A standardized list of affect-related life events

In experimental contexts, affect-related word lists have been widely applied when examining how cognitive processes interact with emotional processes. These lists, however, present limitations when studying the relation between emotion and cognitive processes such as time and number processing because affective words do not inherently contain time or quantity information. Live events, in contrast, are experienced by an observer and therefore inherently carry affect information. Unfortunately, existing life-event lists and inventories have been largely applied within clinical contexts as diagnostic tools, and therefore are not suitable for many experimental contexts because they do not contain a balanced number of reliably positive, negative, and neutral life events. In Experiment 1, we create a standardized affect-related life-events list with 171 positive, negative, and neutral affect-related life events. In Experiment 2, we show that strength of affect and significance of the event are integral dimensions, suggesting that these two features are difficult to separate perceptually. The implications of these findings and some potential future applications of the created life-events list are discussed.     

Supported Supervisors Are More Supportive,but Why? A Multilevel Study of Mechanisms and Outcomes

This study examines organizational support theory as it extends to supervisor support by (1) testing two explanations for the relationship between supervisors’ perceived organizational support and their supportive supervision and (2) examining perceived supervisor support in relation to subordinate performance and commitment. Multisource survey data from a correctional facility, with a matched sample of 51 supervisors and 283 subordinates, were collected. Multilevel structural equation modeling was used for analysis. Supervisors were more supportive when they felt supportive treatment was preferred by the organization and less supportive when they felt obligated to help the organization. Perceived supervisor support was associated with subordinate performance and commitment at the subordinate level (i.e., among employees reporting to the same supervisor) but not at the supervisor level (i.e., across supervisor-follower groups). Employees who feel supported by their supervisor perform better and are more committed to their employer. To encourage supervisor support, organizations should both model support to supervisors and communicate the expectation for supervisor support. Supervisors who feel obligated to reciprocate to a supportive organization may be less inclined to support their subordinates. This study examines the prevailing, yet untested, mechanism (felt obligation) used to explain the relationship between supervisor’s perceptions of organizational support and their supportive supervision, as well as an alternative explanation based on social information processing. The study provides a nuanced multilevel analysis of perceived supervisor support as related to subordinate outcomes and extends previous models by including subordinate withdrawal and commitment.     

How Do Geneticists and Genetic Counselors Counsel Women from High-Risk Breast Cancer Families?

This qualitative study asked Australian Genetic Counselors and Clinical Geneticists working in cancer genetics to describe their practice when a woman attends a consultation about her family history and her risk of developing breast cancer. Twenty-nine out of 36 Clinical Geneticists/Genetic Counselors returned the questionnaire (82%). Participants identified the key goals of the consultation as (a) identifying the individual needs and concerns of the woman, (b) providing information on genes and chromosomes, (c) giving an individual risk assessment in the context of supportive interaction, and (d) discussing the pros and cons of genetic testing and putting a surveillance plan into place. Respondents emphasized the dual importance of counseling/support and information provision in this setting, suggesting that one could not be given without the other. Implications for clinical practice are discussed.     

The color-vision approach to emotional space: Cortical evoked potential data

A framework for accounting for emotional phenomena proposed by Sokolov and Boucsein (2000) employs conceptual dimensions that parallel those of hue, brightness, and saturation in color vision. The approach that employs the concepts of emotional quality, intensity, and saturation has been supported by psychophysical emotional scaling data gathered from a few trained observers. We report cortical evoked potential data obtained during the change between different emotions expressed in schematic faces. Twenty-five subjects (13 male, 12 female) were presented with a positive, a negative, and a neutral computer-generated face with random interstimulus intervals in a within-subjects design, together with four meaningful and four meaningless control stimuli made up from the same elements. Frontal, central, parietal, and temporal ERPs were recorded from each hemisphere. Statistically significant outcomes in the P300 and N200 range support the potential fruitfulness of the proposed color-vision-model-based approach to human emotional space.     

What we can do

Philosophical Studies - Plural first-person pronouns have often been ignored in the literature on indexicals and pronouns. The assumption seems to be that we is just the plural of I. So, we can...     

Successive relearning improves performance on a high-stakes exam in a difficult biopsychology course

Successive relearning combines two effective learning techniques (retrieval practice and spaced practice) and involves practicing retrieval until some level of mastery has been reached (i.e., at least one correct retrieval attempt) in each of multiple sessions. Several laboratory studies have demonstrated the promise of successive relearning for enhancing student learning, but attempts to evaluate its effectiveness in authentic educational contexts are limited. In the current research, we implemented successive relearning in a difficult biopsychology course to examine its effectiveness at enhancing student learning on a high-stakes exam. Students successively relearned some course content via a virtual flashcard program, whereas other course content was learned with business-as-usual activities. In two experiments, successive relearning boosted students' learning of course content by at least 10% (with ds ranging from 0.54 to 1.10). These findings suggest that implementing successive relearning in courses can be an effective method of promoting student achievement.     

Hopelessness as a Predictor of Suicide Ideation in Depressed Male and Female Adolescent Youth

We examined hopelessness as a predictor of suicide ideation in depressed youth after acute medication treatment. A total of 158 depressed adolescents were administered the Children's Depression Rating Scale‐Revised (CDRS‐R) and Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C‐SSRS) as part of a larger battery at baseline and at weekly visits across 6 weeks of acute fluoxetine treatment. The Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) was administered at baseline and week 6. A negative binomial regression model via a generalized estimating equation analysis of repeated measures was used to estimate suicide ideation over the 6 weeks of acute treatment from baseline measure of hopelessness. Depression severity and gender were included as covariates in the model. The negative binomial analysis was also conducted separately for the sample of males and females (in a gender‐stratified analysis). Mean CDRS‐R total scores were 60.30 ± 8.93 at baseline and 34.65 ± 10.41 at week 6. Mean baseline and week 6 BHS scores were 9.57 ± 5.51 and 5.59 ± 5.38, respectively. Per the C‐SSRS, 43.04% and 83.54% reported having no suicide ideation at baseline and at week 6, respectively. The analyses revealed that baseline hopelessness was positively related to suicide ideation over treatment (p = .0027), independent of changes in depression severity. This significant finding persisted only for females (p = .0024). These results indicate the importance of early identification of hopelessness.