Characteristics of proper names and temporal memory of social news events

Long-term memory of social news events was investigated by means of a questionnaire methodology with a large sample of participants. In Experiment 1, a total of 501 university students were asked to give proper names (i.e., persons and places) that related to a certain news event, and to estimate the date of the event. The accuracy of proper names (especially person names) was superior to that of estimated date (i.e., year). In addition, telescoping effects were found in the events that occurred more than 3 years ago, but time expansion effects emerged in the events that occurred less than 2 years ago. In Experiment 2, in which 182 students participated, the accuracy of proper names and the date estimates tended to be high on the events that participants judged to be given frequent exposure by the mass media. Based on these results, we discuss long-term memory and temporal schemata regarding social news events.     

The early sociability of toddlers: The origins of teaching

Toddlers’ person-directed behaviors were recorded longitudinally in a naturalistic preschool setting. An observer (O, the author) recorded children's behaviors with an IC recorder during play sessions. Seventeen children, as a group, were observed once a week in 3 blocks of 7 weeks (21 total hours). Person-directed behaviors toward the observer increased with each block. Toddlers’ teaching behaviors were classified precisely. This teaching classification should be the first event of the origins of teaching.     

Perceiving emotions: Cueing social categorization processes and attentional control through facial expressions

Individuals spontaneously categorise other people on the basis of their gender, ethnicity and age. But what about the emotions they express? In two studies we tested the hypothesis that facial expressions are similar to other social categories in that they can function as contextual cues to control attention. In Experiment 1 we associated expressions of anger and happiness with specific proportions of congruent/incongruent flanker trials. We also created consistent and inconsistent category members within each of these two general contexts. The results demonstrated that participants exhibited a larger congruency effect when presented with faces in the emotional group associated with a high proportion of congruent trials. Notably, this effect transferred to inconsistent members of the group. In Experiment 2 we replicated the effects with faces depicting true and false smiles. Together these findings provide consistent evidence that individuals spontaneously utilise emotions to categorise others and that such categories determine the allocation of attentional control.     

Describing a group in positive terms reduces prejudice less effectively than describing it in positive and negative terms

In a series of five experiments, we demonstrate that exposure to information related to an out-group's heterogeneity reduces prejudice more effectively than exposure to only positive characteristics of the out-group. We exposed participants to a poster that associated both positive and negative traits with an out-group (mixed condition), to a poster that associated only positive traits with the out-group (positive condition), or to no poster (control condition). Results revealed that participants in the mixed condition expressed less explicit prejudice (Experiments 1–2) and less implicit bias (Experiments 3–4) than participants in the other two conditions. The last experiment demonstrated that the mixed poster was more acceptable and created less reactance than the positive poster. The results suggest that a persuasive message highlighting both the positive and negative characteristics of the out-group reduces prejudice more effectively because it is easily acceptable and yet effectively modifies people's representation of the out-group.     

Kicking the habit: Effects of nonstereotypic association training and correction processes on hiring decisions

The primary aim of the present research was to examine the effect of training in associating nonstereotypic traits with men and women on hiring decisions. While previous findings demonstrate that training can reduce the uncontrolled activation of stereotypes, the present results show that training by itself may not reduce the more controlled application of stereotypes. Across both no training and training conditions, participants chose male over female candidates for a leadership function. However, extensive nonstereotypic training did reduce sex discrimination when the training phase was disassociated from the choice of candidate task or when the participant's cognitive capacity was limited. These findings provide further evidence for the effectiveness of training in decreasing intergroup biases and for the potential influence of mental correction in moderating the effects of nonstereotypic training.     

Leptin inhibits and ghrelin augments hypothalamic noradrenaline release after stress

Metabolic conditions affect hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal responses to stressful stimuli. Here we examined effects of food deprivation, leptin and ghrelin upon noradrenaline release in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) concentrations after stressful stimuli. Food deprivation augmented both noradrenaline release in the PVN and the increase in plasma ACTH concentration following electrical footshocks (FSs). An intracerebroventricular injection of leptin attenuated the increases in hypothalamic noradrenaline release and plasma ACTH concentrations after FSs, while ghrelin augmented these responses. These data suggest that leptin inhibits and ghrelin facilitates neuroendocrine stress responses via noradrenaline release and indicate that a decrease in leptin and an increase in ghrelin release after food deprivation might contribute to augmentation of stress-induced ACTH release in a fasting state.     

Ayahuasca in Western society and the metacognitive counselling approach

Ayahuasca is a hallucinogenic plant used throughout South America for religious, cultural and healing ceremonies. Previous studies have analysed it as a therapy method from either the microperspective, such as physiological and psychological effects of substance use, or the macroperspective, such as legal issues or cultural appropriation of ayahuasca by Westerners. There is a need to combine those two aspects to fully understand the effects of ayahuasca for therapists and clients in Western communities. By utilising an autoethnographic instrumental case study, we discuss the possible risk of ayahuasca gaining popularity in Western societies without an understanding of how the social context plays a tremendous part in healing using this method. We also discuss the risk of intrapsychic experiences brought about by ayahuasca that may deter individuals from seeking appropriate treatment. It is not our intention to present ayahuasca as an illegitimate or invalid method of healing; rather, we emphasise the importance of integrating micro- and macroperspectives in psychotherapy practice. We suggest that the metacognitive counselling approach be taken by both clients and therapists when adopting indigenous methods of therapy which may add a significantly positive effect. Although we hope this study offers realistic and lived experiences to generate pragmatic solutions for therapists and clients, we recognise that it is necessary to collect data from a larger number of both clients and therapists to better support our suggestion of the metacognitive counselling approach.     

The impact of salient self-identities on relative deprivation and action intentions

Salient self-identities and their impact upon feelings of relative deprivation (RD) and subsequent action intentions were examined. Eight experimental conditions (Personal/Group Salience × Large/Small Intragroup Inequalities × Large/Small Intergroup Inequalities) were created utilizing a role-play design. Significant main effects for both salience and social inequalities were found to influence both RD and action intentions. In accordance with self-categorization theory, when group compared to personal identities were made salient, stronger feelings of group RD and greater likelihood of collective action intentions were reported. Alternatively, when personal compared to group identities were made salient, greater likelihood of individual actions were reported. In accordance with relative deprivation theory, when intergroup inequalities were large compared to small, stronger feelings of group RD and less likelihood of collective action were reported. Alternatively, when intragroup inequalities were large compared to small, stronger feelings of personal RD were reported.     

Characteristics of proper names and temporal memory of social news events

Long-term memory of social news events was investigated by means of a questionnaire methodology with a large sample of participants. In Experiment 1, a total of 501 university students were asked to give proper names (i.e., persons and places) that related to a certain news event, and to estimate the date of the event. The accuracy of proper names (especially person names) was superior to that of estimated date (i.e., year). In addition, telescoping effects were found in the events that occurred more than 3 years ago, but time expansion effects emerged in the events that occurred less than 2 years ago. In Experiment 2, in which 182 students participated, the accuracy of proper names and the date estimates tended to be high on the events that participants judged to be given frequent exposure by the mass media. Based on these results, we discuss long-term memory and temporal schemata regarding social news events.     

Mind the gap: Increasing associations between the self and Blacks with approach behaviors

Although perceived differences between outgroup social categories and the self are often cited as a major contributor to prejudice and intergroup tension, surprisingly few studies have examined ways to improve associations between the self and racial outgroups. The present research investigated one strategy to increase these associations-approach training. Specifically, 3 studies investigated the impact of training participants to conceptually approach Blacks on 3 separate measures: 2 response latency measures indexing the strength of association between the self and Blacks and a psychophysiological measure indexing brain activity in response to Blacks in the context of the self. A fourth study examined the link between earlier research on the impact of approach training on implicit prejudice against Blacks and the current results related to self-Black associations. Together, these findings provided consistent evidence that training in approaching Blacks increases associations between the self and Blacks that in turn reduce implicit prejudice against Blacks.