Effects of working memory capacity on mental set due to domain knowledge

The present set of studies examines how working memory capacity (WMC) relates to performance on a Remote Associates Task (RAT), originally designed by Mednick as a quantifiable creative problem solving assessment. The source of fixation was manipulated across two sets of RAT items. One set was neutral with no specific fixation embedded in them, while the second set was baseball-misleading, designed so that prior knowledge of baseball would lead to an incorrect solution attempt. WMC scores were positively related to performance on RAT items in all conditions, except one. High baseball knowledge participants' WMC scores did not relate to performance on the baseball-misleading RAT. While in general WMC may lead to better RAT performance, these results suggest that when there is a candidate solution strongly activated by prior knowledge, WMC may actually lead to too much focus on the incorrect solution and exacerbate mental sets.     

Capturing system level activities and impacts of mental health consumer-run organizations

Since the 1970s mental health consumer-run organizations have come to offer not only mutual support, but they have also adopted agendas for broader social change. Despite an awareness of the need for system level efforts that create supportive environments for their members, there has been limited research demonstrating how their system level activities can be documented or their impacts evaluated. The purpose of this paper is to feature a method of evaluating systems change activities and impacts. The paper is based on a longitudinal study evaluating four mental health consumer-run organizations in Ontario, Canada. The study tracked system level activities and impacts using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The article begins by describing the development and implementation of these methods. Next it offers a critical analysis of the methods used. It concludes by reflecting on three lessons learned about capturing system level activities and impacts of mental health consumer-run organizations.     

The role of interference produced by conflicting associations in contextual control

In 2 experiments, participants completed a computer task in which they judged the probability of outcomes occurring (e.g., flowers growing, a bug infestation) given cues (e.g., treatment of soil with a fictitious garden product). In each 2-phase experiment, cue X was associated with 1 outcome in Phase 1 and with a 2nd outcome in Phase 2. When the outcome in Phase 1 (e.g., X led to a bug infestation) was replaced in Phase 2 (e.g., X led to flowers growing), contextual control was observed (Experiments 1 and 2). Information learned in each phase was less likely to be retrieved when the cue was tested in a context different from the 1 where training occurred. When the 2nd outcome did not conflict with information acquired in the 1st phase (e.g., X led to flowers and bugs), no contextual control was observed (Experiment 2). Acquiring a 2nd association to X resulted in contextual control only when it conflicted with an association learned earlier. The authors discuss the role of interference produced when conflicting information is acquired in establishing contextual control.     

The dynamics of personality states, goals, and well-being

The authors examine the within-individual dynamics of Big-5 personality states over time in people's daily lives. They focus on the magnitude of this within-individual variability, and the associations between personality states, short-term goals, and subjective well-being states. A total of 101 undergraduate students participated in a 10-day interval-contingent diary study. The authors' findings, based on multilevel procedures, establish a considerable amount of within-individual variability that is both (a) equal or larger than that observed between individuals and (b) larger or similar to other constructs assessed with a state approach (e.g., self-esteem and mood). In addition, both neuroticism and extraversion states are systematically related to the short-term pursuit of approach-avoidance goals. Finally, support was obtained for the mediating role of both neuroticism and extraversion states of the association between goals and subjective well-being. In sum, the authors' findings testify to the importance and utility of studying within-individual variability in personality states over time.     

A central capacity limit to the simultaneous storage of visual and auditory arrays in working memory

If working memory is limited by central capacity (e.g., the focus of attention; N. Cowan, 2001), then storage limits for information in a single modality should apply also to the simultaneous storage of information from different modalities. The authors investigated this by combining a visual-array comparison task with a novel auditory-array comparison task in 5 experiments. Participants were to remember only the visual, only the auditory (unimodal memory conditions), or both arrays (bimodal memory conditions). Experiments 1 and 2 showed significant dual-task tradeoffs for visual but not for auditory capacity. In Experiments 3-5, the authors eliminated modality-specific memory by using postperceptual masks. Dual-task costs occurred for both modalities, and the number of auditory and visual items remembered together was no more than the higher of the unimodal capacities (visual: 3-4 items). The findings suggest a central capacity supplemented by modality- or code-specific storage and point to avenues for further research on the role of processing in central storage.     

Religious Fundamentalism and Gender Differences

The role of religious fundamentalism and its relationship to shame and guilt was evaluated in 107 students who attend a church-sponsored university. A number of personality measures were given and gender differences were analyzed. The role of externalization was similar for males in this sample to that of earlier studies. However, it was found that females showed positive correlations between externalization and both shame and guilt. For females, more fundamentalistic religious training may help to contribute to an external orientation at the expense of identifying with a personal religion, and appropriate guilt.     

Absolute Versus Tentative Interpretations: Mediating Effects of Client Locus of Control

An analog design was used to investigate the mediating effects of client locus of control (i.e., an internal focus or external focus) on perceptions of counselor style of interpreting events (i.e., absolute or tentative interpretations) on measures of perceived session depth and smoothness, and perceived counselor expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness. One hundred and thirty-four undergraduate college students, crossed on level of locus of control, were randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions, and then completed measures of perceived session depth and smoothness, as well as perceived counselor expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness. Results indicated a significant interaction effect on perceived counselor trustworthiness. Implications for college counselors are provided.     

The Relationship Between Friendship Quality and Self-Esteem in Adolescent Girls and Boys

Much has been written about the low self-esteem of adolescent girls relative to adolescent boys, but little research has explored the role that friendship quality may play in affecting self-esteem. Ninety-seven female and 67 male 11th and 12th graders completed measures of self-esteem and of friendship quality with both same- and cross-gender best friends. Ninety-five percent of the participants were White, and ranged across the socioeconomic spectrum with the majority coming from middle-class families. We found that girls' self-esteem was significantly lower than boys' self-esteem and that girls rated their relationships as stronger, more interpersonally rewarding, and more stressful than boys did. Boys reported that their friendship with their best female friend was more interpersonally rewarding than their friendship with their best male friend, whereas girls rated the quality of their same- and cross-gender friends similarly. As expected, girls' self-esteem was positively correlated with the friendship quality of their cross-gender best friend. However, their self-esteem was not correlated with the quality of their same-gender friendship. Boys' self-esteem did not correlate with the quality of their same- or cross-gender best friendship. Results may help us understand the relatively low self-esteem experienced by adolescent girls.     

The Role of Abstract and Specific Knowledge in the Formation of Product Judgments: An Analogical Learning Perspective

Prior research has assumed that existing knowledge exerts its influence on consumer judgments primarily through abstract knowledge structures. Consequently, little attention has been given to the possibility that judgments may, under certain circumstances, be influenced by knowledge associated with more specific knowledge structures. This article examines the factors responsible for determining the impact of abstract versus specific knowledge on consumer judgments. Based on the Consumer Learning by Analogy model (CLA model; Gregan‐Paxton & John, 1997), it is argued that the relative influence of abstract and specific knowledge is a function of (a) the relation between the new product and existing knowledge and (b) the nature of consumer's knowledge. These ideas were tested in a series of experiments in which participants were required to judge a new product that varied in its relation to an existing product or brand. In this context, the influence of specific knowledge was most evident when participants were able to construct an attribute mapping, but not a relational mapping, to link the novel product to a familiar brand exemplar. When it was possible to construct a relational mapping, a more abstract knowledge structure, such as a schema, was retrieved and used as the basis of product judgments.