On the adaptive flexibility of evaluative priming

If priming effects serve an adaptive function, they have to be both robust and flexible. In four experiments, we demonstrated regular evaluative-priming effects for relatively long stimulus-onset asynchronies, which can, however, be eliminated or reversed strategically. When participants responded to both primes and targets, rather than only to targets, the standard congruity effect disappeared. In Experiments 1a–1c, this result was regularly obtained, independently of the prime response (valence or gender classification) and the response mode (pronunciation or keystroke). In Experiment 2, we showed that once the default congruity effect was eliminated, strategic-priming effects reflected the statistical contingency between prime valence and target valence. Positive contingencies produced congruity, whereas negative contingencies produced equally strong incongruity effects. Altogether, these findings are consistent with an adaptive-cognitive perspective, which highlights the role of flexible strategic processes in working memory as opposed to fixed structures in semantic long-term memory or in the sensorimotor system.     

Muscle coordination and force variability during static and dynamic tracking tasks

This study examined muscular activity patterns of extensor and flexor muscles and variability of forces during static and dynamic tracking tasks using compensatory and pursuit display. Fourteen volunteers performed isometric actions in two conditions: (i) a static tracking task consisting of flexion/pronation, ulnar deviation, extension/supination and radial deviation of the wrist at 20% maximum voluntary contraction (MVC), and (ii) a dynamic tracking task aiming at following a moving target at 20% MVC in the four directions of contraction. Surface electromyography (SEMG) from extensor carpi ulnaris, extensor carpi radialis, flexor carpi ulnaris and flexor digitorum superficialis muscles and exerted forces in the transverse and sagittal plane were recorded. Normalized root mean square and mutual information (index of functional connectivity within muscles) of SEMGs and the standard deviation and sample entropy of force signals were extracted. Larger SEMG amplitudes were found for the dynamic task (p < .05), while normalized mutual information between muscle pairs was larger for the static task (p < .05). Larger size of variability (standard deviation of force) concomitant with smaller sample entropy was observed for the dynamic task compared with the static task (p < .01 for both). These findings underline a rescaling of the muscles’ respective contribution influencing force variability relying on feedback and feed-forward control strategies in relation to display modes during static and dynamic tracking tasks.     

What you see is what will change: evaluative conditioning effects depend on a focus on valence

This study investigated whether evaluative conditioning (EC) effects depend on an evaluative focus during the learning phase. An EC effect is a valence change of an originally neutral stimulus (conditioned stimulus or CS) that is due to the former pairing with a positive or negative stimulus (unconditioned stimulus or US). In three experiments, the task focus during the conditioning phase was manipulated. Participants judged CS-US pairings either with respect to their valence or with respect to another stimulus dimension. EC effects on explicit and implicit measures were found when valence was task relevant but not when the non-valent stimulus dimension was task relevant. Two accounts for the valence focus effect are proposed: (1) An additional direct learning of the relation of CS and evaluative responses in the valence focus condition, or (2) a stronger activation of US valence in the valence focus condition compared to the non-valent focus condition.     

An adaptive-learning approach to affect regulation: strategic influences on evaluative priming

An adaptive cognition approach to evaluative priming is not compatible with the view that the entire process is automatically determined by prime stimulus valence alone. In addition to the evaluative congruity of individual prime-target pairs, an adaptive regulation function should be sensitive to the base rates of positive and negative stimuli as well as to the perceived contingency between prime and target valence. The present study was particularly concerned with pseudocontingent inferences that offer a proxy for the assessment of contingencies from degraded or incomplete stimulus input. As expected, response latencies were shorter for the more prevalent target valence and for evaluatively congruent trials. However, crucially, the congruity effect was eliminated and overridden by pseudocontingencies inferred from the stimulus environment. These strategic inferences were further enhanced when the task called for the evaluation of both prime stimuli and target stimuli.     

"I feel better but I don't know why": the psychology of implicit emotion regulation

Although emotion regulation has traditionally been conceived as a deliberative process, there is growing evidence that many emotion-regulation processes operate at implicit levels. This special issue of Cognition and Emotion showcases recent advances in theorising and empirical research on implicit emotion regulation. Implicit emotion regulation can be broadly defined as any process that operates without the need for conscious supervision or explicit intentions, and aims at modifying the quality, intensity, or duration of an emotional response. Implicit emotion regulation is likely to be pervasive in everyday life and may contribute considerably to the effectiveness of emotion regulation. Research in this area has developed several valid methods for measuring and manipulating implicit emotion. The contributions to this special issue highlight the significance of implicit emotion regulation in psychological adaptation, goal-directed behaviour, interpersonal behaviour, personality functioning, and mental health.     

Illusory correlations revisited: the role of pseudocontingencies and working-memory capacity

Three experiments investigate illusory correlations in a feedback learning paradigm. Diverging from a standard paradigm, in which stimuli consist of joint observations of group-behaviour pairs, participants were asked to guess the group reference of positive and negative stimulus behaviours. They only knew that one group was larger than the other, and the stimulus series soon revealed that positive (negative) behaviours appeared more frequently in the stimulus series than negative (positive) behaviours. Regardless of whether feedback of the actual group reference was provided or not, the predominant valence was more strongly associated with the large than the small group. This illusory-correlation effect was evident in memory-based measures at the end of the stimulus series as well as in the online predictions during stimulus presentation. The strength of illusory correlations increased with decreasing working-memory capacity, operationalized either by an interpersonal differences measure or a cognitive-load manipulation. The occurrence of illusory correlations in the absence of joint observations about group-valence pairs (in the no-feedback condition and in the early phase of the online prediction task) can be explained as a reflection of pseudocontingency inferences.     

On the relations between distinct aspects of psychological distance: An ecological basis of construal-level theory

Construal-level theory's basic assumption of a positive relationship between psychological distance and abstractness of mental representations presupposes a unitary distance construct. Although prior research testifies to convergent influences of temporal, spatial, social and reality (probability) distance, there is no direct evidence for the integration function of all four major distance aspects assessed within the same study with reference to the same target objects. Does high (low) distance in any aspect imply high (low) distance in all other aspects, or are discounting effects (e.g., high temporal distance rendering high personal distance obsolete) sometimes apparent in negative correlations? In pursuing this question, we obtained strong and regular positive correlations between all four distance aspects, across judges and judgment targets, regardless of whether freely construed future episodes or really experienced past episodes were judged. Existing ecological correlations seem to account for the positive relationship between time, space, probability and temporal distance.     

Call combinations in monkeys: compositional or idiomatic expressions?

Syntax is widely considered the feature that most decisively sets human language apart from other natural communication systems. Animal vocalisations are generally considered to be holistic with few examples of utterances meaning something other than the sum of their parts. Previously, we have shown that male putty-nosed monkeys produce call series consisting of two call types in response to different events. They can also be combined into short sequences that convey a different message from those conveyed by either call type alone. Here, we investigate whether ‘pyow-hack’ sequences are compositional in that the individual calls contribute to their overall meaning. However, the monkeys behaved as if they perceived the sequence as an idiomatic expression rather than decoding the sequence. Nonetheless, while this communication system lacks the generative power of syntax it enables callers to increase the number of messages that can be conveyed by a small and innate call repertoire.     

Dissociating the representation of action- and sound-related concepts in middle temporal cortex

Modality-specific models of conceptual memory propose close links between concepts and the sensory-motor systems. Neuroimaging studies found, in different subject groups, that action-related and sound-related concepts activated different parts of posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG), suggesting a modality-specific representation of conceptual features. However, as these different parts of pMTG are close to each other, it is possible that the observed anatomical difference is merely related to interindividual variability. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we now investigated within the same participant group a possible conceptual feature-specific organization in pMTG. Participants performed lexical decisions on sound-related (e.g., telephone) and action-related (hammer) words. Sound words elicited higher activity in anterior pMTG adjacent to auditory association cortex, but action-related words did so in posterior pMTG close to motion sensitive areas. These results confirm distinct conceptual representations of sound and action in pMTG, just adjacent to the respective modality-specific cortices.     

Parental Influences on the Prevalence and Development of Child Aggressiveness

The development of aggressiveness between 5 and 17 years and some parental influences on this development were analyzed using data from Germany. International studies have shown a “camel humps” curve, i.e., a peak of aggression of children (primarily boys) between 2 and 4 years and a second peak of antisocial or aggressive behavior of boys between 15 and 20 years, but small groups of children and adolescents were persistently aggressive. A representative longitudinal study (2,190 children and their parents) and an additional study (1,372 children and adolescents) were conducted in Germany. The hypotheses of this article are that in the data can be found (a) an U-shaped course of aggressiveness for boys and girls, but on different levels, (b) a minority of persistently aggressive children and youth, (c) influences of parental temperaments, behavioral tendencies, parenting styles and the family status on the children’s aggressiveness. The results replicate roughly the “valley” of the U-shaped course of aggressiveness. Small groups of chronically aggressive children were found as well. Influences of parental temperaments and corresponding behavioral tendencies (internalizing and externalizing behavior), parenting styles (child-centered communication, use of violence) and the social status of the families on child aggressiveness confirmed the hypotheses. These processes were moderated by gender effects between mothers, fathers, daughters, and sons. In regard to the group of persistently aggressive young people prevention of aggression should start early in childhood and over the long term. Parent education should consider more the individual personalities of the parents, not only parenting styles.