Hide and seek: The theory of mind of visual concealment and search

Researchers have investigated visual search behavior for almost a century. During that time, few studies have examined the cognitive processes involved in hiding items rather than finding them. To investigate this, we developed a paradigm that allowed participants to indicate where they would hide (or find) an item that was to be found (or hidden) by a friend or a foe. We found that (i) for friends more than foes, participants selected the pop-out item in the display, and (ii) when the display was homogeneous, they selected nearby and corner items. These behaviors held for both hiding and finding, although hide and find behaviors were not identical. For pop-out displays, decision times were unusually long when hiding an item from a foe. These data converge on the conclusion that the principles of search and concealment are similar, but not the same. They also suggest that this paradigm will provide researchers a powerful method for investigating theory of mind in adults.     

Spatiotemporal competition and task-relevance shape the spatial distribution of emotional interference during rapid visual processing: Evidence from gaze-contingent eye-tracking

People’s ability to perceive rapidly presented targets can be disrupted both by voluntary encoding of a preceding target and by spontaneous attention to salient distractors. Distinctions between these sources of interference can be found when people search for a target in multiple rapid streams instead of a single stream: voluntary encoding of a preceding target often elicits subsequent perceptual lapses across the visual field, whereas spontaneous attention to emotionally salient distractors appears to elicit a spatially localized lapse, giving rise to a theoretical account suggesting that emotional distractors and subsequent targets compete spatiotemporally during rapid serial visual processing. We used gaze-contingent eye-tracking to probe the roles of spatiotemporal competition and memory encoding on the spatial distribution of interference caused by emotional distractors, while also ruling out the role of eye-gaze in driving differences in spatial distribution. Spontaneous target perception impairments caused by emotional distractors were localized to the distractor location regardless of where participants fixated. But when emotional distractors were task-relevant, perceptual lapses occurred across both streams while remaining strongest at the distractor location. These results suggest that spatiotemporal competition and memory encoding reflect a dual-route impact of emotional stimuli on target perception during rapid visual processing.     

Experiential Avoidance: An Examination of the Construct Validity of the AAQ-II and MEAQ

Experiential avoidance (also referred to as acceptance or psychological flexibility) is a core construct of third-wave behavior therapies. It is the tendency to avoid uncomfortable thoughts or feelings, even when doing so has negative long-term consequences. In order for developments in experiential avoidance and third-wave behavior therapies to continue, it is imperative to examine the construct validity of the most widely used measures of this construct, the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire–II (AAQ-II) and the Multidimensional Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire (MEAQ). In Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (N = 1,052) and college (N = 364) samples, we evaluated the construct validity of these measures. The AAQ-II demonstrated suboptimal patterns of convergent and discriminant validity with measures of neuroticism/negative affect (Big Five Inventory, Big Five Aspects Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule), the MEAQ, and mindfulness (Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire). In contrast, the MEAQ demonstrated optimal convergent and discriminant validity. Factor analyses at the scale, subscale, and item levels demonstrated that the AAQ-II loads with indicators of neuroticism/negative affect and not with other constructs at the core of third-wave behavior therapies. In contrast, the MEAQ loads on factors with mindfulness or forms its own factors. These findings suggest the AAQ-II functions as a measure of neuroticism/negative affect, whereas the MEAQ functions as an indicator of experiential avoidance. These findings have substantial implications for research on experiential avoidance and third-wave behavior therapies. Therefore, in order to improve the theory, research, and practice of third-wave behavior therapies, we recommend using the MEAQ to assess experiential avoidance.     

The future is now: the impact of present fluency in judgments about the future

Recent research has emphasised the role of episodic memory in both remembering past events and in envisaging future events. On the other hand, it has been repeatedly shown that judgments about past events are affected by the fluency with which retrieval cues are processed. In this paper we investigate whether perceptual fluency also plays a role in judgments about future events. For this purpose we conducted four experiments. The first experiment replicated recent findings showing that stimuli that are processed fluently tend to be wrongly recognised as having been encountered in the past outside the laboratory walls [Brown, A. S., & Marsh, E. J. (2009). Creating illusions of past encounter through brief exposure. Psychological Science, 20, 534–538. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02337.x]. Two follow-up experiments using Brown and Marsh’s [(2009). Creating illusions of past encounter through brief exposure. Psychological Science, 20, 534–538. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02337] task tested the influence of perceptual fluency on future judgments. The fourth and last experiment was designed to rule out a potential confounding factor in the two previous experiments. Across experiments, we found that people rely on fluency when making judgments about events that are yet to come. These results suggest that fluency is an equally valid cue for past and future judgments.     

Changes in schemas of patients with severe borderline personality disorder: The Oulu BPD study

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a relatively common and severe psychiatric disorder that can impair quality of life in many ways. The aim of this study was to determine whether a combined treatment model for BPD patients, utilising major principles from schema‐focused therapy (SFT) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), could be more effective in relieving early maladaptive schemas of BPD patients, compared to treatment as usual (TAU). This study is a part of the Oulu BPD study conducted at mental health care services run by Oulu city social and health care services. The study is a multisite, randomized controlled trial conducted over a one year period, involving two groups of patients with severe BPD: (1) Community Treatment By Experts (CTBE) patients (n = 18) receiving the combined treatment model, and 2) TAU patients (n = 27). The patients' schemas were assessed using the Young Schema Questionnaire (YSQ‐L3a) before and after one year of treatment. The results reveal that CTBE patients who attended the combined treatment model showed a statistically significant reduction in eight out of 18 early maladaptive schemas, while patients receiving treatment as usual did not demonstrate any significant changes in schemas. The cognitive therapeutic treatment model can be applied for clinical use in public mental health settings using existing professionals, and appears to produce positive changes in patients with BPD.