A functional MRI study of human amygdala responses to facial expressions of fear versus anger

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the human brain was used to compare changes in amygdala activity associated with viewing facial expressions of fear and anger. Pictures of human faces bearing expressions of fear or anger, as well as faces with neutral expressions, were presented to 8 healthy participants. The blood oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) fMRI signal within the dorsal amygdala was significantly greater to Fear versus Anger, in a direct contrast. Significant BOLD signal changes in the ventral amygdala were observed in contrasts of Fear versus Neutral expressions and, in a more spatially circumscribed region, to Anger versus Neutral expressions. Thus, activity in the amygdala is greater to fearful facial expressions when contrasted with either neutral or angry faces. Furthermore, directly contrasting fear with angry faces highlighted involvement of the dorsal amygdaloid region.     

An Evaluation of the Effects of Graphic Aids in Improving Decision Accuracy in a Continuous Treatment Design

Educators, school psychologists, and other professionals must evaluate student progress and decide to continue, modify, or terminate instructional programs to ensure student success. For this purpose, progress-monitoring data are often collected, plotted graphically, and visually analyzed. The current study evaluated the impact of three common formats for visual analysis (scatter plots, scatter plots with trend lines, and scatter plots with trend and aim lines) on the decision accuracy of 52 novice analysts. All participants viewed 18 time-series graphs that depicted student growth on a continuous metric (e.g., oral reading fluency). Participants rated each graph as depicting substantial progress, minimal progress, or no progress. The magnitude of the true slope for each graph was fixed to 3.00 (substantial progress), 0.75 (minimal progress), or 0 (no progress). Inferential analyses were used to determine the probability of a participant correctly identifying different magnitudes of trend in the presence of different visual aids (no visual aid, trend line, and trend line with aim line). The odds of correctly identifying trend were influenced by visual aid (p < .01) and trend magnitude (p < .01). The addition of a trend line resulted in a sharp increase in the probability of making a correct decision. Graphs depicting minimal progress reduced the probability of a correct decision.     

Fear Versus Humor: The Impact of Sensation Seeking on Physiological,Cognitive, and Emotional Responses to Antialcohol Abuse Messages

This study investigates the differences in physiological, cognitive, and emotional responses to existing emotional antialcohol abuse advertisements (fear vs. humor appeal) between high and low sensation seekers. A 2 (Message Type) × 2 (Sensation-Seeking Tendency) × 4 (Message Repetition) mixed-model experiment with repeated measures was conducted with 71 college students. The results, based on self-reports, indicated that fear messages generated more interest and perceived danger of excessive drinking regardless of sensation-seeking tendency, whereas humorous messages were rated as more likeable than fear messages, and the difference was bigger among low sensation seekers than among high sensation seekers. One interesting finding was that for both fear and humor appeals, low sensation seekers showed greater emotional responses (greater corrugators activities and greater zygomatic activities) than high sensation seekers overall. The implications of the current study as well as suggestions for future study were discussed.     

Cross‐level interactions of individual trait positive affect,group trait positive affect,and group positive affect diversity

The purpose of the current study is to examine the cross‐level three‐way interactions among individual trait positive affect (PA), group trait PA, and group PA diversity on individual work outcomes. Drawing on situation strength theory, we hypothesized that the relationship of individual trait PA with work outcomes depends on the strength of a group's affective contexts including group trait PA and PA diversity. The hierarchical linear modelling results for 261 employees in 42 South Korean organizational teams showed that individuals' trait PA was positively associated with their team commitment, job satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB). The findings also demonstrated that individual trait PA had the strongest relationship with team commitment when group trait PA was low and PA diversity was high simultaneously. In addition, the relationship between individual trait PA and OCB was found to be stronger for affectively diverse groups than for homogeneous groups.     

Asian Couples in Negotiation: A Mixed‐Method Observational Study of Cultural Variations Across Five Asian Regions

The purpose of this study was to explore variations in how contemporary couples from five different Asian regions negotiate disagreements. Video recordings of 50 couples (10 each from Japan, Korea, Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong) discussing unresolved disagreements provided raw data for quantitative and qualitative analyses. First, teams of coders from each region used a common protocol to make quantitative ratings of content themes and interaction patterns for couples from their own region. An interregional panel of investigators then performed in‐depth qualitative reviews for half of these cases, noting cultural differences not only in observed patterns of couple behavior but also in their own perceptions of these patterns. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed clear regional differences on dimensions such as overt negativity, demand‐withdraw interaction, and collaboration. The qualitative results also provided a richer, more nuanced view of other (e.g., gender‐linked) conflict management patterns that the quantitative analyses did not capture. Inconsistencies between qualitative and quantitative data and between the qualitative observations of investigators from different regions were most pronounced for couples from Korea and Japan, whose conflict styles were subtler and less direct than those of couples from the other regions.     

Young children produce categorical false recall without activation of the lure items

Individuals who study a list of words that are all related to another word that is not presented (a lure word) sometimes produce a false memory of having studied the lure word. The false memories are observed in lists of words that are in the same category as (category list) or associated with (associative list) a word that was not presented in an attempt to elicit false recall. The present study investigated whether young children create these types of false recall. Following the study of a categorical list, false recall was elicited in young children to the same degree as in adults, but studying an associative list elicited false recall only in adults. Furthermore, categorically related lure words did not have a priming effect in young children. These results suggest that the categorical false recall is produced via a different mechanism from the associative false recall.     

A cognitive‐behavioral model of anxiety disorders in children and adolescents

This study investigated a cognitive‐behavioral model of anxiety disorders in Japanese children and adolescents. Participants comprised 532 children from elementary schools and 751 adolescents from junior high schools as a community group, and 41 children and adolescents who fulfilled the criteria for childhood anxiety disorders as a clinical group. All participants completed three questionnaires about anxiety symptoms, self‐statements, and cognitive errors. While the clinical group showed more anxiety symptoms, negative self‐statements, and cognitive errors than the community group, there was no significant difference in positive self‐statements. Multigroup structural equation modeling found the presence of cognitive links for the community and clinical groups. Specifically, cognitive errors generated negative self‐statements, exacerbating a higher‐order factor (childhood anxiety) affecting six anxiety symptoms corresponding to the diagnostic criteria of psychological disorders. Mediated relationships were supported in only the community sample. Clinical implications for prevention and treatment of anxiety disorders in children and adolescents are discussed.     

The influence of self‐efficacy,subjective norms,and risk perception on behavioral intentions related to the H1N1 flu pandemic: A comparison between Korea and the US

This study examined the extent to which individualism‐collectivism moderates the relative effects of agency control beliefs (i.e., self‐efficacy), social norms (i.e., subjective norms), and risk perception (perceived vulnerability and perceived severity) on behavioral intention to engage in self‐protection behavior in the context of the H1N1 flu pandemic. Using multistage stratified sampling, the present study sampled people from the US (n = 399) and Korea (n = 500), two countries that have been found to be prototypical of individualistic and collectivistic national cultures, respectively. Consistent with the contrast between individualism and collectivism, the results of moderated regression analyses showed that intrapersonal control beliefs (i.e., self‐efficacy) and risk perception (i.e., perceived severity) had stronger effects on behavioral intention in the American sample than in the Korean sample, whereas social norms (i.e., subjective norms) had a stronger predictive power for the Korean sample than for the American sample. Overall, the findings contribute to health and risk studies by specifying which aspects of risk perceptions or beliefs are affected by national culture and how this translates into cross‐national variations in health risk behavioral intention.     

Fit Happens Globally: A Meta‐Analytic Comparison of the Relationships of Person–Environment Fit Dimensions with Work Attitudes and Performance Across East Asia,Europe, and North America

In this cross‐cultural meta‐analysis, we examine the relationships between person–environment [P–E] fit and work attitudes (organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and intent to quit) as well as job performance based on 96 studies (110 independent samples) conducted in East Asia, Europe, and North America. We compare the results across cultures while focusing on 4 dimensions of P–E fit (person‐job fit, person–organization fit, person–group fit, and person–supervisor fit) separately and jointly. Findings suggest that the effects of rational fit (person–organization and person–job fit) are (relatively) stronger in North America and, to a lesser extent, Europe than in East Asia. However, the effects of relational fit (person–group and person–supervisor fit) are (relatively) stronger in East Asia than in North America. This highlights that in collectivistic and high power distance (vs. individualistic and low power distance) cultures, relational (vs. rational) fit is more salient in influencing employees’ perceptions about their work environments. Results are less clear concerning job performance. What is common across cultures is that, regardless of which dimension of P–E fit is being considered, fit happens and high levels of fit lead to positive outcomes, confirming the universal relevance of fit phenomenon.     

Abnormal diurnal pattern of cortisol secretion in patients after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage

Substantial evidence suggests that impairment of the hypothalamus?pituitary system can occur following an aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Given that the diurnal cortisol rhythm is primarily controlled by the hypothalamus?pituitary system, this study examined whether changes in diurnal cortisol rhythm occurred after aSAH. Cortisol concentrations were measured in the saliva samples collected from patients after aSAH and other types of cerebral hemorrhage (non-aSAH) in the post-awakening period and at night (21:00?h), and the cortisol awakening response (CAR) and diurnal cortisol decline were determined. The area under the cortisol curve from immediately after to 45?min after awakening (CARauc) in the aSAH patient group was comparable to that in the non-aSAH or healthy control groups. However, an obvious cortisol peak was not found after the awakening period, and the morning/nighttime cortisol ratio in the aSAH patient group was significantly lower than that in other examined groups due to higher nighttime cortisol concentrations. In aSAH patients, the CARauc and nighttime cortisol concentrations were negatively correlated with the Fisher CT grade. These results indicate that the diurnal cortisol rhythm is not regulated normally after aSAH, and cortisol secretory activity decreases as the volume of subarachnoid bleeding increases. Our findings will be helpful to understand altered hypothalamus?pituitary?adrenal axis function after aSAH.