The effects of temporal synchrony on the perceived organization of elements in spatially symmetric and asymmetric grids

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of fast temporally segmented presentations of alternate rows or columns on the perception of grids of either symmetrically or asymmetrically spaced dot-like stimuli. Experiments 1a and 1b demonstrated that observers were able to discriminate between temporally segmented presentations of rows/columns stimuli, but showed a reduced performance in discrimination between non-temporally segmented stimuli and temporally segmented stimuli that were spatially unstructured. Experiment 2 confirmed the influence of temporally segmented presentations of rows and columns using elements whose mean luminance summed to the same as the display background. Experiment 3 demonstrated that the influence of temporal cues reduced when display elements were asymmetrically spaced. The results are discussed in terms of the influence of external spatio-temporal factors on the neural mechanisms of visual grouping.     

Adolescents with high mental toughness adapt better to perceived stress: A longitudinal study with Swiss vocational students

A mindset of mental toughness enables an individual to cope successfully with the pressures and demands of life. This 10-month study prospectively examined the association between mental toughness and stress resilience in 865 students (M = 17.86 years, 42.7% girls) from two vocational schools. Within each school, separate cluster analyses identified groups with different profiles of risk (assessed with perceived stress) and adaptation (operationalized with depressive symptoms and life satisfaction). Four clusters emerged characterizing students with well-adjusted (low risk, good adaptation), maladjusted (elevated risk, bad adaptation), deteriorated (low initial risk, worsening adaptation) and resilient profiles (elevated initial risk, improving adaptation). The latter two clusters reported similar levels of mental toughness at baseline, but resilient adolescents scored significantly higher on mental toughness at follow-up. After controlling for possible confounds, baseline toughness levels predicted depressive symptoms and life satisfaction over time. This study shows that mental toughness operates as a stress resilience resource. Mental toughness is, therefore a topic of interest for health specialists working with adolescent populations.     

Agency,Teleological Control and Robust Causation

I propose a compatibilist theory of agency and responsibility, according to which an agent is responsible for an effect, if and only if, she is the earliest source of robust causation over it, via an action she carried out in the service of her long term interests. This theory deploys a notion of teleological control, which is a type of guidance-control of the agent over the effect and it involves action plans and means-end reasoning. The theory makes room for degrees of responsibility, and accounts for the distinction between compulsion and determination. The teleological control view is informed by neuroscience and cognitive theory, and while it is indifferent to the distinction between determinism and indeterminism, it contends that the property of natural laws relevant to agency is the presence of successive stages of attractor and bifurcation dynamics. While the former grounds robust causation over effects of actions, the latter limits the temporal range of robustness, allowing us to characterize responsibility in terms of the earliest sources of robust causation.     

Development of a telephone-based intervention for support persons to help smokers quit

This study represents the first step toward systematic behavioral treatment development and pilot testing of a novel approach to smoking cessation that utilizes adults interested in helping someone to stop smoking (i.e., support persons) as the agent of change. The counselor manual for a telephone-based intervention for support persons was developed based on a previous clinic-based intervention. Social cognitive theory served as the conceptual basis for the intervention. Ten adult non-smoking females completed the treatment protocol, consisting of six 20 - 30-min sessions and written materials. The support person was the sole recipient of the professional intervention. Feedback was obtained from 8 of the 10 participants and all 4 telephone counselors 1 week post-treatment (week 10). Results indicate that the telephone-based intervention was feasible and acceptable to participants. The intervention was refined based on participant and counselor feedback and will be subsequently tested in a randomized pilot trial.     

Attributions of Blame in Sexual Assault to Perpetrators and Victims of Both Genders1

Previous research found that men attribute more blame to rape victims than do women; men also attribute less blame to perpetrators. In rape situations with a male perpetrator and a female victim, the roles of perpetrator and victim are confounded with gender category. To determine whether men are more lenient toward perpetrators or toward other males, the present study examined attributions of blame in scenarios that varied the gender category of both perpetrator and victim. Results showed that men's and women's attributions of blame to perpetrators were based on the role that was enacted, rather than gender per se: Men attributed less blame to perpetrators than did women, regardless of the perpetrator's gender category, indicating that men were more lenient toward perpetrators than were women. In addition, when the victim was female, the perpetrator was blamed more and the victim was blamed less than when the victim was male.     

Self-Prophecy Effects and Voter Turnout: An Experimental Replication

Psychological research has found that being asked to predict one's future actions can bring about subsequent behavior consistent with the prediction but different from what would have occurred had no prediction been made. In a 1987 study, Greenwald, Carnot, Beach, and Young induced an increase in voting behavior by means of such a "self-prophecy" effect: Undergraduates who were asked to predict whether they would vote in an upcoming election were substantially more likely to go to the polls than those who had not been asked for a prediction. This paper reports on a replication of the Greenwald study conducted among a larger group of respondents more representative of the American electorate. No evidence was found that self-prophecy effects increase voter turnout.     

Preferred changes in power differences: Effects of social comparison in equal and unequal power relations

Efforts to change power differences with others who are equal and unequal in power were examined. According to social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954; Rijsman, 1983), people prefer slight superiority in power over comparison others. In Experiment 1, 93 participants imagined working with two others in a group. Group members varied in hierarchical rank and on exact power scores. Participants indicated their preferred changes in power differences. Social comparison theory was supported regarding rank differences, but not regarding power scores. In Experiment 2, 145 participants imagined a similar group setting. Group members were equal, unequal, or very unequal in power. Social comparison theory was supported regarding ranks: power differences with an equally powerful person were increased more often than with a less powerful person. Power scores again yielded no effects. This suggests that social comparisons of power are based on rank and not interval information.     

When are workload and workplace learning opportunities related in a curvilinear manner? The moderating role of autonomy

Building on theoretical frameworks like the Job Demands Control model and Action Theory we tested whether the relationship between workload and employees' experiences of opportunities for workplace learning is of an inverted u-shaped nature and whether autonomy moderates this relationship. We predicted that – at moderate levels of autonomy – workload was positively associated with learning opportunities at low levels of workload, but negatively at high levels of workload. Also, we predicted that low autonomy prevents positive effects of moderate workload from materializing whereas high autonomy makes high workload less destructive to the learning process. Furthermore, we examined whether learning opportunities increase particularly as a function of higher matched levels of workload and autonomy and whether mismatch between workload and autonomy is particularly detrimental to the learning process. We found support for these ideas in two large and heterogeneous samples of working adults using moderated and polynomial regression analyses and subsequent response surface methodology. These results integrate conflicting prior findings and extend Karasek's (1979) active learning hypothesis. They also have clear implications for job redesign practices aiming to promote workplace learning opportunities.     

The relationship between suppression and subsequent intrusions: the mediating role of peritraumatic dissociation and anxiety

Background and objectives: Although previous studies showed that thought and emotion suppression represent risk factors for intrusions development, the mechanisms that explain these relations were less explored. This study aims to examine the relationships between thought and emotion suppression and the symptoms of intrusion following the exposure to a trauma-related event. Moreover, we explored if these relationships would be mediated by peritraumatic state dissociation and state anxiety.

Design and methods: The trauma film paradigm was used and the participants were students (N?=?148) experimentally exposed to an aversive film to model a traumatic experience. Thought and emotion suppression were measured before the trauma exposure. After exposure, the participants completed scales for measuring state dissociation and state anxiety. Intrusive images and thoughts of the film were recorded in the subsequent week using an intrusion diary.

Results: Thought suppression predicted intrusive thoughts frequency, and this effect was mediated by the peritraumatic anxiety. State anxiety predicted both intrusive images and thoughts, while state dissociation only predicted intrusive images.

Conclusions: Intrusive images and intrusive thoughts are different phenomena and they are predicted by different variables. The practical implications of these results for posttraumatic stress disorder treatment and secondary traumatization are discussed.     

Saving for your future self: The role of imaginary experiences

Despite increased longevity, many people fail to save the funds necessary to support their retirement. In an attempt both to elucidate and remedy this failing, research exploring the “future-self continuity” hypothesis has revealed that temporal discounting is decreased and saving increased when connections between one’s current and future self are strengthened. Here, we explored the possibility that a basic component of mental imagery – spatial visual perspective – may be an important determinant of people’s decisions to spend now or save for the future. The results of two experiments supported this prediction. Rates of saving were enhanced when a distant-future event was generated from a third-person vs. first-person vantage point, an effect that was mediated by visual bodily awareness during mental imagery.