Emotion regulation and the temporal dynamics of emotions: Effects of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression on emotional inertia

The tendency for emotions to be predictable over time, labelled emotional inertia, has been linked to low well-being and is thought to reflect impaired emotion regulation. However, almost no studies have examined how emotion regulation relates to emotional inertia. We examined the effects of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression on the inertia of behavioural, subjective and physiological measures of emotion. In Study 1 (N = 111), trait suppression was associated with higher inertia of negative behaviours. We replicated this finding experimentally in Study 2 (N = 186). Furthermore, in Study 2, instructed suppressors and reappraisers both showed higher inertia of positive behaviours, and reappraisers displayed higher inertia of heart rate. Neither suppression nor reappraisal were associated with the inertia of subjective feelings in either study. Thus, the effects of suppression and reappraisal on the temporal dynamics of emotions depend on the valence and emotional response component in question.     

Blinking predicts enhanced cognitive control

Recent models have suggested an important role for neuromodulation in explaining trial-to-trial adaptations in cognitive control. The adaptation-by-binding model (Verguts & Notebaert, Psychological review, 115(2), 518–525, 2008), for instance, suggests that increased cognitive control in response to conflict (e.g., incongruent flanker stimulus) is the result of stronger binding of stimulus, action, and context representations, mediated by neuromodulators like dopamine (DA) and/or norepinephrine (NE). We presented a flanker task and used the Gratton effect (smaller congruency effect following incongruent trials) as an index of cognitive control. We investigated the Gratton effect in relation to eye blinks (DA related) and pupil dilation (NE related). The results for pupil dilation were not unequivocal, but eye blinks clearly modulated the Gratton effect: The Gratton effect was enhanced after a blink trial, relative to after a no-blink trial, even when controlling for correlated variables. The latter suggests an important role for DA in cognitive control on a trial-to-trial basis.     

MMPI Configural Interpretation as Applied to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Vietnam Veterans

This study investigated the systems of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) configural interpretation of Skinner and Jackson (1978) and Kunce (1979) with Vietnam veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). MMPI profiles of four groups differing in combat exposure were compared on four MMPI configural variables from Kunce (1979) and Skinner and Jackson (1978). The four groups were (a) PTSD sufferers, (b) Vietnam combat veterans without PTSD, (c) Vietnam noncombat veterans, and (d) Vietnam era veterans. All groups were further divided into hospitalized versus nonhospitalized subgroups. Dependent variables were Skinner and Jackson's (a) sociopathic modal profile, (b) neurotic profile, (c) psychotic profile, and (d) Kunce's emotional expression (enthusiastic-reserved) dimension. Results indicated that hospitalized PTSD subjects had significantly higher scores on Skinner and Jackson's neurotic profile; both hospitalized and nonhospitalized PTSD subjects had higher scores on the psychotic profile and were more "reserved" on Kunce's emotional expression dimension. Results were interpreted in terms of configural MMPI interpretation systems and the adjustment of Vietnam veterans with PTSD. PTSD was viewed as exhibiting cognitive, somatic, and affective features.     

Clergy Role Stress: Interactive Effects of Role Ambiguity and Role Conflict on Intrinsic Job Satisfaction

The present study examined relationships between role conflict, role ambiguity, and three facets of clergy job satisfaction: Relationships and Support, Denominational Involvement, and Intrinsic Aspects. Web survey data from 179 United Methodist clergy indicated that role ambiguity and role conflict had negative relationships with each of the three facets of job satisfaction, as well as with overall job satisfaction. Interactions between role conflict and ambiguity were not significant for overall job satisfaction or for two of the three facets, suggesting that the effects of role conflict and role ambiguity on these aspects of job satisfaction were linear and cumulative. However, the effects of role ambiguity and role conflict considered together were nonlinear and interactive for the Intrinsic Aspects facet of job satisfaction, indicating that when role ambiguity was low, the relationship between role conflict and intrinsic job satisfaction was not significant, whereas when role ambiguity was high, there was a significant negative relationship between role conflict and intrinsic job satisfaction.     

The use of artificial neural networks and multiple linear regression in modelling work–health relationships: Translating theory into analytical practice

Although psychological theory acknowledges the existence of complex systems and the importance of nonlinear effects, linear statistical models have been traditionally used to examine relationships between environmental stimuli and outcomes. The way we analyse these relationships does not seem to reflect the way we conceptualize them. The present study investigated the application of connectionism (artificial neural networks) to modelling the relationships between work characteristics and employee health by comparing it with a more conventional statistical linear approach (multiple linear regression) on a sample of 1003 individuals in employment. Comparisons of performance metrics indicated differences in model fit, with neural networks to some extent outperforming the linear regression models, such that R ² for worn-out and job satisfaction were significantly higher in the neural networks. Most importantly, comparisons revealed that the predictors in the two approaches differed in their relative importance for predicting outcomes. The improvement is attributed to the ability of the neural networks to model complex nonlinear relationships. Being unconstrained by assumptions of linearity, they can provide a better approximation of such psychosocial phenomena. Nonlinear approaches are often better fitted for purpose, as they conform to the need for correspondence between theory, method, and data.     

Orthographic redundancy in letter recognition: Orthographic neighbourhood or orthographic context?

Abstract

In explaining the word-superiority effect (i.e. the better detection of a letter in a word than in a nonword), the Interactive Activation Model (IAM) of McClelland and Rumelhart (1981) and the Fuzzy Logical Model of Perception (FLMP) of Massaro (1979) emphasise the importance of orthographic redundancy (i.e. the regularities of letters within words) in different ways. In the IAM, orthographic redundancy is defined by the number of “friends”; that is, words sharing the same letters except one with the word containing the target letter. Such friends constitute the orthographic “neighbourhood”. FLMP stresses the orthographic “context”; that is, the similarity of the word with a representation in the lexicon. The orthographic neighbourhood and context are manipulated independently in Experiment 1, and the findings are better understood in terms of the orthographic neighbourhood. By increasing the number of friends in nonwords, better letter detection is also obtained in nonwords as compared with letter detection in random letter strings (Experiment 2). These findings, together with the position effects obtained, are more clearly in agreement with the IAM than with the FLMP.     

Cognitive factors in the explanation of the mismatch between confidence and competence in performing basic life support

Abstract

The main approach to rectifying the well documented poor basic life support (BLS) skills of doctors and nurses, based on a Skills Model, has met with only partial success. This study compares the utility of a Skills Model with one that incorporates a cognitive component in predicting BLS skills. Outcome-expectancy, self-efficacy, training and experience of BLS, and BLS ability were assessed in 53 trained nurses. Ability was unrelated to training or experience of BLS. Nurses who scored highest on the BLS skills assessment perceived the procedure as significantly more successful than those with lower scores. Self-efficacy was unrelated to ability, but was related to status: senior nurses were significantly more confident but no more competent in performing BLS than junior nurses. Nurses who had attended more arrests, while more confident, were no more competent than those who had attended fewer. Assessment of BLS skills reduced self-efficacy beliefs. A model for predicting the relationship between self-assessed ability and objectively assessed skill is outlined.     

Expectancies of infant-feeding methods among mothers in three ethnic groups

Abstract

The psychometric characteristics and construct validity of an inventory of expectancy statements about breast- and formula-feeding were assessed to refine a measure of the predictors of breastfeeding initiation and maintenance. Respondents were a tri-ethnic sample of mostly lower income mothers within two days after delivery. Ninety-six expectancy items reflecting eight hypothesized domains in expectancies of breastfeeding (BF) and formula-feeding(FF) were submitted to maximum likelihood factor analysis. Four factors were determined: “Benefits of BF,” “Relative Advantages of FF,” “Inconveniences of FF,” and “Relative Inconveniences of BF.” All factors were significantly related to actual BF of the new infant in the expected directions using unweighted factor scores in a multiple logistic regression analysis. Predicted BF closely matched actual BF for all ethnicities combined with a total error rate for misclassification of only 14%. This match was high for Anglo- and Black-American mothers. Each of the factors was determined to be reliably estimated by the ten most highly loaded items without an appreciable loss of internal consistency. Further research must assess expectancies prior to delivery in order to assess their predictiveness of behavior. and must further clarify the meaning of the expectancy factors to facilitate intervention.