Evaluative conditioning of high-novelty stimuli does not seem to be based on an automatic form of associative learning

Evaluative conditioning (EC) refers to the change in valence of initially neutral stimuli (conditioned stimuli, or CSs) as a result of their pairing with positive or negative stimuli (unconditioned stimuli, or USs). EC is critical to dual-attitudes models as it is often presented as an evaluative effect that results from a purely automatic form of associative learning. Although evidence suggests that EC does not occur without contingency awareness, Ruys, and Stapel (2009) recently argued that contingency awareness is unnecessary for high-novelty stimuli. Researchers may thus be tempted to conclude that EC rests on an automatic form of associative learning, at least for CSs associated with little prior evaluative knowledge. Taking issue with this claim, the present study reveals that EC of high-novelty stimuli is dependent on attentional resources. The role of contingency awareness in EC of high-novelty stimuli is also discussed.     

The long‐term effect of social comparison on academic performance

The present study was part of a large‐scale cohort study among several thousand students in the Netherlands. The purpose of the study was to investigate the long‐term effects of comparison choice, i.e., comparison with a target performing better or worse than oneself, and academic comparative evaluation, i.e., the extent to which one thinks one's performance is better or worse than that of others, on scores on standardized tests for reading comprehension and mathematics. While controlling for earlier performance, the results showed that both comparison choice and academic comparative evaluation positively predicted test scores over a period of 2 years. Moreover, it was found that the positive effect of comparison choice only applied to students with a favorable comparative evaluation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

“Speak,Lord, Your Servant Is Listening”: Religious Priming Activates Submissive Thoughts and Behaviors

According to many theoretical perspectives, religion is positively associated with submission and conformity. However, no study to date provided experimental evidence for this hypothesis. We did so in two experiments that relied on priming procedures. In Experiment 1, participants were tested for the strength of their religion-submission associations by using a lexical decision task. In Experiment 2, participants were primed with either religious or neutral concepts and were invited or not by the experimenter to take revenge on an individual who had allegedly criticized them. Both studies provided evidence for the expected religion-submission association, although the effects were limited to participants scoring high in personal submissiveness. Among these individuals, religious priming increased the accessibility of submission-related concepts (Experiment 1) and the acceptance of a morally problematic request for revenge (Experiment 2). Discussion focuses on questions for future research and implications for our understanding of religion's role in morality and interpersonal relations.     

Oxytocin increases willingness to socially share one's emotions

Oxytocin (OT) is a neuropeptide that is attracting growing attention from researchers interested in human emotional and social behavior. There is indeed increasing evidence that OT has a calming effect and that it facilitates pair‐bonding and social interactions. Some of OT's effects are thought to be direct, but it has been suggested that OT also may have indirect effects, mediated by changes in behavior. One potentially relevant behavioral change is an increased propensity for “emotional sharing” as this behavior, like OT, is known to have both calming and bonding effects. In this study, 60 healthy young adult men were randomly assigned to receive either intranasal placebo (PL; n = 30) or oxytocin (OT; n = 30). Participants were then instructed to retrieve a painful memory. Subsequently, OT and placebo participants’ willingness to disclose to another person event‐related facts (factual sharing) vs. event‐related emotions (emotional sharing) was evaluated. Whereas the two groups were equally willing to disclose event‐related facts, oxytocin was found to specifically increase the willingness to share event‐related emotions. This study provides the first evidence that OT increases people's willingness to share their emotions. Importantly, OT did not make people more talkative (word counts were comparable across the two groups) but instead increased the willingness to share the specific component that is responsible for the calming and bonding effects of social sharing: emotions. Findings suggest that OT may shape the form of social sharing so as to maximize its benefits. This might help explain the calming and bonding effects of OT.     

On disagreement about perception

In this article I have tried to rebut certain types of arguments which purport to show not merely that God does not exist but that the notion of necessary existence is itself either self‐contradictory or senseless. In showing that it is not self‐contradictory I have allowed myself the luxury of a negative and a positive approach. Negatively, I have had to show that when the accusation of self‐contradiction is made, it is often accompanied, not by an argument but by a sheer assertion. On the rare occasions when an argument is forthcoming, the arguments, I have tried to show, have been invalid, not even, inconclusive. And to the extent that Kant may be said to have argued not simply the impossibility of a genuine proof of the existence of God, but indeed the impossibility of the concept of necessary existence, I have argued out the weakness of Kant's arguments, the most notable of which I have discussed in some detail. Finally, to establish the genuineness of the concept of necessary existence, positively, I have paradoxically made use of a notion from Russell's logic.     

On the Theories and Problems of Adolescence

Temptation behavior was studied in four groups of elementary school children (control, please-experimenter, competition, please-experimenter/competition) in an attempt to assess the influence of intangible incentives upon resistance to temptation. The results indicated that the frequency of transgression in both young and old males was unrelated to the experimental manipulations. Female Ss, on the other hand, while unresponsive to “experimenter warmth,” exhibited a much higher incidence of cheating when given a competitive set. This was true of both young and old females. The implications of these findings for research using measures of resistance to temptation are discussed.     

The Effect of Differential Post-Weaning Environment on the Rigidity of an Animal's Behavior

Seventy-two first, second and third grade boys and girls were administered seriation problems involving different combinations of shape and color variation. Success rates and latency scores were influenced by shape variation, but not by color variation or grade level. The failure to obtain predicted interactions between the effects of grade level and stimulus variation was attributed to the clarity of the relevant stimulus dimension.     

Changes in Primary Process Thinking of a Prepsychotic Adolescent in Psychotherapy

The main goal of this study was to measure longitudinally change in thought processes and reality testing of a prepsychotic adolescent undergoing psychotherapy. The Holt scoring system for measuring primary process from Rorschach responses was the main measuring instrument. Four Rorschachs were administered over a period of three years. The results of the latter were compared with the clinical ratings of two psychiatrists. While clinical change in response to treatment was slight, there did appear to be a shift from primary to more secondary forms of formal thought processes as determined by the Rorschach.     

The Rise and Decline of the American Asylum Movement in the 19th Century

This paper traces the history of the American public asylum from the 1840s through the late 19th century. The focus is on social factors that contributed to the establishment of public institutions at the urging of reformers, the attempts to model them on the architecture and “moral treatment” offered by the best private institutions, the crowding of the asylums, the growing criticism aimed at the asylums and their superintendents, and the effects of calls for other approaches and for scientific management. Knowledge of the asylum's history may be useful today, as we stand at the crossroads in the treatment of the mentally ill.