Contexts and control operations used in accessing list-specific, generalized, and semantic memories

The human ability to focus memory retrieval operations on a particular list, episode or memory structure has not been fully appreciated or documented. In Experiment 1-3, we make it increasingly difficult for participants to switch between a less recent list (multiple study opportunities), and a more recent list (single study opportunity). Task performance was good, although there was a cost associated with switching. In Experiment 4, list-specific learning experiences were used to create a generalized memory as a step towards semantic memory. List-specific memories intruded during attempts to retrieve the generalized memory and the generalized memory enhanced list-specific performance. The generalized memory also intruded in a free-association task. We propose that a hierarchy of contexts and control operations underlie the human ability to access different memory structures and that there is no sharp discontinuity in the control operations needed to access list-specific, generalized, and semantic memories.     

The influence of perceptual and semantic categorization on inhibitory processing as measured by the N2–P3 response

In daily activities, humans must attend and respond to a range of important items and inhibit and not respond to unimportant distractions. Our current understanding of these processes is largely based on perceptually simple stimuli. This study investigates the interaction of conceptual-semantic categorization and inhibitory processing using Event Related Potentials (ERPs). Participants completed three Go–NoGo tasks that increased systematically in the degree of conceptual-semantic information necessary to respond correctly (from single items to categories of objects and animals). Findings indicate that the N2 response reflects inhibitory processing but does not change significantly with task difficulty. The P3 NoGo amplitude, on the other hand, is attenuated by task difficulty. Further, the latency of the peak of the P3 NoGo response elicited by the most difficult task is significantly later than are the peaks detected during performance of the other two tasks. Thus, the level of complexity of conceptual-semantic representations influences inhibitory processing in a systematic way. This inhibition paradigm may be a key for investigating inhibitory dysfunction in patient populations.     

Diary reports on emotional experiences in the onset of a psychosocial transition: becoming drug‐free

The process of becoming drug free is viewed as a psychosocial transition in the life of drug addicts. A specific form of treatment of heroin addiction within residential communities is based on the importance of interpersonal relationships for change. Well‐being of 65 drug addicts during the first 2 weeks in a residential community is explored using a time‐sampling diary which was completed four times a day. The influence of subjects' history, situational context, and motive activation on well‐being and emotions is investigated. Results show that well‐being and emotions differ mainly according to subjects' history, but not — at least at the beginning of treatment within the community — according to situations. This is interpreted as a ‘state of shock’ in the new environment and highlights the necessity for special individual care for subjects with a long drug career. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Do Feelings of Loneliness Mediate the Relationship between Sociocognitive Understanding and Depressive Symptoms During Late Childhood and Early Adolescence?

An interesting association between sociocognitive understanding and depression has been documented in clinical populations, with high levels of depression apparently related to theory-of-mind deficits. Yet no research has so far investigated this relationship among typically developing preadolescents. Therefore, the authors' main aim was to extend previous findings to the general population and to a younger age group. A secondary aim was to explore the role of feelings of loneliness referring to the previous link. A sociocognitive understanding task followed by self-report questionnaires on depressive symptoms and perceived loneliness were administered to a sample of 326 students attending primary and middle schools. Mediation analyses revealed that feelings of loneliness mediated the effect of sociocognitive understanding on depressive symptoms, but only among girls. In boys, depressive symptoms were directly linked to sociocognitive skills. In girls, on the contrary, the relationship between sociocognitive skills and depressive symptoms was significantly mediated by feelings of loneliness. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Love in the Time of Consequentialism

There are several powerful motivations for neutral value‐based deontic theories such as Act Consequentialism. Traditionally, such theories have had great difficulty accounting for partiality towards one's personal relationships and projects. This paper presents a neutral value‐based theory that preserves the motivations for Act Consequentialism while vindicating some crucial intuitions about reasons to be partial. There are two central ideas. The first is that when it comes to working out what you ought to do, your friends’ interests, the needs of your family, the significance of your own projects and ideals, etc. have more weight than the interests and needs of strangers. Your friends’ interests are not (thereby) more neutrally valuable than the interests of others. So there is a difference between the value of an outcome and its deontic significance. The second familiar idea is that reasons are modifiable. Reasons of partiality are reasons the weights of which are a function of the value of the relevant outcome modified by facts about the value of caring about the outcome in question. The resulting principle has various further explanatory advantages; in particular, it accounts for project‐ and relationship‐specific permissions and requirements, both at a time and across time.     

Getting down and dirty: An exploration of participation in the field of obstacle challenges

This paper examines the contemporary phenomenon of obstacle challenges and why people participate in events that result in them getting soaking wet, freezing cold, and dirtier than they have ever been while also getting shot with pellets and receiving “electric shocks.” Many participants in these challenges have taken part numerous times and keep coming back for more. Using multiple research methods including questionnaires, participant observation where the author completed one of Ireland's more well‐known and “toughest physical and mental endurance challenges,” and also depth interviews with challenge participants has resulted in a rich and detailed account of the obstacle challenge experience. These events are so much more than a few hours of strenuous and muddy physical exercise. The sense of community and camaraderie that people experience during these challenges could be described as “transformative” with participants in many cases more rewarded and moved by this collaborative aspect than the gruelling physical endeavour that they undertake. The escapism provided by the experience is also one its main rewards, relief from the quotidian and the chance to just “be.” The servicescape proves to be critically important to the experience but in ways that are largely incompatible with research in this area to date in that the comfort and cleanliness expected of more traditional servicescapes are spurned and physical hardship is welcomed. As this is an exploratory and novel research topic, suggestions for further research are plentiful.     

Subjective Screening of Stuttering severity, locus of control and avoidance: research edition

This article describes the Subjective Screening of Stuttering (SSS): research edition that is designed to quantify the selected self-reports of people who stutter (PWS) prior to, during, and following their treatment. The three areas screened by the SSS are perceived stuttering severity, the level of internal or external locus of control, and reported word or situation avoidance. Each of the areas has two or three items rated for three audiences on a one to nine rating scale. Other available measures were reviewed and the need for a single instrument that provides quantified screening of each of the areas was recognized. Results of a research project using the SSS with 16 PWS indicated that percent of syllables stuttered correlated with stuttering severity (r=0.75) and with locus of control (r=0.43) but did not correlate with avoidance. These results were interpreted to indicate a need for other types of therapy following the experimental treatment studied. Reliability and validity of the SSS were judged adequate for research and clinical screening. The possible role of screening self-reports of PWS in combination with more extensive self-report instruments and with objective measures of stuttering is discussed. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: The reader will be able to (1) assess the perception of stuttering severity, avoidance and locus of control of people who stutter (PWS), and (2) determine from the PWS the self-reported outcome of treatment.     

Measuring men's response to an imagined negative body image

To investigate response to an imagined negative body image, a sample of 29 men from an undergraduate university were given the Body Image Affect Scale of Campbell and Chow. Analysis showed more men, if they are experiencing a poor appearance, would try to cover up physical flaws and avoid approaching an individual in whom they were interested.     

A test of the inventory of attitudes towards seeking mental health services

This study investigates the construct validity, composite reliability and concurrent validity of the Inventory of attitudes towards seeking mental health services (IASMHS). A large sample of Irish police officers (N = 331) participated in the study. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-factor structure of the scale, while composite reliability results demonstrated that the IASMHS possessed excellent internal reliability. Structural equation modelling indicated that help-seeking propensity was the strongest predictor of intentions to engage in psychological counselling followed by psychological openness. Neuroticism was a weak, significant predictor of intentions. Implications of these results are discussed in relation to improving utilisation rates of mental health services.