The development of cued versus contextual conditioning in a predictable and an unpredictable human fear conditioning preparation

In this human fear conditioning study, the online development of conditioned US-expectancy to discrete cues and background contexts was measured in two groups. In the paired group (n=30), the CS was systematically followed by an aversive shock (US). In the unpaired group (n=30), CS and US were presented explicitly unpaired. Using US-expectancy ratings, we replicated the basic finding already illustrated in humans with startle modulation. In the paired group, the CS elicited more US-expectancy than the context, whereas in the unpaired group, the context elicited more US-expectancy than the CS. Interestingly, we also observed a trial-by-trial development of conditioning to the context in the unpaired group as indicated by a significant linear trend. This gradual development and the evidence for the role of US-expectancy in contextual fear add to the idea that cued and contextual fear rely on the same basic associative processes.     

Attention to global gist processing eliminates age effects in false memories

Counterintuitive age increases have been reported for the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) false memory illusion. The current theoretical explanation of this effect assumes that it is due to age increases in spontaneous interconnection of DRM list words' meanings. To test this explanation, 11-year-olds and young adults studied DRM lists under conditions that (a) encouraged them to form such meaning-based connections or (b) discouraged them from doing so. In line with the explanation, the usual developmental increase in false memory disappeared in the first condition but was preserved in the second condition. Also in line with the explanation, conjoint recognition analyses revealed that encouraging participants to form meaning connections increased their reliance on gist-based similarity judgments.     

The influence of social groups on goal contagion

Goal contagion is the automatic adoption of a goal upon perceiving another’s goal-directed behavior (Aarts, H., Gollwitzer, P. M., & Hassin, R. R. (2004). Goal contagion: Perceiving is for pursuing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(1), 23-37). This paper tests the hypothesis that goal contagion is more likely between people who belong to the same groups. Because past work on goal contagion has required participants to read about the behavior of others, we also test whether goals are caught when one sees rather than reads about another’s motivated behavior. Across three studies, this ecologically valid methodology reliably produced goal contagion, and this effect was more likely to emerge when participants shared a group membership with those they observed. In Study 1, participants were more likely to take on the goal of individuals who belonged to their same university. Study 2 demonstrated that this effect occurred even when participants were not explicitly focused on the group membership of others. A final study verified that our effects were motivational by demonstrating that failing at a goal relevant task increased negative affect, but only for those who viewed the motivated behavior of someone from their own group.     

Melody and pitch processing in five musical savants with congenital blindness

We examined absolute-pitch (AP) and short-term musical memory abilities of five musical savants with congenital blindness, seven musicians, and seven non-musicians with good vision and normal intelligence in two experiments. In the first, short-term memory for musical phrases was tested and the savants and musicians performed statistically indistinguishably, both significantly outperforming the non-musicians and remembering more material from the C major scale sequences than random trials. In the second experiment, participants learnt associations between four pitches and four objects using a non-verbal paradigm. This experiment approximates to testing AP ability. Low statistical power meant the savants were not statistically better than the musicians, although only the savants scored statistically higher than the non-musicians. The results are evidence for a musical module, separate from general intelligence; they also support the anecdotal reporting of AP in musical savants, which is thought to be necessary for the development of musical-savant skill.     

Intersectional Invisibility: The Distinctive Advantages and Disadvantages of Multiple Subordinate-Group Identities

The hypothesis that possessing multiple subordinate-group identities renders a person “invisible” relative to those with a single subordinate-group identity is developed. We propose that androcentric, ethnocentric, and heterocentric ideologies will cause people who have multiple subordinate-group identities to be defined as non-prototypical members of their respective identity groups. Because people with multiple subordinate-group identities (e.g., ethnic minority woman) do not fit the prototypes of their respective identity groups (e.g., ethnic minorities, women), they will experience what we have termed “intersectional invisibility.” In this article, our model of intersectional invisibility is developed and evidence from historical narratives, cultural representations, interest-group politics, and anti-discrimination legal frameworks is used to illustrate its utility. Implications for social psychological theory and research are discussed.     

Developing Sexual Agency: Rethinking Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Theories for the Twenty-First Century

Neo-liberal society asserts that adults should be independent and responsible for themselves, and that children and adolescents should be dependent on their parents. The earlier construction of the concept of adolescence makes this seem obviously true. Yet if we remember that “adolescence” was part of a project of gender, race, and class construction, it becomes easier to ask whether adolescence is a meaningful concept and a stage of life or whether it continues to be a component of an ideology that relies on the construction of “others.” In this chapter, I suggest that adolescence plays the latter role, and that although the naturalization of adolescence is particularly dangerous for groups like queer youth who are at the margins of society, it is dangerous for all young people because it limits sexual agency. This is particularly important because increasingly society requires that young people consider their futures not from the assumption that they will move into well-defined roles, but with the assumption that they will need to define new ways of relating.

An additional antecedent of empathic concern: valuing the welfare of the person in need

Two experiments examined the role of valuing the welfare of a person in need as an antecedent of empathic concern. Specifically, these experiments explored the relation of such valuing to a well-known antecedent--perspective taking. In Experiment 1, both perspective taking and valuing were manipulated, and each independently increased empathic concern, which, in turn, increased helping behavior. In Experiment 2, only valuing was manipulated. Manipulated valuing increased measured perspective taking and, in part as a result, increased empathic concern, which, in turn, increased helping. Valuing appears to be an important, largely overlooked, situational antecedent of feeling empathy for a person in need.     

Fear of Hypoglycemia and Self Reported Posttraumatic Stress in Adults with Type I Diabetes Treated by Intensive Regimens

This study investigated the prevalence of hypoglycemic fear (FH) and hypoglycemia-specific posttraumatic stress (PTS) among individuals with Type I diabetes. Over 25% of participants met diagnostic criteria for current PTSD. High percentages of participants endorsed PTS symptom clusters, suggesting that individuals may be experiencing distress without necessarily meeting diagnostic criteria. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that perceived threat of death from hypoglycemia and FH were significantly related to PTS. Number of recent hypoglycemic episodes did not predict PTS/PTSD. Depression and nonspecific anxiety did not contribute to the statistical prediction of PTSD, suggesting that symptomatology endorsed represents hypoglycemia-specific anxiety rather than global psychological distress. The hypothesis that greater PTS symptomatology would relate to poorer glycemic control was unsubstantiated. Perceived death-threat from hypoglycemia and nonspecific anxiety were the only variables that contributed to prediction of glycemic control, suggesting that PTS did not represent a significant barrier for glycemic control in this sample.     

Effects of Message Framing on Breast-Cancer-Related Beliefs and Behaviors: The Role of Mediating Factors

The effects of gain-loss message framing on breast-cancer-related cognitions and behaviors were assessed among 539 women aged 30 to 70 years. The design involved a prebrochure telephone interview, followed by a brochure mailout, and a postbrochure telephone interview. The brochures contained information about breast cancer and the risk of family history. Recommended behaviors were framed to emphasize gains, losses, or were neutral; and statistical risk information was presented either positively or negatively. Measures included demographics, family history, breast self-examination (BSE) performance, BSE intention, self-efficacy in performing BSE, perceived early detection risk of breast cancer, perceived susceptibility to breast cancer, and anxiety about breast cancer. A loss-framed message led to greater positive change in BSE behavior. Interactions between framing effects and variables of issue involvement, perceived early detection risk, and self-efficacy indicated effects on behavior, but not beliefs.     

When fast logic meets slow belief: Evidence for a parallel-processing model of belief bias

Two experiments pitted the default-interventionist account of belief bias against a parallel-processing model. According to the former, belief bias occurs because a fast, belief-based evaluation of the conclusion pre-empts a working-memory demanding logical analysis. In contrast, according to the latter both belief-based and logic-based responding occur in parallel. Participants were given deductive reasoning problems of variable complexity and instructed to decide whether the conclusion was valid on half the trials or to decide whether the conclusion was believable on the other half. When belief and logic conflict, the default-interventionist view predicts that it should take less time to respond on the basis of belief than logic, and that the believability of a conclusion should interfere with judgments of validity, but not the reverse. The parallel-processing view predicts that beliefs should interfere with logic judgments only if the processing required to evaluate the logical structure exceeds that required to evaluate the knowledge necessary to make a belief-based judgment, and vice versa otherwise. Consistent with this latter view, for the simplest reasoning problems (modus ponens), judgments of belief resulted in lower accuracy than judgments of validity, and believability interfered more with judgments of validity than the converse. For problems of moderate complexity (modus tollens and single-model syllogisms), the interference was symmetrical, in that validity interfered with belief judgments to the same degree that believability interfered with validity judgments. For the most complex (three-term multiple-model syllogisms), conclusion believability interfered more with judgments of validity than vice versa, in spite of the significant interference from conclusion validity on judgments of belief.