Grandiose and Vulnerable Narcissism,Materialism, Money Attitudes,and Consumption Preferences

Narcissism is increasingly being investigated in the context of consumer attitudes and behavior. Previous research showed that narcissism is reflected in materialistic tendencies and money-related attitudes. However, almost all of these studies concerned the grandiose type of narcissism. We examined relationships of both grandiose and vulnerable narcissism with materialism, money attitudes, and consumption preferences in a nonstudent sample. The results showed that the two types of narcissism are equally associated with materialism and a tendency to conspicuous (public) consumption. Differences between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism with regard to money attitudes were observed. Materialism mediated most of the relationships between narcissism, money attitudes, and consumption preferences, but the patterns of mediation were different for grandiose and vulnerable subtypes. Mutual suppression occurred when grandiose narcissism and materialism predicted anxiety associated with money and when vulnerable narcissism and materialism predicted money perceived as a source of evil. The results suggested that not only grandiose, but also vulnerable narcissists may be prone to excessive consumption and that this can be explained by their materialistic tendencies.     

“When the going gets tough,the tough get going”: Motivation towards closure and effort investment in the performance of cognitive tasks

Previous studies have demonstrated that the need for closure (NFC), which refers to an individual’s aversion toward uncertainty and the desire to quickly reduce it, leads to reluctance to invest effort in judgments and decision making. However, we argue that NFC may lead to either an increase or a decrease in effort depending on the availability of easy vs. difficult means to achieve closure and perceived importance of the task goal. We found that when closure could be achieved via both less and more demanding means, NFC was associated with decreased effort unless the task was perceived as important (Study 1). However, when attaining closure was possible via demanding means only, NFC was associated with increased effort, regardless of the task importance (Study 2). Moreover, NFC was related to choosing a more instrumental strategy for the goal of closure, even if this strategy required effort (Study 3). The results are discussed in the light of cognitive energetics theory.     

类别使用目的对类别典型性效应的影响

采用ERPs技术,对不同类别使用目的的典型性效应进行研究。通过分类方式控制类别使用目的,分别采用包含法和排除法对材料进行类属判断。结果表明:(1)排除组反应时显著短于包含组,表明两种条件下被试可能采取了不同的认知加工策略;(2)在认知加工早期阶段210ms-310ms,包含组引发了更大的N2波幅,这说明类别使用目的对类别典型性表征的影响在早期认知加工阶段就已有所表现。(3)370ms-470ms阶段,典型性样例在排除组引发了比包含组更大的N400;表明类别使用目的影响了典型性表征的加工。     

A slice of life: Ecologically valid methods for research on social relationships and health across the life span

This paper describes “slice of life” methods—detailed observations of moment‐to‐moment intraindividual processes that occur over short timescales in the natural environment—as an important research tool in exploring social relationships and health across the life span. Such methods, including ecological momentary assessment, experience sampling, daily diaries, measurement burst, and other slice of life designs, are important supplements to more traditional laboratory, epidemiological, and long‐term longitudinal research methods. Specifically, we highlight how slice of life methods (with a focus on ecological momentary assessment) allow researchers to compare the relative importance of different social relationships (or features thereof) for health outcomes, understand temporal dynamics, identify potentially causal mechanistic pathways at different timescales through which social relationships influence health, and design, implement, and evaluate innovative interventions that target these pathways at different timescales. We conclude with recommendations and future directions for slice of life methods for research on social relationships and health across the life span.     

Neuropsychological status of French children with developmental dyslexia and/or developmental coordination disorder: Are both necessarily worse than one?

Developmental dyslexia (DD) and developmental coordination disorder (DCD) co-occur frequently, raising the underlying question of shared etiological bases. We investigated the cognitive profile of children with DD, children with DCD, and children with the dual association (DD + DCD) to determine the inherent characteristics of each disorder and explore the possible additional impact of co-morbidity on intellectual, attentional, and psychosocial functioning. The participants were 8- to 12-year-olds (20 DD, 22 DCD, and 23 DD + DCD). Cognitive abilities were assessed by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) and the Continuous Performance Test – Second Edition (CPT-II) and behavioral impairments were evaluated by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). No differences were found between the three groups on attention testing (CPT-II) or psychosocial characteristics (CBCL), but a higher percentage of DD + DCD children had pathological scores on psychosocial scales. Significant between-group differences were observed on Processing Speed Index scores and the block design and symbol search subtests, where DD children fared better than DCD children. No significant differences were evident between the co-morbid vs. the pure groups. Our results clearly show significant differences between children with DD only and children with DCD only. In particular, visuo-spatial disabilities and heterogeneity of intellectual profile seem to be good markers of DCD. However, it should be noted that despite these distinct and separate characteristics, a common cognitive profile (weaknesses and strengths) is likely shared by both neurodevelopmental disorders. Surprisingly, concerning co-morbidity, DD + DCD association is not associated with a decrease in intellectual or attentional capacities.     

唤醒度对汉语情绪词情绪启动效应的影响

使用词汇情绪启动的实验范式,通过两个行为实验探讨了不同SOA(100ms、300ms和500ms)条件下情绪唤醒度在情绪启动效应中的作用,以及情绪启动效应是否受到任务形式的影响。结果发现,在情绪效价判断任务中,SOA为100ms时高唤醒和低唤醒启动词都出现了情绪启动效应,SOA为300ms时只有高唤醒启动词出现了情绪启动效应。在真假词判断任务中,无论高唤醒还是低唤醒启动词都没有出现情绪启动效应。唤醒度是影响词汇情绪启动效应的重要因素,但这种效应不是完全自动化的过程,会受到SOA和任务导向的影响。情绪启动效应可能来自于启动词与目标词在反应趋向上的一致性趋势。     

服务型领导、道德认同与UPB的关系

亲组织的非伦理行为(unethical pro-organizational behaviors,UPB)指员工为了其所属的组织利益而从事有违伦理的行为,涉及员工对组织的忠诚与个人道德品质两个方面。本研究探讨了服务型领导与UPB的关系以及个体道德认同在其间的调节作用。研究发现,服务型领导和员工UPB间呈倒U型关系;且服务型领导与UPB的关系受到内化道德认同的调节,当员工内化道德认同较低时服务型领导与UPB呈倒U型关系,而象征化道德认同并不调节服务型领导与UPB的关系。     

Does interword spacing influence lexical processing in Chinese reading?

This study investigated how inserting spaces between Chinese words affected word recognition in Chinese reading. Eye movements of Chinese readers were recorded in a sentence reading task where high- and low-frequency target words were presented in both the spaced and normally unspaced texts. We found that fixation durations on target words were shorter in the high- than low-frequency conditions, and shorter in the spaced than unspaced conditions. The survival analysis revealed that interword spacing advanced the temporal onset of word frequency effects relative to the normally unspaced condition. However, inconsistent with the findings in English reading, there was no interaction between word frequency and interword spacing on all fixation duration measures, and the Bayes factor analyses also favoured the hypothesis of null interaction. These data suggest that interword spacing facilitates visual rather than lexical processing in Chinese reading, and thus improves our understanding on the roles of interword spacing across different writing systems.     

SGK protein kinase facilitates the expression of long-term potentiation in hippocampal neurons

Previous studies showed that the serum- and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase (sgk) gene plays an important role in long-term memory formation. The present study further examined the role of SGK in long-term potentiation (LTP). The dominant-negative mutant of sgk, SGKS422A, was used to inactivate SGK. Results revealed a time-dependent increase in SGK phosphorylation after tetanization with a significant effect observed 3 h and 5 h later. Transfection of SGKS422A impaired the expression, but not the induction, of LTP. Furthermore, the constitutively active sgk, SGKS422D, up-regulated postsynaptic density-95 expression in the hippocampus. These results together support the role of SGK in neuronal plasticity.