Color and psychological functioning: the effect of red on performance attainment

This research focuses on the relation between color and psychological functioning, specifically, that between red and performance attainment. Red is hypothesized to impair performance on achievement tasks, because red is associated with the danger of failure in achievement contexts and evokes avoidance motivation. Four experiments demonstrate that the brief perception of red prior to an important test (e.g., an IQ test) impairs performance, and this effect appears to take place outside of participants' conscious awareness. Two further experiments establish the link between red and avoidance motivation as indicated by behavioral (i.e., task choice) and psychophysiological (i.e., cortical activation) measures. The findings suggest that care must be taken in how red is used in achievement contexts and illustrate how color can act as a subtle environmental cue that has important influences on behavior.     

The link between judgments of comparative risk and own risk: further evidence

Individuals typically believe that they are less likely than the average person to experience negative events, a phenomenon termed "unrealistic optimism". The direct method of assessing unrealistic optimism employs a question of the form, "Compared with the average person, what is the chance that X will occur to you?". However, it has been proposed that responses to such a question (direct-estimates) are based essentially just on estimates that X will occur to the self (self-estimates). If this is so, any factors that affect one of these estimates should also affect the other. This prediction was tested in two experiments. In each, direct- and self-estimates for an unfamiliar health threat - homocysteine-related heart problems - were recorded. It was found that both types of estimate were affected in the same way by varying the stated probability of having unsafe levels of homocysteine (Study 1, N=149) and varying the stated probability that unsafe levels of homocysteine will lead to heart problems (Study 2, N=111). The results are consistent with the proposal that direct-estimates are constructed just from self-estimates.     

Effects of Message Framing on Breast-Cancer-Related Beliefs and Behaviors: The Role of Mediating Factors

The effects of gain-loss message framing on breast-cancer-related cognitions and behaviors were assessed among 539 women aged 30 to 70 years. The design involved a prebrochure telephone interview, followed by a brochure mailout, and a postbrochure telephone interview. The brochures contained information about breast cancer and the risk of family history. Recommended behaviors were framed to emphasize gains, losses, or were neutral; and statistical risk information was presented either positively or negatively. Measures included demographics, family history, breast self-examination (BSE) performance, BSE intention, self-efficacy in performing BSE, perceived early detection risk of breast cancer, perceived susceptibility to breast cancer, and anxiety about breast cancer. A loss-framed message led to greater positive change in BSE behavior. Interactions between framing effects and variables of issue involvement, perceived early detection risk, and self-efficacy indicated effects on behavior, but not beliefs.     

Psyche and System: On Progress in the Integration of Individual Psychotherapy and Family Psychotherapy

This article addresses the frequency with which the same group of patients utilizes individual and family therapies, and at the same time do not constitute actual integration. The conditions under which such serial or concurrent utilization of the two forms of psychotherapy may be considered to be integrative are discussed.     

Is position "special" in visual attention? Evidence that top-down processes guide visual selection.

The role of spatial position in selective visual processing has been the source of recent debate. Experiments by Tsal and Lavie (1988) and van der Heijden et al. (1996) have been designed to establish the status of position in visual selection. Tsal and Lavie found that observers tend to select letters from a briefly presented array according to position. Using the same paradigm, van der Heijden et al. found that observers tend to select according to colour, except under conditions of low contrast and unrestricted eye movements. The present study attempted to reconcile these findings by exploring the influence of top-down processes (task instructions) while explicitly controlling for eye movements. Experiment 1 demonstrated there was no inherent selection bias for stimuli similar to those used by van der Heijden et al., suggesting that the tendency to select according to colour found by van der Heijden et al. was due to task demands. Experiment 2 further established the role of top-down factors by replicating the results of van der Heijden et al. with our stimuli. Experiment 3 demonstrated that selection can be switched from colour to position by changing the demands of the task. These results suggest that selection may be accounted for by task demands (e.g., instructions) with no priority access for position information.     

Implications of research for the treatment of depressive disorders during childhood

Basic research into the prevalence, natural course, and phenomena of comorbidity of depressive disorders during childhood are reviewed and implications of this research for treating depressed youths are noted. Results of investigations into the biological aspects of depression are integrated into a multifactorial model of depressive disorders during childhood and the efficacy of pharmacological interventions is discussed. Cognitive theory is integrated with attachment theory to explain a possible avenue to the development of depressive disorders during childhood. Interpersonal therapy has emerged as a potentially effective intervention for depressed youths. Basic tenets of this treatment model are compared and contrasted to a cognitive-behavioral treatment model, and a hybrid treatment referred to as “cognitive therapy within the interpersonal context” is proposed.     

The Contributions of Community, Family, and School Variables to Student Victimization

An ecological perspective was used to predict school violence from a number of variables describing the students and their families based on nationally representative sample of 10,400 students in grades 7–11 in 162 schools across Israel. Self-administered anonymous questionnaires that included a scale for reporting victimization by serious and moderate physical violence, threats, and verbal–social victimization were filled out during class. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) examined the relationships between students reports of victimization and student level variables (gender, age) and the school-level variables—cultural affiliation (Jewish vs. Arab), the socio-economic status (SES) of the schools neighborhood and students families, school and class size, school level (junior high vs. high), and school climate. Variance between schools accounted for 9–15% of the variance in student victimization (major factors being school climate characteristics and percent of boys at the school). Boys reported higher victimization than girls for all forms of school violence. Students in junior high schools reported more victimization than high school students. Higher levels of victimization were reported in overcrowded classes, while school size was not associated with students reports of victimization. Although there were almost no differences between Jewish and Arab schools in students reports of victimization, the SES of the schools neighborhood and students did have a moderate effect. The discussion highlights the importance of improving school climate and the need to allocate more resources to schools in low SES contexts in order to protect students from school violence.     

Effects of model-based and memory-based processing on speed and accuracy of grammar string generation

Learners are able to use 2 different types of knowledge to perform a skill. One type is a conscious mental model, and the other is based on memories of instances. The authors conducted 3 experiments that manipulated training conditions designed to affect the availability of 1 or both types of knowledge about an artificial grammar. Participants were tested for both speed and accuracy of their ability to generate letter sequences. Results indicate that model-based training leads to slow accurate responding. Memory-based training leads to fast, less accurate responding and highest achievement when perfect accuracy was not required. Evidence supports participants' preference for using the memory-based mode when exposed to both types of training. Finally, the accuracy contributed by model-based training declined over a retention interval.     

Coordination of multiple memory systems

On the basis of lesions of different brain areas, several neural systems appear to be important for processing information regarding different types of learning and memory. This paper examines the development of pharmacological and neurochemical approaches to multiple memory systems from past studies of modulation of memory formation. The findings suggest that peripheral neuroendocrine mechanisms that regulate memory processing may target their actions toward those neural systems most engaged in the processing of learning and memory. In addition, measurements of acetylcholine release in different memory systems reveals extensive interactions between memory systems, some cooperative and some competitive. These results imply that many neural systems, often characterized as relatively independent, may in fact interact extensively, blurring the dependencies of different memory tasks on specific neural systems.