Emotional context at learning systematically biases memory for facial information

Emotion influences memory in many ways. For example, when a mood-dependent processing shift is operative, happy moods promote global processing and sad moods direct attention to local features of complex visual stimuli. We hypothesized that an emotional context associated with to-be-learned facial stimuli could preferentially promote global or local processing. At learning, faces with neutral expressions were paired with a narrative providing either a happy or a sad context. At test, faces were presented in an upright or inverted orientation, emphasizing configural or analytical processing, respectively. A recognition advantage was found for upright faces learned in happy contexts relative to those in sad contexts, whereas recognition was better for inverted faces learned in sad contexts than for those in happy contexts. We thus infer that a positive emotional context prompted more effective storage of holistic, configural, or global facial information, whereas a negative emotional context prompted relatively more effective storage of local or feature-based facial information     

Suicide Attempts in Preadolescent Child Psychiatry Inpatients

This paper describes a preliminary study examining the relative power of measures of perceived family support, hopelessness, and depression for the classification of suicide attempters and nonattempters in a series of 8- to 13-year-old psychiatric inpatients. Results of a stepwise discriminant-function analysis indicated that a measure of a child's perceived family support discriminated between suicide attempters and nonattempters with an 88% accuracy rate. The addition of measures of hopelessness and depression at later steps did not lead to improved classification. The results are interpreted as providing strong support for a link between suicide attempts in children and perceptions of low family support.     

What People Want From Their Professionals: Attitudes Toward Decision‐making Strategies

Attitudes toward four types of decision‐making strategies—clinical/fully rational, clinical/heuristic, actuarial/fully rational, and actuarial/heuristic—were examined across three studies. In Study 1, undergraduate students were split randomly between legal and medical decision‐making scenarios and asked to rate each strategy in terms of the following: (i) preference; (ii) accuracy; (iii) fairness; (iv) ethicalness; and (v) its perceived similarity to the strategies used by actual legal and medical professionals to make decisions. Studies 2 and 3 extended Study 1 by using a more relevant scenario and a community sample, respectively. Across the three studies, the clinical/fully rational strategy tended to be rated the highest across all attitudinal judgments, whereas the actuarial/heuristic strategy tended to receive the lowest ratings. Considering the two strategy‐differentiating factors separately, clinically based strategies tended to be rated higher than actuarially based strategies, and fully rational strategies were always rated higher than heuristic‐based strategies. The potential implications of the results for professionals' and those affected by their decisions are discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Bull's-Eye Values Survey: A Psychometric Evaluation

Two studies were conducted to develop and evaluate an instrument intended to identify and measure personal values, values attainment, and persistence in the face of barriers. Study 1 describes a content validity approach to the construction and preliminary validation of the Bull's Eye Values Survey (BEVS), using a sample of institutionalized patients suffering from epilepsy. Study 2 investigated the psychometric properties of the BEVS with a sample of Swedish university students. Results suggest that the BEVS is sensitive to treatment effects and can differentiate between clients who receive values-based interventions and those who do not. The BEVS subscales and total score appear to measure an independent dimension of psychological functioning that is negatively correlated with measures of depression, anxiety, and stress, and positively correlated with a measure of psychological flexibility. The BEVS also exhibits acceptable temporal stability and internal consistency. The study provides preliminary support for the BEVS as both a research and clinical tool for measuring values, values-action discrepancies, and barriers to value-based living.     

Physical activity status of academic professors during their early career transition: an application of the theory of planned behavior

Life-transitions (e.g. parenthood) have been linked to physical inactivity, yet the topic requires further exploration. In this study, we evaluated changes in the physical activity (PA) of adults during their early career transition using retrospective analysis and the theory of planned behavior. Recruitment from January to March 2010 yielded a random sample of 267 assistant professors, ages 25-44, employed within the last five years. Repeated measures analysis of variance (RM ANOVA) concluded that PA declined across the transition (d?=?0.36-0.43) and was further attenuated by marriage, work hours, and parenthood status. Discriminant function analysis (DFA) identified specific behavioral and control correlates about PA enjoyment, limited time, inconsistent schedule, work demands, and job pressures to distinguish between those who remained active from those who did not across the transition. PA interventions administered prior to career transitions may be needed to prevent physical inactivity.     

Images of exercising: Exploring the links between exercise imagery use, autonomous and controlled motivation to exercise, and exercise intention and behavior

Objectives

In the present study, we tested a model examining the relationships between exercise imagery use, motivational regulations for exercise engagement, intention to exercise, and self-reported exercise behavior. This work represents an initial attempt to examine relationships between a new type of exercise imagery (enjoyment imagery) and motivational regulations for exercise.

Design

Cross-sectional.

Method

Exercisers with a mean age of 40.29 years (SD = 13.29; 177 female, 141 male) completed measures of the targeted variables.

Results

Structural equation modeling analyses revealed direct and indirect (via motivational regulations) links between imagery and exercise-related outcomes. Technique and enjoyment imagery were positively related to autonomous motivation. Conversely, appearance imagery was positively associated with controlled motivation. Direct relationships were evidenced between energy imagery and self-reported exercise behavior, and between appearance imagery and intention to exercise.

Conclusions

The potential motivational functions served by different exercise imagery types are discussed, and the inclusion of enjoyment imagery in future exercise imagery research is recommended.     

EARLY RESPONSE DISTRIBUTION AND OUTCOMES OF RESPONSE-RESTRICTION ANALYSES

We examined whether the results of a response‐restriction analysis (RRA) could be predicted on the basis of response distribution in early sessions, when these sessions indicated interaction with multiple items. Four preschool‐aged children participated. For 3 of the 4 participants, the results from sessions conducted prior to restriction of the first item corresponded closely with results of the full RRA.     

Salience modulation in serial preexposure: implications for perceptual learning

In three experiments rats were given serial preexposure to two flavor stimuli. In Experiment 1, some animals were given exposure to AX followed by the presentation of BX, a forward schedule; the others were given backward preexposure (BX→AX). Conditioning and test trials with the A element showed that salience or effectiveness of A was better protected in the forward than in the backward condition. Experiments 2 and 3 assessed the relevance of this salience modulation mechanism for perceptual learning. In these experiments, generalization of a conditioned aversion from AX to BX was reduced in the forward (but not in the backward) condition only after prolonged exposure, indicating that the establishment of an inhibitory link from B to A is required for successful discrimination. However, generalization to a novel compound stimulus, NX, was reduced in the forward group both after short and long preexposure, suggesting the existence of salience modulation processes that work in parallel with associative inhibition. These results seem to support the existence of a salience modulation mechanism that seems to be beyond the scope of current theories of perceptual learning.