Impact of current grief on memory for past grief in spousal bereavement

This study examined the impact of changes in level of current grief over time on changes in memory for past grief. Following from previous work on the impact of current affective state on memory for past affectively salient events, bereaved individuals who underwent a greater reduction in grief over time were expected to show a similar pattern of changes in memory for past grief. A sample of conjugally bereaved participants completed measures of current grief and memory for past grief at the time of the loss of their spouse at each of the 2, 6, 13, and 30 month post-loss time periods. As predicted, those who reported greater reduction in grief over the course of the study were more likely to remember their past grief as progressively less severe relative to those who underwent less reduction in grief over time. A nonrecursive causal model analysis verified that changes in memory for past grief were explained by changes in current grief. These results were discussed in terms of contemporary reconstructive memory accounts of the effect of affective state on memory.     

Impact of current grief on memory for past grief in spousal bereavement

This study examined the impact of changes in level of current grief over time on changes in memory for past grief. Following from previous work on the impact of current affective state on memory for past affectively salient events, bereaved individuals who underwent a greater reduction in grief over time were expected to show a similar pattern of changes in memory for past grief. A sample of conjugally bereaved participants completed measures of current grief and memory for past grief at the time of the loss of their spouse at each of the 2, 6, 13, and 30 month post-loss time periods. As predicted, those who reported greater reduction in grief over the course of the study were more likely to remember their past grief as progressively less severe relative to those who underwent less reduction in grief over time. A nonrecursive causal model analysis verified that changes in memory for past grief were explained by changes in current grief. These results were discussed in terms of contemporary reconstructive memory accounts of the effect of affective state on memory.     

Effects of maternal unavailability on mother-infant interactions

To determine the differential effects of maternal emotional and physical unavailability on infant interaction behavior, 4-month-old infants were subjected to the mothers' still-face and to a brief separation from the mother. Although the infants became more negative and agitated during both conditions, the still-face was more stressful.     

The associated non-targets effect: evidence of nontarget processing at and beyond the level of letter recognition

In four visual search tasks participants were asked to make a target response if either of two targets was present and to make a nontarget response if neither target was present. Some target-absent displays included only nontarget stimuli or features that never occurred in the same displays as targets, whereas other target-absent displays included nontarget stimuli or features that did sometimes occur with targets. Nontarget responses were reliably faster in the former case than in the latter. This “associated nontargets effect” indicates that nontargets are not simply classified as nontargets but in addition are discriminated from one another. Current visual search models may underestimate the degree to which nontargets are processed during search.     

I don't like it because it eats sprouts: conditioning preferences in children

Although little is known about how preferences develop in childhood, work in adults suggests that evaluative responses to stimuli can be acquired through classical conditioning. In two experiments children were exposed to novel cartoon characters, that were either consistently paired with a picture of a disliked food (Brussels sprouts) or a liked food (ice cream). Relative preferences for these stimuli (and others) were measured before and after these paired presentations (Experiment 1): preferences for the cartoon character paired with Brussels sprouts decreased, whereas preferences for the character paired with ice cream increased. These preferences persisted after 10 un-reinforced trials. Experiment 2 replicated this finding using affective priming as an index of preference for the cartoon characters. These findings demonstrate that preferences to novel stimuli can be conditioned in children and result from associations formed between the stimulus and a stimulus possessing positive or negative valence.