Emotions in cognitive conflicts are not aversive but are task specific

It has been suggested that cognitive conflicts require effortful processing and, therefore, are aversive (Botvinick, 2007). In the present study, we compared conflicts emerging from the inhibition of a predominant response tendency in a go/no-go task with those between incompatible response activations in a Simon task in a within-subjects design, using the same type of stimuli. Whereas no-go trials elicited reduced skin conductance and pupillometric responses, but prolonged corrugator muscle activity, as compared with go trials, incompatible and compatible Simon trials were indistinguishable with respect to these parameters. Furthermore, the conflictsensitive N2 components of the event-related brain potential were similar in amplitude, but showed significantly different scalp distributions, indicating dissociable neural generator systems. The present findings suggest the involvement of different emotional and cognitive processes in both types of cognitive conflicts—none being aversive, however. In addition, the N2 findings call into question claims of common monitoring systems for all kinds of cognitive conflicts.     

Alcohol and Acquaintance Rape in Australia: Testing the Presupposition Model of Attributions About Responsibility and Blame1

According to the presupposition model of attributions about responsibility and blame (Bradbury & Fincham, 1990), an attribution of blame presupposes an attribution of responsibility. Both constructs share the dimensions of choice, intention, and accountability, but an additional dimension of liability relates only to blame. Reactions of 260 university students to acquaintance‐rape scenarios portraying different levels of alcohol intoxication were examined. Results showed that the model's dimensions explained much of the variance in attributions of responsibility and blame, although the hierarchical structure was not supported. Mediational analyses suggest that different attributional principles apply when assigning victim and perpetrator responsibility, which may explain why intoxicated victims are assigned more responsibility than sober victims, but intoxicated perpetrators are assigned less responsibility than sober perpetrators.     

Die Möglichkeit einer objektiven Messung der Stärke von Gefühlen

Zusammenfassung Es war das Ziel, ein Maß für die Stärke von Gefühlen aus einem ihrer physischen Korrelate, der sog. psychogalvanischen Reaktion, zu gewinnen. Zu diesem Zweck wurden Vergleichsurteile über die Gefühlsbetonung von Reizwortpaaren den durch die Darbietung der Wörter ausgelösten Hautreaktionen zugeordnet. Mit den Maßzahlen wurden eine logarithmische Transformation und eine Quadratwurzeltransformation vorgenommen. Die Auswertung erfolgte jeweils gemäß dem Skalierungsverfahren für Vergleichsurteile. Es zeigte sich, daß die auf Grund der Quadratwurzeltransformation erhaltenen Skalenwerte für die Gefühlsstärke in voll befriedigender Weise durch eine Gerade angenähert werden können, während dies mit der logarithmischen Transformation weniger gut gelingt.Um aus der gefundenen Intervallskala der Gefühlsstärke eine Verhältnisskala zu erhalten, wurde die Gefühlsschwelle der galvanischen Hautreaktion zu bestimmen versucht. Es ergab sich, daß der Schwellenwert der emotionalen Veränderung bei der Größe 0 der Hautwiderstandsänderung liegt. Es folgt daraus, daß die Stärke eines Gefühls als der Quadratwurzel der relativen Widerstandsänderung proportional anzunehmen ist.Dieses Ergebnis wird durch ein Anwendungsbeispiel veranschaulicht.     

What colour is the car? Implicit memory for colour information in children

Three experiments were conducted to examine age-related differences in colour memory. In Experiment 1, preschool age and elementary school age children were given a conceptual test of implicit colour memory (a colour-choice task). They were presented with the names or achromatic versions of previously studied coloured line drawings and asked to select an appropriate colour. Significant priming could be demonstrated: The children chose the previously seen colours more often than was expected by chance. Equivalent priming was found for both versions (pictorial and verbal) suggesting that colour priming may be conceptually mediated. Moreover, colour priming proved to be age invariant. Experiment 2 replicated and extended this finding by using a wider age group (preschool, elementary school, and young adults) and by giving a perceptual implicit task (picture identification) in addition to a verbal colour-choice task. Colour did not affect priming in the perceptual task. Whereas priming showed no developmental change, agerelated improvements were observed on an explicit colour memory task that differed only in the test instructions from the implicit colour-choice task (Experiments 2 and 3). Taken together, the results suggest that implicit colour memory may be mediated by conceptual processes that are age invariant.