Inhibition and interference in the think/no-think task

Five experiments using the think/no-think (TNT) procedure investigated the effect of the no-think and substitute instructions on cued recall. In Experiment 1, when unrelated A–B paired associates were studied and cued for recall with A items, recall rates were reliably enhanced in the think condition and reliably impaired below baseline in the no-think condition. In Experiments 2 and 5, final recall was cued with B items, leading to reliably higher recall rates, as compared with baseline, in both the think and no-think conditions. This pattern indicates backward priming of no-think items. In Experiments 3 and 4, the no-think instruction was replaced with a thought substitution instruction, and participants were asked to think of another word instead of the studied one when they saw the no-think cued items. As in Experiments 1 and 2, the same amount of forgetting of B items was observed when A items were the cues, but in contrast to Experiment 2, there was no increase in the recall performance of A items when B items were the cues. These results suggest that not thinking of studied items or, alternatively, thinking of a substitute item to avoid a target item may involve different processes: the former featuring inhibition and the latter interference.     

With the past behind and the future ahead: Back-to-front representation of past and future sentences

Several studies support the psychological reality of a mental timeline that runs from the left to the right and may strongly affect our thinking about time. Ulrich and Maienborn (Cognition 117:126–138, 2010) examined the linguistic relevance of this timeline during the processing of past- and future-related sentences. Their results indicate that the timeline is not activated automatically during sentence comprehension. While no explicit reference of temporal expressions to the left–right axis has been attested (e.g., *the meeting was moved to the left), natural languages refer to the back–front axis in order to encode temporal information (e.g., the meeting was moved forward). Therefore, the present study examines whether a back–frontal timeline becomes automatically activated during the processing of past- and future-related sentences. The results demonstrate a clear effect on reaction time that emerges from a time–space association along the frontal timeline (Experiment 1). However, this activation seems to be nonautomatic (Experiment 2), rendering it unlikely that this frontal timeline is involved in comprehension of the temporal content of sentences.     

The emotional impact of bullying and cyberbullying on victims: a European cross-national study

Past research has demonstrated the effects of bullying can be severe and long term for the individuals involved. The main aim of this study is to analyze the emotional impact on victims of traditional bullying, both direct and indirect forms, and of cyberbullying through mobile phones and the Internet. A sample of 5,862 adolescents from three different countries, Italy (N = 1,964), Spain (N = 1,671), and England (N = 2,227), responded to a questionnaire that asked if they had experience of various forms of bullying, and the consequent emotional impact. The results show that both traditional bullying and cyberbullying have a significant prevalence in the samples. Emotional responses are linked to types of bullying. Analysis of answers identified specific emotional profiles for the different types of bullying and cyberbullying. Direct bullying and cyberbullying via mobile phone showed similar profiles, and also indirect bullying and cyberbullying using the Internet. Similarities and differences between profiles are discussed and some hypotheses are presented to explain the results. In addition, school grade, gender, country, and severity of bullying episodes were related to the specific emotional profiles of each type of bullying. Aggr. Behav. 38:342‐356, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

On Reichenbach’s Causal Betweenness

We characterize, by easily verifiable properties, abstract ternary relations isomorphic to the causal betweenness introduced by Hans Reichenbach.     

Cognitive mechanisms and self-acceptance of body image

This research proposed to investigate the effect of an intervention program to strengthen self-acceptance (positive), and a cognitive intervention program on body image. Specifically, it is based on the idea of prevention of risk factors for eating disorders from the perspective of normalcy in the prevention of body dissatisfaction. We used a 2×2 factorial design with 120 participants of both sexes, aged between 10 and 12 years, selected by stratification. To evaluate the hypothesis, we used two-way analysis of variance. The results concluded that only the cognitive intervention program affected the dependent variable body image, maintaining its statistical significance, which is revealed both in the general two-way ANOVA and when controlling the effect of the covariates, age and sex.     

Effects of (+) SKF 10,047, a sigma-1 receptor agonist, on anxiety,tested in two laboratory models in mice

Recently, sigma-1 receptor modulators have been considered drugs with an interesting therapeutic potential for the treatment of anxiety. However, there is no clear information in preclinical studies about the possible effects of sigma-1 ligands on anxiety in experimental animal models. Therefore, the present study examined the effects of (+)SKF 10,047 (2-8 mg/kg, ip), a sigma-1 agonist, on anxiety, tested in two classical laboratory models (social interaction test and elevated plus maze). (+)SKF 10,047 (8 mg/kg) produced a significant decrease of social investigation in the "social interaction test", whereas in the "elevated plus maze", the drug (4 and 8 mg/kg) provoked a significant reduction in the number of entries into open arms, as well as in the time spent in this area, as compared with the control group, without affecting motor activity. Overall, these findings indicate that (+)SKF 10,047 exhibits an anxiogenic-like profile in mice. It is suggested that anxiogenic effects of this sigma-1 ligand could be related to its potent ability to modulate diverse neurotransmitter systems involved in anxiety regulation.     

Child-to-parent violence and its association with exposure to marital violence and parent-to-child violence

The aims of this study were: (a) to examine the relationships between the exposure to different types of family violence (intraparental violence and parent-to-child aggression) and the perpetration of child-to-parent violence (CPV); (b) to analyze sex differences in the relationships specified. The sample comprised 1681 Spanish university students who reported the exposure to different types of family violence during their childhood. Both psychological and physical family violence were analyzed separately. Results showed that both witnessing marital psychological violence and parent-to-child psychological aggression are related to CPV. Furthermore, psychological and physical parent-to-child aggression as well as witnessing physical aggression between parents was associated with physical CPV. Multigroup analyses showed that the relationships among variables were not significantly different as a function of sex. This finding suggests that the relation between exposure to family violence and CPV is similar for men and women.     

Prediction of mathematics achievement: effect of personal, socioeducational and contextual variables

Based upon the self-regulated learning theoretical framework this study examined to what extent students' Math school achievement (fifth to ninth graders from compulsory education) can be explained by different cognitive-motivational, social, educational, and contextual variables. A sample of 571 students (10 to 15 year old) enrolled in the study. Findings suggest that Math achievement can be predicted by self-efficacy in Math, school success and self-regulated learning and that these same variables can be explained by other motivational (ej., achievement goals) and contextual variables (school disruption) stressing this way the main importance of self-regulated learning processes and the role context can play in the promotion of school success. The educational implications of the results to the school levels taken are also discussed in the present paper.     

Spanish adaptation of Hobfoll's Strategic Approach to Coping Scale (SACS)

The present research adapted the Strategic Approach to Coping Scale (SACS), developed by Hobfoll and colleagues, to the Spanish population. SACS is an instrument derived from Hobfoll's Conservation of Resources Theory, which emphasises the contribution of social factors to coping processes. This instrument assesses coping strategies in 9-subscales, organised in three dimensions: orientation to the problem (active/passive), use of social resources (prosocial/antisocial), and orientation to others involved (direct/indirect). The Spanish version, administered to a non-clinical sample (N= 767), found 7-subscales structured in prosocial/antisocial, active/passive and reflexive/intuitive dimensions, with adequate reliability and construct validity. To conclude, the Spanish SACS is a potentially useful and reliable instrument for research and clinical purposes, mainly in areas in which social components need to be explicitly considered.     

Spanish adaptation of a perceived Social Support Scale in sportspeople

Social support is a variable that has a great influence in the sport context. In fact, this variable not only affects the athlete's performance but it has also shown to be related to psychological disorders such as Burnout Syndrome. The aim of this paper was to illustrate the Spanish adaptation of a social support scale in the sport context. The normative group who took part in the final version of the research was composed of 397 athletes aged between 13 and 64 years old (mean= 19.23 and standard deviation= 6.67). The scale shows: adequate factorial and construct validity, acceptable fit indexes (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin= 0.785, Root Mean Square Residual= 0.078; Kelly's criterion= 0.075), a negative correlation with the dimensions of burnout and no relationship with respect to self-esteem. In addition, it also shows high reliability (a= 0.88). Furthermore, statistically significant differences have been found in relation to genders - where women require greater social support. In contrast, males tend to display a lower level of social support with team players and international athletes. Moreover, differential item functioning (DIF) was carried out to explore sex bias, however, none of the items exhibit DIF problems.