Metadehumanization and Self-dehumanization are Linked to Reduced Drinking Refusal Self-Efficacy and Increased Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in Patients with Severe Alcohol Use Disorder

Metadehumanization, the perception of being treated as less than a human by others, is a pervasive phenomenon in intergroup relations. It is dissociated from stigmatization or stereotypes, and it has been recently identified as a critical process in severe alcohol use disorders (SAUD). Metadehumanization is associated with a wide array of negative consequences for the victim, including negative emotions, aversive self-awareness, cognitive deconstruction, and psychosomatic strains, which are related to anxiety and depression. This study aims to investigate if metadehumanization occurring among patients with SAUD is associated with clinical factors involved in the maintenance of the disease, namely symptoms of depression or anxiety and drinking refusal self-efficacy. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 120 patients with SAUD. Self-reported questionnaires measured metadehumanization, self-dehumanization (i.e., the feeling of being less than a human), anxiety, depression, drinking refusal self-efficacy, and demographics. Metadehumanization was significantly associated with self-dehumanization, anxiety, depression, and drinking refusal self-efficacy. Additionally, path analyses showed that self-dehumanization mediated the links between metadehumanization and clinical variables. These results indicate that metadehumanization and self-dehumanization could be essential factors to consider during SAUD treatment, as they are associated with increased psychiatric symptoms and reduced drinking refusal self-efficacy.     

Correction to: A psychophysiological investigation of mourning: There are two sides to the story

Motivation and Emotion -     

Brand signal quality of products in an asymmetric online information environment: An experimental study

Previous research regarding the effectiveness of brand name signalling has focused mainly on when and how marketers will recover costs. This study reverses this trend by examining how buyers may interpret signals via the brand name, the effectiveness of signalling via brand name in terms of buyer‐value perspectives and how buyers' reactions to signals affect sellers' decisions to adopt a signalling strategy. Signalling theory and concepts from consumer‐based branding research are used to suggest how to evaluate the effectiveness of signalling via brand name in the context of the consumer market – a market in which information is asymmetric. Findings from a number of repeated experiments, using the methodology of experimental economics, demonstrate that the function of a brand fluctuates according to which market conditions prevail for brand and price, the extent of brand differentiation and the magnitude of brand‐building costs. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Validated intraclass correlation statistics to test item performance models

A new method, with an application program in Matlab code, is proposed for testing item performance models on empirical databases. This method uses data intraclass correlation statistics as expected correlations to which one compares simple functions of correlations between model predictions and observed item performance. The method rests on a data population model whose validity for the considered data is suitably tested and has been verified for three behavioural measure databases. Contrarily to usual model selection criteria, this method provides an effective way of testing under-fitting and over-fitting, answering the usually neglected question "does this model suitably account for these data?"     

Better elementary number processing in higher skill arithmetic problem solvers: evidence from the encoding step

This paper addresses the relationship between basic numerical processes and higher level numerical abilities in normal achieving adults. In the first experiment we inferred the elementary numerical abilities of university students from the time they needed to encode numerical information involved in complex additions and subtractions. We interpreted the shorter encoding times in good arithmetic problem solvers as revealing clearer or more accessible representations of numbers. The second experiment shows that these results cannot be due to the fact that lower skilled individuals experience more maths anxiety or put more cognitive efforts into calculations than do higher skilled individuals. Moreover, the third experiment involving non-numerical information supports the hypothesis that these interindividual differences are specific to number processing. The possible causal relationships between basic and higher level numerical abilities are discussed.     

Consolidation of multifeature items in visual working memory: Central capacity requirements for visual consolidation

In the present study, we examined whether greater attentional resources are required for consolidating two features (e.g., color and orientation) than for consolidating one feature (e.g., color) in visual working memory (WM). We used a dual-task procedure: Subjects performed a WM task and a secondary probe task, sometimes concurrently. In the WM task, subjects decided whether two displays (containing one to four objects composed of one or two features) were the same or different. In the probe task, subjects made a speeded discrimination response to a tone. Performance in both tasks was impaired when they were performed concurrently; however, performance costs in the tone task were not greater for multi- than for single-feature conditions (when the orientation and conjunction conditions were considered). Results suggested that equivalent attentional resources were necessary for consolidation of single-orientation or multifeature items.     

Investigating word class effects in first and second languages

According to Zyzik in 2009, only a few recent studies have investigated similarities in use of words in comprehension of first languages (L1) and second languages (L2). Furtner, Rauthmann, and Sachse showed a rank order of word classes by frequency of eye-gaze regression when reading other difficult words: nouns, adjectives, closed-class words, verbs. The hypothesis was that a L1-L2 word-class similarity effect between German (L1) and English (L2) would occur, and this was tested with jumbled word reading of English text (wherein letters within words Shave been jumbled) and eye-tracking by 141 participants. Analyses of regressive fixations from one word class to others showed that nouns were regressed most often and there was a rank order of importance among the word classes apparently used to enhance comprehension of other difficult words (nouns, adjectives, verbs, dosed-class words). Thus, previous findings for L1 were largely replicated. Findings are discussed regarding language acquisition.     

Eye movements during mental rotation of nonmirrored and mirrored three-dimensional abstract objects

Eye movements were recorded while participants (N = 56) rotated mirrored and nonmirrored abstract, three-dimensional object pairs into different orientations to assess whether there were oculomotoric differences in fixation switches between mirrored and nonmirrored objects and how an object's plane and depth angle affected visual processing. Compared to other studies, especially depth rotation tasks were responsible for a difference in the sum of fixation switches. This difference seemed to be caused by an increase in incongruent fixation switches, while congruent ones remained stable. Theoretical and practical implications of findings are discussed.     

The perception of concurrent sound objects in harmonic complexes impairs gap detection

Since the introduction of the concept of auditory scene analysis, there has been a paucity of work focusing on the theoretical explanation of how attention is allocated within a complex auditory scene. Here we examined signal detection in situations that promote either the fusion of tonal elements into a single sound object or the segregation of a mistuned element (i.e., harmonic) that "popped out" as a separate individuated auditory object and yielded the perception of concurrent sound objects. On each trial, participants indicated whether the incoming complex sound contained a brief gap or not. The gap (i.e., signal) was always inserted in the middle of one of the tonal elements. Our findings were consistent with an object-based account in which perception of two simultaneous auditory objects interfered with signal detection. This effect was observed for a wide range of gap durations and was greater when the mistuned harmonic was perceived as a separate object. These results suggest that attention may be initially shared among concurrent sound objects thereby reducing listeners' ability to process acoustic details belonging to a particular sound object. These findings provide new theoretical insight for our understanding of auditory attention and auditory scene analysis.     

Cognitive abilities explaining age-related changes in time perception of short and long durations

The current study investigated how the development of cognitive abilities explains the age-related changes in temporal judgment over short and long duration ranges from 0.5 to 30 s. Children (5- and 9-year-olds) as well as adults were given a temporal bisection task with four different duration ranges: a duration range shorter than 1 s, two duration ranges longer than 3 s (4-8 s and >15 s), and an intermediate duration range (1.25-2.5 s). Their cognitive abilities were also assessed using a series of neuropsychological tests. The results showed that temporal sensitivity improved with age for each duration range but that this improvement occurred earlier for the short durations than for the long durations. Furthermore, the results revealed that the age-related improvement in time sensitivity for the durations shorter than 1 s was explained by the development of short-term memory span, whereas that for long durations was explained by the development of attention/executive functions. To summarize, the development of the abilities required to process long durations seems to be explained mainly by the development of attentional resources.