Measurements effects in reattribution research

In studies investigating the effects of reattribution training, reattributing to effort is confounded with forcing subjects to think about causes of their performance. An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects on performance of having people think about causes of outcomes by means of measuring attributions for success or failure. The results indicate that measurement has a beneficial effect on performance after failure. Measurement of attributions after success does not affect performance or may even slightly deteriorate it. Explanations for these results are discussed.     

Varieties of inhibition: manifestations in cognition, event-related potentials and aging.

Inhibition and facilitation are the driving forces of selective attention. Some important and still unresolved conceptual issues with respect to facilitation and inhibition are: (a) are they separate processes with different neural substrates (b) what is their time course and (c) what is their temporal locus: do they operate at the level of early sensory, central or response-related selection processes? In this introductory article we present a overview of relevant experimental paradigms that are also (in part) reflected in the contributions of this special volume, and discuss the major behavioral and psychophysiological findings from which inhibitory processes have been inferred. The global pattern of the results indicates that there are multiple inhibitory systems and processes in the central nervous system that may be expressed in many different ways. Our overview of paradigms together with the aging-related literature leads us to propose a framework for conceptualizing inhibitory processes in terms of three distinct but interacting neural systems at the level of anterior and posterior cortices and the brain stem.     

Inhibitory inefficiency and failures of intention activation: age-related decline in the control of saccadic eye movements

Young and older adults' control of saccadic eye movements was compared using an antisaccade task, which requires the inhibition of a reflexive saccade toward a peripheral onset cue followed by an intentional saccade in the opposite direction. In 2 experiments, an age-related decline was found in the suppression of reflexive eye movements, as indicated by an increased proportion of saccades toward the cue, and a longer time needed to initiate correct antisaccades. The results from Experiment 2 suggested that older adults' slower antisaccades may be explained partly in terms of increased failures to maintain the cue-action representation at a sufficient activation level. The results suggest that the notion of selective preservation with age of the ability to inhibit spatial responses does not apply to the active inhibition of prepotent spatial responses.     

Not myself and the connected self: cases of youth depression and recovery in Malaysia

This study aims to explore the subjective experience of depressed young people in Malaysia. Twelve participants aged 20–24, who were diagnosed as suffering from depression but who had recovered, were interviewed. An adapted grounded theory approach guided our data collection and data analysis process. Two themes emerged which revealed the importance of the connectedness of individuals within their social environment. Coping with cultural norms and with rejection were found to be the most stressful precursors to depression. Depression is described as an alienating and involuntary experience. The recovery process requires a pivotal moment which enables reconnection with others. Implication of study will be discussed against the backdrop of the Malaysian context.     

Energy‐Related Behaviors in Office Buildings: A Qualitative Study on Individual and Organisational Determinants

An analysis of individual and organisational determinants of energy‐related behaviors in office buildings and the interplay between the two is presented. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with office workers from four organisations in two Dutch provinces. The results indicate that, overall, work efficiency and productivity was prioritised over energy conservation. In general, self‐efficacy was the most salient individual determinant, and social norm the least discussed determinant of current office energy‐related behaviors. Nevertheless, both self‐efficacy and social norm elements were encountered in employees' proposed strategies to achieve future office energy‐saving. Formal and informal aspects of the organisational context were found to equally affect individual determinants and their related behaviors. Facility managers' and general office workers' views differed in a few but important ways. Interorganisational comparisons showed that differences in organisational foci were linked to the relative salience of normative, gain, and hedonic motivations.     

Tinbergen’s four questions and the debate between scientific realism and selectionism

Synthese - According to the no-miracle argument, scientific realism is the only view that does not render the predictive success of scientific theories miraculous. Against the no-miracle argument,...