Visual Attention and Lexical Involvement in L1 and L2 Word Processing: Emotional Stroop Effect

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research - Given the fact that the process of engaging and interacting with the text is not only the function of a reader but also the text itself, the current study...     

Relationships of Contextual Factors and Personal Identity to Externalizing Problem Behavior Among Iranian Early Adolescents

In the present study, we evaluated a model of relations among contextual factors (family, school, and peer group), personal identity (i.e., coherence and confusion), and problem behavior among Iranian adolescents. The sample consisted of 765 Iranian adolescents and 615 primary caregivers. Results indicated that family functioning (adolescent report) was related to adolescent problem behavior (a) directly and (b) indirectly through identity confusion. Peer support on the other hand was solely indirectly related to adolescent problem behavior through identity confusion. School functioning was also significantly and negatively related to adolescent problem behavior. The present findings suggest that identity and contextual factors play important roles in steering Iranian adolescents toward or away from behavior problems. Implications for further research are discussed.     

Stop the clock because I can’t stop: time pressure,but not monitoring pressure,impairs response inhibition performance

ABSTRACT

Psychological pressure can exert detrimental effects on cognitive tasks that depend on attentional control. However, the effect of psychological pressure on inhibitory cognitive processes has been relatively overlooked. The study purpose was to examine the effect of psychological pressure on response inhibition. In Experiment 1, participants (N?=?125) were assigned to a combined time and performance-based incentive pressure condition or control condition. In Experiment 2, participants (N?=?124) were allocated to a time pressure only or control condition. Participants (N?=?149) in Experiment 3 were assigned to either an explicit monitoring pressure condition in which their performance was video-recorded or control condition. Participants in all experiments completed a Go/NoGo Task to assess response inhibition performance. Pressure impaired performance in Experiments 1 and 2 but not Experiment 3. The results demonstrate that time pressure, but not explicit monitoring pressure, significantly impairs inhibition accuracy. These findings are consistent with the distraction theory of performance pressure.     

Cardiovascular dysfunction related to threat, avoidance, and vigilant work: Application of event-related potential and critique

An integrative approach is suggested to track symbolically simulated work environment stressors, as an act to burden higher cortical function in the exposed groups. ERP would be made together with measurement of end organ stress responses as well as measurements of perceived conditions. Field studies would be the necessary complement. The following conclusions are culled from the reviewed literature: among the pilots, cardiovascular problems are the most important cause of loss of license in Europe and North America. Interactions with coworkers for air traffic controllers have been associated with cardiovascular disability. Comparing various degrees of heart disease severity among professional drivers, the IHD drivers showed the smallest N2 amplitudes and the greatest diastolic blood pressure reactivity. P300 target amplitude showed an inverse correlation with number of work hours behind the wheel. The IHD drivers were envisioned in a phase of disturbance of the selective attentional process. An interrelation has been found between Event-Related Slow Potential ERSP and midinterval heart rate acceleration associated with displeasure and arousal. A positive correlation has been found between the amplitude of the ERSP and ventricular arrhythmia rate in cardiac patients. Lowering of arrhythmia rate in response to antiarhythmic agents was associated with a significant attenuation of the ERSP. Either acceleration or deceleration is associated with the appearance of the late CNV to the aversive noise burst. There might be a “common generator behind both anticipatory heart rate responses and cortical events.” CNV might be related to frontally mediated stress mechanisms.     

Language Learners’ Writing Task Representation and Its Effect on Written Performance in an EFL Context

The present study attempts to give an account of how students represent writing task in an EAP course. Further, the study is intended to discover if learners’ mental representation of writing would contribute to their written performance. During a 16-week term, students were instructed to practice writing as a problem solving activity. At almost the end of the term, they were prompted to write on what they thought writing task was like and also an essay on an argumentative topic. The results revealed that students could conceptualize the instructed recursive model of writing as a process-based, multi-dimensional and integrated activity inducing self-direction and organization while holding in low regard the product view of writing. The findings also demonstrated that task representation was related to the students’ writing performance, with process oriented students significantly outperforming the product-oriented ones. Also, it was found that task representation components (ideational, linguistic, textual, interpersonal) had a significant relationship with the written performance (\(\upbeta =0.59\); Sig.: 0.006). The study can have both theoretical and practical implications with regard to the factors involving the students’ writing internal processes and their effects on written performance.     

On the Origin of “Labeling” Theory in Criminology: Frank Tannenbaum and the Chicago School of Sociology

According to the criminological literature, Frank Tannenbaum’s theory of “The Dramatization of Evil” was the first formulation of an approach to deviance that in the 1960s became known as the “labeling” theory. This paper makes three arguments about Tannenbaum’s theory. Firstly, it explains professional criminality. Secondly, the conceptual foundation for the theory is provided by John Dewey, William I. Thomas, Ernest W. Burgess, Clifford R. Shaw, and Charles H. Cooley. Thirdly, it is in fact prefigured in the work of Thomas, Shaw, and Burgess. The first argument is an answer to an enduring question related to “labeling” theory: does it explain professional criminality or any form of social deviance? The second argument negates a long-standing belief held by criminologists, i.e., that George H. Mead was the conceptual progenitor of Tannenbaum’s theory. The third argument refutes the persistent belief that Tannenbaum’s theory was the first formulation of labeling theory.     

Relationship of self-reported mysticism with depression and anxiety in Iranian Muslims

This study examined relationships of self-reported Mysticism with dispositional Depression and Anxiety in Iranian Muslims. The sample contained 80 women and 51 men undergraduates who volunteered to participate (M age=20.5 yr., SD= 2.0). Participants responded to the Hood Mysticism Scale and to the Costello and Comrey Depression and Anxiety Scales. Scores on the Religious Interpretation dimension of mystical experience correlated negatively with those on Depression, explained a similar relationship observed for Extrovertive Mysticism, and moderated the otherwise positive relationship between Introvertive Mysticism and Anxiety. Moderation occurred when Introvertive Mysticism correlated negatively rather than positively with Anxiety in those who scored high on Religious Interpretation and very high on the Introvertive factor. These data suggested possibilities for reconciling conflicts that have appeared between philosophical interpretations of Introvertive Mysticism and previous self-report data.     

Objective risk, subjective risk, and colorectal cancer screening among a clinic sample

Among cancers, colorectal (CRC) is the third most incident and the second most lethal. Although screening for the disease has been shown to be effective in reducing morbidity and mortality, screening rates remain low. Risk of disease has been shown to increase screening uptake, but different types of risk may influence intent to screen, screening in a timely manner, or participating in screening at all. A cross-sectional design was used to select a diverse sample of CRC asymptomatic patients 50 or more years of age (N=104) visiting one of three Midwestern medical clinics. Results showed a positive relationship between receipt of CRC screening and planning to screen for CRC in the future. Objective risk factors (personal/family history and having a primary care physician) were associated with CRC screening uptake and screening within the time intervals recommended by professional screening guidelines, but subjective risk did not obtain significance for screening participation. Both objective (primary care physician) and subjective risk (long-term comparative risk, knowledge) were associated with future plans to screen. Findings suggest that CRC screening behaviors may be differentially influenced by type of risk.     

Cognitive and non-cognitive factors contributing to the longitudinal identification of successful older adults in the betula study

Studies of successful aging have typically defined elderly who fall in the upper end of a distribution of test scores as successful. A different definition of successful aging requires that older adults fall at or above the mean level of younger adults and maintain this level over time. Here we examined this definition of successful aging in a sample of 1463 individuals between the ages of 50 of 85. Based on principal coordinate analysis of cognitive and non-cognitive variables, we identified a group of 55 (8.3%) 70-85 years olds that were high functioning. This group of elderly showed elevated performance on a range of cognitive tasks. Non-cognitive factors that characterized this group included education and subjective health. The participants were retested 5 years later and the same type of analysis was repeated. Of the remaining individuals who initially were classified as high functioning, 18 (35%) remained high functioning and thus met the definition for successful aging. Years of education was a significant predictor of who remained successful over time.