Social Contact,Loneliness, and Mass Media Use: A Test of Two Hypotheses1

The possible connections between social variables such as frequency of social activity and subjective loneliness on the one hand, and extent of mass media use on the other, have received relatively little empirical attention. In this investigation, two related hypotheses concerning such links are proposed. The compensation hypothesis holds that persons with little social contact or greater loneliness will be more likely to utilize mass media to compensate for social impoverishment. The buffering hypothesis more specifically predicts that such compensation is effective; that is, persons “at risk” for loneliness because of diminished social contact may be at least partially protected from subjective loneliness due to heavy use of mass media. The hypotheses were tested in two samples: college students and a group of adolescent males attending a summer camp. Little support was found for the compensation hypothesis. While limited support was found for the buffering hypothesis, analyses also revealed an unexpected opposite effect; for the music variable, heavy media use actually intensified the association between social deficits and subjective loneliness. Some limitations of this study are discussed, and issues related to the unexpected “intensification” effects are presented.     

Self-compassion and verbal performance: Evidence for threat-buffering and implicit self-related thoughts

ABSTRACT

Threats to self-esteem can impair well-being directly, e.g., via negative affect, but also indirectly, by impacting performance in valued domains. The present study examined whether self-compassion buffered individuals’ academic task performance from the effects of a self-esteem threat. In addition, this study tested possible effects of self-compassion on implicitly measured self-related thoughts. Participants (N = 333) were randomly assigned to self-esteem threat or neutral conditions, and then either a self-compassion manipulation or an expressive writing (control) condition before completing a set of GRE analogy items. Threat impaired GRE performance in the expressive writing control condition, but not in the self-compassion condition. Moreover, self-compassion appeared to marginally impact implicit non-evaluative self-thoughts, but did not affect evaluative thoughts or implicit self-esteem. The results of this study suggest that self-compassion has benefits for performance and thereby well-being. Future research should further explore the effects of self-compassion on performance and refine understanding of implicit thoughts as possible mechanisms.     

Episodic representations support early semantic learning: evidence from midazolam induced amnesia

Current controversy exists regarding the role of episodic representations in the formation of long-term semantic memories. Using the drug midazolam to induce temporary amnesia we tested participants' memories for newly learned facts in a semantic cue condition or an episodic and semantic cue condition. Following midazolam administration, memory performance was superior in the episodic and semantic condition, suggesting early semantic learning is supported by episodic representations.     

Monocular discs in the occlusion zones of binocular surfaces do not have quantitative depth--a comparison with Panum's limiting case

Da Vinci stereopsis is defined as apparent depth seen in a monocular object laterally adjacent to a binocular surface in a position consistent with its occlusion by the other eye. It is widely regarded as a new form of quantitative stereopsis because the depth seen is quantitatively related to the lateral separation of the monocular element and the binocular surface (Nakayama and Shimojo 1990 Vision Research 30 1811-1825). This can be predicted on the basis that the more separated the monocular element is from the surface the greater its minimum depth behind the surface would have to be to account for its monocular occlusion. Supporting evidence, however, has used narrow bars as the monocular elements, raising the possibility that quantitative depth as a function of separation could be attributable to Panum's limiting case (double fusion) rather than to a new form of stereopsis. We compared the depth performance of monocular objects fusible with the edge of the surface in the contralateral eye (lines) and non-fusible objects (disks) and found that, although the fusible objects showed highly quantitative depth, the disks did not, appearing behind the surface to the same degree at all separations from it. These findings indicate that, although there is a crude sense of depth for discrete monocular objects placed in a valid position for uniocular occlusion, depth is not quantitative. They also indicate that Panum's limiting case is not, as has sometimes been claimed, itself a case of da Vinci stereopsis since fusibility is a critical factor for seeing quantitative depth in discrete monocular objects relative to a binocular surface.     

Childhood trauma in victims of the Armenian earthquake

Childhood victims of the Armenian earthquake have shown numerous diagnostic indicators of traumatization and stress. Examined are clinical data which address advances in understanding diagnostic indicators and resulting psychopathology in childhood victims of natural disasters. Presented is a review of current theory about the processing of traumatization in children, as well as case vignettes, and recommendations for further research.     

Somatic and autonomic indexes of recovery from electroconvulsive shock-induced amnesia in rats

Autonomic response indexes of experimental amnesia have recently been found to have higher electroconvulsive shock (ECS) intensity thresholds and steeper retrograde gradients than have traditional somatic indexes. The present studies examined the hypothesis that recovery from somatically indexed experimental amnesia depends upon the existence of autonomically available residual memory. In a between-subjects design, a 200-mA ECS was used to produce amnesia for a tone-footshock pairing as indicated by lick suppression, defection, and bradycardia. The next day, these amnesic animals received a reminder footshock outside of the training apparatus, which was found to restore memory on a test trial 24 hr later. The behavior of control groups indicated that this reminder effect was due to the restoration of specific memory rather than systemic consequences of treatment. With a within-subjects design, a second experiment obtained a reminder effect in animals individually shown to be "fully" amnesic by all three response indexes monitored. A third experiment varied the intensity of the reminder footshock and revealed that the different memory indexes examined do not have reminder-footshock thresholds inversely related to their initial resistance to amnesia. The results support a retrieval-failure view of experimental amnesia and suggest that the same fundamental physiological processes underlie both autonomically indexed memory and somatically indexed memory.     

Variation in suicide occurrence by time of day, day of the week, month, and lunar phase

Previous studies suggest that suicide occurrence varies by month and day of the week, but not by lunar phase. Variation by time of day has never before been adequately examined; to our knowledge, all previous studies have failed to obtain time-of-death information for a large percentage of cases. We examined suicide occurrence among residents of Sacramento County, CA, during the period from 1925 to 1983. Data were abstracted from coroner's autopsy and investigative reports. In contrast to previous studies, data on time of death were available for a large percentage of cases. 4,190 suicide deaths were identified during the study period. Suicide occurrence varied substantially by time of day; for both sexes and for ages under 65 years, the fewest suicide deaths occurred during the early morning hours, from 0401 to 0800. For recent years of the study, suicides occurred most frequently on Monday for both males and females and for most age groups. Variation by month followed no consistent pattern by gender, age, years of the study, or combinations of these factors. Contrary to popular belief, suicide occurrence did not vary by lunar phase.     

Does partisan media make a pawn of mistrust? Institutional trust and preventive COVID-19 health behaviors in a polarized pandemic

In a rapidly developing crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, people are often faced with contradictory or changing information and must determine what sources to trust. Across five time points (N = 5902) we examine how trust in various sources predicts COVID-19 health behaviors. Trust in experts and national news predicted more engagement with most health behaviors from April 2020 to March 2022 and trust in Fox news, which often positioned itself as counter to the mainstream on COVID-19, predicted less engagement. However, we also examined a particular public health behavior (masking) before and after the CDC announcement recommending masks on 3 April 2020 (which reversed earlier expert advice discouraging masks for the general public). Prior to the announcement, trust in experts predicted less mask-wearing while trust in Fox News predicted more. These relationships disappeared in the next 4 days following the announcement and reversed in the 2 years that follow, and emerged for vaccination in the later time points. We also examine how the media trusted by Democrats and Republicans predicts trust in experts and in turn health behaviors. Broadly we consider how the increasingly fragmented epistemic environment has implications for polarization on matters of public health.