Counting visual and tactile events: The effect of attention on multisensory integration

Irrelevant events in one sensory modality can influence the number of events that are perceived in another modality. Previously, the underlying process of sensory integration was studied in conditions in which participants knew a priori which sensory modality was relevant and which was not. Consequently, (bottom-up) sensory interference and (top-down) selective attention were confounded. We disentangled these effects by measuring the influence of visual flashes on the number of tactile taps that were perceived, and vice versa, in two conditions. In the cue condition, participants were instructed on which modality to report before the bimodal stimulus was presented. In the no-cue condition, they were instructed after stimulus presentation. Participants reported the number of events that they perceived for bimodal combinations of one, two, or three flashes and one, two, or three taps. Our main findings were that (1) in no-cue conditions, the influence of vision on touch was stronger than was the influence of touch on vision; (2) in cue conditions, the integration effects were smaller than those in no-cue conditions; and (3) irrelevant taps were less easily ignored than were irrelevant flashes. This study disentangled previously confounded bottom-up and top-down effects: The bottom-up influence of vision on touch was stronger, but vision was also more easily suppressed by top-down selective attention. We have compared our results qualitatively and quantitatively with recently proposed sensory-integration models.     

Construct and Criterion‐Related Validation of a Measure of Emotional Reasoning Skills: A two‐study investigation

In a two‐study investigation, the construct and criterion‐related validities of the Test of Emotional Intelligence, an ability‐based measure of emotional reasoning skills, were examined. In Study 1, as hypothesized, emotional reasoning skills were related to emotion recognition ability (i.e., as measured by Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy), emotional empathy, and three measures of successful social functioning (i.e., social astuteness, interpersonal influence, and apparent sincerity) assessed by peers, after controlling for personality and occupational environment characteristics. In Study 2, results from a predictive validation study demonstrated that Emotional Intelligence explained additional variance in overall job performance ratings beyond general mental ability and personality traits. Contributions and implications of this research investigation, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.     

When Reminiscence is Harmful: The Relationship Between Self-Negative Reminiscence Functions,Need Satisfaction,and Depressive Symptoms Among Elderly People from Cameroon,the Czech Republic,and Germany

Reminiscence has various functions, not all of which are beneficial for well-being. In particular, self-negative reminiscence functions—boredom reduction, bitterness revival, and intimacy maintenance—have been shown to be associated with reduced well-being. The present paper examines the link between self-negative reminiscence functions and depression in three cultural contexts. We hypothesize that both variables are indirectly linked via satisfaction of basic psychological needs: Self-negative reminiscing is associated with an impairment of need satisfaction which in turn relates to enhanced depressive symptoms. This hypothesis is tested in elderlies from Cameroon, the Czech Republic, and Germany. A total of 637 elderly participants reported on self-negative reminiscing, need satisfaction, and depressive symptoms. Analyses indicate that for boredom reduction and bitterness revival an indirect effect on depression via decreased need satisfaction can be established in all cultural contexts. For intimacy maintenance, a different picture emerges in that in the Czech and the German sample, there was a direct effect on depression but not an indirect one via need satisfaction. Yet, among Cameroonian participants an indirect effect was found, demonstrating that intimacy maintenance was related to decreased depression via enhanced need satisfaction. These results suggest that reminiscence functions may have partly universal, partly culture-specific effects on well-being.     

The China Puzzle: Falling Happiness in a Rising Economy

Over the 1990–2000 decade happiness in China plummeted despite massive improvement in material living standards. This finding contradicts the notion that income growth at low living standards leads to gains, not losses, in happiness. We explain this puzzle by drawing on a specific version of relative deprivation theory, the concept of “frustrated achievers.” Our major finding is that income inequality in China became increasingly skewed towards the upper income strata, so that related to the average income the financial position of most Chinese worsened. Consequently, financial dissatisfaction rose and became an increasingly important factor in depressing happiness. Other negative feelings emerging with rapid transitions, such as anomie and disaffection, show a less depressive effect on Chinese happiness. We conclude with some speculations about the applicability of our findings to transition economies in general.

Stress and coping in mothers caring for a child with severe learning difficulties: A test of Lazarus' transactional model of coping

The literature on psychological stress among women consistently points to the adverse effects of child rearing on mothers, particularly those caring for children with physical or mental handicaps. Early studies of the effects on family functioning of caring for a child with severe learning difficulties adopted a pathological approach in which it was assumed that psychological distress was inevitable among family members, particularly mothers. Recent research has emphasised that many families cope with and adapt to the stress they experience, and seeks to discover how they do so. The paper reports on a study of 166 mothers caring for a child with severe learning difficulties. The aim of the study was to investigate both the factors associated with maternal stress and those which might mediate or buffer the effects of stress. The study used the Folkman and Lazarus' (1979) transactional model of stress. Stress is the condition that results when person/environment transactions lead the individual to perceive a discrepancy between the demands of a situation and his/her resources or ability to cope with those demands. The nature and type of coping generated by a person will be determined by the coping resources in the person's environment. The model identifies five categories of coping resource: utilitarian resources, health/morale, social networks, general and specific beliefs, and problem solving skills. In our study, the five coping resources were represented by the mother's social class and appraisal of her financial worries, physical health, social support, acceptance of and adjustment to the child, and assessment of coping skills. Stress was measured by the Malaise Inventory (Rutter, 1970). Four of the five coping resources were found to be significant contributors in a hierarchical regression analysis of stress scores, contributing additional variance beyond that of behavioural and other child characteristics. Altogether, 55% of the variance in stress scores was explained.     

Epistemic authority: preemption through source sensitive defeat

Modern societies are characterized by a division of epistemic labor between laypeople and epistemic authorities. Authorities are often far more competent than laypeople and can thus, ideally, inform their beliefs. But how should laypeople rationally respond to an authority’s beliefs if they already have beliefs and reasons of their own concerning some subject matter? According to the standard view, the beliefs of epistemic authorities are just further, albeit weighty, pieces of evidence. In contrast, the Preemption View claims that, when one discovers what an authority believes, it is not permissible to rely on any of one’s own reasons concerning the subject matter. The original version of this view, as proposed by Linda Zagzebski, has recently been severely criticized for recommending blind trust and for abandoning even minimal standards for critical thinking. In our paper, we defend a new version of the Preemption View—Defeatist Preemptionism—in a way that differs radically from Zagzebski’s. We argue that our view can be derived from certain widely accepted general epistemic principles. In particular, we claim that preemption can be identified as a special case of source sensitive defeat. Moreover, we argue that Defeatist Preemptionism does not lead to the undesirable consequences that critics ascribe to the Preemption View. The paper thus articulates the foundations and refinements of the Preemption View, such that it adequately captures the phenomenon of epistemic authority and the rational requirements related to it.

     

Mapping the Personality Psychopathology Five Domains Onto DSM–IV Personality Disorders in Dutch Clinical and Forensic Samples: Implications for DSM–5

The Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY–5) model represents 5 broadband dimensional personality domains that align with the originally proposed DSM–5 personality trait system, which was eventually placed in Section III for further study. The main objective of this study was to examine the associations between the PSY–5 model and personality disorder criteria. More specifically, we aimed to determine if the PSY–5 domain scales converged with the alternative DSM–5 Section III model for personality disorders, with a particular emphasis on the personality trait profiles proposed for each of the specific personality disorder types. Two samples from The Netherlands consisting of clinical patients from a personality disorder treatment program (n = 190) and forensic psychiatric hospital (n = 162) were used. All patients had been administered the MMPI–2 (from which MMPI–2–RF PSY–5 scales were scored) and structured clinical interviews to assess personality disorder criteria. Results based on Poisson or negative binomial regression models showed statistically significant and meaningful associations for the hypothesized PSY–5 domains for each of the 6 personality disorders, with a few minor exceptions that are discussed in detail. Implications for these findings are also discussed.     

Predicting performance and performance satisfaction: mindfulness and beliefs about the ability to deal with social barriers in sport

This research investigates the role of beliefs about the ability to deal with specific social barriers and its relationships to mindfulness, football performance, and satisfaction with one's own and team performance. Study 1 aimed at eliciting these social barriers. Study 2 tested (i) whether self-efficacy referring to social barriers would predict performance over and above task-related self-efficacy and collective efficacy and (ii) the mediating role of self-efficacy to overcome social barriers in the relationship between mindfulness and performance. Participants were football (soccer) players aged 16–21 years (Study 1: N = 30; Study 2: N = 101, longitudinal sample: n = 88). Study 1 resulted in eliciting 82 social barriers referring to team, peer leadership, and coaches. Study 2 showed that task-related self-efficacy and collective efficacy explained performance satisfaction at seven-month follow-up, whereas self-efficacy referring to social barriers explained shooting performance at seven-month follow-up. Indirect associations between mindfulness and performance were found with three types of self-efficacy referring to social barriers, operating as parallel mediators. Results provide evidence for the role of beliefs about the ability to cope with social barriers and show a complex interplay between different types of self-efficacy and collective efficacy in predicting team sport performance.     

Self‐Enhancement in Military Leaders: Its Relevance to Officer Selection and Performance

We report on two studies in which we measured army cadets' tendencies to engage in two types of self‐enhancement: communal self‐enhancement (a moralistic bias in self‐presentation) and agentic self‐enhancement (an egotistic bias in self‐presentation). These self‐presentation styles were then related to their selection and performance as military leaders. In Study 1, scores on self‐enhancement questionnaires were used to predict selection decisions for 206 applicants to an army officer training program. We found that applicants who were higher in either communal or agentic self‐enhancement were more likely to be accepted for leadership training. In Study 2, we evaluated peer and superior ratings of 94 military cadets' leadership, reflecting leadership emergence and leadership effectiveness, respectively. We found that communal self‐enhancement negatively predicted leadership emergence, with those ratings becoming more negative over a 3‐year time‐span, whereas agentic self‐enhancement positively predicted leadership effectiveness. Our results imply that, at least in the present military context, people making selection decisions should be particularly aware of the relations between (a) applicant self‐enhancement tendencies and those decisions, and (b) high communal self‐enhancement in officer trainees and negative evaluations by their cadet peers.