Knowing Versus Caring: The Role of Affect and Cognition in Political Perceptions

This paper examines the importance of political knowledge in shaping accurate perceptions of the political world—specifically, how levels of general political knowledge influence the accuracy of specific political judgments, how those judgments might also be shaped by "wishful thinking," and how political knowledge attenuates the impact of wishful thinking on political judgments. Predictions of who would win the U.S. presidential election in 1984, 1988, 1992, and 1996, as surveyed in the National Election Studies conducted in those years, were used as a measure of the accuracy of political perceptions. Analysis of these data reveals that both political knowledge and wishful thinking are important determinants of the accuracy of people's perceptions; in addition, the impact of wishful thinking on perceptions is attenuated by political knowledge.     

We think you agree: The detrimental impact of the false consensus effect on behavior

Two studies were designed to examine the impact of the false consensus effect on behavior (FCE; Ross, Greene, & House, 1977). False consensus is a form of social projection whereby individuals overestimate the degree to which others share their characteristics or beliefs. In a modified test of the theory of reasoned action, Study 1 demonstrated that the FCE independently predicts behavioral intentions regarding important social issues in a sample comprised of 205 college students. Further, results indicated that self-monitoring moderates the extent to which the FCE predicts behavioral intentions (specifically, as hypothesized, the FCE is a stronger predictor of behavior for high self-monitors). Because of the prevalence of the FCE among college students regarding potentially harmful social behaviors, Study 2 was designed to eliminate the FCE by differentially presenting students (N = 280) with alternative viewpoints regarding various issues. Presenting both sides of an argument using video-based stimuli effectively reduced the FCE. Recommendations for interventions that effectively promote beneficial social norms are discussed.     

Predicting self‐esteem during unemployment: The effect of gender,financial deprivation,alternate roles,and social support

Two hundred and one unemployed men and women participated in a cross‐sectional study that assessed self‐esteem, financial deprivation, number of alternate roles, and use of social support. Financial deprivation, alternate roles, and social support each had a main effect on self‐esteem. In addition, these variables interacted with gender to affect self‐esteem. Specifically, financial deprivation had a greater negative association with self‐esteem in men as compared with women. In contrast, alternate roles and social support had a stronger positive relationship to self‐esteem in women than in men. The incorporation of these findings into intervention programs for unemployed persons is discussed.     

Attending to simple auditory and visual signals

Rutgers-The State University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903 Is the quality of information obtained from simple auditory and visual signals diminished when both modalities must be attended to simultaneously? This question was investigated in an experiment in which subjects made forced-choice judgments of the location of simple light and tone signals presented in focused- and divided-attention conditions. The data are compared with the predictions of a model that describes the largest performance decrement to be expected in the divided-attention condition on the basis of nonattentional factors. The results of this comparison suggest that the difference in performance between focused- and dividedattention conditions is attributable solely to the increased opportunity to confuse signal with noise as the number of modalities is increased. Thus, there appears to be no evidence that dividing attention between modalities affects the quality of the stimulus representations of individual light and tone signals.     

No evidence for ethnic and racial bias in the Tryout Edition of the Merrill-Palmer Scale-Revised

This research examined a revised version of the Merrill-Palmer Scale, a test of childhood development, to assess the cultural validity of items, i.e., Differential Item Functioning. Archival data were used to determine the Differential Item Functioning of items for 245 African-American, Euro-American, and Hispanic children, ages 3-6 years. Subjects were gathered from all four regions of the United States. Potential bias was examined through the use of partial correlations. Statistical analyses suggest that the Tryout Edition of the Merrill-Palmer Scale-Revised was not systematically biased toward any of the three racial groups examined.     

Effects of suppression and appraisals on thought frequency and distress

Cognitive theories of obsessions highlight appraisals of personal significance and thought suppression in the development and maintenance of intrusive thoughts. The current study examined the role of personal significance within the context of a thought suppression paradigm. The primary aim was to examine whether suppression would have differential effects for target thoughts appraised as personally meaningful versus relatively unimportant. A blasphemous thought served as the target thought, and highly religious and nonreligious participants were recruited. Participants completed a two-interval thought suppression task; during interval 1 they were randomly assigned to suppress or not suppress the target thought and during interval 2, all participants were given “do not suppress” instructions. Suppression resulted in sustained frequency of thoughts in contrast to the decline in thought frequency observed for non-suppression. Differential effects of suppression were found across the two groups. Moreover, suppression was associated with increased negative mood and anxiety. Results suggest that suppression of personally meaningful thoughts is a counterproductive strategy.     

Cognitive change 5 years after coronary artery bypass surgery.

A longitudinal study of cognitive function after coronary artery bypass surgery examined 107 participants using 11 tests, preoperatively and at 6 days, 8 weeks, and 5 years after surgery. The overall neuropsychological (NP) change score declined at 6 days, showed some recovery at 8 weeks, and declined again at 5 years. The number of microemboli recorded during surgery, postoperative short-term cognitive change, and degree of recovery at 8 weeks were identified as predictors of change in NP score to 5 years. This suggests that even over a 5-year period, operative damage is detectable. Patients' vulnerability to short-term deterioration and resilience or ability to recover over a few weeks from operative cerebral insult are important processes of unknown mechanisms.     

The comorbidity of migraine

This review addresses the methodologic issues relevant to the study of comorbidity and provides a broad overview of the medical and psychiatric conditions associated with migraine. Since the body of literature examining the comorbidity of migraine is enormous, the scope of this review will largely focus on community and case-control studies. Among the selected comorbid medical conditions, including disorders of the cardiovascular, respiratory, neurologic, gastrointestinal and immunologic systems, stroke, asthma, and allergies appear to be most strongly associated with migraine. Among the psychiatric illnesses, mood and anxiety disorders have been shown to be most strongly associated with migraine in the general population. Further research is indicated and necessary to elucidate the precise mechanism of migraine comorbidity.     

The association between play materials and social behavior in a mainstreamed preschool: A naturalistic investigation

Social interaction during play with various types of materials was observed during free play in a DARCEE model mainstreamed preschool classroom. Results indicated that the use of play materials by mildly handicapped and nonhandicapped children was quite similar. Blocks and vehicles and water play materials were associated with handicapped/nonhandicapped interactions. Library, fine motor, and art materials were associated with solitary activity; blocks and vehicles, water play, housekeeping and music with cooperative interaction; and blocks and vehicles with conflict. Adult-child interaction was associated with children not engaged with any play materials. Implications for mainstreamed preschool settings are discussed.