Opposing effects of phonological similarity on item and order memory of words and nonwords in the serial recall task

This study shows that the classical phonological similarity effect (PSE) in immediate serial recall is critically affected by the lexicality of list items, the type of phonological similarity involved, and the scoring procedure. PSE was present in the serial recall score when phonologically distinct words were compared to words that share the middle vowel and end consonant (rhyming lists). PSE was absent in the serial recall score when phonologically distinct words were compared to words that share the initial and final consonants (consonant frame lists). There was a reversal of PSE in serial recall of nonwords when comparing distinct lists to both types of similar lists. Recall accuracy on the other hand was higher for distinct lists regardless of lexicality. Item errors dominated in relation to order errors in the case of nonwords, whereas order errors dominated in relation to item errors in the case of words. Furthermore, order errors were more common for phonologically similar lists, whereas item errors were more common for phonologically distinct lists. This may be the result of intra‐list and inter‐list interference, respectively. The dominance of the former error type may cause a classical PSE, whereas the dominance of the latter error type may cause a reversal of PSE. Finally, an item identification task yielded no evidence of an association between intra‐list interference and discriminability of items in a list.     

The continuing significance of anders Nygren's early Philosophical and Methodological works in the late 20th Century Theological debate

In this article, I discuss the role of religion in relation to domestic welfare and international aid policies. Drawing on material from the Norwegian context – contributions given by Bishop Eivind Berggrav (1884–1959) and theologian Tor Aukrust (1921–2007), as well as discussions among Christian organisations following the establishment of Norwegian Church Aid in 1947 – I show that religion has not only been an obstacle to or an instrument for domestic or international development, but an integral and critical part of this. These findings challenge the dominant interpretation of the role of religion in explaining and understanding Norwegian and Nordic development policies.     

A new approach to assessing optimism: the development of a german version of the positive and negative expectancies questionnaire (paneq-g)

This study describes the construction and validation of a German version of the Positive and Negative Expectancies Scale, PANEQ-G, which is based on the original English version of the PANEQ. The German version showed the same factor structure as the original, comprising the three subscales of Negative Affectivity/Pessimism, Positive Affectivity/Optimism, and Fighting Spirit. The reliability data for the new scale were acceptable, and the factor structure was confirmed by means of a confirmatory factor analysis in an independent sample. As expected, concurrent validation uncovered substantial correlations of the three established scales. Negative Affectivity/Pessimism was related to Neuroticism and Positive Affectivity/Optimism was related to Extraversion. Fighting Spirit, the third scale, was related to Self-Efficacy and Conscientiousness. The PANEQ-G provides a reliable and valid instrument that can be used in conjunction with the original PANEQ for cross-cultural studies on Optimism and Pessimism. It also offers a new third component, Fighting Spirit, which can enrich research in this area.     

Subjective health complaints

A variety of subjective illnesses with few or no objective findings have appeared at regular intervals as epidemics in our society under different labels. There are few or no objective findings that might explain the "disease" or the complaints go beyond what is regarded as "reasonable" by the physician. Muscle pain and other types of subjective health complaints are among the most frequent reason for encounters with general practitioners, and one of the major causes for sickness absence. The prevalence of subjective health complaints is very high, with at least 75% of the population reporting one or more subjective health complaints the past 30 days. From a statistical point of view, it is "normal" to have complaints. It is when they become intolerable that assistance is required. The difficult thing is that this threshold is individual and subjective. The psychiatric definitions of these complaints, therefore, refer only to the tip of an iceberg.     

Don't Tell Me What I Don't Want to Hear! Politicization and Ideological Conflict Explain Why Citizens Have Lower Trust in Climate Scientists and Economists Than in Other Natural Scientists

Studies suggest that citizens have higher trust in some groups of scientists than in others. However, we still know little about the causes of these trust gaps. The current study fills this knowledge gap by examining Norwegian citizens' trust in climate scientists, economists, and so-called “less politicized natural scientists.” I argue that trust in climate scientists and economists is lower than trust in less politicized natural scientists because the former fields are politicized, while the latter are not. Politicization strengthens ideological conflicts between citizens' ideology and research produced by climate scientists and economists, which leads to lower trust in these groups of scientists. I test this argument by running regression analyses on data from a representative survey of the Norwegian population. The results support the argument: Citizens have significantly higher trust in less politicized natural scientists than in both climate scientists and economists, and these differences can be explained by ideological biases in trust. Citizens with a proeconomic growth ideology have significantly lower trust in climate scientists than in less politicized natural scientists, and citizens with a left-wing economic ideology have significantly lower trust in economists than in less politicized natural scientists.     

Processing redundant signals: coactivation, divided attention, or what?

The evidence for and against a redundancy gain in reaction time (RT) when the target is repeated in the visual display is reviewed. We consider the relevance of redundancy gains under these circumstances to the question of whether attention can be simultaneously directed to separate locations in the visual field. In the present experiments, two capital letters were the target stimuli in a two-alternative forced-choice RT paradigm. In addition to the usual conditions of single-target trials, trials on which the target is repeated in the display, and trials on which the target occurs with a noise letter, we introduced the innovation of a condition in which both targets occur in the display. In our two experiments, RT was fastest with single-target displays and slowest with displays containing a target and a noise letter. There was no significant difference in RT to displays in which the target was repeated and displays in which both targets were presented. Both conditions showed a redundancy gain when compared with displays containing a target and a noise letter. The lack of response competition in the both-targets condition and the overall pattern of the results were well explained by a unitary attentional focus that serially processed the letters in the display. Analyses of minima and maxima RTs were consistent with this interpretation.     

Effect of voluntary exercise on open-field behavior and on aggression in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR)

In the present study we investigated the influence of voluntary exercise on exploratory behavior and on aggression in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR). Twenty-four SHR (8 weeks old) were randomly assigned to either an exercise group or a sedentary control group. The animals in the exercise group exhibited a spontaneous wheel running activity of 5-6 km/day during 6 weeks. The characteristic hyperexploratory behavior of SHR was lowered in the exercise group (p less than .001) as compared to the control group. The runners also showed a tendency for less aggression. In the postexercise period, when the runners' wheels were locked, the exercise group had a significant rise in aggression (p less than .01) vs the controls. The exploratory behavior returned immediately to the level of the controls, but we found no further increase in any of the parameters measured. However, the runners showed a type of displaced aggression exhibited as digging and biting in the test cage. This evidence suggests that voluntary exercise lowers the hyperexploratory behavior and aggression in the SHR and that an abrupt stop in exercise gives an "abstinence" reaction.     

The CODE: A revised battery for coping and defense and its relations to subjective health

A condensed test battery (the CODE) based on the Utrecht Coping List (UCL) and part of the Defense Mechanisms Inventory (DMI) has been developed to assess coping and defense in large population studies. It was tested for reliability and validity in students and back pain patients. Principal components factor analysis of the subscales of the UCL and DMI in the student sample revealed two coping clusters: “Instrumental mastery-oriented coping” and “Emotion-focused coping” and two defensive clusters: “Cognitive defense” and “Defensive hostility”. “Instrumental mastery-oriented coping” was negatively related to subjective health complaints measured with Ursins Health Inventory (UHI). The back pain patients were clearly different from the students, using less coping and more defensive strategies. They had more subjective health complaints that showed negative correlations with “Instrumental mastery-oriented coping”. The CODE is a comprehensive battery that may be valid for large population studies of psychological determinants of muscle pain and other subjective health problems.