Estimating the quantitative relation between incongruent information and response time

In Eriksen's flanker paradigm, participants' responses are slower and more error-prone when task-relevant and simultaneously available task-irrelevant cues are incongruent. The influence of task-irrelevant information decreases as its distance from the task-relevant information increases. Here, we manipulated the quantity of task-irrelevant information while keeping the distance constant. We asked whether when the impact on response selection processes was stronger the more incongruent information was available, or whether the impact on response selection depended only on its presence or absence. We conducted an experiment, in which subjects had to discriminate the direction of motion of a central point-light-walker that was flanked by two, four, or eight point-light-walkers at an equal distance from the center. The experiment showed that reaction times increased with the number of incongruent walkers. This effect was modulated by the total number of walkers, showing that the effect of incongruent information saturates when the display is cluttered.     

Personality in its natural habitat: manifestations and implicit folk theories of personality in daily life

To examine the expression of personality in its natural habitat, the authors tracked 96 participants over 2 days using the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR), which samples snippets of ambient sounds in participants' immediate environments. Participants' Big Five scores were correlated with EAR-derived information on their daily social interactions, locations, activities, moods, and language use; these quotidian manifestations were generally consistent with the trait definitions and (except for Openness) often gender specific. To identify implicit folk theories about daily manifestations of personality, the authors correlated the EAR-derived information with impressions of participants based on their EAR sounds; judges' implicit folk theories were generally accurate (especially for Extraversion) and also partially gender specific. The findings point to the importance of naturalistic observation studies on how personality is expressed and perceived in the natural stream of everyday behavior.     

Why a "word order difference" is not always a "word order" difference: a reply to Weyerts,Penke, Münte,Heinze, and Clahsen

We present evidence that the supposed processing advantage for an SV_finO word order over an SOV_fin word order in German argued for by Weyerts, Penke, Münte, Heinze, and Clahsen (2002) is supported by neither experimental nor theoretical evidence. Specifically, we show (a) that the frontocentral negativity for an SOV_fin in comparison to an SV_finO word order in Weyerts et al.'s Experiments 2 and 3 is reducible to more general differences in the electrophysiological responses elicited by nouns versus verbs in a sentence context, and (b) that the P600 difference between the two word orders in Experiment 2, as well as the reading time differences in Experiment 1, result from the fact that the two supposedly ungrammatical conditions actually differ in their degree of ill-formedness. We conclude that there is no evidence for a processing disadvantage for SOV_fin, thus reconciling Weyerts et al.'s results on German sentence processing with the grammatical regularities of German.     

Mood-congruent cognitions constitute mood experience

Three studies tested the assumption of a dispositional theory of moods that mood-related cognitions constitute essential parts of the phenomenal mood experience. In Study 1, after a hot- versus a cold-, sad-, or angry-mood induction, participants reported their momentary moods and their momentary mood-related cognitions. Self-reported moods and mood-related cognitions changed in a strictly parallel fashion in all mood induction groups. A mediation analysis showed that the influences of distraction on moods were completely mediated by changes in mood-related cognitions. Study 2 replicated the central findings of Study 1 with a musical mood induction procedure. Study 3 showed that the findings do not depend on the explicit manipulation of moods. The results support the tested assumption.     

The Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR): A device for sampling naturalistic daily activities and conversations

A recording device called the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR) is described. The EAR tape-records for 30 sec once every 12 min for 2–4 days. It is lightweight and portable, and it can be worn comfortably by participants in their natural environment. The acoustic data samples provide a nonobtrusive record of the language used and settings entered by the participant. Preliminary psychometric findings suggest that the EAR data accurately reflect individuals’ natural social, linguistic, and psychological lives. The data presented in this article were collected with a first-generation EAR system based on analog tape recording technology, but a second generation digital EAR is now available.     

Patientenziele in der Psychotherapie

Zusammenfassung  Im vorliegenden Artikel wird ein Überblick zum Stand der Forschung zu Patientenzielen in der Psychotherapie gegeben. Auf vier Aspekte wird dabei besonders eingegangen: (1) auf grundlagenwissenschaftliche Modelle und Befunde zu Lebenszielen, (2) auf allgemeine Lebensziele von Patienten und deren Zusammenhang zu ihrem psychopathologischen Zustand, (3) auf explizite Therapieziele und (4) auf zielbezogene therapeutische Interventionen. Durch diesen Überblick soll zum einen deutlich gemacht werden, wie grundlagenwissenschaftliche Forschung zu persönlichen Zielen klinische Forschung beeinflusst und bereichert hat. Zum anderen werden die therapeutischen Implikationen der Zielforschung herausgearbeitet.

Illness, disease and sin: the connection between genetics and spirituality.

The New Testament, while rejecting any superficial connection between illness and sin, does not reject a possible connection between illness and a person's relationship with God. An example can be seen in the story of the young blind man who was healed (St. John 9:3). His blindness does not result from any fault he or his parents had committed but apparently from God's wish to reveal his own healing power. The inner blindness of the Pharisees is a different type of blindness far more difficult to heal. The blind young man was actually healed, not only in body but also in soul. Such miraculous healings are rare nowadays. However, if one takes a closer look at modern genetics and psycho-neuro-immunological findings, one may come to a better understanding of how miracle healings are linked to man's inner life and therefore also to his religiousness. Many diseases have genetic backgrounds. Defective genes, however, do not necessarily lead to subsequent illness. Genes have to be switched on or off. Only activated genes trigger pathological change. The human brain and all of man's thinking and feeling are intimately connected with such activations. We may thus conclude that both inner life and religious outlook on life are relevant to the origin and development of diseases.     

Development and validation of the Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument (COGTEL) for the assessment of cognitive function across adulthood

The authors introduce a screening instrument that assesses cognitive-function domains across adulthood over the telephone. The authors administered the Cognitive Telephone Screening Instrument (COGTEL) to 81 younger adults (M = 25.6 years) and 83 older adults (M = 66.9 years). Each participant completed the COGTEL twice, once over the telephone and once in a face-to-face assessment. The authors (a) analyzed the degree of agreement between face-to-face and telephone COGTEL scores, (b) developed a COGTEL Total score that reflects global cognitive functioning, and (c) examined concurrent validity. The method of administration did not largely influence mean levels, rank orders, or factor structure as revealed by confirmatory factor analysis. Moreover, age differences were not modulated by the form of administration. The distribution of COGTEL Total scores followed a Gaussian function, which prevents COGTEL from being limited by ceiling effects. The results provide evidence for the validity and reliability of the COGTEL to assess cognitive functioning in large-scale epidemiological studies, longitudinal studies, and clinical follow-up among healthy adults.     

Development of the Weight- and Body-Related Shame and Guilt scale (WEB-SG) in a nonclinical sample of obese individuals

In this article, we present the evaluation of the psychometric properties of a new self-report measure of Weight- and Body-Related Shame and Guilt (WEB-SG). The main purpose of the study was to measure shame and guilt feelings separately in obese individuals and investigate differing behavioral and emotional correlates of these emotions. Altogether, 331 obese participants completed the WEB-SG and other established self-report measures. A subset of the participants completed a 6-month follow-up. The WEB-SG proved to be internally consistent and temporally stable over a 6-month period. Regarding the factorial structure, a two-factor conceptualization was supported. The construct validity of the WEB-SG subscales was evidenced by a substantial overlap of common variance with related measures. The subscales Shame and Guilt showed differential correlation patterns to other scales. The WEB-SG is a brief, psychometrically sound measure for assessing body shame and guilt concerning weight control in obese individuals.     

The Chinese Version of the Revised Creativity Domain Questionnaire (CDQ‐R): First Evidence for its Factorial Validity and Systematic Association with the Big Five

The present study examines the factor structure of a Chinese version of the Revised Creativity Domain Questionnaire (CDQ‐R; Kaufman, Waterstreet, Ailaouni, Whitcomb, Roe, & Riggs, 2009) as well as its relation to Big Five personality traits within a Chinese sample (N = 787). Analyses indicate the appropriateness of the Chinese version of the CDQ‐R in terms of internal consistency, factorial validity as well as convergent and divergent validity concerning the Big Five personality factors. Revealing some culture‐specific variation, confirmatory factor analysis indicated a slight superiority of a five‐factor model for this Chinese sample over the existing four‐factor model established with American samples. This higher level of differentiation in terms of one factor of the creativity domain could be explained on the basis of the specific characteristics of the Chinese culture.