Argentines’ collective memories of the military Junta of 1976: differences and similarities across generations and ideology

Although memories about a nation's past usually are semantic in nature, a distinction needs to be made between lived and distant semantic collective memories. The former refers to memories of community-relevant events occurring during the lifetime of the rememberer, whereas the latter to memories of distant events. Does the content of lived and distant semantic collective memories differ? Employing both free and cued recall, we examined the memories of younger and older Argentines of the Military Junta of 1976. We also examined the effects of political ideology. Content analysis indicated that (1) lived semantic collective memories were more likely to contain personal recollections than distant semantic collective memories, even though those with distant semantic collective memories could have incorporated memories of the parent's personal experience in their recollections, (2) lived semantic collective memories contained more causal statements, and (3) those on the Right with distant semantic collective memories were more likely to claim that they “Don't know” or offer positive accounts of the Junta, suggesting a need to “defend” the reputation of those on the Right. The results are discussed in terms of the goals and plans different generations might have when recollecting their nation's past.     

Why do males and females differ? Children's beliefs about sex differences

The present paper focuses on children's beliefs about sex differences and how these are related to age and gender. Seven, ten, and fifteen year olds (N=427) were asked to give explanations for their beliefs about sex differences. In strong agreement with previous research and the cognitive-developmental theoretical framework, marked age differences were found: younger children were more likely than older children to emphasize biological and physical factors. Significant gender differences were also found, especially for 15 year olds. Girls were much more likely to attribute sex differences to social factors, and boys to biological factors. These gender differences were interpreted as being indicative of different life experiences of males and females, with females being more likely to have experienced conflicts between their own values about sex-role behavior and those of society. Findings were also interpreted as being consistent with the recent emphasis on gender schema. Nevertheless, it was argued that theories of gender schema need to take more account of content—of the beliefs that people hold about sex roles—and, in particular, that more attention be given to exploring gender differences in beliefs.     

Surface features of utterances, credibility judgments, and memory

Information acquired in conversation is often not credible, which makes monitoring its credibility critical. Listeners of conversations often use surface features of utterances, such as pause and intonation, to guide their credibility judgments. In this research, we explore whether listeners' delayed credibility judgments about remembered information are affected by the surface features of the speakers' utterances. In addition, we examine some of the specific factors involved in this issue: (1) how listeners' listening strategies influence their subsequent credibility judgments and (2) how the type of surface features of the utterances influences listeners' ability to make delayed credibility judgments. The results indicate that intonation of the utterances continues to influence listeners' assessment of the credibility of remembered information, that the influences of intonation depend on listening strategies, and that people have difficulty using/remembering pause length when making a delayed credibility judgment. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

On the formation of collective memories: The role of a dominant narrator

To test our hypothesis that conversations can contribute to the formation of collective memory, we asked participants to study stories and to recall them individually (pregroup recollection), then as a group (group recounting), and then once again individually (postgroup recollection). One way that postgroup collective memories can be formed under these circumstances is if unshared pregroup recollections in the group recounting influences others' postgroup recollections. In the present research, we explored (using tests of recall and recognition) whether the presence of a dominant narrator can facilitate the emergence of unshared pregroup recollections in a group recounting and whether this emergence is associated with changes in postgroup recollections. We argue that the formation of a collective memory through conversation is not inevitable but is limited by cognitive factors, such as conditions for social contagion, and by situational factors, such as the presence of a narrator.     

Positive Mental Health as a Predictor of Problematic Internet and Facebook Use in Adolescents and Young Adults

Recent research on Problematic Internet Use and Problematic Facebook Use (PIU and PFU) has focused on the idea that people who engage in PIU or PFU are more likely to present with mental health problems. The goal of the present study was to examine the contribution of positive mental health (PMH) to PIU and PFU among adolescents and young adults. A total of 1927 Italian adolescents and young adults participated in the study. Structural equation modeling showed that PMH is negatively linked to both PIU and PFU, indicating that PMH may be an important antecedent for both PIU and PFU among adolescents and young adults. In conclusion, dimensions of PMH may be taken into account by researchers and educational practitioners in preventing both PIU and PFU.     

Relative versus absolute measures of explicit attitudes: Implications for predicting diverse attitude-relevant criteria

The authors report 4 studies exploring a self-report strategy for measuring explicit attitudes that uses "relative" ratings, in which respondents indicate how favorable or unfavorable they are compared with other people. Results consistently showed that attitudes measured with relative scales predicted relevant criterion variables (self-report of behavior, measures of knowledge, peer ratings of attitudes, peer ratings of behavior) better than did attitudes measured with more traditional "absolute" scales. The obtained pattern of differences in prediction by relative versus absolute measures of attitudes did not appear to be attributable to differential variability, social desirability effects, the clarity of scale-point meanings, the number of scale points, or overlap with subjective norms. The final study indicated that relative measures induce respondents to consider social comparison information and behavioral information when making their responses more than do absolute measures, which may explain the higher correlations between relative measures of attitudes and relevant criteria.