Disentangling fast and slow attentional influences of negative and taboo spoken words in the emotional Stroop paradigm

Although the influence of the emotional content of stimuli on attention has been considered as occurring within trial, recent studies revealed that the presentation of such stimuli would also involve a slow component. The aim of the present study was to investigate fast and slow effects of negative (Exp. 1) and taboo (Exp. 2) spoken words. For this purpose, we used an auditory variant of the emotional Stroop paradigm in which each emotional word was followed by a sequence of neutral words. Replicating results from our previous study, we observed slow but no fast effects of negative and taboo words, which we interpreted as reflecting difficulties to disengage attention from their emotional dimension. Interestingly, while the presentation of a negative word only delayed the processing of the immediately subsequent neutral word, slow effects of taboo words were long-lasting. Nevertheless, such attentional effects were only observed when the emotional words were presented in the first block of trials, suggesting that once participants develop strategies to perform the task, attention-grabbing effects of emotional words disappear. Hence, far from being automatic, the occurrence of these effects would depend on participants' attentional set.     

The next trial will be conflicting! Effects of explicit congruency pre-cues on cognitive control

The dual mechanisms of control account proposed a role for proactive and reactive mechanisms in minimizing or resolving interference in conflict tasks. Proactive mechanisms are activated in advance of stimulus onset and lead to preparatory biasing of attention in a goal-directed fashion. Reactive mechanisms are triggered post-stimulus onset. Using an explicit, trial-by-trial pre-cueing procedure in a 4-choice color-word Stroop task, we investigated effects of congruency pre-cues on cognitive control. Under conditions of stimulus uncertainty (i.e., each word was associated with multiple, equally probable responses), pre-cue benefits were observed on incongruent trials when cues were 100 % valid but not when they were 75 % valid. These benefits were selectively found at the longest cue-to-stimulus interval (2,000 ms), consistent with a preparation-dependent proactive control mechanism. By contrast, when a reactive strategy of switching attention to the irrelevant dimension to predict the single correlated response was viable, pre-cue benefits were observed on incongruent trials for all cue-to-stimulus intervals including the shortest that afforded only 500 ms to prepare. The findings (a) suggest a restricted role for the preparation-dependent biasing of attention via proactive control in response to explicit, trial-by-trial pre-cues while (b) highlighting strategies that lead to pre-cue benefits but which appear to reflect primarily reactive use of the information afforded by the pre-cues. We conclude that pre-cues, though available in advance of stimulus onset, may stimulate proactive or reactive minimization of interference.     

Fading of Affect Associated with Negative Child‐Related Memories Varies by Parental Child Abuse Potential

Positive memories tend to hold their affective intensity across time better than negative memories, a phenomenon referred to as the fading affect bias (FAB). An initial study explored this bias in the context of parents' affective responses to memories involving their children. Specifically, parents (N = 90 for Study 1) were asked to recall three positive events and three negative events involving their children. Next, parents rated how positively or negatively they felt when each event occurred and at recall. Results revealed that parents at high risk of physical child abuse showed a smaller FAB than low‐risk parents. The smaller FAB effect observed among high‐risk parents occurred largely because affect associated with negative child‐related events faded minimally over time. This risk moderation effect did not emerge in a second study in which parents (N = 90 for Study 2) recalled general events that were not limited to events involving children. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Affective Traits, Responses to Conflict, and Satisfaction in Romantic Relationships

Participants described their current and past romantic relationships on a variety of measures, as well as their typical behavioral responses to conflict in intimate relationships. Consistent with studies of initial social encounters, participants who were high in trait positive affect (PA) described their current relationships as being of higher quality than did low PA individuals. Participants who were high in PA were also more likely to currently be in a relationship than were other people. Negative affect emerged as a predictor of the amount of conflict that characterized people's past romantic relationships. Analyses further revealed that the link between PA and relationship quality was mediated by high PA individuals' reluctance to engage in active destructive responses and propensity to engage in active, constructive responses to conflict with their partner.     

Gender attitudes, feminist identity, and body images among college women

Cultural forces influence body-image development in gender-contingent ways, such that women in our society possess more dysfunctional body-image attitudes than men do. However, few studies have examined how women’s body-image experiences relate to their own gender attitudes and ideologies. This investigation of 122 college women assessed multiple parameters of body image (i.e., evaluation, investment, and affect) and different facets of gender attitudes and feminist identity development. Results revealed minimal relationships between body-image attitudes and either feminist identity or adherence to traditional gender beliefs at individual/stereotypic or societal levels. On the other hand, traditional gender attitudes at the level of male-female social interactions were associated with stronger and more dysfunctional investments in cultural and personal appearance standards. The scientific, social, and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.     

University Student Attitudes Toward American Indians

This study measured racial attitudes of 201 students toward American Indians in a variety of social-interpersonal and educational situations. Student's racial attitudes were generally positive except in a situation involving an American Indian student receiving free health care. Results are discussed in the context of the current sociopolitical climate.     

USE OF A TOKEN ECONOMY TO INCREASE COMPLIANCE DURING HEMODIALYSIS

We report the effects of using a token economy to treat noncompliant behavior in a 10-year-old male hemodialysis patient. The results of an ABAB design indicated that the intervention increased compliant behavior during both treatment phases and that compliance was maintained at 3- and 6-month follow-up observations.