Can reading time predict mind wandering in expository text?

Prior research has suggested that episodes of mind wandering not only negatively impact text comprehension but also are associated with fluctuations in reading behavior. However, these studies typically do not account for differences in the fundamental nature of the text itself, namely, whether it is narrative or expository in structure. As much research has supported the idea that these text genres are processed differently, it is of interest to determine whether similar changes in reading patterns are observed when mind wandering in an expository text. The present study examined whether fluctuations in sentence‐by‐sentence reading times were associated with periods of mindless reading during processing of an expository text. Results indicated that although mindless reading did negatively impact learning, probed reading time did not vary as a function of mind wandering. These results suggest that research aimed at studying mind wandering while reading may need to account for text genre.     

Somatic and social: Chinese Americans talk about emotion

Empirical findings suggest that Chinese and Americans differ in the ways that they describe emotional experience, with Chinese using more somatic and social words than Americans. No one, however, has investigated whether this variation is related to differences between Chinese and American conceptions of emotion or to linguistic differences between the English and Chinese languages. Therefore, in two studies, the authors compared the word use of individuals who varied in their orientation to Chinese and American cultures (European Americans [EA], more acculturated Chinese Americans [CA], and less acculturated CA) when they were speaking English during emotional events. Across both studies, less acculturated CA used more somatic (e.g., dizzy) and more social (e.g., friend) words than EA. These findings suggest that even when controlling for language spoken, cultural conceptions of emotion may shape how people talk about emotion.     

Self-Other Perspective and Sexual Attitudes Affect Estimates of Sexual Risk

This study evaluated the effects of self-other perspective, sexual attitudes, and a sexual victimization history on women’s estimates of sexual risk for a set of vignettes describing situations that they may face when interacting socially with men. One hundred and twenty-four women from a medium sized southwestern university in the US were assigned to two different conditions (imagine self vs. an anonymous woman) and asked to rate how risky the situations described were in terms of having an unwanted sexual experience. Results revealed that participants asked to imagine an anonymous woman estimated sexual risk as higher than participants asked to imagine themselves, and that participants reporting liberal sexual attitudes estimated sexual risk as lower than participants reporting more conservative attitudes.     

Religious Fundamentalism as Schema: Influences on Memory for Religious Information

Those with differing levels of religious fundamentalism (RF) may be selective in their memory for religious information. In Study 1, participants read a text about money or sex, with a judgmental or not-judgmental message. Higher RF was associated with more accurate recall and fewer intrusions. In Study 2, participants high or low in RF read texts about sex. High-RF participants had more accurate recall and fewer intrusions. However, high-RF participants had more recognition false alarms to sentences that were not presented. High RF may aid memory for religious information, but also increase familiarity of related but not presented information. Exposure to not-judgmental messages decreased RF scores, suggesting that textual messages can impact responses to fundamentalism scales.     

Seeking help when transgender: Exploring the difference in mental and physical health seeking behaviors between transgender and cisgender individuals in Ireland

Abstract

Background: While there is growing awareness of the need to support the physical and mental wellbeing of transgender people, some may be reluctant to seek help from healthcare professionals. Little is understood about the mechanisms that influence help-seeking behavior in this group.

Aims: This study aimed to compare transgender and cisgender participants in their likelihood to seek help for both physical and mental health conditions, and to explore whether this help-seeking behavior is predicted by a range of sociodemographic and psychological variables.

Methods: 123 participants living in Ireland (cisgender= 67; transgender= 56) completed a questionnaire which included demographic questions, as well as measures of optimism (LOT-R), self-esteem (RSES), psychological distress (GHQ-12), attitudes towards seeking psychological help (ATSPPH-SF), and attitudes towards seeking help for a physical health problem (Attitudes Towards Seeking Medical Help Scale- Action/Intervention subscale). Associations between predictor variables and mental and physical health seeking were explored using correlation analysis and stepwise regressions.

Results: Transgender participants were less likely to seek help for a physical health issue than cisgender participants, but did not differ in mental health help-seeking behaviors. Results suggest that this may be due to differences in optimism, self-esteem and psychological distress. Transgender participants had significantly lower optimism and self-esteem, which were two factors linked to poorer physical health seeking behaviors. Optimism also emerged as a significant predictor in mental health seeking behaviors.

Discussion: The lack of a significant difference for mental health help-seeking between the transgender and cisgender participants is encouraging, as it suggests that there is less stigma surrounding mental illness than expected, however findings also contradict previous findings suggesting that physical health is less stigmatized. This could be due to stigma relating to gender-specific healthcare and suggests that healthcare professionals should acknowledge the specific healthcare needs and concerns among transgender individuals.     

Effects of mixing and cueing simple addition and multiplication

Miller and Paredes (1990) found that both children's and adults' performance of simple addition and multiplication tested in mixed-operation blocks was slower and more susceptible to operation errors (e.g., 6 + 2=12 or 6×2=8) compared to pure-operation blocks; but mixed-operation costs were greater for addition than for multiplication. We pursued the source of these effects in adults (n=96) by examining effects of operation switching and cueing. We replicated the asymmetrical costs of mixing addition and multiplication and demonstrated that these owed, in part, to asymmetrical task switching costs. Operation foreknowledge (a visual cue appearing 2 s before the problem) moderated both mixing and switch costs. This suggests that an asymmetry between addition and multiplication in the utility of preparation contributed to asymmetric mixing costs. Miller and Paredes proposed that the asymmetric costs of mixing operations observed in adults echoed an asymmetry developed in childhood when multiplication is initially learned. This might be correct, but our results raise the possibility that the asymmetry reflects operation-specific costs and interference effects that arise during the experiment.     

Using an Imagery Intervention to Train Visual Exploratory Activity in Elite Academy Football Players

Football players adapt their movements to opportunities within the surrounding environment by engaging in visual exploratory activity (VEA) to pick up information. This study adds to the extant literature by using a 6-week PETTLEP imagery intervention to train VEA and improve performance with the ball. A single-case, multiple baseline across participants' design was conducted with 5 elite academy football players. Results indicated that a PETTLEP imagery intervention improved VEA, particularly in center midfielders. In addition, indications of improvements in performance with the ball were present within some participants. Future researchers could examine the processes underpinning VEA to enhance applied interventions for this skill.     

Biological and social determinants of responsiveness to infants in 10-to-15-year-old girls

Subjects filled out questionnaires and were individually observed interacting with an 8-to-12-month-old infant in a waiting room. Hidden observers recorded the frequency of ignoring, responsiveness to infant bids, and of social bids to the infant. Analyses revealed that older girls ignored more, made fewer bids, and responded less than younger girls did. However, chronological age was highly correlated with measures of biological and social maturity. Multiple regression analyses were used to determine which of these factors best predicted the developmental decline in baby responsiveness. Multiple regressions showed that social maturity was the best predictor of the number of bids to the infant, followed by the development of secondary sex characteristics and menarcheal status (R=.44). Social maturity, babysitting experience, and menarcheal status were the significant predictors of ignoring (R=.48), while menarcheal status, development of secondary sex characteristics, and babysitting experience predicted responsiveness (R=.49). Possible reasons for the decreased interest in infants are discussed, as are the implications for research using baby responsiveness as a measure of sex-role-related changes in adolescence.This research was supported by grants from the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond and the Humanistisk-Samhällsvetenskapliga Forskiningsradet of Sweden to Ann M. Frodi. The authors are grateful to Sharon Bienstock for her assistance.     

A model of contemporary feminine role change and family size

Through a review of existing theory and research a model was constructed which traces the restricting effect female employment has on family size through a discussion of intervening psychological variables. The model presents four psychological changes that are associated with paid employment of middle-class women in the United States: (1) increased self-orientation, (2) increased feelings of personal efficacy, (3) the increased belief that the spouse holds expectations for female autonomy, and (4) the increased belief that female employment outside the home is socially acceptable. It is suggested that these variables act to restrict family size through their effects on desired family size, perceived desired family size of the husband, expected family size, commitment to employment, and occupational satisfaction.     

Identification,localization, and “iconic memory”: An evaluation of the bar-probe task

The partial report tachistoscopic task has been used to define “iconic memory,” a labile image-like precategorical visual store. Six interrelated partial report studies are reported that challenge the construct. On each trial, subjects were shown an eight-letter pseudoword (representing one of four orders of approximation to English) and a bar probe indicating which letter to report. The probe was delayed systematically, and the experiments included both mask and no-mask conditions. All three variables-familiarity of the material, masking, and delay of the probe-affected accuracy of report. Delaying the probe, for example, reduced accuracy by increasing location errors. Delaying the mask increased accuracy by reducing both location and item errors, but it did not reduce the location errors until its effect on item errors had reached asymptote. Across the stimulus array, however, masking reduced accuracy at all delays by increasing location errors. Finally, the greater accuracy associated with higher orders of approximation to English was complemented by a decrease in item errors, but the familiarity factor had no effect on location errors. Taken together, even though the task has been used to define the idea, the results indicate that the bar-probe task cannot be explained in terms of a simple iconic memory concept. Instead of a simple image-like buffer, the explanation requires a feature buffer, an “intelligent” letter identification process, and a postidentification character buffer. Iconic memory is a construct that oversimplifies the information processing system used in the bar-probe task.