Effect of stimulus opening size in global dominance with orientation classification task

The aims of this study is to examine whether global dominance depends on the opening size of the stimulus with concentric hierarchical figures and orientation classification task and to determine the role of the salience of global opening and its coincidence with vertical symmetry axis of context. In the first experiment, participants had to indicate the opening direction of stimuli, which were open-left and open-right figures. Three openings were included: 10, 25 and 50% of the total circle perimeter. The results showed a local advantage with stimuli of 10%, absence of global or local advantage with stimuli of 25% and global advantage with stimuli of 50%. In the second experiment, stimuli with an opening of 50% were presented randomly in several positions in the visual field in order to avoid the coincidence of global opening with the vertical symmetry axis of context. The results showed an absence of global or local advantage. These findings indicate that global dominance with orientation classification task depends on stimulus characteristics such as opening size, and strategies used in visual recognition.     

What do people mean when speaking of evilness?

The term evilness started to become popular in social psychology after the publication in 1999 of the special issue edited by Arthur G. Miller, "Perspectives on evil and violence". It is usually used to define behaviors that are extremely and strongly harmful. However, the concept is still imprecise and needs to be empirically delineated. This article attempts to answer the following questions. What is evilness? What is the difference between aggression and evilness? We conducted several studies with three goals: to analyze how laypersons and experts define evilness, to verify whether laypeople distinguish between different intensities of evilness, and to determine the dimensions that predict aggression and evilness. The results offer preliminary answers to the three questions.     

Neuroticism and Attitudes Toward Action in 19 Countries

Although individuals scoring high on Neuroticism tend to avoid taking action when faced with challenges, Neuroticism is also characterized by impulsivity. To explore cognitive biases related to this costly behavior pattern, we tested whether individuals who rated themselves as higher in Neuroticism would evaluate the general concepts of action and inaction as, respectively, more negative and positive. We further investigated whether anxiety and depression would mediate and individualism‐collectivism would moderate these relations in a large international sample. Participants (N = 3,827 college students; 69% female) from 19 countries completed surveys measuring Neuroticism, attitudes toward action and inaction, depression, anxiety, and individualism‐collectivism. Hierarchical linear models tested the above predictions. Neuroticism negatively correlated with attitudes toward action and positively correlated with attitudes toward inaction. Furthermore, anxiety was primarily responsible for emotionally unstable individuals’ less positive attitudes toward action, and individuals who endorsed more collectivistic than individualistic beliefs showed a stronger negative association between Neuroticism and attitudes toward action. Researchers and practitioners interested in understanding and remediating the negative consequences of Neuroticism should pay greater attention to attitudes toward action and inaction, particularly focusing on their links with anxiety and individualism‐collectivism.     

Selective attention to global and local information: Effects of visual angle,exposure duration,and eccentricity on processing dominance

Abstract

The size and exposure duration of stimuli have been found to be relevant factors to the issue of processing dominance. Nevertheless, the relation between these two factors and their possible effects on processing dominance have never been studied. The aim of the present research was twofold: (a) to examine whether size and the exposure duration of stimuli affect processing dominance; (b) to examine whether these effects depend on the same/different eccentricity of global and local levels. Stimuli were presented at three exposure durations: 140 msec, 70 msec, and 40 msec. The overall sizes of stimuli were varied at three levels: small (3[ddot]), intermediate (6[ddot]) and large (12[ddot]). In Experiment 1 stimuli were used whose global and local levels were at different eccentricity (Hs and Ss stimuli). In Experiment 2 stimuli whose global and local levels were at the same eccentricity (Cs stimuli) were used. The results showed that the effects of visual angle on processing dominance are independent of the exposure duration of stimuli used. The transition from global to local dominance as visual angle is increased depends on the eccentricity of global and local information: It only appears when the eccentricity is different and biased towards the local level (Hs and Ss stimuli). Finally, the size of the effect is modulated by the visual angle subtended by the stimuli: the size of the effect of global advantage was inversely related to visual angle. The size of the interference effect from the local level to the global level was directly related to the visual angle, whereas that from the global level to the local level was inversely related to the visual angle subtended by the stimuli.     

Effects of perceptual grouping on positive and negative priming

The effects of perceptual grouping/segregation of targets and distractors by means of colour on positive and negative priming were examined in two experiments. In Experiments 1 and 2 we examined whether grouping of target and distractors by means of common colour in the prime display affected positive and negative priming, or whether these effects depend on prime–probe contextual similarity in colour. In addition, we examined the effects of the predictability of target colour in the prime and the probe displays across the experiments using mixed (Experiment 1) or blocked procedures (Experiment 2). The pattern of results was similar in both experiments, indicating that the positive priming effect was determined by target repetition and enhanced by perceptual segregation of target from distractors in the prime display. The negative priming effect was determined by grouping the target and distractors by common colour in the prime display. The results of the present experiments are consistent with inhibition-based models of negative priming.     

Abstractness and Messages Describing Consequences Promote Healthier Behavioral Intentions

Many health-risk behaviors present a self-control conflict in which the short-term outcomes of an action conflict with its long-term consequences. Across three studies, we find that an abstract construal level leads people to focus on long-term rather than short-term consequences when both are described in a message (vs. no message). Studies 1 and 2 explore this hypothesis through a risk behavior (snacking on sugary products), and Study 3 does the same through a health behavior (physical exercise). In Study 1, the Behavioral Identification Form scale is used to measure the construal level as a personal disposition; Studies 2 and 3 use a priming task designed by Freitas, Gollwitzer, and Trope to manipulate the construal level. All these studies show that, under an abstract mindset, people who have read a mixed-outcome message (vs. no message) tend to base their behavioral plans on long-term outcomes. Individually or in small groups (e.g. school class, therapy groups) health messages can be presented along with protocols to change construal level and thus, promote healthier intentions.     

Compliance and Problem-Solving Competence in Girls and Boys

The problem-solving abilities of 4- and 5-year old children (N = 208) were assessed to test the hypothesis that high levels of compliance are negatively related to problem solving. Problem-solving competence was examined with a task-specific measure and a standardized measure of general problem-solving performance. Low compliant children performed better on both measures. The role of compliance in the cognitive development of girls and boys is discussed.     

Spiritual Evolution of Bereavement Counselors: An Exploratory Qualitative Study

This article draws from a phenomenological study on the experience of being a bereavement counselor. Ten bereavement counselors shared their experiences in bereavement counseling. Spiritual and emotional aspects of bereavement counseling with grieving and dying persons are discussed as well as the spiritual effects on and growth processes of the bereavement counselors. Participants also describe their self‐care strategies pertaining to their bereavement counseling work.