Winning or Losing Against an Opposite-Sex Peer on a Gender-Based Competitive Task

Two studies with heterosexual female and malecollege students explored the effects on mood and bodyimage resulting from a negative versus a positiveoutcome in a competitive interaction. In study 1,participants either succeeded or failed in comparison to anopposite-sex confederate on a gender-neutral task ofanagram solution. Study 2 added the dimension of thegender stereotypicality of the task by creatingempirically derived feminine (beauty aid knowledge) andmasculine (tool construction knowledge) conditions. Theresults indicated that women's anger significantlyincreased following the masculine task, regardless of the outcome. A marginally significantthree-way interaction resulted for the depressionmeasure: Females who won at the masculine task hadhigher levels of depression than males in thiscondition, and higher levels than both males and females inthe masculine-lose condition. In contrast, males who“won” on the feminine task had higher levelsof depression than females in this condition, and higher levels than both males and females who lost onthe feminine task. Discussion centers on the potentialusefulness of the gender-stereotypicality measure forfuture research and the need for followup work to replicate the current findings.     

Which kind of attention is captured by cues with the relative target colour?

Most theories of visual search maintain that attention is selectively tuned to the attributes of the search target (e.g., orange). Conversely, according to the relational account, attention is biased to the relative feature of the target (e.g., redder). However, previous studies that supported the relational account mainly measured mean response times. Hence, the results might not reflect early, perceptual mechanisms (e.g., signal enhancement) but later, decision-based mechanisms (channel selection). The current study tested the relational account against feature-specific theories in a spatial cueing task, in which the targets were backward-masked, and target identification accuracy was measured. The first experiment corroborated earlier results, demonstrating that relational effects are due to signal enhancement. In the second experiment, we chose highly discriminable colours along the blue–red continuum, and obtained results that were more consistent with broad feature-specific rather than relational tuning. The implications of these findings for current theories of attention are discussed.     

Revisiting the metacontrast dissociation: comparing sensitivity across different measures and tasks

In the metacontrast dissociation procedure, presenting a masked shape prime prior to a visible shape target leads to reaction-time effects of the prime in an indirect measure, although participants cannot consciously detect prime shapes in a direct measure (Klotz & Neumann, 1999). This has been taken as evidence for the processing of unconscious input. The results of the present metacontrast dissociation study indicate that although participants are unable to consciously report the shape of the prime, they can consciously perceive motion between masked primes and visible targets in a hybrid direct/indirect measure (Experiments 1 and 3). This indicates that former tests did not provide an exhaustive measure for residual conscious perception of the prime in the metacontrast dissociation procedure. Further tests, however, reveal that residual motion perception cannot account for performance in the indirect measure (Experiments 2 and 3). Although the results thus leave the conception of processing of unconscious input intact, they may prompt a revision of its criteria.     

Saccades reveal that allocentric coding of the moving object causes mislocalization in the flash-lag effect

The flash-lag effect is a visual misperception of a position of a flash relative to that of a moving object: Even when both are at the same position, the flash is reported to lag behind the moving object. In the present study, the flash-lag effect was investigated with eye-movement measurements: Subjects were required to saccade to either the flash or the moving object. The results showed that saccades to the flash were precise, whereas saccades to the moving object showed an offset in the direction of motion. A further experiment revealed that this offset in the saccades to the moving object was eliminated when the whole background flashed. This result indicates that saccadic offsets to the moving stimulus critically depend on the spatially distinctive flash in the vicinity of the moving object. The results are incompatible with current theoretical explanations of the flash-lag effect, such as the motion extrapolation account. We propose that allocentric coding of the position of the moving object could account for the flash-lag effect.     

Cognitive Therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: a Case Example

Cognitive therapy for OCD is an empirically validated alternative to the more widely used and validated behavioral therapy for OCD. The cognitive approach is based on the premise that belief systems contribute importantly to the development and maintenance of all types of OCD. By identifying and challenging maladaptive thoughts, beliefs, and core beliefs, patients can improve significantly and maintain their gains over time. This approach is demonstrated in detail with the case of Caroline, a 51-year-old woman with contamination obsessions.     

Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Performance Evaluations: Distributive Justice or Injustice?

Purpose  

The purpose of this study was to examine employees’ reactions to the use of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in performance evaluations. In addition, gender differences in such reactions were examined.     

Imagining nice and nasty events in childhood or adulthood: recent positive events show the most imagination inflation

We explored whether event recency and valence affect people’s susceptibility to imagination inflation. Using a three-stage procedure, subjects imagined positive and negative events happening in their distant or recent past. First, subjects rated how confident they were that they had experienced particular positive and negative events in childhood or adulthood using a Life Events Inventory (LEI). Two weeks later, they imagined two positive and two negative events from the LEI. Finally, they rated their confidence on the LEI a second time. For positive events, subjects showed more imagination inflation for adulthood than childhood events. For negative events, they showed no difference in imagination inflation for adulthood and childhood events. We discuss factors that may influence source confusions for memories of the past and highlight directions for future research.     

Emotional irritation before mental stress is associated with enhanced peripheral norepinephrine

Research suggests equivocal findings on associations of catecholamines and mood. Our study investigated the associations of emotional state, blood pressure and catecholamines in 55 healthy males undergoing mental stress. We especially checked the reported link between norepinephrine (NE) and emotional irritation. Blood pressure (SBP, DBP) and heart rate (HR) were continuously monitored. NE and epinephrine (EPI) were measured before, after, and 20 minutes after stress. Participants were divided into irritated versus non-irritated and anxious versus non-anxious subjects by median split on their baseline questionnaires. The task elicited significant cardiovascular, hormonal, and psychological stress responses. NE levels were significantly correlated with irritation before stress. Irritated subjects showed significantly higher DBP and NE than non-irritated subjects. The higher NE and DBP levels in the irritated participants suggest detrimental psycho-physiological interrelations promoting the development of stress-mediated cardiovascular diseases. Heightened emotional irritation before stress may be regarded as a psychological risk factor.