The effects of intervening experiences on children's memory for a physical examination

To examine the extent to which children's long‐term retention is influenced (both positively and negatively) by intervening events, the impact of three programmed experiences on later recall of the details of a physical examination was explored. Four groups of 3‐ and 5‐year‐olds were established, with all children being interviewed immediately after their check‐ups and then again after 12 weeks. The groups, however, differed in terms of their experiences midway through the delay interval. At each age level, children in three experimental groups received either a complete interview about the physical examination, a return visit to the pediatrician's office, or an opportunity to view a videotape that showed a child receiving an actual check‐up. Children in a fourth group served as controls in that they were not seen during the delay period. Recall of standard features was scored, along with responses to questions concerning procedures that did not occur. The results indicated mixed mnemonic effects for the differential intervening experiences. In comparison to the control group, children at each age who had received an additional interview or who had observed the videotape showed elevated open‐ended recall at the 12‐week interview. In addition, the videotape manipulation, as well as the return visit to the doctor's office, was associated with a marked decrease in the 5‐ but not the 3‐year‐olds' accuracy regarding questions about activities not included in the physical examinations. The results are discussed in terms of factors that affect the facilitation and distortion of memory over long temporal delays. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Variability in stepping direction explains the veering behavior of blind walkers

Walking without vision results in veering, an inability to maintain a straight path that has important consequences for blind pedestrians. In this study, the authors addressed whether the source of veering in the absence of visual and auditory feedback is better attributed to errors in perceptual encoding or undetected motor error. Three experiments had the following results: No significant differences in the shapes of veering trajectories were found between blind and blindfolded participants; accuracy in detecting curved walking paths was not correlated with simple measures of veering behavior; and explicit perceptual cues to initial walking direction did not reduce veering. The authors present a model that accounts for the major characteristics of participants' veering behavior by postulating 3 independent sources of undetected motor error: initial orientation, consistent biases in step direction, and, most important, variable error in individual steps.     

Anxiety sensitivity and intolerance of uncertainty: requisites of the fundamental fears?

Fears related to anxiety sensitivity (AS)-illness/injury sensitivity, fear of negative evaluation, and fear of pain-may have important theoretical associations with intolerance of uncertainty (IU). In separate investigations, AS and IU have been independently related to the same anxiety-related psychopathology. AS and IU seem to share a basis in fearing unknown, potentially harmful consequences; however, their inter-relationship remains uncertain. IU regarding a specific stimulus, a physical sensation for example, may result in a variety of interpretations and responses, including the catastrophic appraisals that characterize AS. The association between AS and IU was examined in a sample of 293 undergraduates. Results of confirmatory factor and correlation analyses suggest the two constructs are related, but nonetheless independent. It appears that IU may be a required component of catastrophic misappraisals while being an important construct related to fear and anxiety in its own right. Future research directions and potential applications are discussed.     

Does magical thinking produce neutralising behaviour? An experimental investigation

Magical thinking is of relevance to obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and has been most widely investigated in relation to the cognitive bias known as thought-action fusion (TAF). This is seen as playing a role in the formation of fears about responsibility for harm. We suggest that magical thinking may also characterise some types of neutralising behaviour, which arise in response to those fears, and are a hallmark of the disorder. In an experimental study of 51 undergraduate students, we assessed whether the use of neutralising behaviours in response to an induction of fears of increasing likelihood for harm is related to a propensity for magical thinking. The 75.5% of participants demonstrated at least one form of neutralising behaviour in response to a TAF-induction task. Neutralising was associated with stronger and more persistent responses to the task, and with questionnaire measures of magical ideation. Those who neutralised did not report higher levels of OCD symptoms. It appears that neutralising is a common response in circumstances that provoke a sense of responsibility for harm. Its occurrence may be linked to magical thinking, however, the results from this experimental investigation suggested that this process may not be specific to OCD.     

The carry-over effect of competition: The impact of competition on prejudice towards uninvolved outgroups

Following realistic group-conflict theory, negative interdependence between groups (e.g., competition) leads to prejudice towards the opposing outgroup. Based on research on mindset priming, it is hypothesized that competition increases prejudice, regardless of whether the derogated outgroup is involved in the competition or not. In Experiment 1, participants remembered an event involving either competition or cooperation; in Experiments 2 and 3 they participated in a competitive, cooperative, or individual assessment of their knowledge. Subsequent measures indicated that competition results in higher levels of prejudice, even when it is not related to the intergroup context. Additional evidence suggests that this effect is not driven by the transfer of negative affect or ego-depletion. Possible underlying cognitive processes are discussed.     

Further ironies of suppression: Stereotype and counterstereotype accessibility

Three experiments explored the accessibility of stereotypes and counterstereotypes following stereotype suppression. Using a lexical decision task, experiment 1 demonstrated that the counterstereotype showed greater accessibility following stereotype suppression compared to stereotype expressers and no prime control participants. Using a person perception task, experiment 2 revealed that suppression can make both the stereotype and the counterstereotype more accessible. Experiment 3 manipulated cognitive load and found evidence that the stereotype and counterstereotype are made accessible through two different processes associated with suppression: The stereotype is made accessible through the more automatic monitoring system, whereas the counterstereotype is made accessible through the resource-dependent operating system. The three experiments demonstrate a novel lack of inhibition of the counterstereotype by the stereotype, provide a clear demonstration of hyperaccessibility of suppressed stereotypes by comparing stereotype suppression to a stereotype expression condition, and contribute to the priming literature by demonstrating the interactive effects of accessibility, applicability, and judgment order on person perception evaluations.     

Construing Consumer Decision Making

Understanding how consumers represent outcomes and weigh different decision criteria is critical to consumer behavior research. Construal‐level theory articulates how psychological distance alters the mental representation of inputs and the effective weight given to “high‐level” and “low‐level” criteria. Trope, Liberman, and Wakslak (2007) provide a review of this literature. In this commentary, we illustrate the relevance of construal‐level theory to issues in consumer psychology, particularly consumer decision making. We highlight specific questions that researchers could address by considering consumer behavior within the framework of changes in construal. We focus our discussion on how construal levels affect consideration sets and how shifts in weight from high‐level to low‐level features might lead to consumer regret and dissatisfaction. Construal level can help us understand follow‐through on stated intentions for “really new” products and illuminate public‐policy issues such as consumer saving for retirement and nonredemption of rebates. We identify open issues related to how construal levels for the same object evolve over time and whether resources differ in terms of how susceptible they are to psychological distance effects.     

Examining the Test Of Memory Malingering Trial 1 and Word Memory Test Immediate Recognition as screening tools for insufficient effort

Assessing effort level during neuropsychological evaluations is critical to support the accuracy of cognitive test scores. Many instruments are designed to measure effort, yet they are not routinely administered in neuropsychological assessments. The Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM) and the Word Memory Test (WMT) are commonly administered symptom validity tests with sound psychometric properties. This study examines the use of the TOMM Trial 1 and the WMT Immediate Recognition (IR) trial scores as brief screening tools for insufficient effort through an archival analysis of a combined sample of mild head-injury litigants ( N = 105) who were assessed in forensic private practices. Results show that both demonstrate impressive diagnostic accuracy and calculations of positive and negative predictive power are presented for a range of base rates. These results support the utility of Trial 1 of the TOMM and the WMT IR trial as screening methods for the assessment of insufficient effort in neuropsychological assessments.     

A note on using stratified alpha to estimate the composite reliability of a test composed of interrelated nonhomogeneous items

The relationship between stratified alpha (alpha(s)) and the reliability of a test composed of interrelated nonhomogeneous items is examined. It is mathematically demonstrated that when there is congeneric equivalence within the strata or subtests, the difference between the coefficients is a function of the variances of the loadings within the strata. When the items within each stratum are essentially tau equivalent, these variances are 0, and alpha(s) and true reliability are equal, provided errors of measurement are uncorrelated. If errors of measurement are positively correlated and there is essential tau equivalence within strata, stratified alpha will overestimate reliability. These findings indicate that recent studies involving stratified alpha (A. Kamata, A. Turhan, & E. Darandari, 2003; H. G. Osburn, 2000) need to be interpreted with some degree of caution. Nevertheless, the hypothetical population data presented in this article suggest that under certain circumstances, stratified alpha can be considerably greater than alpha and closer to the true reliability. Because the former is easily computed, it is recommended that with stratified tests, practicing researchers should routinely calculate both alpha and stratified alpha coefficients.