The Implicit Associations Between Religious and Nonreligious Supernatural Constructs

The present studies furthered understanding of the implicit relationships between traditional religious (RS) and nonreligious supernatural (NRS) concepts. Moving beyond the study of explicit beliefs, we accounted for the distinctions within NRS concepts, applying recent developments in the understanding of the correspondence in beliefs in these phenomena.     

Effects of gender role self-discrepancies and self-perceived attractiveness on social anxiety for women across social situations

Background and objectives: Psychosocial factors, such as gender role norms, may impact how social anxiety disorder (SAD) is experienced and expressed in different social contexts for women. However to date, these factors have not been examined via experimental methodology. Design: This was a cross-sectional, quasi-experimental controlled study. Methods: The current study included 48 highly socially anxious (HSA) women (70.9% meeting criteria for SAD) and examined the relationships among psychosocial factors (i.e. gender role self-discrepancies and self-perceived physical attractiveness), self-perceived social performance, and state anxiety, across two in vivo social tasks (i.e. conversation and opinion speech). Results: On average, participants reported belief that they ought to be less feminine for the speech task and more masculine for both the conversation and speech tasks. Also, for the conversation task, only lower self-rated attractiveness predicted poorer self-perceived performance and greater post-task state anxiety, above gender role self-discrepancies and confederate gender. For the speech task, only greater self-discrepancy in prototypical masculine traits predicted poorer performance ratings, and it was related to greater state anxiety in anticipation of the task. Conclusion: For HSA women, psychosocial factors may play different roles in social anxiety across social contexts.     

Anticipatory modulation of precision grip force with variations in limb velocity of a curvilinear movement

The authors examined the relationship between peak velocity of a discrete horizontal elbow flexion movement in which the hand path was curvilinear and premovement modulation of precision grip force. The velocity of the movements of 7 participants was varied from maximal velocity to a velocity that required several seconds to reach a target. An object instrumented with force transducers for the forefinger and thumb measured precision grip force. There was a positively accelerating quadratic relationship between grip force change before movement and peak velocity of the ensuing limb movement. On some low-velocity trials, premovement grip force modulation reflected a net decrease. In contrast, high-velocity trials were preceded by net increases in grip force. Using cluster analysis, the authors classified grip forces in low-velocity movements as an empirically distinct set of entities from grip forces in high-velocity movements. The cluster of high-value grip forces suggested an anticipatory strategy that allowed participants a large safety margin in grip force to avoid object slip on movement initiation. The cluster of low-value grip forces at movement initiation suggested a second anticipatory strategy in which participants changed grip force very little, perhaps to increase the ability of proprioceptors in the hand to sense force changes. Those findings suggest that modulation of grip force before initiation of movements in which the hand path is curvilinear may be governed by two distinct velocity-dependent anticipatory strategies.     

Habituation of the proleg withdrawal reflex in Manduca sexta does not involve changes in motoneuron properties or depression at the sensorimotor synapse

Larvae of the hawkmoth, Manduca sexta, exhibit a defensive proleg withdrawal reflex in which deflection of mechanosensory hairs on the proleg tip (the planta) evokes retraction of the proleg. A previous behavioral study showed that this reflex habituates in response to repeated planta hair deflection and exhibits several other defining features of habituation. In a semi-intact preparation consisting of a proleg and its associated segmental ganglion, repeated deflection of a planta hair or electrical stimulation of its sensory neuron causes a neural correlate of habituation, manifested as a decrease in the number of action potentials evoked in the proleg motor nerve. Monosynaptic connections from planta hair sensory neurons to the principal planta retractor motoneuron exhibit several forms of activity-dependent plasticity. In the present study we recorded intracellularly from this motoneuron during repetitive electrical stimulation of a planta hair sensory neuron. The number of action potentials evoked in the motoneuron decreased significantly, representing a neural correlate of habituation. The motoneuron's resting membrane potential, input resistance. and spike threshold measured before and after repetitive stimulation did not differ between the stimulated group and a control group. Furthermore, the amplitude of the monosynaptic excitatory postsynaptic potential, as well as the magnitude of paired-pulse facilitation, evoked in the motoneuron by the sensory neuron did not change after repetitive stimulation. These results suggest that depression at the sensorimotor synapse does not contribute to reflex habituation. Rather, other mechanisms in the ganglion of the stimulated segment, such as changes in polysynaptic reflex pathways, appear to be responsible.     

Socioeconomic status is not judged equally: Target race shifts standards in interpersonal judgments of SES

Across three studies, respondents made SES judgments of targets varying in Race (White or Black) and SES (Low or High), including global subjective SES, financial success, and educational attainment. As Whites and Blacks are stereotypically associated with upper and lower SES, respectively, the Shifting Standards Model (SSM) of stereotype judgments predicted the pattern of interpersonal objective and subjective judgments. In Study 1, in a between-subjects design, respondents rated Black targets significantly higher on subjective measures than White targets, even as the targets were rated as comparable on objective measures. Study 2 replicated these effects with a broader range of stimulus materials. In Study 3, the shifting standards effect was replicated using a within-subjects design, further supporting the effect. The findings support the application of the SSM to race-based shifts in interpersonal judgments of SES and are discussed regarding their implications for intergroup relations and workplace evaluations.     

Relations between Unsociability and Peer Problems in Chinese Children: Moderating Effect of Behavioural Control

Unsociable children are likely to develop adjustment difficulties in Chinese society. The primary goal of the present study was to examine the moderating effect of behavioural control on the relation between unsociability and peer problems in Chinese children. Participants were fourth to eighth grade students in urban China (N = 787). Assessments of unsociability, shyness, peer problems and behavioural control were obtained from peer nominations and teacher ratings. Results indicated that unsociability was positively related to peer problems in Chinese children after controlling for shyness. Also, the relation between unsociability and peer problems was attenuated among children with higher behavioural control. Thus, behavioural control may be a buffering factor that serves to protect unsociable children from developing peer problems. Gender and age also moderated these associations. Results are discussed in terms of the meaning and implications of unsociability and behavioural control in Chinese culture. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Older adults encode more,not less: evidence for age-related attentional broadening

Previous work has shown that older adults attend to and implicitly remember more distracting information than young adults; however, it is unknown whether they show a corresponding decrease in implicit memory for targets in the presence of distracters. Using implicit memory tests, we asked whether older adults show a tradeoff in memory between targets and distracters. Here, young and older adults performed a selective attention task in which they were instructed to attend to target pictures and ignore superimposed distracter words. We measured priming for distracter words using fragment completion and for target pictures using naming time. Older adults showed greater priming for distracting words compared to young adults, but equivalent priming for target pictures. These results suggest that older adults have a broader attentional scope than young adults, encompassing both relevant and irrelevant information.