Automatic motor activation by mere instruction

Previous behavioral studies have shown that instructions about stimulus–response (S-R) mappings can influence task performance even when these instructions are irrelevant for the current task. In the present study, we tested whether automatic effects of S–R instructions occur because the instructed stimuli automatically activate their corresponding responses. We registered the lateralized readiness potentials (LRPs) that were evoked by the instructed stimuli while participants were performing a task for which those mappings were irrelevant. Instructed S–R mappings clearly affected task performance in electrophysiological and behavioral measures. The LRP was found to deflect in the direction of the response tendency that corresponded with the instructed S–R mapping. Early activation of the instructed response was observed but occurred predominantly on slow trials. In contrast, response conflict evoked by instructed S–R mappings did not modulate the N2 amplitude. The results strongly suggest that, like experienced S–R mappings, instructed S–R mappings can lead to automatic response activation, but possibly via a different route.     

A pictorial attitude IAT as a measure of implicit motives

We tested the hypothesis that a pictorial attitude variant of the Implicit Association Test (PA‐IAT) is a valid measure of implicit motives. The PA‐IAT aims to capture attitudes towards pictures that are related to implicit motives. In the first two studies, we showed that the pictorial attitude Implicit Association Test (IAT) correlated more highly with non‐IAT measures of implicit motives than other IAT variants. In the third study, we established the validity of the PA‐IAT experimentally and showed that the pictorial attitude IAT correlated with non‐declarative behavioural measures only if implicit motives were aroused. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How farsighted are behavioral tendencies of approach and avoidance? The effect of stimulus valence on immediate vs. ultimate distance change

Research suggests that affective stimuli facilitate behavior that causes a compatible change in distance (i.e., approach positive and avoid negative stimuli). In natural settings, however, behavior often causes different consequences at different points in time. It is unclear whether affective stimuli interact with immediate or ultimate action-consequences (i.e., consequences that are more removed in time). To shed light on this, we tested whether stimulus valence facilitates behavior that ultimately causes a compatible change in distance, even when this behavior immediately causes an incompatible distance change. Participants moved a manikin on a computer screen toward or away from a positive or negative word. On half of the trials, moving the manikin ultimately in one direction required an initial movement in the opposite direction. Results from two studies showed that stimulus valence facilitated ultimate-compatible distance change regardless of the initial direction. This suggests that affective stimuli facilitate behavior that is relatively farsighted.     

Context effects in evaluative conditioning of implicit evaluations

Propositional models of evaluative conditioning postulate that the impact of stimulus pairings on liking should depend not on the pairings themselves but on what the pairings imply about the relation between stimuli. Hence, context manipulations that change the implications of stimulus pairings should moderate evaluative conditioning. We manipulated context by varying the way in which context cues were paired with affective outcomes while keeping the pairings between target cues and affective outcomes constant. All participants saw one target cue compound that was followed by a positive outcome (XF+) and another target cue compound that was followed by a negative outcome (YG?). In condition Same, each context cue was consistently paired with a positive or negative outcome, regardless of whether it was presented alone or in compound with another cue (A+, B+, AB+; C?, D?, CD?). In condition Opposite, however, a context cue was paired with a certain outcome when presented alone and with an outcome of the opposite valence when presented in a compound with another cue (A+, B+, AB?; C?, D?, CD+). Employing several implicit measures, we assessed the implicit evaluations of the target cues X and Y. In all three studies, the outcome of the measurement procedure differed between conditions. In condition Same, the positively paired cue X was evaluated more positively than the negatively paired cue Y. In condition Opposite, however, this preference was not present. This pattern of results suggests that EC is determined not only by the objective pairings but also by the context in which these pairings occur. Implications for models of evaluative conditioning are discussed.     

Automatic affective processing

Abstract

Semantic and emotional priming below objective detection threshold was investigated using a binocular pattern masking procedure. In the first experiment lexical decision time to emotionally aversive target stimuli was significantly faciliated by the presentation of emotionally aversive primes and primes semantically related to the target, thus replicating the emotional and semantic priming effects found supraliminally in Hill and Kemp-Wheeler (1989). In Experiment 2, a significant semantic priming effect was again found but the subliminal emotional priming effect of Experiment 1 did not replicate.     

A Study of the Use and Interpretation of Standardized Suicide Risk Assessment: Measures within a Psychiatrically Hospitalized Correctional Population

The reliability, validity, and utility of the Adult Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire (ASIQ), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSS), and Reasons for Attempting Suicide Questionnaire (RASQ) with correctional mental health populations was evaluated. Evidence was found indicating good to excellent reliability for all measures. Each of the measures significantly differentiated multiple attempters from single attempters and nonattempters, providing evidence of convergent and divergent validity. Logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic analyses revealed strong associations between multiple attempts and the ASIQ, BSS, and RASQ, but not the BHS. Implications for suicide risk assessment processes in correctional settings are discussed.     

The selective action of Cfunc control

According to relational frame theory Cfunc stimuli select which stimulus properties are transformed via derived stimulus relations. To date there has been no demonstration of the selective action of Cfunc control. We provide an analysis of the requirements for such a demonstration, and describe the results from four experiments employing a paradigm consistent with these requirements. We employed a paradigm based on virtual car races. The paradigm had two components: i) a sample racecar screen which showed the performance of a sample racecar, and used experimentally engineered symbols to communicate how the performance of each real racecar would compare with that of the sample racecar, and ii) a car race screen showing other racecars race. Two symbols were established as Crels for the relations of same and different, and two symbols were established as Cfuncs for the functional properties of speed and direction. The results from these experiments demonstrate Cfunc stimuli can select which functions transform via derived stimulus relations, a central component of relational frame theory. The study has implications for the study of relational responding in complex settings and for applied work aimed at refining repertoires of relational responding.     

Robust affective priming effects in a conditional pronunciation task: Evidence for the semantic representation of evaluative information

Based on the hypothesis that information about the valence of words is encoded in a semantic system, we predicted that the match between the valence of a prime and the valence of a target word will influence the pronunciation of the target only if and to the extent that pronunciation is semantically mediated. In line with this prediction, we found affective priming effects (faster pronunciation when prime and target had the same valence than when they had a different valence) only when participants were instructed to read words but not nonwords (Experiment 1) or words that were not names of occupations (Experiment 2). Priming was not significant when participants were asked to read white but not red words (Experiment 1) or words that did not have a frame around them (Experiment 2).     

Secondary task difficulty modulates forward blocking in human contingency learning

The influence of a secondary task on forward blocking of human contingency ratings was examined. A smaller blocking effect was found when participants performed a highly demanding secondary task than when they performed a less demanding secondary task. The modulatory effect of secondary task difficulty was significant only when the secondary task was administered during both the learning and the test phase of the contingency judgement task. The results suggest that forward blocking in human contingency learning cannot be fully accounted for by associative processes. Instead, forward blocking seems to depend at least partially on deliberate deductive reasoning processes.