Recognizing speech under a processing load: Dissociating energetic from informational factors

Effects of perceptual and cognitive loads on spoken-word recognition have so far largely escaped investigation. This study lays the foundations of a psycholinguistic approach to speech recognition in adverse conditions that draws upon the distinction between energetic masking, i.e., listening environments leading to signal degradation, and informational masking, i.e., listening environments leading to depletion of higher-order, domain-general processing resources, independent of signal degradation. We show that severe energetic masking, such as that produced by background speech or noise, curtails reliance on lexical-semantic knowledge and increases relative reliance on salient acoustic detail. In contrast, informational masking, induced by a resource-depleting competing task (divided attention or a memory load), results in the opposite pattern. Based on this clear dissociation, we propose a model of speech recognition that addresses not only the mapping between sensory input and lexical representations, as traditionally advocated, but also the way in which this mapping interfaces with general cognition and non-linguistic processes.     

The Role of Hope, Spirituality and Religious Practice in Adolescents’ Life Satisfaction: Longitudinal Findings

This longitudinal study presents the first examination of the relation between hope, spirituality, religious practice and life satisfaction of students in Portugal. A sample of 227 adolescents aged 15–19 completed the Portuguese versions of the Children Hope Scale, Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale and a single item for each spirituality and religious practice variable. The results from the cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses suggest that hope and spirituality, but not religious practice, were strongly linked to adolescents’ life satisfaction. Hope significantly predicted life satisfaction at a single time point, 6-months and 1-year later, and spirituality scores added significant variance beyond hope scores. All the variables demonstrate moderate to high stability across 6-months and 1-year time frame; no significant changes were found between the variables across the administrations. These results parallel recent studies of adult and child life satisfaction and suggest strategies to promote life satisfaction in adolescents.     

Positive experiences in the parent–child relationship during the COVID-19 lockdown in Poland: The role of emotion regulation,empathy, parenting self-efficacy,and social support

Despite the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak being largely negative on parents and children, for some families, lockdown could also bring about some positive effects, for example, increased emotional closeness, and more time for joint activity. The aim of the current study was to investigate cross-sectionally the most important correlates of the positive experiences in the parent–child relationship among Polish mothers and fathers during the lockdown in the initial phase of the COVID-19 outbreak. In May 2020, 228 mothers and 231 fathers completed the Brief version of the Empathic Sensitivity Questionnaire, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale Short Form, Social Support Scale, Parenting Self-Agency Measure, and Scale of Positive Experiences in Parent–Child Relationship during the COVID-19 lockdown. Our results showed that parenting self-efficacy and social support were the strongest correlates of positive experiences in the parent–child relationship in both mothers and fathers during the lockdown. Perspective-taking was positively related to the positive experiences in mothers, whereas personal distress was positively associated with the positive experiences in the parent–child relationship in fathers. Our results point to factors of potential importance in designing preventive and therapeutic interventions for mothers and fathers to enhance positive experiences in the parent–child relationship during the pandemic.     

A Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Self-Compassion-Related Interventions for Individuals With Chronic Physical Health Conditions

Self-compassion, defined as a mindful way of coping with pain and suffering by showing kindness, care, and concern towards the self, may improve psychological adjustment in people living with a chronic physical health condition (CPHC). Various studies illustrate that self-compassion is associated with positive outcomes in general. The aim of this systematic review is to establish the effect of compassion-related therapies on self-compassion specifically in people with CPHCs. Secondary aims are to (a) establish the effect on other psychological and physiological outcomes and (b) explore the relative effectiveness of different therapy types among those identified. Cochrane, Embase, Medline, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases were searched using “compassion” AND “chronic disease” AND “psychological outcomes” and their synonyms, from 2004 to March 2019. Eligible studies had an experimental design using a self-compassion scale with an adult population. Risk of bias (RoB) was assessed using the Cochrane RoB tool. Effect sizes were calculated for study outcomes. Fifteen studies, including a total of 1,190 participants, 7 different CPHCs, and 11 types of therapies, were included in the review. Nearly all included therapies significantly increased self-compassion with medium to large effect sizes, and reported positive outcomes, such as decreased depression. None of the therapy types appeared clearly superior to the others. Findings from this review show that included therapies increased self-compassion and improved various outcomes, which may represent clinically significant benefits for patients. However, there is a need to further understand how self-compassion exerts its benefits and determine the best methods to increase self-compassion.     

The Postself and Terror Management Theory: Reflecting on After Death Identity Buffers Existential Threat

In contemporary secular societies, ideas of an afterlife have become quite diverse, ranging from secular to religious and spiritual conceptions. In this article, an experimental study is reported in which the postself, a person's imagination of an after-death reputation, is tested as a protective buffer against mortality salience effects within a largely secular sample of participants. Before inducing mortality salience, the postself was affirmed or not affirmed. Results show that this reflection on personal continuity after death eliminates the effects of mortality salience on the accessibility of death-related thoughts. The discussion focuses on how the postself (the self will succeed death) relates to the more general concept of symbolic immortality (the self is part of a cultural worldview that will succeed death). Moreover, the relation between the postself and religiosity is discussed, and suggestions for future research are provided.     

LTP maintenance and its protein synthesis-dependence

The properties of long-term potentiation (LTP) mirror those of associative memory in a number of interesting ways. Although plasticity at monosynaptic connections is not expected to account for the varied subtle characteristics of distributed memories, nonetheless it is important to establish how far the parallels can be drawn. Here, we briefly address whether properties of LTP such as its duration, reversibility, savings and reconsolidation relate to corresponding memory phenomena. We then address whether LTP stabilization in fact requires protein synthesis, as this has been challenged in recent times much like the necessity for protein synthesis in the consolidation of long-term memory has been queried. We conclude that the case is still very strong for a necessary role of protein synthesis in LTP stabilization, even though the identities of the synthesized proteins and their contributions to the LTP process are not fully understood. However, we highlight areas of research that could be usefully conducted to further our understanding of the properties and protein synthesis-dependence of LTP.     

Distinguishing the desire to learn from the desire to perform: The social value of achievement goals

We sought to distinguish mastery goals (i.e., desire to learn) from performance goals (i.e., desire to achieve more positive evaluations than others) in the light of social judgment research. In a pilot study, we made a conceptual distinction between three types of traits (agency, competence, and effort) that are often undifferentiated. We then tested the relevance of this distinction for understanding how people pursuing either mastery or performance goals are judged. On self-perception, results revealed that effort was predicted by the adoption of mastery goals and agency by performance goals (Study 1). On judgments, results showed that (a) the target pursuing mastery goals was perceived as oriented toward effort, and (b) the target pursuing performance goals was oriented toward agency (Study 2). Finally, these links were shown again by participants who inferred a target’s goals from his traits (Study 3). Results are discussed in terms of the social value of achievement goals at school.     

The Relational Impact of Multiple Sclerosis: An Integrative Review of the Literature Using a Cognitive Analytic Framework

This integrative literature review uses cognitive analytic therapy (CAT) theory to examine the impact of a chronic illness, multiple sclerosis (MS), on relationships and mental health. Electronic searches were conducted in six medical and social science databases. Thirty-eight articles met inclusion criteria, and also satisfied quality criteria. Articles revealed that MS-related demands change care needs and alter relationships. Using a CAT framework, the MS literature was analysed, and five key patterns of relating to oneself and to others were identified. A diagrammatic formulation is proposed that interconnects these patterns with wellbeing and suggests potential “exits” to improve mental health, for example, assisting families to minimise overprotection. Application of CAT analysis to the literature clarifies relational processes that may affect mental health among individuals with MS, which hopefully will inform how services assist in reducing unhelpful patterns and improve coping. Further investigation of the identified patterns is needed.     

Measurement Invariance of Personal Well-Being Index (PWI-8) Across 26 Countries

This report examines the measurement invariance of the Personal Well-being Index with 8 items (PWI-8). University students (N = 5731) from 26 countries completed the measure either through paper and pencil or electronic mode. We examined uni-dimensional structure of PWI and performed a Multi-group CFA to assess the measurement invariance across the 26 countries, using conventional approach and the alignment procedure. The findings provide evidence of configural and partial metric invariance, as well as partial scalar invariance across samples. The findings suggest that PWI-8 can be used to examine correlates of life satisfaction across all included countries, however it is impossible to compare raw scores across countries.