When children succeed in changing their responses: Insights from three versions of a flexible categorization task

Cognitive flexibility is a hallmark of human cognition, but its development is still poorly understood. The present work examined the flexibility of categorization in preschool children. Thirty-three participants aged 3–4 years were divided into three groups, with each group receiving a different version of a flexible categorization task in which the targets belonged to two distinct categories. These versions manipulated the type of questions that were asked and the alternation of shape and color games. The children exhibited flexibility when the questions were specific (or asked about attributes). The results support the idea that instructions play a role in children’s performance in sorting tasks. Considering cognitive flexibility as an expression of the interaction between children’s knowledge and abilities on the one hand and the structure, specifics, or demands of the task on the other can help clarify what cognitive flexibility is and how it develops.     

Exploring the nature of cognitive flexibility

Cognitive flexibility is an important characteristic that helps humans pursue complex tasks, such as multitasking and finding novel, adaptable solutions to changing demands. Yet it is still a poorly understood construct. After briefly reviewing several investigations of this construct in cognitive science, I propose a unified account that considers cognitive flexibility a property of the cognitive system, rather than a cognitive skill. The emergence of cognitive flexibility is dependent on two kinds of interactions: the interaction of several cognitive mechanisms, and the interaction of sensorimotor mechanisms, cognition, and context in developmental time. The quest for a comprehensive and unified account of cognitive flexibility is highly justified given its potential usefulness in fostering efficient problem solving and creativity.     

Bedrohungsszenarien und Gewalt gegenüber Dritten in der Psychotherapie

Aggressive behaviour, violent fantasies and potential threats against third parties are frequent topics in psychotherapy. Clinical, social and dynamic factors have to be considered for the risk assessment of aggressive behaviour. The appearance of aggressive fantasies and threats can be perceived as an indicator for potential threats. Legal aspects such as medical confidentiality, rights and duties to warn have to be kept in mind when dealing with threats against third parties. Concerning threats against children different laws have to be considered.     

Effects of proactive interference on non-verbal working memory

Working memory (WM) is a cognitive system responsible for actively maintaining and processing relevant information and is central to successful cognition. A process critical to WM is the resolution of proactive interference (PI), which involves suppressing memory intrusions from prior memories that are no longer relevant. Most studies that have examined resistance to PI in a process-pure fashion used verbal material. By contrast, studies using non-verbal material are scarce, and it remains unclear whether the effect of PI is domain-general or whether it applies solely to the verbal domain. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of PI in visual WM using both objects with high and low nameability. Using a Directed-Forgetting paradigm, we varied discriminability between WM items on two dimensions, one verbal (high-nameability vs. low-nameability objects) and one perceptual (colored vs. gray objects). As in previous studies using verbal material, effects of PI were found with object stimuli, even after controlling for verbal labels being used (i.e., low-nameability condition). We also found that the addition of distinctive features (color, verbal label) increased performance in rejecting intrusion probes, most likely through an increase in discriminability between content–context bindings in WM.     

Effects of mugshot commitment on lineup performance in young and older adults

Two experiments assessed the effects of mugshot commitment on the ability to make a subsequent lineup identification. Young (17–37 years) and older (55–87 years) participants viewed a crime video featuring a younger (20 years) or older (64 years) culprit. Some participants viewed a 50‐photograph culprit‐absent mugbook. Following a 1‐week delay, participants returned to view a culprit present lineup. In Experiment 1, mugbook choosers tended to select their prior selection in the lineup and mugbook nonchoosers tended to reject the lineup. In Experiment 2, mugshot choosers rejected a lineup that did not contain their prior selection. Commitment to a prior selection and commitment to a selection strategy were the cause of the majority of lineup errors. As previously reported, mugshot exposure harms subsequent lineup identification, and this appears to be primarily the result of commitment effects. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High School Biology/Life Science Teachers’ Presentation of Genetic Counseling and Health Care Career Options in Their Classrooms

Studies show teachers play an influential role in the career decision-making process of students and early knowledge of genetic counseling (GC) increases the likelihood students will consider this career option. This quantitative study is the first to explore the presentation of GC and other health care career options by high school (HS) biology/life science (B/LS) teachers in their classrooms. Our findings indicate most B/LS teachers present GC as a career option to HS students, agree it complements classroom activities, and perceive students as interested in learning about the profession. However, teachers note many barriers to spending class time presenting GC careers. Consequently, a substantial number of teachers spent a minimal amount of time presenting health care careers in general. We discuss ways genetic counselors can enhance career resources, reduce barriers, and foster student interest in pursuing a career in GC by developing partnerships with HS B/LS teachers.     

It was intuitive,and it felt good: a daily diary study on how people feel when making decisions

ABSTRACT

In daily life, people make plenty of decisions, either intuitively or based on analysis. So far, research has examined when decision-making leads to correct or biased outcomes. In the present study, we adopted a different perspective and explored how decision-making is associated with how people feel. In an observational study, 134 healthy participants retrospectively reported on six evenings which decisions they had made during that day (total N?=?3,850 decisions). They were also asked to indicate how they had felt before/after each decision. Multilevel regression analyses revealed that (a) people reported having felt better prior to intuitive as compared to analytical decisions, (b) people reported having felt better after as compared to before the decision, and (c) this increase in positive feeling was more pronounced for intuitive decisions. The latter two associations were robust to statistically controlling for the life domain in which the decisions occurred, the decisions’ importance and ease, and daily mood. The retrospective design and the single-item measure of mood are among the limitations of this study. Altogether, the results are in line with the idea that making everyday life decisions intuitively makes people feel good.