Olfactory fear conditioning paradigm in rats: Effects of midazolam,propranolol or scopolamine

In rodents, fear conditioned responses are more pronounced toward olfactory stimulus, since olfaction is a dominant sense in these subjects. The present study was outlined to investigate if the association between coffee odor (CS1) and electrical footshock (US) would be an effective model for the study of fear-induced behavior and whether compounds used in humans for emotional-related disorders such as midazolam, propranolol, or scopolamine, applied during the different stages of fear conditioning (acquisition, consolidation and expression), affect the defensive responses to both, the olfactory CS1, and the context (CS2) where the CS1 had been presented (second order conditioning). The results revealed that five pairings between coffee odor (CS1) and electrical footshock (US) were able to elicit consistent defensive responses and a second order conditioning to the context (CS2). Midazolam (0.375–0.5 mg/kg; i.p.) treatment was able to interfere with the CS1–US association and with the consolidation of the aversive information. The propranolol (5–10 mg/kg; i.p.) treatment interfered with the CS1–US association, with the retention of fear memory and with the CS1–CS2 association. Propranolol also attenuated the expression of conditioned fear responses when applied before the CS1 test session. Scopolamine (0.6–1.2 mg/kg; i.p.) treatment impaired the acquisition of CS1–US and CS1–CS2 associations, and also disrupted the expression of conditioned fear responses when injected prior to the CS1 test session. These findings have pointed out the usefulness for the olfactory fear conditioning paradigm to investigate drug effects on the acquisition, consolidation and expression of fear conditioned responses.     

Risk behaviour and mental workload: Multimodal assessment techniques applied to motorbike riding simulation

We present data from an ongoing research project on the cognitive, emotional and neuropsychological basis of risk behaviour. The main aim of the project is to build a model of risk behaviour so that if we know certain cognitive, behavioural and emotional variables, we will be able to predict decisions made in the face of uncertainty and risk, with the final goal of designing programs for evaluating, preventing and controlling risk behaviour. The objective of the present study was to look for individual differences in hazard perception during a static riding simulation and their relationship with mental workload. We used a multidimensional methodology, including behavioural, subjective and physiological data. The behavioural measures were obtained in a static riding simulation during eight hazard situations. We evaluated whether eye activity measures correlated with cognitive workload and different types of risky behaviours. Eye movement parameters were measured using a video-based eye tracking system. We found that risk-prone individuals showed specific patterns of risky behaviours and that peak of saccadic velocity and subjective mental workload indexes were both reliable indicators of risk proneness. Mental workload was higher for participants showing attitudes to risk behaviours probably because of a lack of conscious awareness of specific cues indicating dangerous scenarios.     

Climatic warmth and national wealth: some culture‐level determinants of national character stereotypes

National character stereotypes are widely shared, but do not reflect assessed levels of personality traits. In this article we present data illustrating the divergence of stereotypes and assessed personality traits in North and South Italy, test hypotheses about the associations of temperature and national wealth with national character stereotypes in 49 cultures, and explore possible links to national values and beliefs. Results suggest that warmth and wealth are common determinants of national stereotypes, but that there are also idiosyncratic influences on the perceptions of individual nations. Published in 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Biassed processing of persuasive information: on the functional equivalence of cues and message arguments

Research on persuasion has shown that inferences based on heuristic or peripheral cues can bias the subsequent processing of persuasive messages. Two studies (total N = 296) examined the additional possibilities that a message argument can serve as a biassing factor and cue‐related information can serve as the target of processing bias. It was demonstrated that a message argument can bias (a) the processing of subsequent other message arguments (Study 1) and (b) the processing of subsequent cue information (Study 2). Results are discussed within dual‐process models and the recently developed unimodel of persuasion. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preexposure effects in the spatial domain: Dissociation between latent inhibition and perceptual learning

In 4 experiments, rats were given intermixed or blocked preexposure to an array of landmarks that subsequently defined the location of a hidden goal in a Morris pool task. Previous research has shown that intermixed preexposure to pairs of adjacent landmarks retards learning whereas preexposure to individual landmarks facilitates subsequent learning (J. Prados, V. D. Chamizo, & N. J. Mackintosh, 1999). Accordingly, in Experiment 1, intermixed and blocked preexposure to pairs of adjacent landmarks was found to retard learning. In Experiment 2, however, a scheduling effect was found: Rats given intermixed preexposure to the individual landmarks learned faster than rats given blocked or no preexposure. Experiment 3 showed that intermixed (but not blocked) preexposure to pairs of landmarks resulted in a facilitatory effect when preexposure and test were carried out in different contexts. Experiment 4 replicated within a single experiment the main results observed in Experiments 1 and 3. This pattern of results suggests that intermixed preexposure engages learning processes other than latent inhibition that facilitate subsequent learning of the navigation task.     

The supervisory field and projective identification1

Taking as their starting point the Baranger and Baranger model of the ‘psychoanalytic field’, the authors extend the notion of intersubjectivity in the analytic relationship to the supervision process. They use a practical example of a supervision to show the development of what they term the ‘supervisory field’, formed from the superimposition of the two fields of analyst‐patient and supervisor‐supervisee. They emphasize the interplay of projective identifications with objects emanating from the inner world of the patient that are relived in the analytic relationship and transposed to the supervisory field. They believe that the concept of the ‘supervisory field’ contributes to a deeper understanding of the unconscious processes occurring in the mind of analysand, supervisee and supervisor during supervision, particularly regarding the identification, comprehension and resolution of persistent disturbances in the supervisory process.     

Charismatic leadership and organizational outcomes: The mediating role of employees' work-group identification

This research examines the degree of employees' identification with the work-group as a function of charismatic leadership (e.g., Conger & Kanungo, 1998 1998) and the mediating role of work-group identification (Van Knippenberg & Van Shie, 2000 2000) in the relationship between charismatic style and different work outcomes. Thus, the general aim was to analyse leadership and work outcomes as they are associated to social identification processes, referring both to recent developments of charismatic leadership models and to the recent developments of the social identity analysis applied to the workplace (see Abrams & Hogg, 2001 2001). Two field surveys were conducted using 200 Italian public and private sector employees (two different working organizations). Two questionnaires were designed in order to collect data. They included different measures of charismatic leadership derived by the literature (e.g., the Conger-Kanungo Charismatic Leadership Questionnaire; Conger & Kanungo, 1994 1994, 1998 1998, for Study 2), a scale to assess the degree of identification with the work-group (Van Knippenberg & Van Shie, 2000 2000), and some scales to measure the different outcomes considered (e.g., Brown and Leigh's effort measure, 1996 1996; Mobley's turnover intention measure, 1977 1977). As predicted, results of Study 1 revealed that charismatic leadership was positively related to work-group identification, and employees' work effort was positively related to work-group identification. Work-group identification also mediates relationship between charismatic leadership and work effort. Results of Study 2 replicated the positive association between charismatic leadership and employees' work-group identification; work-group identification is also associated with their job involvement, job satisfaction, performance, and turnover intention. The same mediating role of work-group identification between charismatic leadership and the criteria mentioned above was found. Underlying mechanisms as well as implications are discussed.     

Complexity and social psychology of organizations

This article presents complexity (nonlinearity, chaos, self-organisation, fractals...) as a new and emerging epistemological paradigm, an alternative to an old, simpler, and reductionist paradigm. According to this point of view, we try to view work organizations as complex adaptive systems (CAS). Lastly, we offer a review of the literature on the applications of complexity to Organizational Social Psychology.     

Evaluating the efficacy of a program to enhance college students' self-regulation learning processes and learning strategies

The present study examines the efficacy of a program designed to enhance college students'learning processes and study strategies. The program was organised around a number of letters written by a freshman, Gervásio (Rosário, Nú?ez, & González-Pienda, 2006), telling about his new experiences, troubles, and successes in the university. This intervention program is intended to promote a series of strategies (cognitive, meta-cognitive, and supportive) which allow students to manage their learning processes in a more proficient, successful, and autonomous way. The collected data suggest that students who had the opportunity to follow the program significantly improved their declarative knowledge about learning strategies, reduced their use of surface approaches to study, and extended the newly acquired skills to new and different tasks and assignments.     

Flexibility competencies: emotional organization management

The aim of this article is to analyse the transferral of flexibility from contemporary organizations to workers. Through the approach of management by competencies, organizations try to develop in their workers behaviours that are related to efficient job performance. In order to appraise the importance of this approach, we used a critical-rational perspective to discuss the productivity demands that are characteristic of advanced industrial societies. The article shows how the link between workers' flexibility management and their emotional competencies affects their lives, which, like the organizations, should be versatile and adaptable to change.