Can clouds dance? Part 2: An ERP investigation of passive conceptual expansion

Conceptual expansion, one of the core operations in creative cognition, was investigated in the present ERP study. An experimental paradigm using novel metaphoric, nonsensical and literal phrases was employed where individual differences in conceptual knowledge organization were accounted for by using participants’ responses to categorize the stimuli to each condition. The categorization was determined by their judgment of the stimuli on the two defining criteria of creativity: unusualness and appropriateness. Phrases judged as unusual and appropriate were of special interest as they are novel and unfamiliar phrases thought to passively induce conceptual expansion. The results showed a graded N400 modulation for phrases judged to be unusual and inappropriate (nonsense) or unusual and appropriate (conceptual expansion, novel metaphorical) relative to usual and appropriate (literal) phrases. The N400 is interpreted as indexing greater effort to retrieve semantic information and integrate the novel concepts presented through the phrases. Analyses of the later time-window showed an ongoing negativity that was graded in the same manner as the N400. The findings attest to the usefulness of investigating creative cognition using event-related electrophysiology.     

Power increases performance in a social evaluation situation as a result of decreased stress responses

We tested whether power reduces responses related to social stress and thus increases performance evaluation in social evaluation situations. We hypothesized and found that thinking about having power reduced fear of negative evaluation and physiological arousal during a self‐presentation task (Studies 1 and 2). In Study 2, we also showed that simply thinking about having power made individuals perform better in a social evaluation situation. Our results confirmed our hypotheses that the mechanism explaining this power–performance link was that high power participants felt less fear of negative evaluation. The reduced fear of negative evaluation generated fewer signs of behavioral nervousness, which caused their performance to be evaluated more positively (serial mediation). Simply thinking of having power can therefore have important positive consequences for a person in an evaluation situation in terms of how he or she feels and how he or she is evaluated. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An LCD tachistoscope with submillisecond precision

Tachistoscopes allow brief visual stimulation delivery, which is crucial for experiments in which subliminal presentation is required. Up to now, tachistoscopes have had shortcomings with respect to timing accuracy, reliability, and flexibility of use. Here, we present a new and inexpensive two-channel tachistoscope that allows for exposure durations in the submillisecond range with an extremely high timing accuracy. The tachistoscope consists of two standard liquid-crystal display (LCD) monitors of the light-emitting diode (LED) backlight type, a semipermeable mirror, a mounting rack, and an experimental personal computer (PC). The monitors have been modified to provide external access to the LED backlights, which are controlled by the PC via the standard parallel port. Photodiode measurements confirmed reliable operation of the tachistoscope and revealed switching times of 3?μs. Our method may also be of great advantage in single-monitor setups, in which it allows for manipulating the stimulus timing with submillisecond precision in many experimental situations. Where this is not applicable, the monitor can be operated in standard mode by disabling the external backlight control instantaneously.     

Recovery opportunities,work–home conflict,and emotional exhaustion among hematologists and oncologists in private practice

Hematologists and oncologists in private practice play a central role in the care provided for cancer patients. The present study analyzes stress and relaxation aspects in the work of hematologists and oncologists in private practice in Germany in relation to emotional exhaustion, as a core dimension of burnout syndrome. The study focuses on the opportunities for internal recovery using breaks and time out during the working day, the frequency of working on weekends and on vacation, and the physician’s work–home and home–work conflict. Postulated associations between the constructs were analyzed using a structural equation model. If work leads to conflicts in private life (work–home conflict), it is associated with greater emotional exhaustion. Working frequently at the weekend is associated with greater work–home conflict and indirectly with greater emotional exhaustion. By contrast, the availability of opportunities to relax and recover during the working day is associated with less work–home conflict and indirectly with less emotional exhaustion. These results underline the importance of internal recovery opportunities during the working day and a successful interplay between working and private life for the health of outpatient hematologists and oncologists.     

Why Citizen Kane was unhappy: Motive‐Goal Incongruence

Why do some people benefit more from successfully pursuing their goals than others? Motivational psychology has recently come up with an answer to this question: People differ in the extent to which their goals are aligned with their implicit motives. That is, on a conscious level, people may strive for, for example, achievement goals although on an unconscious level their implicit achievement motive is low. In such a case of motive–goal incongruence, pursuit and realization of achievement goals are associated with little or no well‐being. On the other hand, for people whose conscious goals and implicit motives are congruent, goal progress is strongly associated with well‐being. Legendary movie character Charles Foster Kane from Citizen Kane illustrates this dilemma: Constantly pursuing and realizing power goals, he does not succeed in satisfying his affiliation‐intimacy motive – and finally dies an unhappy man. The present article reviews what is known about the causes and effects of motive–goal congruence. In doing so, open questions are raised that future research ought to address.     

Performance benefits of depression: sequential decision making in a healthy sample and a clinically depressed sample

Previous research reported conflicting results concerning the influence of depression on cognitive task performance. Whereas some studies reported that depression enhances performance, other studies reported negative or null effects. These discrepant findings appear to result from task variation, as well as the severity and treatment status of participant depression. To better understand these moderating factors, we study the performance of individuals-in a complex sequential decision task similar to the secretary problem-who are nondepressed, depressed, and recovering from a major depressive episode. We find that depressed individuals perform better than do nondepressed individuals. Formal modeling of participants' decision strategies suggested that acutely depressed participants had higher thresholds for accepting options and made better choices than either healthy participants or those recovering from depression.     

Is structural underdetermination possible?

Structural realism is sometimes said to undermine the theory underdetermination (TUD) argument against realism, since, in usual TUD scenarios, the supposed underdetermination concerns the object-like theoretical content but not the structural content. The paper explores the possibility of structural TUD by considering some special cases from modern physics, but also questions the validity of the TUD argument itself. The upshot is that cases of structural TUD cannot be excluded, but that TUD is perhaps not such a terribly serious anti-realistic argument.     

‘Mr K’ – A successful case of analytic oriented therapy documented empirically: the role of the therapeutic relationship and reflexive self-awareness

A successful case of analytic treatment over the course of 250 sessions is described from different perspectives, including considerations from the two-year follow-up. The therapeutic alliance and the patient’s experiencing were evaluated. Pre-treatment diagnosis was validated via diagnostic interview. Symptoms and interpersonal problems were assessed at intervals. Data were analysed using two different time-series analyses. Aspects of agency with regard to mentalizing capacity were assessed with the Metacognitive Assessment Scale. We obtained the following main results: (1) Symptoms and interpersonal problems improved continuously until the end of treatment. Symptom severity fell to below the clinical cut-off. This successful outcome remained stable at the two-year follow-up. (2) The therapeutic relationship improved during the therapeutic process. (3) The patient’s capability for reflexive self-awareness, operationalized as experiencing, decreased. (4) The metacognitive mastery of the patient increased. The following conclusions were made after combining the empirical data with the clinical observations: (1) Mr K improved clinically in terms of symptoms, self-regulation and interpersonal problems as a result of his gaining affect control. (2) The patient’s experiencing does not capture a positive outcome in all cases. (3) Aspects of agency (i.e. metacognitive mastery) deserve further attention in psychoanalytic treatments.     

New account of empirical claims in structuralism

In this paper, a new account of empirical claims in structuralism is developed. Its novelty derives from the use that is made of the linguistic approach to scientific theories despite the presumed incompatibility of structuralism with that approach. It is shown how the linguistic approach can be applied to the framework of structuralism if the semantic foundations of that approach are refined to do justice to the doctrine of indirect interpretation of theoretical terms. This doctrine goes back to Carnap but has been advanced until the present day without a proper semantic explanation.     

Mood effects on emotion recognition

Mood affects memory and social judgments. However, findings are inconsistent with regard to how mood affects emotion recognition: For sad moods, general performance decrements in emotion recognition have been reported, as well as an emotion specific bias, such as better recognition of sad facial expressions compared to happy expressions (negative bias). Far less research has been conducted on the influence of happy moods on emotion recognition. We primed 93 participants with happy, sad, or neutral moods and had them perform an emotion recognition task. Results showed a negative bias for participants in sad moods and a positive bias for participants in happy moods. Sad and happy moods hampered the recognition of mood-incongruent expressions; the recognition of mood-congruent expressions was not affected by moods.