A normative set of 98 pairs of nonsensical pictures (droodles)

Our purpose in the present study is to provide a normative set of nonsensical pictures known as droodles and to demonstrate the role of semantic comprehension in facilitating recall of pictorial stimuli. The set consists of 98 pairs of droodles. Experiment 1 standardized these pictorial stimuli with respect to several variables, such as appropriateness of verbal labels, relationship between two droodles, and correct recall. Appropriateness of verbal labels was rated higher for pictures presented in pairs than for pictures presented singly. Experiment 2 used the standardized set of droodles in a recall experiment similar to those of Bower, Karlin, and Dueck (1975) and others. As we expected, semantic interpretation can strongly facilitate recall. Multiple regression analysis showed that several measures had significant power of explanation for recall performance. The full set of norms and pictures from this article may be downloaded from http://brm.psychonomic-journals.org/content/supplemental.     

Individual and Country‐Level Effects of Social Trust on Happiness: The Asia Barometer Survey

The relationship of individual‐level and country‐level social trust to individuals' happiness was investigated, using cross‐national data of 39,082 participants from 29 Asian countries. For self‐reported happiness, 2.0% of the participants responded they were very happy, while 18.7% were very unhappy. The significant variables associated with happiness were female gender, being age 20–29 years or 60–69 years, married, high income and education, students/retired/homemaker, religious belief, good health, and higher individual and aggregate social trust. Individual health, social trust, and aggregate social trust were all independently associated with people's happiness. People were more likely to be happy if they lived in countries with higher aggregate social trust than countries with poor social trust.     

Cues that trigger social transmission of disinhibition in young children

Previous studies have shown that observing a human model’s actions, but not a robot’s actions, could induce young children’s perseverative behaviors and suggested that children’s sociocognitive abilities can lead to perseverative errors (“social transmission of disinhibition”). This study investigated how the social transmission of disinhibition would occur. Specifically, the authors examined whether a robot with human appearance (an android) triggered young children’s perseveration and compared the effects of the android with those of a human model. The results revealed that the android induced the social transmission of disinhibition. Also, children were more likely to be affected by the human model than by the android. The results suggested that behavioral cues (biological movement) may be important for the social transmission of disinhibition.     

Trait‐Related Concepts Activate Stereotypically Consistent Concepts on the Same Stereotype Dimension,But May not Spread to the Other Stereotype Dimension

Applying the stereotype‐content model, which categorizes stereotypes into two dimensions (warmth and competence), we investigated whether gender‐stereotype‐related concepts activate other concepts on the same dimension and concepts on the other dimension. To test this, we conducted two experiments, both based on the Deese–Roediger–McDermott paradigm. In Experiment 1, we conceptually replicated the results of previous research, which revealed that when trait‐related words are presented to participants, gender‐stereotype‐related concepts induce the later false recognition of stereotypically consistent non‐presented words. Then, in Experiment 2, we revealed that exposure to gender‐stereotype‐related concepts induces the false recognition of non‐presented words relevant to stereotypical concepts on the same dimension, but not those on the other dimension. We conclude by discussing the underlying process of ambivalent stereotype activations, referring to implicit processes and system justification.     

Relationship of sports experience and ego development of adolescent Japanese athletes

This study examined the relationship of sports experience with ego development. A questionnaire was used to assess experience of Crisis, Exploration, and Commitment in the issues of Athletic Performance and of Being a Teammate in 782 adolescent Japanese athletes (423 boys, M age = 15.2 yr.; 359 girls, M age = 15.0 yr.). Their Ego Levels were assessed using the Washington University Sentence Completion Test. Correlations indicated that scores on Crisis, Exploration, and Commitment in the issues of Athletic Performance and Being a Teammate were generally associated with Ego Development. Multiple regression analyses indicated that, for boys, the issue of Athletic Performance was closely associated with Ego Development, while for girls, the issue of Being a Teammate was closely associated with Ego Development. Sports experience with crisis, exploration, and commitment may be related to accommodation, which is, in turn, related to ego development. The sex differences on issues related to ego development may be associated with differences in sex-role development for boys and girls.     

Stress situations of daily living in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder: a retrospective case note study

About 40% of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are said to have treatment-refractory symptoms and chronic course of illness in spite of cognitive-behavior therapy and pharmacotherapy. The present purpose was to investigate factors relevant to OCD patients' chronic course and disturbed daily functions in view of human basic needs based on Maslow's hierarchy of five basic needs. Case notes of 101 outpatients with OCD (47 men and 54 women who were 18 to 55 years old) and seen on a psychiatry unit of a general hospital were studied to explore their stressful situations and identify thwarted basic needs. 84 of the 101 patients had Love Needs, and Esteem Needs (n = 47) and Safety Needs (n = 45) were next. The Poor-functioning group mainly had histories with problems of Safety Needs (70.8%), while the Good-functioning group tended to mainly have problems of Esteem Needs (51.5%) rather than Safety Needs (33.3%). 57 patients (23 men and 34 women) who were treated for more than three months were divided into two groups according to their Global Assessment of Functioning score at the final assessment (cut-off point: 61); patients in the Good-functioning group tended to have problems of higher needs.     

Clinical pastoral education: a physician's experience and reflection on the meaning of spiritual care in palliative care

In this article a physician reflects on her experience as a chaplain intern and how this Clinical Pastoral Education experience led to a deeper understanding of spiritual care in the palliative setting.     

Effects of room tilting on body sway: Adaptation and strategies for maintaining a standing posture

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a tilting room on body sway across a series of trials. Sixteen subjects were instructed to maintain an upright position in the tilting room, and their body sway was measured by a force plate. After the experimental session, subjects were interviewed about awareness, strategies and impressions. The results indicated that the forward-tilting room induced forward body sway, as would a moving room. The center of gravity in the pre-tilting period in the first trial was significantly more forward than in the following trials. From the analysis of strategy, subjects were divided into two groups: maintaining-standing strategy group and other-strategies group. While subjects who used the maintaining-standing strategy swayed more in the first trial, they had significantly reduced their body sway compared with the other group by the ninth and tenth trials. Based on these results, the effects of a moving room for adult subjects as related to the context-dependent weighting of new inputs are discussed.     

Voice and interpersonal attraction

The present study examined the effects of voice and physical appearance on inter-personal attraction. Furthermore, the attributes of voice that enhance interpersonal attraction were investigated. In the first study the subjects were 25 female students from one university and the target persons were four male students from another university. The subjects rated attractiveness of voice and physical appearance, and the overall interpersonal attraction of the target persons. The attractiveness of voice and physical appearance had independent effects on interpersonal attraction. In the second study the subjects were 62 students (20 males, 42 females) from one university and the target persons were 16 students from another university (eight of each sex). The results of the first study were replicated. Bright, generous voices, low vocal pitch and a small range of vocal pitch increased interpersonal attraction.