Adolescents' Exposure to Sexually Explicit Internet Material and Sexual Preoccupancy: A Three-Wave Panel Study

The main aim of this study was to investigate whether adolescents' use of sexually explicit Internet material (SEIM) increased their sexual preoccupancy (i.e., a strong cognitive engagement in sexual issues). Further, we wanted to know (a) whether subjective sexual arousal mediated a potential influence of exposure to SEIM on sexual preoccupancy and (b) whether this process differed between male and female adolescents. Over the course of one year, we surveyed 962 Dutch adolescents aged 13–20 years three times. Structural equation modeling showed that exposure to SEIM stimulated sexual preoccupancy. This influence was fully mediated by subjective sexual arousal from SEIM. The effect of exposure to SEIM on subjective sexual arousal did not differ between male and female adolescents. The findings suggest that a sexualized media environment may affect adolescents' sexual development beyond traditionally studied variables, such as sexual attitudes and sexual behavior.     

From philosophy to criticism of myth: Cassirer’s concept of myth

This article discusses the question whether or not Cassirer’s philosophical critique of technological use of myth in The Myth of the State implies a revision of his earlier conception and theory of myth as provided by The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms. In the first part, Cassirer’s early theory of myth is compared with other approaches of his time. It is claimed that Cassirer’s early approach to myth has to be understood in terms of a transcendental philosophical approach. In consequence, myth is conceived as a form of cultural consciousness which is constituted by specific symbolic processes. In the second part, the theoretical assumptions underlying Cassirer’s criticism of myth are discussed and compared with his earlier theory. It is argued that there is a strong conceptual and theoretical continuity between Cassirer’s early views on myth as a symbolic form and his later critique of technological use of myth.     

How planning facilitates behaviour change: Additive and interactive effects of a randomized controlled trial

Planning interventions have proven effective to change behaviour. However, less is known about their underlying mechanisms. To better understand the processes by which planning interventions unfold their effects, a combined action planning and coping planning intervention was tested in a field setting, with the focus on mediating and moderating effects of theory‐derived social‐cognitive variables. In a randomized controlled trial, 374 employees of a logistics company were asked to participate in either a combined action planning and coping planning intervention or an active control group. Four weeks later, self‐reported changes in fruit and vegetable intake, action planning, coping planning, intentions and self‐efficacy were measured. Single and simultaneous mediating effects on behaviour were tested with intention‐to‐treat analyses, along with interaction effects between planning processes. Action planning and coping planning mediated intervention effects on fruit and vegetable intake not only separately, but also simultaneously (multiple mediation). Action planning and coping planning had main and interactive effects on behaviour change (moderation). Action planning and coping planning may exert both additive and synergistic effects on health behaviour change. Volitional interventions should include both action planning and coping planning components and stimulate the use of planning in everyday life. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reactions and Strategies of German Catholic Priests to Cope with Phases of Spiritual Dryness

Journal of Religion and Health - We investigated strategies of 763 Catholic priests (response rate 36%) to deal with phases of spiritual dryness, specifically their reactions toward these feelings,...     

Separating response‐execution bias from decision bias: Arguments for an additional parameter in Ratcliff's diffusion model

Diffusion model data analysis permits the disentangling of different processes underlying the effects of experimental manipulations. Estimates can be provided for the speed of information accumulation, for the amount of information used to draw conclusions, and for a decision bias. One parameter describes the duration of non‐decisional processes including the duration of motor‐response execution. In the default diffusion model, it is implicitly assumed that both responses are executed with the same speed. In some applications of the diffusion model, this assumption will be violated. This will lead to biased parameter estimates. Consequently, we suggest accounting explicitly for differences in the speed of response execution for both responses. Results from a simulation study illustrate that parameter estimates from the default model are biased if the speed of response execution differs between responses. A second simulation study shows that large trial numbers (N>1,000) are needed to detect whether differences in response‐execution times are based on different execution times.     

When do microsaccades follow spatial attention?

Following up on an exchange about the relation between microsaccades and spatial attention (Horowitz, Fencsik, Fine, Yurgenson, & Wolfe, 2007; Horowitz, Fine, Fencsik, Yurgenson, & Wolfe, 2007; Laubrock, Engbert, Rolfs, & Kliegl, 2007), we examine the effects of selection criteria and response modality. We show that for Posner cuing with saccadic responses, microsaccades go with attention in at least 75% of cases (almost 90% if probability matching is assumed) when they are first (or only) microsaccades in the cue—target interval and when they occur between 200 and 400 msec after the cue. The relation between spatial attention and the direction of microsaccades drops to chance level for unselected microsaccades collected during manual-response conditions. Analyses of data from four cross-modal cuing experiments demonstrate an above-chance, intermediate link for visual cues, but no systematic relation for auditory cues. Thus, the link between spatial attention and direction of microsaccades depends on the experimental condition and time of occurrence, but it can be very strong.     

Two types of serial dependence in visual working memory

Stimulus representations in working memory depend on memory traces of past stimuli both from previous trials and from the current trial. However, it is unclear whether the same or different mechanisms underlie this serial dependence across and within trials. We directly contrasted estimates of bias for pairs of immediately successive stimuli across and within trials. In each trial, participants memorized two consecutive motion direction stimuli (S1 and S2) and after a short delay were cued to report one of them. We found serial dependence across trials: The current S1 was attracted towards the preceding S2 when the latter had been cued for report. In contrast, within the same trial S2 was repulsed from S1. In addition, repulsion within a trial occurred for a broader range of motion direction differences between stimuli than attraction across trials. A second experiment in which 25% of trials did not require a response demonstrated that across‐trial attraction did not depend on whether the previous S2 actually had to be reported. Our findings provide evidence for two types of serial dependence operating across and within trials. They support the notion of different mechanisms integrating or segregating current from similar past memory contents depending on their task relevance.