Using stop signals to inhibit chronic dieters' responses toward palatable foods

Palatable foods in the environment can unintentionally trigger reactions to obtain them, which may interfere with dieting attempts. We tested a strategy to facilitate dieting behavior that makes use of behavioral stop signals that should instantly inhibit chronic dieters’ responses toward palatable foods. Participants performed a go/no-go task in which go cues and no-go cues (i.e., the behavioral stop signals) were presented with pictures of palatable foods and control objects. In Study 1, we tested the immediate behavioral effect of presenting stop signals near palatable foods in a reaction time paradigm. In Study 2 we assessed consumption of palatable food that had either consistently been associated with no-go cues, or not. Results show that no-go cues instantly inhibited responses toward palatable foods especially among chronic dieters. Moreover, across a one day period chronic dieters consumed less of a food that had consistently been associated with no-go cues. Stop signals thus appear a promising tool for chronic dieters to control behavior to palatable foods, and we discuss the merits and potential applications of this tool for facilitating dieting behavior.     

Interactive affective sharing versus non‐interactive affective sharing in work groups: Comparative effects of group affect on work group performance and dynamics

This study explores whether the dynamic path to group affect, which is characterized by interactive affective sharing processes, yields different effects on task performance and group dynamics than the static path to group affect, which arises from non‐interactive affective sharing. The results of our experiment with 70 three‐person work groups show that groups performed better on creative tasks than on analytical tasks when they were in a positive mood, and better on analytical tasks than on creative tasks when in a negative mood, but only when affect was interactively shared. Moreover, analysis of videotaped group member interactions during task performance showed similar results for work group dynamics, such that group affect influenced belongingness and information sharing only when affect was interactively shared and not when affect was non‐interactively shared. Results support the idea that affective sharing processes are fundamental for understanding the effects of group affect on behavior. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Implementation intentions as goal primes: Boosting self‐control in tempting environments

People often forget their long‐term strivings because their environment confronts them with attractive temptations. Previous research suggests that self‐control failures can be prevented by reminding people of their higher‐order goal. Therefore, we hypothesized that using implementation intentions as a tool to directly re‐activate people's higher‐order goal in tempting situations would effectively enhance self‐control. We tested this in the domain of dieting behavior. Results demonstrated that this specific planning strategy activated the dieting goal for unsuccessful dieters when exposed to tempting food cues (Study 1) and reduced their consumption of calorically dense food across 2 weeks (Study 2) compared to those in control conditions. This suggests that preparing people to think of their higher‐order goal when tempted can be used to protect ongoing goal striving. Appealing to higher‐order goals potentially makes implementation intentions flexible instruments of self‐regulation as this should trigger motivated behavior to reach goals and initiate various goal‐instrumental actions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Be aware to care: Public self-awareness leads to a reversal of the bystander effect

The classic bystander effect stipulates that people help others more when they are alone than when other bystanders are present. We reason that, sometimes, the presence of bystanders can increase helping, notably in situations where public self-awareness is increased through the use of accountability cues (e.g., a camera). We conducted two experiments in which we tested this line of reasoning. In both experiments, participants read messages soliciting support in an online forum. We varied the number of people that were present in that forum to create a bystander and an alone condition. In Study 1, we introduced an accountability cue by making participants' screen-names more salient, and in Study 2, we used a webcam. Both studies indicate that, as expected, the bystander effect can be reversed by means of cues that raise public self-awareness in social settings.     

EFFECTS OF ALTERNATIVE DELETION PATTERNS,BLANK CONDITIONS,AND SCORING SYSTEMS ON INTERMEDIATE LEVEL CLOZE TEST PERFORMANCE

The majority of cloze research has focused on a traditional test format whereby (1) deletions occur on an every‐nth word basis, (2) standard length blank spaces are provided, and (3) only exact word replacements of the original text receive credit. In this study, an analysis was made of the effects of selected deletion patterns (every‐nth versus total random), blank conditions (standard versus cued), and scoring modes (verbatim versus synonymic) on the cloze test performance of 64 sixth grade readers. Neither the deletion pattern nor blank condition main effects achieved significance; however, as expected, increased performance was observed for synonymic scoring. Most importantly, all first‐order interaction effects attained significance. In the total random/cued/ verbatim cloze format, context distances of less than four words generated correct responses as effectively as context distances of four, the equivalent of an every‐5th word deletion strategy. Further, this format exceeded all others in internal consistency and in its ranking of subjects' performance relative to their synonymic cloze test scores.     

EMTHODOLOGICAL CONCERNS IN EXPERIMENTAL READING RESEARCH: ALL THAT GLITTERS

The potential value of any piece of reading research rests squarely upon the merits of the methodology used to conduct the study. Regrettably, recent years have witnessed the emergence of trends in experimental methodology that deviate considerably from the hypothesis testing model upon which good science depends. This article describes the nature and consequences of liberally or improperly applying traditional research methodology and provides an argument for tempering judgments about the relative contributions that experimental studies make to the professional literature in reading