Reaction time measures in deception research: Comparing the effects of irrelevant and relevant stimulus–response compatibility

Evidence regarding the validity of reaction time (RT) measures in deception research is mixed. One possible reason for this inconsistency is that structurally different RT paradigms have been used. The aim of this study was to experimentally investigate whether structural differences between RT tasks are related to how effective those tasks are for capturing deception. We achieved this aim by comparing the effectiveness of relevant and irrelevant stimulus–response compatibility (SRC) tasks. We also investigated whether an intended but not yet completed mock crime could be assessed with both tasks. Results showed (1) a larger compatibility effect in the relevant SRC task compared to the irrelevant SRC task, (2) for both the completed and the intended crime. These results were replicated in a second experiment in which a semantic feature (instead of color) was used as critical response feature in the irrelevant SRC task. The findings support the idea that a structural analysis of deception tasks helps to identify RT measures that produce robust group effects, and that strong compatibility effects for both enacted crimes as well as merely intended crimes can be found with RT measures that are based on the manipulation of relevant SRC.     

Mindfulness and acceptance-based group therapy versus traditional cognitive behavioral group therapy for social anxiety disorder: A randomized controlled trial

Recent research has supported the use of mindfulness and acceptance-based interventions for Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD).     

The Old Catholic churches of the Union of Utrecht

Abstract

The Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht have different historical backgrounds. The Dutch Church has her roots in the Catholic Counter‐Reformation, the German‐speaking Churches in the protest‐movements against Vatican I, and the Polish Churches in the problems of emigrants to USA. However, they adhere in common to the conciliar and synodical tradition of the Catholic Church. They lay stress on the relative autonomy of the local church, the episcopal apostolic succession, and the Eucharist as the manifestation of the Church. The autonomy of the local church is not seen as detached from the universal Church or the responsibility to stay in or to restore Church unity. This leads to an ecumenical engagement which has resulted in full communion with the Anglican Churches and a doctrinal consensus with the Orthodox Churches. Reference back to the undivided Church is a key feature of Old Catholic ecclesiology, though this does not lead to uncomplicated ecumenical solutions.     

Reconceptualizing Cultivation: Implications for Testing Relationships Between Fiction Exposure and Self-Reported Alcohol Use Evaluations

ABSTRACT

This article responds to calls for conceptual clarification in the media effects domain by providing a definition for attitudinal cultivation effects. Our definition contains 5 core characteristics: the (a) linear effects of (b) repeated media exposure on (c) the evaluation as given by memory associations (d) strengthened by and (e) valenced in line with those media messages. We reason that, when accepting this definition, the cultivation hypothesis predicts effects of repeated media use on evaluations to primarily occur at the level of gut evaluations given by automatically activated memory associations. Corroborating this logic for the effects of alcohol use portrayals in television fiction, we find the relationship between fiction exposure and self-reported alcohol use evaluations to be (a) moderated by speed of expressing those evaluations and (b) mediated by responses to self-reports tapping into gut feelings. The implications of these findings for future media effects studies are discussed.     

The Effects On and Of Depression - An Exploratory Study of Rehabilitation and Secondary Prevention in Coronary Artery Disease

Forty consecutive participants in a comprehensive, behaviourally oriented coronary rehabilitation and secondary prevention program were followed for three years. Changes in depression (as measured with the Beck Depression Inventory) as well as the influence of baseline levels of depression on achieved changes in lifestyle behaviour and on rehabilitation and secondary prevention effects were analyzed. Subjects with moderate levels of baseline depression experienced short-term reductions of depression, which was maintained at the 12-month follow-up. Clinically depressed subjects experienced less positive results, with smaller immediate reductions as well as relapse to baseline levels after 12 months, specifically in non-physical, cognitive-affective depression symptoms. There were, however, no differences in lifestyle changes or in hospital treatment between groups with different pre-treatment depression levels. These results are discussed in relation to earlier research on the detrimental effects of depression on the prognosis of coronary artery disease.     

Comparing Chinese and Western Visitors’ Responses to Interpretive Signs at Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding,China

ABSTRACT

Visitor experiences and interpretation at wildlife tourism sites are often designed to encourage visitors to adopt conservation actions. Typically, conservation messages are delivered via one-size-fits-all interpretive signage, with little consideration given to whether the same information attracts and engages different cultural groups. This study explores Chinese and international visitors’ perceptions of signage at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China. Four sign prototypes were designed and a combination of visitor observations, interviews, and exit surveys were used to test their attracting and holding power. Comparisons of Chinese and Western visitors revealed no significant difference in the proportion who stopped to read signs. Preferences for signage elements were also similar across the two cultural groups; however, there were differences in terms of what visitors thought should be included in wildlife interpretation. Implications for the design and delivery of interpretation in Chinese wildlife tourism settings are discussed.     

A Review of: “Learning in Places: The Informal Education Reader”

ABSTRACT

Fluctuations in visitor numbers over the past 50 years at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) Museum of Natural History and Archaeology in Trondheim, Norway, indicate an overall decline in visitation since the 1990s but with some positive figures in the last years. Separate data available from 1977 to 2006 show a strong correlation between the numbers of school students and the general public. The general public paid relatively few visits in December, but visitation peaked in summer and autumn. Sundays and midweek were the busiest days. This article discusses factors that may influence the short-term, monthly, and daily distribution of visitors as well as the more long-term variations. These include the development of museums in Norway and how the historical, cultural, and nationalistic background may influence the topics and information in exhibitions, and hence the public interest in what the museum has to offer.     

Static items are automatically prioritized in a dynamic environment

Everyday experience provides us with the intuition that dynamic events guide or capture attention—something which has been confirmed in experimental studies. Recently, we showed that there are limitations to the extent to which dynamic items attract attention. In a visual search task where all items, except one, were dynamic, the dynamic items could be ignored and the static item could be efficiently detected. In the present study we investigated whether attention is automatically drawn to the static item. Three visual search experiments, in which the target and the static object were uncorrelated, revealed that the static item was nevertheless prioritized. This result is at odds with some of the current theories on attentional capture, including the “new object” hypothesis. The current study suggests that differences in dynamics, rather than dynamic features per se, determine where attention is allocated.