Memories of mother,complementarity and shame: predicting response to subliminal stimulation with "Mommy and I are one"

A poorly understood finding with potentially wide-ranging implications is that subliminal stimulation with "Mommy and I are one" affects behavior. In this study (n= 62), "Mommy and I are one" lowered implicit mood (p= 0.0015) in comparison with a neutral stimulus ("People are walking"). The effect was most pronounced in shame-prone participants with less positive memories of their mother, and low self-mother complementarity (interaction p= 0.0044). Effects of a potentially shame-inducing stimulus ("I am completely isolated") were not significant (ps > 0.11). The results concerning less positive memories of mother replicate previous findings. We suggest that activation of unconscious associative networks explains the data. Though more research is needed, the cognitive content of these networks may involve representations of self-with-mother; for some, the affective content could involve shame.     

Intuition beyond recognition: when less familiar events are liked more

In a laboratory experiment, we compare the relative impact of two possible determinants of intuitive evaluative judgments: ease of recognition and total value of prior encounters with a target. Participants encode daily return values of shares on the stock market while watching videotaped ads on the computer screen. This dual-task procedure ensures that participants subsequently lack relevant event memories and thus have to rely on their intuition when evaluating the targets. In the presentation, the share appearing least frequently produced the highest sum of returns. In contrast, the share appearing most frequently produced the lowest sum of returns. Evaluative judgments reveal a preference for the share with the highest sum of returns, although, as evident from recognition latencies, it was the one that was more difficult to recognize. The results provide evidence for the value-account model of implicit attitude formation (Betsch, Plessner, Schwieren, & Gütig, 2001), which predicts that intuitive evaluative judgments reflect the total value of prior encounters.     

The threat simulation theory of the evolutionary function of dreaming: Evidence from dreams of traumatized children

The threat simulation theory of dreaming (TST) () states that dream consciousness is essentially an ancient biological defence mechanism, evolutionarily selected for its capacity to repeatedly simulate threatening events. Threat simulation during dreaming rehearses the cognitive mechanisms required for efficient threat perception and threat avoidance, leading to increased probability of reproductive success during human evolution. One hypothesis drawn from TST is that real threatening events encountered by the individual during wakefulness should lead to an increased activation of the system, a threat simulation response, and therefore, to an increased frequency and severity of threatening events in dreams. Consequently, children who live in an environment in which their physical and psychological well-being is constantly threatened should have a highly activated dream production and threat simulation system, whereas children living in a safe environment that is relatively free of such threat cues should have a weakly activated system. We tested this hypothesis by analysing the content of dream reports from severely traumatized and less traumatized Kurdish children and ordinary, non-traumatized Finnish children. Our results give support for most of the predictions drawn from TST. The severely traumatized children reported a significantly greater number of dreams and their dreams included a higher number of threatening dream events. The dream threats of traumatized children were also more severe in nature than the threats of less traumatized or non-traumatized children.     

Socioeconomical and sociopolitical correlates of interpersonal forgiveness: A three‐level meta‐analysis of the Enright Forgiveness Inventory across 13 societies

We report a meta‐analysis on the country‐level correlates of the Enright Forgiveness Inventory (EFI), to address (1) whether there are differences in forgiveness between societies, (2) what society‐level context variables can account for these differences, and (3) whether conceptual relationships of forgiveness found at the individual level can be replicated at the societal level. We found sizeable differences between societies that are associated with democracy, peacefulness, socioeconomic development, and postmaterialism indices of a society. Replicating individual‐level results, subjective wellbeing was positively related to forgiveness. We discuss the importance of macro‐level contextual variables for understanding levels of forgiveness.     

Comparing the neural correlates of affective and cognitive theory of mind using fMRI: Involvement of the basal ganglia in affective theory of mind

Theory of Mind (ToM) is the ability to infer other people’s mental states like intentions or desires. ToM can be differentiated into affective (i.e., recognizing the feelings of another person) and cognitive (i.e., inferring the mental state of the counterpart) subcomponents. Recently, subcortical structures such as the basal ganglia (BG) have also been ascribed to the multifaceted concept ToM and most BG disorders have been reported to elicit ToM deficits. In order to assess both the correlates of affective and cognitive ToM as well as involvement of the basal ganglia, 30 healthy participants underwent event-related fMRI scanning, neuropsychological testing, and filled in questionnaires concerning different aspects of ToM and empathy. Directly contrasting affective (aff) as well as cognitive (cog) ToM to the control (phy) condition, activation was found in classical ToM regions, namely parts of the temporal lobe including the superior temporal sulcus, the supplementary motor area, and parietal structures in the right hemisphere. The contrast aff > phy yielded additional activation in the orbitofrontal cortex on the right and the cingulate cortex, the precentral and inferior frontal gyrus and the cerebellum on the left. The right BG were recruited in this contrast as well. The direct contrast aff > cog showed activation in the temporoparietal junction and the cingulate cortex on the right as well as in the left supplementary motor area. The reverse contrast cog > aff however did not yield any significant clusters. In summary, affective and cognitive ToM partly share neural correlates but can also be differentiated anatomically. Furthermore, the BG are involved in affective ToM and thus their contribution is discussed as possibly providing a motor component of simulation processes, particularly in affective ToM.     

Mental multiplication and working memory

This paper is concerned with the role of working memory resources in mental multiplication. In two experiments a dual-task paradigm was used. In the first experiment neutral tapping was contrasted to three modalityspecific secondary tasks: Irrelevant speech and articulatory suppression were used to disrupt the phonological loop and a visuo-spatial tapping was used to disrupt the visuo-spatial sketchpad. Multiplication sums needed to be solved mentally and results needed to be spoken aloud. Sums varied in difficulty (easy, e.g., 3 x 4 =, difficult, e.g., 8 x 17 =). Results from the first experiment revealed declines in performance on difficult sums under articulatory suppression but no interference effect for easy sums. To investigate the role of central executive processes, a second experiment extended the range of interference conditions to a central executive interference task (random letter generation). Now articulatory suppression and random generation caused a decrease of performance on difficult sums. In addition, performance on easy sums was negatively impacted by random letter generation as well. We infer that solving complex multiplication sums demands phonological loop and central executive processes, whereas retrieving numerical facts in solving simple multiplication sums requires only central executive processes. We found no evidence of modality-specific access to numerical facts stored in long-term memory.     

Operationalisierte Psychodynamische Diagnostik des Kindes- und Jugendalters

There are only a few studies focusing on the mental structure and its change in children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders. This study aimed at investigating change in the mental structure of children and adolescents over time. At intake 60 inpatients were interviewed with the operationalized psychodynamic diagnostic interview for children and adolescents (OPD-CA). After an average of 27 months 25 patients agreed on participating in the follow-up study. The OPD-CA was conducted again and the Kiddie-Sads present and lifetime version (Kiddie-Sads-PL) as well as parent-based ratings child behaviour checklist (CBCL) and strength and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) were applied. A consensus rating of the OPD-CA was attained by three researchers well experienced with the use of the OPD-CA. The level of structural integration improved significantly, in particular in the dimensions “control” and “communication skills”. There were no significant changes in the dimension “self-perception/object-perception”. The improvement was also observable in parent-report questionnaires. This study makes a contribution to the idea that changes in the mental structure of children and adolescents can be shown and measured with the OPD-CA.     

Optimal matching analysis in career research: A review and some best-practice recommendations

Optimal matching is a method for the analysis of sequential data. It allows researchers to detect patterns in career sequences or occupational trajectories. We first give a brief introduction to the method and review the existing career literature that employs optimal matching. To examine which data properties are required for optimal matching analysis, we conducted Monte Carlo simulations of career sequences with varying parameters for sequence length, sample size and missing items. We find that sequence length is the relevant factor for correct results, while sample size does not substantially affect result quality. Another important finding is that sequences with up to 30% elements missing can be used for optimal matching analysis. We also show which settings for the optimal matching procedure deliver the best results.     

Development of early vocational behavior: Parallel associations between career engagement and satisfaction

The present five-wave longitudinal study examined the parallel development of career engagement and satisfaction among young adults over an eight-year period starting from the last stages of their secondary education and ending after the transition to higher education or working life. The research questions were analyzed with parallel process latent growth curve (LGC) modeling and growth mixture modeling (GMM). The study is part of the ongoing longitudinal Finnish Educational Transitions (FinEdu) study, and followed 826 participants from ages 17 to 25. The developmental dynamics showed that career engagement and satisfaction developed parallel, each predicting the changes in the other. Towards the end of secondary education, career engagement increased and career satisfaction decreased on the mean level; however, later on, after the transition to higher education/work, both processes leveled off. The GMM results also revealed the existence of two latent trajectory groups, one representing a high transitional and the other a low increasing trajectory of career engagement and satisfaction.