Do distractors interfere with memory for study pairs in associative recognition?

In an associative recognition task, distractors generally consist of a rearrangement of the items composing the study pairs. This makes it possible that processing the distractors generates retroactive interference on memory for the study pairs. In Experiment 1, we explored this possibility in ayes/no recognition test concerning previously learned arbitrary associations between visual symbols and auditory syllables. Rearranged pairs had a deleterious impact on the accuracy and the speed of responses to related correct pairs. This effect did not vary as a function of the number of training blocks, and furthermore, in Experiment 2, the same effect was observed for overlearned small multiplication facts. These results suggest that exposure to potentially confounding information generates interference even if this information is known to be incorrect. Some implications are outlined, especially with regard to the widespread use of multiple-choice tests in knowledge evaluation.     

Cognitive processing specificity of anxious apprehension: impact on distress and performance during speech exposure

The present study examined the impact of different modes of processing anxious apprehension on subsequent anxiety and performance in a stressful speech task. Participants were informed that they would have to give a speech on a difficult topic while being videotaped and evaluated on their performance. They were then randomly assigned to one of three conditions. In a specific processing condition, they were encouraged to explore in detail all the specific aspects (thoughts, emotions, sensations) they experienced while anticipating giving the speech; in a general processing condition, they had to focus on the generic aspects that they would typically experience during anxious anticipation; and in a control, no-processing condition, participants were distracted. Results revealed that at the end of the speech, participants in the specific processing condition reported less anxiety than those in the two other conditions. They were also evaluated by judges to have performed better than those in the control condition, who in turn did better than those in the general processing condition.     

Prejudice in the police: On the processes underlying the effects of selection and group socialisation

The principal aim of this study is to determine why police officers are generally found to be more prejudiced towards disadvantaged groups than are the standard population. Two independent processes were expected to account for this effect: Selection and group socialisation. Using a cross‐sectional design (N = 170), firstly, we compared, newly recruited police officers with a control population (selection effect), and secondly, police officers with 1 year of training with the newly recruited ones (group socialisation effect). Results reveal a significant effect of both selection and group socialisation, the two being underlined by distinct processes; right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA) in the case of the former and internalisation of a prejudice norm in the case of the latter. Finally, the results show that group identification moderates the change in internalisation of the prejudice norm. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of Trained versus Spontaneous Reciprocal Peer Tutoring on Adolescent Students

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of two different forms of reciprocal peer tutoring (RPT) on the motor and cognitive performance of adolescents in a physical education setting. We also explored the influence of gender. We assigned 72 ninth-graders (36 M, 36 F), all novices in a table tennis task, to a 2 × 3 (Gender × Learning Condition: physical practice with trained RPT [TRPT] vs. physical practice with spontaneous RPT [SRPT]vs. physical practice without any form of RPT [PP; individual control condition]) factorial design. Results indicated superior motor performance and cognitive skills for the TRPT condition and no difference between the SRPT and PP conditions. The peer-tutor training was thus a crucial organizational variable of the success of RPT. Interestingly, our results support the assumption that females particularly benefit from a highly structured peer tutoring framework.     

Facial Morphology and Children's Categorization of Facial Expressions of Emotions: A Comparison Between Asian and Caucasian Faces

The effects of Asian and Caucasian facial morphology were examined by having Canadian children categorize pictures of facial expressions of basic emotions. The pictures were selected from the Japanese and Caucasian Facial Expressions of Emotion set developed by D. Matsumoto and P. Ekman (1989). Sixty children between the ages of 5 and 10 years were presented with short stories and an array of facial expressions, and were asked to point to the expression that best depicted the specific emotion experienced by the characters. The results indicated that expressions of fear and surprise were better categorized from Asian faces, whereas expressions of disgust were better categorized from Caucasian faces. These differences originated in some specific confusions between expressions.     

Gambling: Relationship Between the Frequency of Wins and Irrational Thinking

In this study, we evaluated the relationship between the number of wins and the number of irrational verbalizations on the part of individuals playing American roulette. We predicted that subjects who win frequently would make more irrational verbalizations than rational verbalizations compared to subjects who win infrequently. Twenty Canadian subjects (8 men, 12 women) were randomly divided into two experimental groups (frequent vs. infrequent wins). The subjects used the thinking aloud procedure to verbalize their thoughts, which were then classified according to degree of rationality or irrationality. The results showed that irrational verbalizations outnumbered rational verbalizations in both groups. A few wins were sufficient to evoke an illusory perception of control.     

Patterns of Daily Time Use of Young Adults With or Without First-Episode Psychosis

This study compared patterns of daily activities and satisfaction with time use of young adults with first-episode psychosis and healthy volunteers. Fifty young adults participated in retrospective structured interviews on time use. Young adults with first-episode psychosis spend more time in sleep, passive leisure, and personal care activities, and less in total productive activities and education. No difference appeared for leisure, paid work, and household work, or satisfaction with daily time use. Reasons underlying dissatisfaction with daily time use differed between the groups. Clinical and research implications are discussed.     

Beyond the emotional event: Six studies on the social sharing of emotion

Abstract

We argue that emotion cannot only be conceived of as a short-lived and intrapersonal phenomenon. Rather, based on five theoretical arguments, we propose that the social sharing of an emotional experience forms an integral part of the emotional processes. A series of six studies investigated different aspects of this hypothesis. Study 1 showed that an overwhelming majority of people reported sharing their emotional experiences and that the memories of these experiences tended to come back spontaneously to their consciousness. No difference was found among emotions. Using a different procedure, Studies 2 and 3 replicated these findings in two different populations. In addition, these studies provided indications that women share their experiences with a wider array of individuals than do men. The first three studies did not find any differences among emotions, but they did not include shame. It could be argued that people are less inclined to socially share shame experiences which are typically elicited by breaking social rules. Study 4 specifically investigated this hypothesis. No differences among shame and other emotions were found except for the delay of the first sharing of the experience. Study 5 constituted a first investigation of whether the social sharing of emotion is also a significant process in now Western cultures. A comparison between Dutch and Surinamese people failed to reveal any significant difference. Based on the findings of the first five studies, a correlational model was designed in Study 6. It tested the interrelationships among disruptiveness of the emotion, social sharing, mental rumination, and recovery from the emotion disruption. A coherent pattern of findings emerged, showing that social sharing can be conceived as a bi-dimensional concept defined by features of amount and delay of sharing. In addition, both social sharing and mental rumination varied according to the disruptiveness of the emotion. Surprisingly, however, recovery could not be related to social sharing, mental rumination, or to the time elapsed since the episode.     

The Eating Attitudes Test-26 Revisited using Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling

Most previous studies have failed to replicate the original factor structure of the 26-item version of the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) among community samples of adolescents. The main objective of the present series of four studies (n?=?2178) was to revisit the factor structure of this instrument among mixed gender community samples of adolescents using both exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). First, results from the ESEM analyses provided satisfactory goodness-of-fit statistics and reliability coefficients for a six-factor model of the EAT with 18 items (EAT-18) closely corresponding to the original seven-factor structure proposed for the 40-item version of the EAT. Second, these analyses were satisfactorily replicated among a new sample of community adolescents using CFA. The results confirmed the factor loading and intercept invariance of this model across gender and age groups (i.e., early and late adolescence), as well as the complete invariance of the EAT-18 measurement model between ethnicities (i.e., European versus African origins) and across weight categories (i.e., underweight, normal weight and overweight). Finally, the last study provided support for convergent validity of the EAT-18 with the Eating Disorder Inventory and with instruments measuring global self-esteem, physical appearance, social physique anxiety and fear of negative appearance evaluation.