The Effect of Food on Test Anxiety

Proceeding from the literature on eating behavior and anxiety reduction, this study introduces food offering as a mode of intervention aimed at reducing anxiety. Two hypotheses were tested: (1) in an anxiety evoking test situation students will tend to consume more food than in a nonanxiety inducing situation such as a regular lecture; (2) eating food (i.e., peanut butter sandwiches) will result in a reduction of subjects' initial levels of test anxiety. Both hypotheses were confirmed. It also became apparent that the mere offering of food is conducive to some anxiety reduction, presumably due to the effect on the classroom atmosphere.     

Perceived distance and the perceived speed of self-motion: Linear vs. angular velocity?

Experiments are reported in which it was found that, with the angular speed of a visual surround held constant, the perceived speed of rotary self-motion increased linearly with increasing perceived distance of this surround. This finding was in agreement with a motion constancy equation derived from a consideration of object-referred motion perception. Since information concerning distance is necessary for the perception of linear but not angular speed, this finding supports the conclusion that visually perceived rotary self-motion perception is dependent upon perceived linear surround motion at least in the horizontal plane. The visual motion constancy mechanism which operates for object-referred motion can apparently not be switched off for the special case of self-motion perception.     

The Meaning of Unpatterned Vocational Interests

The purpose of the study was to find the relationships between SVIB patterning and psychological adjustment, maturity, and intelligence. Male SVIB profiles were categorized as Primaries, Secondaries, or No Patterns. The three groups were compared on MMPI scales, using a two-factor ANOVA; no differences between the groups were obtained at the .05 level of confidence. The groups were compared on age and aptitude scores, using in each case a simple ANOVA; no mean differences were obtained at the .05 level of confidence. Related research was reviewed and this study was found to be confirmed by several others. There is little support in the literature for the widely held belief that something is “wrong” with the client who has an unpatterned SVIB profile.     

Champ et effets de la négation argumentative: contre-argumentation et mise en cause

An argument can be taken as an operation of justification or as the product of this operation. But what about a counter-argument? This article is based on the hypothesis that there exists an operation of argumentative negation, which is both the argumentative and the negative equivalent of the operation of justification. Justification and argumentative negation necessarily act on assertions, for they are active at the level of the epistemic modalities of statements. As an operation, a counter-argument can thus be described, as the application of an argumentative negation; as a product, it can be described as an argument the conclusion of which shows traces of negative modality. Two uses of argumentative negation are distinguished here: counter-argumentation and calling into question. The former can lead only to assertive conclusive statements, but the latter can also lead to directives or commissives. This leads the authors to introduce the notion of pseudo-argument, besides those of argument and counter-argument. It is shown in particular that when a pseudo-argument is rejected, argumentative negation has the effect of making evident an underlying argument. With respect to the latterit functions as a counter-argumentation, whereas with respect to the illocutionary act accomplished by the conclusive statement, it functions as a calling into question of a condition of satisfaction for this act. This article also defines certain characteristics of argument, proposes criteria for identifying argumentative negation in polemical conversations, and distinguishes four modes of counter-argumentation.     

Uncovering Dynamical Properties in the Emotional System of Married Couples

This study explored dyadic patterns in 23 married couples’ affect during communication. Spouses discussed a recent offense in their relationship and then were unexpectedly prompted to transition to a positive topic. Spouses then engaged in a video recall procedure, providing a continuous rating of their affect via computer. Couples’ affect data were plotted on 5-by-5 state space grids. Cluster analyses revealed five distinct affect patterns that exhibited dynamic properties, but were unrelated to marital satisfaction.     

Illusion of control and behavioral control attempts in obsessive-compulsive disorder

The present research used the illusion-of-control paradigm to examine the relationships among obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms, behavioral control attempts, and illusory sense of control. Participants were presented with a preprogrammed sequence of aversive and neutral visual stimuli and were encouraged to attempt to control the sequence with keyboard presses. Participants rated their perceived level of control 3 times during the task. In addition, the authors used the repetitiveness of keyboard presses as a measure of rigid, compulsive-like behavior. In Study 1, this procedure was administered to a sample of 55 students who also completed measures of OCD and depression. In Study 2, the task was administered to 22 participants with OCD and 22 matched participants without OCD. In line with predictions, OCD symptoms were correlated with higher illusory sense of control and with more repetitive behavioral control attempts. The authors discuss the central role of control in OCD and specifically the relationships between need for control and compulsive rituals, which may be conceptualized as means for achieving an illusory sense of control over stressful life events.     

Tracking the R‐to‐K shift: Changes in memory awareness across repeated tests

Participants studied lists of rare words and their definitions (e.g. the fleshy area at the base of the thumb = thenar). They were then given recognition tests in which they were shown the definitions and asked to identify the target from a choice of four. Participants categorised each decision as a remember, know, familiar or guess response and rated their confidence on a seven‐point scale. Recognition tests were administered 5 minutes, 4 weeks, 8 weeks and 6 months after study. Remember responses dominated recognition on the first test but decreased on subsequent tests, whereas know response increased across successive tests. Familiar and guess responses peaked on the second test and then declined. Remember and know responses were associated with higher levels of accuracy and confidence than familiar and guess responses. The findings are consistent with the remember‐to‐know (R‐to‐K) shift and show the trajectory of changes in memory awareness across repeated tests. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Washing away your sins will set your mind free: physical cleansing modulates the effect of threatened morality on executive control

The effect of threatened morality on negative emotions and on altruistic behaviour has been shown to diminish following physical cleansing (hand-washing). We hypothesised that threatened morality will broadly impair the executive control system, and that physical cleansing will moderate this detrimental effect. Thirty-seven participants were asked to write about an immoral deed they had committed, whereupon half of them were allowed to wipe their hands. Three executive control tasks—Stroop, stop-signal, and object interference—were then administered to all participants. Participants who had not wiped their hands, but not those who did, demonstrated impaired performance, compared to hand-washing controls, in all three tasks. We conclude that threatened morality has a detrimental effect on executive control, specifically on conflict monitoring and response inhibition, and that physical cleansing “frees” this system, counteracting the detrimental effects of morality threats. We discuss possible implications for obsessive–compulsive disorder, which is characterised by deficient executive control and in which both threatened morality and physical cleansing are central concerns.     

How Tangible Mock-Ups Support Design Collaboration

This paper is a contribution to a more conscious use of tangible mock-ups in collaborative design processes. It describes a design team’s use of mock-ups in a series of workshops involving potential customers and users. Focus is primarily on the use of three-dimensional design mock-ups and how differences in these affected the dialogue. Reflective conversations were established by using tangible mock-ups as “things-to-think with.” They served as boundary objects that spanned the gap between the different competencies and interests of participants in design. The design mock-ups evoked different things for different participants, whereas the challenge for the design team was to find boundaries upon which everybody could agree. The level of details represented in a mock-up affected the communication so that a mock-up with few details evoked different issues, whereas a very detailed mock-up evoked a smaller variation of issues resulting in a more focused communication.     

An evaluation of the conservative dual-criterion method for teaching university students to visually inspect AB-design graphs

The present study evaluated the effects of both a traditional lecture and the conservative dual-criterion (CDC) judgment aid on the ability of 6 university students to visually inspect AB-design line graphs. The traditional lecture reliably failed to improve visual inspection accuracy, whereas the CDC method substantially improved the performance of each participant.