What's "up" with God? Vertical space as a representation of the divine

"God" and "Devil" are abstract concepts often linked to vertical metaphors (e.g., "glory to God in the highest," "the Devil lives down in hell"). It is unknown, however, whether these metaphors simply aid communication or implicate a deeper mode of concept representation. In 6 experiments, the authors examined the extent to which the vertical dimension is used in noncommunication contexts involving God and the Devil. Experiment 1 established that people have implicit associations between God-Devil and up-down. Experiment 2 revealed that people encode God-related concepts faster if presented in a high (vs. low) vertical position. Experiment 3 found that people's memory for the vertical location of God- and Devil-like images showed a metaphor-consistent bias (up for God; down for Devil). Experiments 4, 5a, and 5b revealed that people rated strangers as more likely to believe in God when their images appeared in a high versus low vertical position, and this effect was independent of inferences related to power and likability. These robust results reveal that vertical perceptions are invoked when people access divinity-related cognitions.     

Marriages and psychological distress among adult offspring of divorce: a Norwegian study

The study compares the likelihood of getting married and of getting divorced among the adult offspring of divorced parents versus the adult offspring of parents who remain married (total N = 37,230). It also compares levels of psychological distress in the two groups (total N= 22,898). Data derive from The Nord‐Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) and population registries from Norway. Individuals with divorced parents tended to delay marriage or not marry at all. However, among those who married, there were more divorces among the offspring of divorced parents than among offspring of parents who were still married. Offspring of divorce tended to marry other offspring of divorce. These marriages were at especially high risk of dissolution. Parental divorce was particularly influential as a risk factor during the first years of marriage. Both parental divorce and the individuals’ own divorce were risk factors for psychological distress.     

The relationship of social support to depressive symptoms during the transition to high school

The transition to high school is studied as a time when students may experience disruptions in their social support systems. Peer support, family support, and school belonging were hypothesized to be associated with adolescent adjustment, specifically depressive symptoms. Participants included 104 eighth graders and 101 ninth graders from a middle- to high-income, predominantly white community in southern Rhode Island. In year 2, 60 of the original 8th graders were surveyed as 9th graders. Three hypotheses were examined: Social support declines from 8th to 9th grade; depressive symptoms increase from 8th to 9th grade; and social support is significantly associated with depressive symptoms. The hypotheses were tested using cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Results indicated that 9th graders experienced more depressive symptoms and lower levels of school belonging as compared to the 8th graders. Changes in parent support and peer support were significantly associated with depressive symptoms in the transition to high school. Implications for increasing school belonging in the 9th grade are discussed.     

The effects of processing time and processing rate on forgetting in working memory: Testing four models of the complex span paradigm

Four models of working memory processes in the complex span paradigm were tested: The task-switching model of Towse, Hitch, and Hutton (1998), the interference account of Saito and Miyake (2004), and two versions of the time-based resource-sharing model of Barrouillet, Bernardin, and Camos (2004). On the basis of a reading span paradigm that used segmented sentences, the effect of processing time on the recall of words was investigated while the amount of processing was held constant. Two conditions of reading (continuous vs. normal) were compared in order to study the influence of brief pauses during reading that could be used for articulatory rehearsal. The results favor a version of the time-based resource-sharing model: A faster reading rate had a negative effect on recall. The effect of reading rate was obtained with continuous as well as normal reading, revealing that even continuous articulation does not prevent simultaneous refreshing of memory traces. A second experiment showed that continuous reading made concurrent articulatory rehearsal virtually impossible. These findings imply that a second rehearsal mechanism for verbal working memory, other than articulatory rehearsal, exists.     

Sex differences in preferences for coffee sweetness among Japanese students

The purpose of the present study was to examine sex differences in preferences for coffee sweetness. The participants were 59 Japanese undergraduate students. Men preferred sweeter coffee than women, while both men and women showed almost the same preference for acidic beverage sweetness. The sex difference in preferences for coffee sweetness may be related to coffee-drinking habits.     

Recovery from object substitution masking induced by transient suppression of visual motion processing: a repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation study

Object substitution masking is a form of visual backward masking in which a briefly presented target is rendered invisible by a lingering mask that is too sparse to produce lower image-level interference. Recent studies suggested the importance of an updating process in a higher object-level representation, which should rely on the processing of visual motion, in this masking. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) was used to investigate whether functional suppression of motion processing would selectively reduce substitution masking. rTMS-induced transient functional disruption of cortical area V5/MT+, which is important for motion analysis, or V1, which is reciprocally connected with V5/MT+, produced recovery from masking, whereas sham stimulation did not. Furthermore, masking remained undiminished following rTMS over the region 2 cm posterior to V5/MT+, ruling out nonspecific effects of real stimulation and confirming regional specificity of the rTMS effect. The results suggest that object continuity via the normal function of the visual motion processing system might in part contribute to this masking. The relation of these findings to the reentrant processing view of object substitution masking and other visual phenomena is discussed.     

The effects of emotional content on reality-monitoring performance in young and older adults

Reality monitoring refers to a person's ability to distinguish between perceived and imagined events. Prior research has demonstrated that young adults show a reality-monitoring advantage for negative arousing information as compared with neutral information. The present research examined whether this reality-monitoring benefit extends to positive information in young adults and whether older adults show a reality-monitoring advantage for emotional information of either valence. Two studies revealed no evidence for a reality-monitoring advantage for positive information; in both age groups, the reality-monitoring advantage existed only for negative information. Older adults were, however, more likely to remember that a positive item had been included on a study list than they were to remember that a nonemotional item had been studied. Young adults did not show this mnemonic enhancement for positive information. These results indicate that although older adults may show some mnemonic benefits for positive information (i.e., an enhanced ability to remember that a positive item was studied), they do not always show enhanced memory for source-specifying details of a positive item's presentation.     

Sample size planning for the coefficient of variation from the accuracy in parameter estimation approach

The accuracy in parameter estimation approach to sample size planning is developed for the coefficient of variation, where the goal of the method is to obtain an accurate parameter estimate by achieving a sufficiently narrow confidence interval. The first method allows researchers to plan sample size so that the expected width of the confidence interval for the population coefficient of variation is sufficiently narrow. A modification allows a desired degree of assurance to be incorporated into the method, so that the obtained confidence interval will be sufficiently narrow with some specified probability (e.g., 85% assurance that the 95 confidence interval width will be no wider than to units). Tables of necessary sample size are provided for a variety of scenarios that may help researchers planning a study where the coefficient of variation is of interest plan an appropriate sample size in order to have a sufficiently narrow confidence interval, optionally with somespecified assurance of the confidence interval being sufficiently narrow. Freely available computer routines have been developed that allow researchers to easily implement all of the methods discussed in the article.     

Suicide by jumping and accessibility of bridges: results from a national survey in Switzerland

Rates of suicide by jumping show large regional differences. Barriers on bridges may prevent suicides but also may lead to a substitution of jumping site or method. The aim of our study was to compare suicide data from regions with and without suicide bridges and to estimate the effects on method and site substitution if bridges were to be secured. In a national survey, suicide data for the years 1990 to 2003 were collected. Regions with high rates of bridge suicides were identified and compared with regions with low rates, and the analysis revealed that only about one third of the individuals would be expected to jump from buildings or other structures if no bridge was available. The results suggest no method substitution for women. For men, a trend of a substituting jumping by overdosing in regions without suicide bridges was found. We conclude that restricted access to suicide bridges will not automatically lead suicidal individuals to choose another jumping site or suicide method. The results support the notion that securing bridges may save lives.     

Rotational kinematics influence multimodal perception of heaviness

Perceived heaviness has been shown to be specific to an object’s rotational inertia (I ), its resistance to rotational acceleration. According to the kinematic specification of dynamics (KSD) principle, we hypothesized that I is optically specified by rotational kinematics. Using virtual depictions of wielded objects, we investigated whether the visually detected rotational kinematics of wielded objects would influence perceived heaviness in a manner consistent with the inertial model of heaviness perception. We scaled the virtual object’s movement so that it rotated more or less than its wielded counterpart, specifying lower and higher I, respectively. Perceived heaviness was inversely related to the rotational scaling factor, consistent with a KSD interpretation of the inertial model.