Subliminal smells can guide social preferences

It is widely accepted that unconscious processes can modulate judgments and behavior, but do such influences affect one's daily interactions with other people? Given that olfactory information has relatively direct access to cortical and subcortical emotional circuits, we tested whether the affective content of subliminal odors alters social preferences. Participants rated the likeability of neutral faces after smelling pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant odors delivered below detection thresholds. Odor affect significantly shifted likeability ratings only for those participants lacking conscious awareness of the smells, as verified by chance-level trial-by-trial performance on an odor-detection task. Across participants, the magnitude of this priming effect decreased as sensitivity for odor detection increased. In contrast, heart rate responses tracked odor valence independently of odor awareness. These results indicate that social preferences are subject to influences from odors that escape awareness, whereas the availability of conscious odor information may disrupt such effects.     

Basolateral amygdala noradrenergic activity is involved in the acquisition of conditioned odor aversion in the rat

Conditioned odor aversion (COA) is the avoidance of an odorized-tasteless solution (the conditioned stimulus, CS), the ingestion of which precedes toxicosis. Previous works have shown that the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA) is involved in the acquisition, and more precisely, the control of the CS memory trace, of COA. Since catecholamine depletion of the amygdala induced a deficit in the potentiated version of COA, this study investigated the role of the adrenergic system in the BLA during COA. Male Wistar rats bilaterally implanted with cannulae aimed at the BLA were microinjected with the beta-adrenergic antagonist propranolol (1 microg/0.2 microl) during the acquisition (5 min before the CS presentation, pre-CS, or immediately after, post-CS) or during the retrieval test (5 min before test, pre-test). Results showed that pre-CS, but neither post-CS nor pre-test, infusions of propranolol impaired COA, suggesting that beta-adrenergic system activity in the BLA is involved in the acquisition but not the expression of COA. Moreover, the fact that pre-CS, but not post-CS, treatment disrupted COA suggests that beta-adrenergic system in the BLA is involved in the initiation but not the maintenance of the CS memory trace during COA acquisition.     

Gender differences in pressure pain threshold in a repeated measures assessment

The objective of this study was to evaluate gender differences in the pain threshold, considering the type of pressure point, its location and the repetition of the assessment. The pressure pain threshold was evaluated in 30 healthy volunteers (12 men and 18 women) in three assessment sessions separated by 15 min and 7 days, respectively. Each assessment session was in turn composed of two trials in each of which 24 different pressure points (symmetrically located), representing the 18 tender points for the diagnosis of fibromyalgia and six control points, were assessed. Gender differences were found in the pain threshold for all of the points and the measures taken, women showing a lower pain threshold in comparison to men and being these differences more pronounced for control points than for tender points, the former reaching statistical significance in all cases. The analysis of the influence of repeated measures on gender differences in the pain threshold showed a distinct pattern of recuperation in men than in women, although only one difference in pain threshold was significant. The utility of the tender point concept to study gender differences in pain threshold and the mechanisms that may explain different patterns of recuperation between genders are discussed.     

Measuring Subjective Quality of Life: A Survey to Porto’s Residents

The evaluation of the urban quality of life has been an important aspect of the research concerning the contemporary city and an increasingly support to urban planning and management. As part of a project to monitor the quality of life in the city of Porto, a survey of the resident population was conducted in order to study the citizens’ perceptions of their local quality of life and its evolution in recent years. The opinions of individuals on their level of satisfaction with various fields of the urban quality of life are systematised, as well as their integrated assessment. This analysis is complemented by a multivariate analysis that allows the grouping of the interviewees in large homogenous groups and their social and economic characterisation. Based on the results achieved, we try to highlight the usefulness of the qualitative analysis of the quality of life to support the definition of urban policies.

Psychological consequences of rheumatic diseases in children and adolescents: A first exploratory study

The objective of our study was to make a first exploratory study about the psychological status of children and adolescents with rheumatic diseases exploring, also, the significant differences between girls and boys. A total of 123 children (81 girls and 42 boys) with rheumatic diseases, between the ages of 1 and 19 years old were assessed using different measures for evaluating behavioral and emotional problems. The results showed a picture of a mild or moderate degree of psychological problems in the different measures of anxiety, depression, general distress and behavioral problems. Girls, compared to boys, scored higher in most of the measures used, showing more internalizing than externalizing kinds of symptoms. The results suggest the importance of making a more detailed study of these children, comparing them with matched controls and making prospective, longitudinal studies in order to detect psychological problems, and to explore the influence of predictive variables.     

Does response interference contribute to face composite effects?

Holistic processing of faces can be measured as a failure of selective attention to one face-half under instructions to ignore the other face-half in a naming or same/different matching task. But is interference from the irrelevant half due to response interference rather than to holistic processing? Here, participants learned to name two faces “Fred” and two “Bob.” At test, composites were created from top and bottom halves of different learned faces or of a novel face, and composites were either aligned or misaligned. Naming was slower when the irrelevant half was from a different face as opposed to the same face, regardless of whether it was associated with the same name, a different name, or no name, suggesting holistic processing. Interference was eliminated when composite halves were misaligned. These results suggest that, unlike Stroop effects, composite effects are not due to response interference.     

Temperament and its Relationship to Autistic Symptoms in a High-Risk Infant Sib Cohort

The present study prospectively investigated early temperamental profiles and their associations with autistic symptoms in high-risk infants (N = 138) with an older sibling with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and low-risk infants (N = 73) with no family history of ASD. Children who were diagnosed with ASD at 36 months were distinguished from non-ASD sibs and controls by a temperament profile marked by lower positive affect, higher negative affect and difficulty controlling attention and behavior, which we labeled Effortful Emotion Regulation. This profile also distinguished the non-ASD sib group from the control group. Children with ASD were distinguished from both of the other two groups by a temperament profile of low Behavioral Approach (lower sensitivity to “social” reward cues). Low levels of Behavioral Approach were associated with a higher number of ASD symptoms, even after taking into account IQ, sex and group membership. Finally, a cluster analysis revealed two ASD subgroups distinguished by number of ASD symptoms, IQ, age of diagnosis and scores on the Behavioral Approach profile. These findings suggest that temperament may be a useful framework for understanding the emergence of ASD early in life.     

Community Psychology in higher education in Europe: Results of a survey and discussion of the basic competency approach

This report from the Standing Committee on Community Psychology of the European Federation of Psychological Association provides an overview of higher education in Community Psychology (CP) in 14 European countries. Our findings show that 10 countries have some kind of CP teaching in their educational system. Twenty European universities offer a CP‐oriented Master degree, two universities at the Bachelor level and 16 universities also have CP‐oriented Ph.D. programmes. The profiles of the universities focus on two areas: Community psychology in a pure form and a combination of social psychology and community psychology. The other universities vary between clinical, organisational psychology, and a pedagogical focus. Within a certain European emphasis, these universities are analysing and changing the social conditions of community life and mental health. The responding universities failed to report adequately on comprehensive core competences and key elements in CP. To compensate for this deficit, the Standing Committee on Community Psychology proposes to develop a primer of basic CP competences for inclusion in programmes like EuroPsy.     

Applying Self‐Determination Theory to the Prediction of Distress and Well‐Being in Gay Men With HIV and AIDS1

Self‐determination theory (Deci & Ryan. 1985. 1991) was used to predict psychological well‐being and distress in 48 gay men with HIV. 39 AIDS patients. and 38 HIV‐negative control participants. Participants listed 10 to 15 personal strivings and identitied their reasons for engaging in each striving. Multiple regression analyses revealed that introjection (engaging in strivings because of an internal sense of obligation or necessity) was associated with increased distress. especially among HIV‐ and AIDS participants. Introjection also predicted decreased well‐being. Integration (engaging in strivings because they are personally valued and meaningful) was positively related to well‐being. Adjustment to a life‐threatening illness is influenced by individuals' feelings of autonomy; that is. the extent to which they believe themselves to be the source of their actions.     

Work–Home Interaction and Psychological Strain: The Moderating Role of Sleep Quality

Sleep has been considered crucial for recovery, but little is known about the specific associations between the work–family interface and sleep quality. Based on COR theory, the goal of this study is to examine the moderating role of sleep quality on the relationship between work–home interaction (i.e. negative work–home interaction, negative home–work interaction, positive work–home interaction, and positive home–work interaction) and psychological strain. A total of 273 ambulance workers from Spain participated in the study. Multiple regression analyses revealed that sleep quality moderated the relationship between negative and positive home–work interaction and psychological strain. Findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications.