When are moods most likely to influence consumers' product preferences? The role of mood focus and perceived relevance of moods

This program of research examined the hypothesis that moods are most likely to be used as a source of information in making evaluations and choices when consumers both focus on their moods (i.e., acknowledge and pay attention to their feelings) and perceive that moods are a relevant source of information for forming judgments. Support for this prediction was obtained when the relevance of moods was examined by manipulating relevance instructions, varying advertising cues, and manipulating product type. Further, the boundary conditions under which the combination of mood focus and perceived relevance is most influential on product preferences are identified.     

The not-so-silent couple in the individual

This paper aims to examine two often separate areas of analytical enquiry, the nature of the self, with its foundation in the concept of a primary self which may achieve a sense of coherence over time, and the nature of internal objects, a concept that forms the basis of theories concerning part selves and sub-personalities. It is argued that these concepts might be integrated to provide a unified model of the self, thereby integrating theoretically disparate aspects of mental structure and functioning. Through an examination of clinical material, the archetype of the coniunctio is evoked to offer an understanding of how, in the absence of a stable conjunction of (maternal) reverie and (paternal) thinking functions, a series of linked but oppositional internal couples may be created which lends to the self the experience of a combined and sustaining inner couple. The internal couple creates a source of psychological survival for the self, with the function of providing a reliable structure in which the processes of the self may unfold, but equally requiring strict adherence to a pernicious system of internal defences that allows for very little interaction with others outside the self. At the same time, these defences inevitably become blocks to further development, and the work of transformation is thwarted. For transformation to occur, it is necessary for the self to find another, often the analyst, who may be allowed to partake in the internal conjunction, thereby promoting a better grounding for the self.     

Biased recollections in older adults: the role of implicit theories of aging.

This research explored how older adults recall the traits they possessed at an earlier age. It was hypothesized that older adults' recollections would be related to their theories about aging. In Study 1, a group of older Ss provided their theories concerning how various traits change with age. Another group of older Ss rated their current status on these traits and recalled the status they possessed at a younger age. In addition, a group of younger adults rated their current status on the same traits. On traits theorized to increase with age, older Ss recalled themselves as possessing lower levels at an earlier age than the younger group reported possessing. On traits theorized to decrease with age, older Ss recalled themselves as possessing higher levels at an earlier age than the younger group reported possessing. Study 2 indicated that this effect is obtained regardless of trait positivity.     

Animals as cost‐based robots

The frame problem is a problem that arises when an agent attempts to assess the consequences of future behaviour. Strictly, it is a problem of modelling that arises during planning. The problem arises because many of the possible consequences of a planned action are not really relevant to the decision whether to perform the action. The frame problem is typical of the classical approach to artificial intelligence, but it is evident that animals do not suffer from this problem. In this paper it is suggested that animals can circumvent the frame problem because their decision‐making architecture is very different from that traditionally used in artificial intelligence.     

Automatic and conscious processing in retarded and nonretarded adolescents

Educable mentally retarded and nonretarded adolescents participated in incidental learning tasks that emphasized the utilization of processes that were consciously controlled but not deliberately aimed at memory (Experiment 1). Retarded individuals' performance on a standard recognition test was equivalent to that of nonretarded subjects following phonetic encoding and nonstrategic encoding, but was deficient following semantic encoding. Retarded subjects also demonstrated a lower level of performance on a rhyme recognition task. In Experiment 2, retarded subjects provided a pattern of responding identical to that of nonretarded subjects on a picture-word interference task designed to assess automatic processing. The two groups produced equivalent levels of semantic activation. It was argued that the results of the two experiments indicate deficient semantic processing on the part of retarded individuals relative to that of nonretarded individuals that cannot be accommodated by a structural-deficiency model, a developmental-lag model, or a hypothesis that predicts intelligence-related differences only when the task involves the use of deliberate mnemonic strategies.     

A developmental study of the influence of cognitive activity on an ongoing manual task

The present study investigated developmental changes in the lateralized effects of concurrent cognitive activity on the performance of a manual task. Children aged 9, 10, 11 and 12 years were required to press a key continuously for 15 sec whilst at the same time engaging in three conditions involving cognitive activity (spatial, verbal and mixed spatial-verbal probelem solving) and a control condition. The nature of the concurrent cognitive activity was found to produce differential effects on left- and righthand performance with spatial-cognitive activity being a more effective disruptor of an ongoing, left-handed manual task at the age of 9 years. Above that age verbal and spatial activity appear to have comparable disruptive effects.     

Speed-accuracy tradeoff models for auditory detection with deadlines

Two neural models for response latency in auditory signal detection are considered: the Timing model of Luce and Green (1972) and a modified counting model based on that of McGill (1967). The modified counting model is described in some detail. The experimental situation to which the models are applied is one where a deadline in response time is enforced on signal trials only or on noise trials only, the condition of deadlines on both cases having previously been studied by Green and Luce (1973). The results for mean latencies of the various categories of response, together with response probabilities, favour either the counting model or a dual process model. Data for ROC curves indicate either the operation of a dual process model or that the ‘interval of uncertainty’ of the counting model may vary with bias position. Some consideration is also given to the possibility of differential residual response time components and it is concluded that such components may be important in the deadline situation.     

Classical conditioning of hippocampal theta patterns in the rat.

Electrical stimulation (88 HZ) of the lateral hypothalamus elicited a sustained theta response at hippocampal recording sites of rats immobilized with succinylcholine. By pairing this unconditioned stimulus with a 10-sec presentation of a light, conditioned theta responses were demonstrated in as few as 40 trials. Spectral analysis of hippocampal bioelectric patterns during acquisition, extinction, and reconditioning indicated that the earliest change as a result of conditioning is a loss of power in EEG frequency below 8 HZ, followed by the development of a peak at 8 HZ with further conditioning. Extinction was associated with an increase in power in the frequencies below 8 HZ. When the conditioned rats were tested in the absence of the neuromuscular blocking agent, the conditioned stimulus elicited a theta response that was associated with slow motor activity on 70% of the trials.