control task. Analyses were conducted using growth curve modeling. As expected, individuals with high performance-approach orientation improved their task performance scores faster than their counterparts. The interaction between mastery and performance-avoid orientations moderated the performance growth curve such that individuals with high mastery and low performance-avoid orientation improved their performance at the fastest rate. The interaction between performance-approach and performance-avoid orientations also moderated the performance growth curve. Individuals with low performance-approach and high performance-avoid orientation improved their performance at the slowest rate. These findings contribute to theory and practice by elucidating how various combinations of goal orientations influence the rate of skill acquisition.

Age differences in visuospatial working memory

In two visuospatial working memory (VSWM) span experiments, older and young participants were tested under conditions of either high or low interference, using two different displays: computerized versions of a 3 x 3 matrix or the standard (randomly arrayed) Corsi block task (P. M. Corsi, 1972). Older adults' VSWM estimates were increased in the low-interference, compared with the high-interference, condition, replicating findings with verbal memory span studies. Young adults showed the opposite pattern, and together the findings suggest that typical VSWM span tasks include opposing components (interference and practice) that differentially affect young and older adults.     

Learning to de-escalate: The effects of regret in escalation of commitment

The current research investigates whether and how individuals are able to learn from one escalation situation to another, hypothesizing that post-escalation regret will reduce subsequent escalation. In Experiment 1, individuals participated in an escalation task after escalating their commitments in a first escalation situation. In Experiment 2, participants’ regret was manipulated by asking them to imagine engaging in an escalation situation. The experiments expand our theoretical and practical understanding of how to prevent escalation of commitment by demonstrating that escalation-specific regret—either experienced from an earlier escalation or primed through imagining an escalation scenario—reduced subsequent escalation in a different context. The discussion focuses on the theoretical and practical impact of regret and emotions in general in escalation of commitment.     

Fitting the child's mind to the world: adaptive norm-based coding of facial identity in 8-year-olds

In adults, facial identity is coded by opponent processes relative to an average face or norm, as evidenced by the face identity aftereffect: adapting to a face biases perception towards the opposite identity, so that a previously neutral face (e.g. the average) resembles the identity of the computationally opposite face. We investigated whether children as young as 8 use adaptive norm-based coding to represent faces, a question of interest because 8-year-olds are less accurate than adults at recognizing faces and do not show the adult neural markers of face expertise. We found comparable face identity aftereffects in 8-year-olds and adults: perception of identity in both groups shifted in the direction predicted by norm-based coding. This finding suggests that, by 8 years of age, the adaptive computational mechanisms used to code facial identity are like those of adults and hence that children's immaturities in face processing arise from another source.     

Here's Looking at You,Kid! A Longitudinal Study of Perceived Gender Differences in Mutual Gaze Behavior in Young Infants

The purpose of this study was to examine the origins of gender differences in mutual gaze between infants and unfamiliar adults, using a prospective longitudinal design. Infant gaze behavior was measured twice: 13–112-hr and 13–18-weeks postpartum. Gender differences were found at Visit 2 due to an increase in girls' gaze behavior. Girls also made more eye contact in female–female dyads and in the second interaction over the first. Boys' behavior remained unchanged over time. The data provide evidence for gender differences in mutual gaze in a younger sample and wider context than previously demonstrated. Results are discussed in the context of social learning (i.e., Martin & Fabes, 2001, theory of “singular polarization”) and psychobiological theories of gender development.     

The dynamics of avoidance goal regulation

An avoidance goal is an undesired state from which a person seeks to distance themselves. Though important for understanding behavior, avoidance goals have received less attention than approach goals. In this paper, we present a dynamic, formal model that provides a framework for describing and predicting the dynamics of avoidance goal regulation. We conduct a series of simulations to examine the dynamic pattern of behavior that emerges from the model when an avoidance goal is pursued in isolation and when an approach goal is also present. Two versions of the model were examined. In the first, the avoidance goal is regulated by a positive feedback loop. In the second, the avoidance goal is regulated by a negative feedback loop. We find that the positive feedback model produces a pattern of runaway behavior, even in a scenario where an approach goal is also present. By contrast, the negative feedback loop model produces a stable pattern of behavior that is more consistent with existing theory. The findings provide an important step toward theoretical parsimony by demonstrating that avoidance goal regulation, like approach goal regulation, can be understood using a negative feedback control system framework. We discuss new insights provided by this model and its potential to spark empirical research.     

Memory skills mediating superior memory in a world-class memorist

Laboratory studies have investigated how individuals with normal memory spans attained digit spans over 80 digits after hundreds of hours of practice. Experimental analyses of their memory skills suggested that their attained memory spans were constrained by the encoding time, for the time needed will increase if the length of digit sequences to be memorised becomes longer. These constraints seemed to be violated by a world-class memorist, Feng Wang (FW), who won the World Memory Championship by recalling 300 digits presented at 1 digit/s. In several studies we examined FW’s memory skills underlying his exceptional performance. First FW reproduced his superior memory span of 200 digits under laboratory condition, and we obtained his retrospective reports describing his encoding/retrieval processes (Experiment 1). Further experiments used self-paced memorisation to identify temporal characteristics of encoding of digits in 4-digit clusters (Experiment 2), and explored memory encoding at presentation speeds much faster than 1 digit/s (Experiment 3). FW’s superiority over previous digit span experts is explained by his acquisition of well-known mnemonic techniques and his training that focused on rapid memorisation. His memory performance supports the feasibility of acquiring memory skills for improved working memory based on storage in long-term memory.