The UCLA Body Project I: Gender and Ethnic Differences in Self-Objectification and Body Satisfaction Among 2,206 Undergraduates

This study examined whether objectification theory is useful for understanding gender, body mass, and ethnic differences in body satisfaction among 2,206 US undergraduates who completed a body image survey. Women reported lower body satisfaction than men (d?=?.37) and this was true across the majority of the BMI continuum. Very slender men, however, were less satisfied than very slender women who approached the female thin-ideal. Differences in body satisfaction among White, Asian, and Hispanic participants were small to moderate (ds?=?.18 to .45). Consistent with the prediction that self-objectification has particularly negative effects on women who deviate from the slender White ideal, the association between body dissatisfaction and appearance surveillance was strongest for heavier and minority women.     

Strategy use in the reading span test: an analysis of eye movements and reported encoding strategies

Strategy use in the traditional reading span test was examined by recording participants' eye movements during the task (Experiment 1) and by interviewing participants about their strategy use (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, no differences between individuals with a low, medium, and high span were observed in how they distributed processing time between task elements. In all three groups, fixation times on words up to the to-be-remembered (TBR) word became shorter and the time spent on the TBR longer as memory load in the task increased. The results of Experiment 2, however, show that span groups differ in the use of memory encoding strategies: individuals with a low span use mainly rehearsal, whereas individuals with a high span use almost exclusively semantic elaboration. The results indicate that the use of elaborative strategies may enhance span performance but that not all individuals are necessarily able to use such strategies efficiently.     

Norm-Narrowing and Self- and Other-Perceived Aggression in Early-Adolescent Same-Sex and Mixed-Sex Cliques

We examined the relations between group context and self- and other-perceptions of aggressive behavior in an ethnically-diverse sample of 168 male and female grade 7 adolescents. We used self- and peer-reports of aggression in high- and average-aggressive mixed-sex and same-sex cliques to examine whether group members would assimilate their self-report of aggression to the aggression report of their peers by way of perceived homophily or, conversely, engage in contrast and see their level of aggression as comparatively low in the face of high-aggression peers. Among boys in mixed-sex groups, comparison with highly-aggressive others resulted in a self-perception of lower levels of aggression than those perceived by their peers. Conversely, girls in mixed-sex groups reported their own levels of aggression to be higher than those perceived by their peers. We interpret these findings in terms of the notion of “norm narrowing”: rather than being set by the larger social environment, such as the school, norms are more narrowly determined within one's immediate peer group.     

Universal‐Diverse Orientation,Cognitive Complexity,and Sociopolitical Advocacy in Counselor Trainees

The authors investigated counselor trainees' levels of cognitive complexity and sociopolitical advocacy as predictors of universal‐diverse orientation (UDO). Participants included 120 master's‐ and doctoral‐level trainees from 4 midwestern counseling psychology programs. Results revealed that, after accounting for multicultural social desirability and training experience, actual time spent engaging in sociopolitical advocacy activities uniquely predicted 1 subscale of UDO. Los autores investigaron los niveles de complejidad cognitiva y defensoría sociopolítica de los consejeros en formación como indicadores de predicción de su orientación universal‐diversa (UDO, por sus siglas en inglés). Entre los participantes había 120 estudiantes de maestríay doctorado de 4 programas de psicología clínica en el Medio Oeste de EE.UU. Los resultados revelaron que, después de tomar en cuenta el atractivo social multicultural y la experiencia en formación, el tiempo real dedicado a la participación en actividades de defensoría sociopolítica solo predijo 1 sub‐escala de UDO.     

Cardiac modulation of startle: Effects on eye blink and higher cognitive processing

Cardiac cycle time has been shown to affect pre-attentive brainstem startle processes, such as the magnitude of acoustically evoked reflexive startle eye blinks. These effects were attributed to baro-afferent feedback mechanisms. However, it remains unclear whether cardiac cycle time plays a role in higher startle-related cognitive processes, as well. Twenty-five volunteers responded first by ’fast as possible’ button pushes (reaction time, RT), and second, rated perceived intensity of 60 acoustic startle stimuli (85, 95, or 105 dB; 50 ms duration; binaural; instantaneous rise time), which were presented either 230 or 530 ms after the R-wave, and eye blink responses were measured by EMG. RT was divided into evaluation and motor response time according to previous research. Increasing stimulus intensity enhanced startle eye blink, intensity ratings, and RT components. Eye blinks and intensity judgments were lower when startle was elicited at a latency of R + 230 ms, but RT components were differentially affected: the evaluative component was attenuated, and the motor component was accelerated when stimuli were presented 230 ms after the R-wave. We conclude that the cardiac cycle affects the attentive processing of acoustic startle stimuli.     

Perspective effects in repeated reading: An eye movement study

The present study examined the influence of perspective instructions on online processing of expository text during repeated reading. Sixty-two participants read either a high or a low prior knowledge (HPK vs. LPK) text twice from a given perspective while their eye movements were recorded. They switched perspective before a third reading. Reading perspective affected the first-pass reading and also increased sentence wrap-up processing time in the perspective-relevant sentences. Prior knowledge facilitated the recognition of the (ir)relevance of text information and resulted in relatively earlier perspective effects in the HPK versus LPK text. Repeated reading facilitated processing, as indicated by all eye movement measures. After the perspective switch, a repetition benefit was observed for the previously relevant text information, whereas a repetition cost was found for the previously irrelevant text information. These results indicate that reading perspective and prior knowledge have a significant influence on how readers allocate visual attention during reading.     

Stimulus-specific contrast effects during operant discrimination learning

In two experiments, pigeons' responding was equally reinforced in the presence of four line-orientation stimuli. Responding was then reinforced when only two of the four orientation stimuli were present; the remaining two orientations appeared during extinction. Response rates were often highest in the stimulus adjacent to the orientations presented during extinction and often lowest in that orientation adjacent to the orientations presented with reinforcement. These effects were stronger and more persistent when the stimuli were separated by a smaller angle, rendering the discrimination more difficult. These and other data suggest that discrimination training may not be accurately explained in terms of the simple effects of reinforcement and nonreinforcement associated with isolated stimuli, nor by accounts that depend upon stimulus generalization. Recent accounts of contrast that depend upon “emotionality” produced by nonreinforced responding or upon reinforcement-elicited responses are also difficult to apply to these data.     

Contrast effects in maintained generalization gradients

In Experiment I, pigeons were given equal reinforcement (variable-interval 1-min) for responding during randomized presentations of eight line-orientation stimuli. Then, only responding in the vertical orientation was reinforced. Stable generalization gradients soon formed and persistent behavioral and local (transient) contrast effects appeared. Local contrast effects were not a function of relative reinforcement frequency or of any other variable known to produce contrast. Instead, they were related to average response rates associated with each stimulus. Experiment II showed that local contrast effects represent increases and decreases in response rates relative to baseline responding, and that these effects are relative; a given stimulus might enhance responding during a subsequent presentation of one stimulus, but depress responding when followed by another. These data indicate that discrimination learning is not adequately described as the acquisition of excitatory properties by some stimuli and inhibitory properties by others. A more adequate account implies that stimuli exert both excitatory and inhibitory effects related to their value.     

Modifying food purchases in supermarkets with modeling, feedback, and goal-setting procedures

We compared several procedures designed to modify consumer food purchases with the objectives of reducing fat and increasing carbohydrate content, and reducing dollar expenditures on food. Participants were 126 volunteer community households which, after a 7-week baseline period, were randomly assigned to video-modeling, video-modeling-feedback, video-lecture, video-lecture-feedback, participant-modeling, video-modeling-discussion, and control conditions. The main dependent measure was a weekly record of food purchases, convertible to percentages of nutrients and dollar expenditures. Results indicated that modeling-feedback and participant-modeling procedures were most effective (e.g., 6% reduction of total fat consumption, 19% dollar savings). Strategies to refine and automate modeling and feedback in supermarkets that may benefit consumers, corporations, and government are discussed.