Group membership and everyday social comparison experiences

In two everyday experience studies, we examined the degree to which everyday social comparisons are framed by group membership. In the first study, 30 undergraduates attending a public university in the United States completed short questionnaires about their social comparison experiences whenever they were signalled. In the second study, 34 ethnic minority undergraduates from the same university completed similar questionnaires about their social comparison experiences. Across both studies, comparisons in which participants viewed themselves as an ingroup member in comparison to an outgroup comprised less than 10% of the comparison experiences reported by participants. However, minorities in the second study who reported closer identification with their ethnic group reported more comparison experiences in which they mentioned their own or the comparison target's ethnicity.     

Restrictions in working memory capacity during parachuting: a possible cause of ‘no pull’ fatalities

Working memory capacity of novice and experienced parachutists was compared under three conditions: prior to exiting the aircraft, on landing and during a control, non‐jumping day. Analysis of the operation span task revealed significant impairments in both storage and processing capacities of working memory prior to jumping. Storage capacity continued to be impaired in novice parachutists on landing whilst experienced parachutists showed full recovery. Neither group showed impairment in processing capacity on landing. Significant increases in heart rate were found for both groups in the jump and landing conditions compared to baseline but no differences existed between novices and experienced parachutists. Initial analyses support processing efficiency theory and suggest that cognitive processing may be slowing down during a jump. However, post hoc analysis of incorrect responses suggest that executive function may actually become disrupted. The results are reviewed in the context of ‘no pull’ parachuting fatalities. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.