Developmental pattern of digit span in Spanish population

This study examined in a Spanish population the developmental pattern of digit span, as an index of one of the components of Baddeley's working memory--the phonological loop. A verbal digit span was administered to 570 participants ranging from 5 to 17 years old. The results indicated that the digit memory span increases until age 17 as opposed to Anglo-Saxon data--where it is established that this span reaches a peak by age 15. Additionally, these results were compared to the performance in the same task of healthy elderly, Alzheimer disease patients, and Frontotemporal dementia patients, examined in a previous study. The analysis shows that the phonological loop is affected by age and not so much by dementias.     

Second-class citizen? Contract workers' perceived status,dual commitment and intent to quit

Outsourcing of jobs to contract workers who work alongside a client's employees has changed the human resource landscape of many organizations. In this study we examine how a contract worker's perceived employment status similarity to the client's own standard employees influences his/her affective commitment to both the client and the employer and ultimately intent to quit the employer. Using a sample of 623 contract workers, we found strong support for our hypotheses. In particular, findings indicate an important role for perceived employment status at the client organization in driving contract worker's attitudes and that contract workers consider both the client and the employer when making decisions to leave the employer. Implications for managing contractor relationships are discussed.     

The multidimensional nature and multicultural validity of a new measure of social anxiety: the Social Anxiety Questionnaire for Adults

Much has been written about the situations most often feared by persons with social phobia, and several self-report measures are frequently used to assess such feared situations. However, it is not clear whether the situations feared by persons with social phobia form unidimensional or multidimensional factors. If these situations are multidimensional, reliance on a total score of feared situations would not reflect important differences between those dimensions. This research examined the multidimensional nature and multicultural validity of a newly developed instrument (the Social Anxiety Questionnaire for Adults [SAQ-A]) in two studies with a total of 539 patients diagnosed with social phobia and 15,753 nonpatients from 20 different countries. The structure (five clear and solid factors) and psychometric properties of the final instrument (the SAQ-A30) support the multidimensional nature of social anxiety and provide a new perspective in the assessment of social phobia.     

Low diversity and low frequency of participation in leisure activities compromise working memory efficiency in young adults

People perform leisure activities (LA) every day; pursuits that entail applying cognitive, physical and social abilities. As in old age, doing LA during early and middle adulthood is related to a reduced risk of dementias, probably by generating a cognitive reserve. As it is possible that a relation between doing LA and working memory (WM) efficiency exists in young adults, we assessed whether the diversity and frequency of LA are related to WM efficiency in this population. Ninety-three healthy young subjects solved the n-back task at two levels of difficulty (2, 3), and answered an LA questionnaire on the activities in which they had participated in the month prior to the experiment. Subjects were classified separately on their scores for (1) diversity (high/low) and (2) frequency (high/low) in order to test the relation between each variable and WM efficiency. Though no differences were found, a subsequent analysis of the average of diversity and frequency ratios of LA performance taken together-the diversity/frequency index-showed that low diversity plus low frequency was significantly associated with reduced WM efficiency at this age; results that suggest that frequent participation in diverse LA during youth is related to WM efficiency.     

Contours of time: topographic construals of past, present, and future in the Yupno valley of Papua New Guinea

Time, an everyday yet fundamentally abstract domain, is conceptualized in terms of space throughout the world's cultures. Linguists and psychologists have presented evidence of a widespread pattern in which deictic time-past, present, and future-is construed along the front/back axis, a construal that is linear and ego-based. To investigate the universality of this pattern, we studied the construal of deictic time among the Yupno, an indigenous group from the mountains of Papua New Guinea, whose language makes extensive use of allocentric topographic (uphill/downhill) terms for describing spatial relations. We measured the pointing direction of Yupno speakers' gestures-produced naturally and without prompting-as they explained common expressions related to the past, present, and future. Results show that the Yupno spontaneously construe deictic time spatially in terms of allocentric topography: the past is construed as downhill, the present as co-located with the speaker, and the future as uphill. Moreover, the Yupno construal is not linear, but exhibits a particular geometry that appears to reflect the local terrain. The findings shed light on how, our universal human embodiment notwithstanding, linguistic, cultural, and environmental pressures come to shape abstract concepts.     

Close, and a cigar!--Why size perception relates to performance

In baseball batting, golf putting, and dart throwing, successful players estimate the size of the target object to be bigger than their less successful counterparts. While more and more empirical evidence is accumulated supporting the existence of this intriguing phenomenon, an explanation of the processes underpinning this effect remains to be provided. Here, we re-analysed data from a dart throwing experiment to examine the proposal--recently put forward by Proffitt and Linkenauger (in press)--that the variability in target-related performance may serve as a scaling metric for perceived target size which may explain why actors who perform consistently close to the target perceive the target to be bigger. Our results confirm that less variability in target-related performance in darts relates to perceiving the target as being bigger, thereby providing initial support for Proffitt and Linkenauger's proposal.     

Work-family and family-work conflict: does intrinsic-extrinsic satisfaction mediate the prediction of general job satisfaction?

The objective of this study is to analyze the mediating role of intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction in the relationship between the 2 dimensions of work-family conflict-family interfering with work (FIW) and work interfering with family (WIF)-and general job satisfaction. Step-by-step hierarchical regression analyses were carried out on a sample of 151 men and women from a Spanish public organization. The results confirmed the mediating role of intrinsic job satisfaction in the case of FIW. This highlights the importance of taking into account the level of satisfaction with the intrinsic facets of one's job as a measure for understanding why FIW has a negative impact on general job satisfaction.     

Using self-generated validity to promote exercise behaviour

Self-generated validity (SGV) refers to the fact that measurement of cognitions can lead to behaviour change. The present research tested to two predictions in relation to SGV: SGV is stronger when supplementing measures of intentions and other components of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) with measures of anticipated regret; SGV is only stronger when measuring anticipated regret before measuring intentions and other components of the TPB. A total of 576 18-22-year-old students were randomly allocated to complete one of three questionnaires in relation to exercise: (1) TPB questionnaire in relation to exercising in a sports centre (TPB only); (2) TPB questionnaire including anticipated regret questions that appear after intention items and are mixed in with other items (TPB + regret mixed); (3) TPB questionnaire with anticipated regret questions first (TPB + regret first). Past use of the sports centre was also measured by self-report in all conditions. Use of the sports centre 4 and 5 weeks later was measured based on objective records. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated no effect of measuring anticipated regret compared to only measuring TPB variables, but a significant effect of measuring anticipated regret first compared to the other two conditions on sports centre use. This effect persisted after controlling for TPB variables and past behaviour (PB). The effect was moderated by intention strength but not PB. Implications for understanding SGV and behaviour change are discussed.     

Attachment and the management of empathic accuracy in relationship-threatening situations

The current studies tested how attachment orientations are related to empathic accuracy (i.e., the accuracy with which one infers a partner's private thoughts and feelings) during attachment-relevant discussions. In Study 1, married couples were videotaped discussing a severe or a less severe relationship issue that involved intimacy or jealousy. In Study 2, dating couples were videotaped trying to resolve a relationship conflict. Consistent with the revised empathic accuracy model, highly avoidant individuals were less empathically accurate in both studies. Relative to less anxious persons, highly anxious individuals were more empathically accurate when discussing intimacy issues that posed a potential threat to their relationship (in Study 1) and when they were rated as more distressed when discussing a relationship conflict (in Study 2). The findings are discussed in terms of how highly anxious and highly avoidant people differentially manage empathic accuracy to regulate negative affect and facilitate their interpersonal goals.     

The effect of local kinematic changes on anticipation judgments

Skilled tennis players rely on a more global than local perceptual strategy when anticipating an opponent’s shot direction in tennis (Williams, Huys, Cañal-Bruland, & Hagemann, 2009). Global perceptual strategy refers to the pick-up of dynamic information across different body areas rather than from a single source such as the arm or racket. We extend previous work by examining the spatiotemporal characteristics of visual information pick-up when anticipating shot direction in tennis. We perturbed information from various body locations by interchanging the dynamics of selected areas with those from strokes played to the opposite side of the court. In addition, we presented each manipulation under four different temporal occlusion conditions (from 240 ms prior to racket-ball contact) to examine the time course of information extraction. Skilled tennis players outperformed less skilled counterparts in predicting shot direction, even at early phases of the opponent’s motion. Moreover, skilled players showed significant decrements in performance when the arms and racket were perturbed, highlighting the relevance of distal information when anticipating opponents’ intentions.