Integrating the irrelevant sound

A distractor can be integrated with a target response and the subsequent repetition of the distractor can facilitate or hamper responding depending on whether the same or a different response is required, a phenomenon labeled distractor-response binding. In two experiments we used a priming paradigm with an identification task to investigate influences of stimulus grouping on the binding of irrelevant stimuli (distractors) and responses in audition. In a grouped condition participants heard relevant and irrelevant sounds in one central location, whereas in a non-grouped condition the relevant sound was presented to one ear and the irrelevant sound was presented to the other ear. Distractor-based retrieval of the prime response was stronger for the grouped compared to the non-grouped presentation of stimuli indicating that binding of irrelevant auditory stimuli with responses is modulated by perceptual grouping.     

Long-term response-stimulus associations can influence distractor-response bindings

Strong associations between target stimuli and responses usually facilitate fast and effortless reactions. The present study investigated whether long-term associations between distractor stimuli and responses modulate behavior. In particular, distractor stimuli can affect behavior due to distractor-based stimulus-response retrieval, a phenomenon called distractor-response binding: An ignored stimulus becomes temporarily associated with a response and retrieves it at stimulus repetition. In a flanker task, participants ignored left and right pointing arrows and responded to a target letter either with left and right (strongly associated) responses or with upper and lower (weakly associated) responses. Binding effects were modulated in dependence of the long-term association strength between distractors and responses. If the association was strong (arrows pointing left and right with left and right responses), binding effects emerged but only in case of compatible responses. If the long-term association between distractors and responses was weak (arrows pointing left and right with upper and lower responses), binding was weaker and not modulated by compatibility. In contrast, sequential compatibility effects were not modulated by association strength between distractor and response. The results indicate that existing long-term associations between stimuli responses may modulate the impact of an ignored stimulus on action control.     

When the Going Gets Tough,the Differentiated Keep Going: Cybernetic Self-Determination,Daily Obstacles,and Persistent Goal Pursuit

ABSTRACT. Cybernetic theories of self-regulation contend that an individual's goal system may work best to the extent it is differentiated. The present investigation pioneered an assessment of goal differentiation in relation to an important feature of goals—intrinsic motivation—and quantified the extent to which intrinsic motivation systematically increased from low- to mid- to high-level goals, the resulting individual difference termed cybernetic self-determination. In Study 1 (n = 106), it was found that frustrating daily events precipitated motivations to quit at low, but not high, levels of cybernetic self-determination. In Study 2 (n = 111), it was found that negative feedback was associated with reduced goal persistence at low, but not high, levels of cybernetic self-determination. The findings therefore converge on the idea that individual differences in cybernetic self-determination are consequential in buffering reactions to obstacles in daily life. Implications for personality, motivation, and self-regulation literatures are discussed.     

Too Much of a Good Thing? Emotional Intelligence and Interpersonal Conflict Behaviors

Research suggests that the outcomes of interpersonal conflict are determined not only by the conflict itself, but also by the way in which it is handled. Confrontational and domineering tactics have been found to magnify the adverse impact of conflict. Thus, investigations of determinants of aggressive conflict management behaviors are of considerable interest. This study extends the literature by examining the relationship between conflict management preferences and conflict management behaviors and by examining how emotional intelligence (EI) shapes this preference-behavior relationship. Individuals’ conflict management preferences predicted actual conflict management behaviors. EI was found to moderate this relationship. However, some of these moderating effects run contrary to the popular view of EI as a prosocial concept. Specifically, some EI facets were found to strengthen the link between aggressive conflict management preferences and subsequent conflict management behaviors.     

Lost time: Bindings do not represent temporal order information

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - Many accounts of human action control assume bindings between features of stimuli and responses of individual events. One widely accepted assumption about these...     

Mentoring Global Dual-Career Couples: A Social Learning Perspective

This paper explores the dimensions and means to implement a global dual-career expatriate couple mentoring program. The rationale is that learning from an experienced mentor mitigates the complexity of global assignments, leading to more successful completion of overseas assignments. We explored the impact of such mentoring programs on "nontraditional" global managers, along with their trailing spouses. Social learning theory was used as the foundation for the development of such a mentoring program. To add to the contextual understanding of global assignments imposed on global dual-career couples, we explored the effectiveness of mentoring by investigating temporal (before, during, after expatriation) and gender-related dimensions. Further, we analyzed the level of mentor involvement (personal, organizational, and professional) regarding psychosocial and career development.