Do Social Relationships Buffer the Effects of Widowhood? A Prospective Study of Adaptation to the Loss of a Spouse

The idea that strong social relationships can buffer the negative effects of stress on well‐being has received much attention in existing literature. However, previous studies have used less than ideal research designs to test this hypothesis, making it difficult to draw firm conclusions regarding the buffering effects of social support. In this study, we examined the buffering hypothesis in the context of reaction and adaptation to widowhood in three large longitudinal datasets. We tested whether social relationships moderated reaction and adaptation to widowhood in samples of people who experienced loss of a spouse from three longitudinal datasets of nationally representative samples from Germany (N = 1,195), Great Britain (N = 562), and Australia (N = 298). We found no evidence that social relationships established before widowhood buffered either reaction or adaptation to the death of one's spouse. Similarly, social relationships that were in place during the first year of widowhood did not help widows and widowers recover from this difficult event. Social relationships acquired prior to widowhood, or those available in early stages of widowhood, do not appear to explain individual differences in adaptation to loss.     

The Logics of Strict-Tolerant Logic

Adding a transparent truth predicate to a language completely governed by classical logic is not possible. The trouble, as is well-known, comes from paradoxes such as the Liar and Curry. Recently, Cobreros, Egré, Ripley and van Rooij have put forward an approach based on a non-transitive notion of consequence which is suitable to deal with semantic paradoxes while having a transparent truth predicate together with classical logic. Nevertheless, there are some interesting issues concerning the set of metainferences validated by this logic. In this paper, we show that this logic, once it is adequately understood, is weaker than classical logic. Moreover, the logic is in a way similar to the paraconsistent logic LP.     

A dual-motive model of scapegoating: displacing blame to reduce guilt or increase control

The authors present a model that specifies 2 psychological motives underlying scapegoating, defined as attributing inordinate blame for a negative outcome to a target individual or group, (a) maintaining perceived personal moral value by minimizing feelings of guilt over one's responsibility for a negative outcome and (b) maintaining perceived personal control by obtaining a clear explanation for a negative outcome that otherwise seems inexplicable. Three studies supported hypotheses derived from this dual-motive model. Framing a negative outcome (environmental destruction or climate change) as caused by one's own harmful actions (value threat) or unknown sources (control threat) both increased scapegoating, and these effects occurred indirectly through feelings of guilt and perceived personal control, respectively (Study 1), and were differentially moderated by affirmations of moral value and personal control (Study 2). Also, scapegoating in response to value threat versus control threat produced divergent, theoretically specified effects on self-perceptions and behavioral intentions (Study 3).     

Action as a Window to Perception: Measuring Attention with Mouse Movements

Eye‐gaze tracking has been shown to deliver valuable information about how people view advertisements and what they pay attention to. However, practical difficulties in its application limit its usability by marketing researchers. Here, we explore the use of mouse tracking to evaluate viewing behavior by determining whether the hand can be trained to follow visual spatial attention and whether visual processing can be estimated by tracking pointing movements made with a computer mouse. In brief, the results of the research are very promising, showing high correlations between the scan paths for the eye and the mouse, as well as high correlations between the percentage of time spent in designated regions of interest for the mouse and the eye. An additional comparison of the data with that of a group who did not use a mouse while viewing the experimental stimuli showed that viewing patterns were not disrupted by mouse use. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Remodeling of the neuronal circuits underlying opiate-withdrawal memories following remote retrieval

Several types of memory display time-dependent reorganization of their underlying neural substrates, but it remains unclear whether affective memories associated with drug effects also follow similar reorganization. Here, we analyzed the neural circuits reactivated by the re-exposure of former dependent rats to the withdrawal-paired environment 1month after conditioning (remote memory) as compared with recent memory (Frenois, F., Stinus, L., Di Blasi, F., Cador, M., & Le Moine, C. (2005) A specific limbic circuit underlies opiate withdrawal memories The Journal of Neuroscience, 25, 1366-1374). C-fos expression showed that the circuits involved in the retrieval of withdrawal memories are partly different when comparing recent and remote reactivation, showing that, like other type of memories, affective memories linked to opiate withdrawal undergo anatomical reorganization, with a shift from extended amygdala regions toward cortical areas.     

Role of TRPV1 in consolidation of fear memories depends on the averseness of the conditioning procedure

Despite the fact that TRPV1 receptors are widely expressed in brain structures such as the hippocampus, its functions remain largely unknown. In the present study, we have investigated the possible modulatory role of the hippocampal endovanilloid system upon memory consolidation of two different behavioral tasks in rats. Post-training infusion of the TRPV1 antagonist capsazepine disrupted memory consolidation with a strong training protocol, but not with a weak one in the contextual fear conditioning or in the step-down inhibitory avoidance task. These results provide evidence that the modulation of the hippocampal memory consolidation through TRPV1 receptors takes place only in presence of a strong emotional experience, suggesting that a certain aversiveness level is required in order to recruit endovanilloids to exert this function. A possible synergic role of hippocampal endovanilloid and endocannabinoid system on memory consolidation is discussed.     

FACSGen 2.0 animation software: generating three-dimensional FACS-valid facial expressions for emotion research

In this article, we present FACSGen 2.0, new animation software for creating static and dynamic three-dimensional facial expressions on the basis of the Facial Action Coding System (FACS). FACSGen permits total control over the action units (AUs), which can be animated at all levels of intensity and applied alone or in combination to an infinite number of faces. In two studies, we tested the validity of the software for the AU appearance defined in the FACS manual and the conveyed emotionality of FACSGen expressions. In Experiment 1, four FACS-certified coders evaluated the complete set of 35 single AUs and 54 AU combinations for AU presence or absence, appearance quality, intensity, and asymmetry. In Experiment 2, lay participants performed a recognition task on emotional expressions created with FACSGen software and rated the similarity of expressions displayed by human and FACSGen faces. Results showed good to excellent classification levels for all AUs by the four FACS coders, suggesting that the AUs are valid exemplars of FACS specifications. Lay participants' recognition rates for nine emotions were high, and comparisons of human and FACSGen expressions were very similar. The findings demonstrate the effectiveness of the software in producing reliable and emotionally valid expressions, and suggest its application in numerous scientific areas, including perception, emotion, and clinical and neuroscience research.     

The psychotic personality: A psychoanalytic theory and its application in clinical practice

This paper presents and discusses aspects of Bion's theory of the psychotic personality. In particular, it focuses on the psychotic personality's attacks on the dependent and needy self. The paper considers how Bion's theory can be applied to understanding the schizophrenic patient. Examples are given to show its importance not only in analytic practice, but also within general psychiatry.     

Procedural and Distributive Justice Beliefs for Self and Others: Multilevel Associations with Life Satisfaction and Self-Rated Health

Personal happiness and well-being are associated with a dispositional tendency to believe in the existence of justice. In addition, research suggests that links between justice beliefs and well-being are best revealed when utilizing distinctions between a belief in justice for one’s self versus others, and also a belief in procedural versus distributive justice. Using multilevel modeling, we examined whether individual-level links to personal well-being are moderated by higher-order (county-level) justice climates. Michigan (United States) residents (N = 497) were recruited through a statewide survey to complete measures of procedural and distributive justice beliefs for self and others, life satisfaction, and self-rated health. Individual-level beliefs in justice for both self and for others were more strongly associated with life satisfaction and health in climates where beliefs about justice for others were robust. In addition, an individual-level belief in distributive justice was more strongly linked to self-rated health in high distributive justice climates, and in low procedural justice climates. Taken together, these cross-level interactions suggest that higher-order justice climates may alter relationships between individual-level justice beliefs and personal well-being. We discuss implications for justice theory and directions for continued research on well-being and happiness.