Medial prefrontal cortex is selectively involved in response selection using visual context in the background

The exact roles of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in conditional choice behavior are unknown and a visual contextual response selection task was used for examining the issue. Inactivation of the mPFC severely disrupted performance in the task. mPFC inactivations, however, did not disrupt the capability of perceptual discrimination for visual stimuli. Normal response selection was also observed when nonvisual cues were used as conditional stimuli. The results strongly suggest that the mPFC is not necessarily involved in the inhibition of response or flexible response selection in general, but is rather critical when response selection is required conditionally using visual context in the background.     

The temporal dimension of national identification: An empirical investigation in South Korea and Australia

We argue that national identification can be framed temporally, such that people may differently identify with their nation's past or present. Further, we argue that temporal national identification has important consequences for attitudes towards social changes. Within this new theoretical framing, we tested the empirical separability and predictive utility of past national identification and present national identification in South Korea and Australia. Results showed that, in both countries, past and present national identifications are correlated but empirically distinct constructs, which independently contribute to general national identification. Past and present national identifications were also shown to be grounded in distinct notions of national continuity. Most importantly, in both countries, present national identification positively predicted favourable attitudes towards social changes and globalization, whereas past national identification negatively predicted these attitudes. These findings suggest that temporally framed national identification is an important construct in the domain of social identification and in research on social changes and globalization.     

Why employees with higher challenging appraisals style are more affectively engaged at work? The role of challenging stressors: A moderated mediation model

Challenging stressors have been positively linked to various work outcomes. However, the role of individual differences in stress appraisal in shaping the function of challenging stressors and work outcomes has been rarely discussed. Drawing on the individual differences perspective, the authors propose that employees higher in challenge appraisal are more likely to have challenging stressors and are more responsive to such stressors to have a higher positive affect at work. Results obtained from 117 employees supported the hypotheses. The results indicated that challenge appraisal is positively related to challenging stressors. In addition, challenging stressors has a positive association with positive affect at work when challenge appraisal is high but has a null association when challenge appraisal is low. The findings suggest that challenging stressors does not necessarily bring positive work outcomes as suggested in past studies and highlight the importance of considering dispositional tendency in stress appraisal when looking into the function of challenging stressors and work outcomes.     

Using Retrieval Cues to Attenuate Return of Fear in Individuals With Public Speaking Anxiety

Even after successful exposure, relapse is not uncommon. Based on the retrieval model of fear extinction (e.g., Vervliet, Craske, & Hermans, 2013), return of fear can occur after exposure due to an elapse of time (spontaneous recovery) or change in context (contextual renewal). The use of external salient stimuli presented throughout extinction (i.e., retrieval cues [RCs]) has been suggested as a potential solution to this problem (Bouton, 2002). The current study examined whether RCs attenuated return of fear in individuals with public speaking anxiety. Sixty-five participants completed a brief exposure while presented with two RC stimuli aimed at a variety of senses (visual, tactile, olfactory, and auditory). Later, half the participants were tested for return of fear in a context different from the exposure context, and the other half in the same context. Half of each context group were presented with the same cues as in exposure, while the other half were not. Return of fear due to an elapse of time, change in context, and effects of RCs were evaluated on subjective, behavioral, and physiological measures of anxiety. Although contextual renewal was not observed, results supported effects of RCs in reducing spontaneous recovery on behavioral and physiological measures of anxiety. There was also evidence that participants who were reminded of feeling anxious during exposure by the RCs benefited more from using them at follow-up, whereas those who perceived the cues as comforting (safety signals) benefited less. Clinical implications of the findings are discussed.     

New stable icosahedral phases in Al-Pd-Ru and Al-Pd-Os systems

We have found stable icosahedral (i) phases in alloys with nominal compositions around Al 72 Pd 17 Ru 11 and Al 72 Pd 17 Os 11 . They display very sharp X-ray diffraction peaks, indicating high structural order as in other Al-based i-phases such as i-(Al-Pd-TM) (transition metal TM = Mn or Re) and i-(Al-Cu-TM) (TM =Fe, Ru or Os). The i phases are formed via peritectic reaction and, upon heating, they transform into a mixture of a liquid and the 1/0 cubic approximant phase. The electrical resistivity of the i phases was measured in a wide temperature range from 14K to above their melting points and a reversible change of the resistivity across the melting point has been observed in situ for the first time.     

Atomic arrangement at the 3C-SiC/Si(001) interface revealed utilising aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope

The atomistic structure of the 3C-SiC/Si(001) interface has been investigated using a combination of aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy and a newly developed image processing method for eliminating artificial contrast. The structures having periods four times longer than those of the silicon lattice have been observed distinctly in images taken along both Si[110] and Si[100] directions. Contrary to theoretical models proposed previously, the interface of the three-dimensional structural model that we constructed on the basis of our experiments has a silicon-rich configuration. We have clarified that the strain field induced by the two-dimensional misfit between Si(001)-(4?×?4) and SiC(001)-(5?×?5) is relaxed by the two-dimensional network of misfit dislocations; simple edge dislocations with [100] and [010] directions and Lomer dislocations with [110] and [110] directions. The atomistic structures of the Lomer dislocations have been also clarified.     

You are my happiness: Socially enriched happiness belief predicts life satisfaction,especially among the poor

ABSTRACT

What three words come to your mind in response to “happiness”? Using a free-association task [cf. Nelson, D. L., McEvoy, C. L., & Dennis, S. (2000). What is free association and what does it measure? Memory and Cognition, 28, 887–899], this research finds that the number of social words (e.g. family, love) provided in link to happiness predicts people’s actual life satisfaction level. However, this association was significantly moderated by the person’s self-perceived financial state. The contingency between holding a socially-oriented belief about happiness and experienced life satisfaction was significant among members of low socioeconomic status (SES), but not among the high SES group. This pattern was replicated across two divergent samples (Asian college students, Study 1; American adults, Study 2), regardless of one’s extraversion level (Studies 1, 2) and availability of social support (number of friends, Study 2). Given the overlapping function of money and social relationships (instrumental in promoting survival), believing in the social nature of happiness seems to be more central in the life satisfaction of those with less financial resource.     

The Influence of Africentric Values and Neighborhood Satisfaction on the Academic Self‐Efficacy of African American Elementary School Children

This exploratory study examined the relationships between Africentric values, racial/ethnic identity, neighborhood satisfaction, and academic self‐efficacy beliefs among 88 African American elementary school children. Results indicated that Africentric values and neighborhood satisfaction were both predictive of academic self‐efficacy beliefs. Racial/ethnic identity did not significantly predict the outcome variable. Este estudio exploratorio examinó las relaciones entre valores Afrocéntricos, identidad racial/étnica, satisfacción en el vecindario y convicciones sobre la autoeficacia académica entre 88 niños Afroamericanos en la escuela elemental. Los resultados indicaron que tanto los valores Afrocéntricos como la satisfacción en el vecindario podían predecir las convicciones sobre autoeficacia académica. La identidad racial/étnica no predijo significativamente la variable del resultado.     

Role of face‐to‐face and computer‐mediated communication time in the cohesion and performance of mixed‐mode groups

Although the rapid development of information technology has led to the increasing use of computer‐mediated communication (CMC), few studies have examined the relational aspect of mixed‐mode groups that use both face‐to‐face (FTF) communication and CMC. A field study comprising 42 student groups was conducted to assess the relationships among communication time, cohesion, and performance in mixed‐mode groups. The findings suggest that time spent in FTF communication significantly predicted group social cohesion, but time spent in CMC did not. In contrast, group task cohesion was predicted by time spent in CMC but not by time spent in FTF communication. Time spent in CMC was also a strong predictor of group task performance. These results suggest that FTF communication contributes to the social aspect of mixed‐mode groups and that CMC is beneficial to their task‐related aspect. The findings of mediation analyses showed a significant indirect effect among time spent in FTF communication, group social cohesion, and group contextual performance. In other words, time spent in FTF communication had a positive effect on group social cohesion, which in turn positively affected group contextual performance. However, no mediating effect was found among time spent in CMC, group task cohesion, and group task performance. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.