Preattentive Processing,Poststimulus Elaboration,and Memory for Emotionally Arousing Stimuli

A Monte-Carlo simulation was conducted to assess the extent that a correlation estimate can be inflated when an average-based measure is used in a commonly employed correlational design. The results from the simulation reveal that the inflation of the correlation estimate can be substantial, up to 76%. Additionally, data was re-analyzed from two previously published studies to determine the extent that the correlation estimate was inflated due to the use of an averaged based measure. The re-analyses reveal that correlation estimates had been inflated by just over 50% in both studies. Although these findings are disconcerting, we are somewhat comforted by the fact that there is a simple and easy analysis that can be employed to prevent the inflation of the correlation estimate that we have simulated and observed.     

Log-normal nanograin-size distributions in nanostructured composites

A key challenge in the fabrication of superhard nanocomposite films is how to control the distribution of grain sizes in these materials. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy has been used to measure nanograin-size distributions in the Ti–B–N films with various B contents. The results show that the mean grain size decreases with increase of B content and the grain-size distribution conforms to a log-normal function when the hardness approaches a maximum value. The transition from normal to log-normal distributions can be determined by analysis in terms of a minimum information criterion. The origin of a log-normal size distribution probably results from heterogeneity arising from a diffusion-drift process.     

Fractals and scaling in fracture induced by microcrack coalescence

A numerical model is proposed to simulate fracture induced by the coalescence of numerous microcracks, in which the condition for coalescence between two randomly nucleated microcracks is determined in terms of a load-sharing principle. The results of the simulation show that, as the number density of nucleated microcracks increases, stochastic coalescence first occurs followed by a small fluctuation, and finally a newly nucleated microcrack triggers a cascade coalescence of microcracks resulting in catastrophic failure. The fracture profiles exhibit self-affine fractal characteristics with a universal roughness exponent, but the critical damage threshold is sensitive to details of the model. The spatiotemporal distribution of nucleated microcracks in the vicinity of critical failure follows a power-law behaviour, which implies that the microcrack system may evolve to a critical state.     

Burnout and its relations with basic psychological needs and motivation among athletes: A systematic review and meta-analysis

ObjectivesThe present study is a review on studies about the relationships between the three basic psychological needs/motivational regulations (i.e., amotivation, controlled regulation, extrinsic autonomous regulation, and intrinsic motivation) and burnout.DesignA systematic review and meta-analysis.MethodStudies were identified through five electronic databases and manual search using combinations of three groups of keywords. Three inclusion criteria were then used to screen the searched articles.ResultsEighteen studies met the inclusion criteria and these studies varied considerably in terms of their study characteristics (e.g., characteristics of participants, study designs, and outcome measures). The results also showed that the three basic psychological needs, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic autonomous regulation, and amotivation had small to large effects on predicting global burnout and its three dimensions. However, controlled regulation showed no or weak correlations with the burnout subscales.ConclusionsSelf-determination theory was generally supported in explaining athlete burnout.     

A cross-cultural study of hindsight bias and conditional probabilistic reasoning

Hindsight bias is a mistaken belief that one could have predicted a given outcome once the outcome is known. Choi and Nisbett (2000 Choi, I. and Nisbett, R. E. 2000. Cultural psychology of surprise: Holistic theories and recognition of contradiction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79: 890–905. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) reported that Koreans showed stronger hindsight bias than Americans, and explained the results using the distinction between analytic cognition (Westerners) and holistic cognition (Easterners). The purpose of the present study was to see whether hindsight bias is stronger among Easterners than among Westerners using a probability judgement task, and to test an “explicit–implicit” hypothesis and a “rule-dialectics” hypothesis. We predicted that the implicit process is more active among Easterners to generate hindsight bias, and that Easterners are more dialectical thinkers, whereas Westerners are more rule-based thinkers. French, British, Japanese, and Korean participants were asked to make probabilistic judgements in a Good Samaritan scenario (Experiment 1) and in a scenario including conditional probabilistic judgement (Experiment 2). In both Experiments, we presume that the implicit revision of causal models is made just by being given unexpected outcome information, and that explicit revision is made by being asked to point out possible factors for an unexpected outcome. In the results Easterners showed greater hindsight bias generally and it was greater in the Good Samaritan scenario. We conclude that the reason why hindsight bias was lower among Westerners is primarily that they tried to follow a rule to suppress the bias.     

Images of God and the imaginary in the face of loss: a quantitative research on Vietnamese immigrants living in Canada

ABSTRACT

This study examines the relationships between images of God, the imaginary and experiences of loss among Vietnamese immigrants living in Canada. One hundred twenty-nine participants completed four sets of questionnaires: a demographic questionnaire, a Questionnaire on God Image, the Brief Symptom Inventory, the Davidson Trauma Scale. In the second phase, 32 participants were administered the AT.9 test (an archetypal test with nine elements). In this test, participants are asked to draw, using nine symbolic elements, and then write a story based on their drawing. Results showed that a positive perception of God negatively correlated with somatisation, anxiety and hostility, whereas negative God image was significantly related to high levels of emotional distress. Results also showed that the synthetic categories of the imaginary were associated with a positive perception of God; and were negatively associated with somatisation, intrusion and hyper-vigilance. Further discussions on the main findings will address cultural implications in the fields of Mental Health, Religion and Culture.     

The influence of satisfaction and promotability on the relation between career adaptability and turnover intentions

This study examined the relation between career adaptability (CA), promotability, and career satisfaction (CS), and their impacts on turnover intentions (TI). Eight hypotheses were proposed. Based on data collected from a sample of 431 employees in Macau, career adaptability was significantly and positively related to both promotability and CS after controlling for the influences of demographic variables including age, gender, education and tenure. CA, promotability and CS were also significantly and negatively linked to TI. The results further revealed that promotability and CS mediated the effect of CA on TI. The study contributed new insights that may inform career development and retention of employees. Practical implications on how to retain employees were discussed.     

Exploring Factors Associated with Psychological Resilience Among Earthquake Survivors from Turkey

This study aimed to explore factors associated with psychological resilience in a sample of 360 survivors of the two earthquakes in Van, Turkey in 2011. Using a survey with measures on various pre-, within-, and post-disaster variables, it has been shown that psychological resilience was influenced by multiple factors, providing empirical evidence for a multifactorial understanding of resilience. Furthermore, the study extended the traditional ways of resilience assessment by including stress-coping ability and severity of trauma-related symptoms as indicators of psychological resilience simultaneously. Findings were discussed considering the implications for research and interventions in the aftermath of natural disasters.