Illegitimacy moderates the effects of power on approach

A wealth of research has found that power leads to behavioral approach and action. Four experiments demonstrate that this link between power and approach is broken when the power relationship is illegitimate. When power was primed to be legitimate or when power positions were assigned legitimately, the powerful demonstrated more approach than the powerless. However, when power was experienced as illegitimate, the powerless displayed as much approach as, or even more approach than, the powerful. This moderating effect of legitimacy occurred regardless of whether power and legitimacy were manipulated through experiential primes, semantic primes, or role manipulations. It held true for behavioral approach (Experiment 1) and two effects associated with it: the propensity to negotiate (Experiment 2) and risk preferences (Experiments 3 and 4). These findings demonstrate that how power is conceptualized, acquired, and wielded determines its psychological consequences and add insight into not only when but also why power leads to approach.     

Selective and protracted effect of nifedipine on fear memory extinction correlates with induced stress response

Memory extinction, defined as a decrease of a conditioned response as a function of a non-reinforced conditioned stimulus presentation, has high biological and clinical relevance. Extinction is not a passive reversing or erasing of the plasticity associated with acquisition, but a novel, active learning process. Nifedipine blocks L-type voltage gated calcium channels (LVGCC) and has been shown previously to selectively interfere with the extinction, but not the acquisition, of fear memory. We studied here the effect of retrograde and anterograde shifts of nifedipine application, with respect to an extinction training, on the extinction of fear conditioning. Subcutaneous injection of 30 mg/kg nifedipine, at least up to 4 h before the extinction session, significantly impaired extinction, as did intraperitoneal injection of 15 mg/kg nifedipine, at least up to 2 h before extinction training. However, the injection of nifedipine also induced a strong and protracted stress response. The pharmacokinetics of nifedipine suggest that it was mainly this stress response that triggered the specific inhibition of extinction, not the blockade of LVGCC in the brain. Our results support recent findings that stress selectively interferes with the extinction, but not the acquisition, of fear memory. They also indicate that a pharmacological approach is not sufficient to study the role of brain LVGCC in learning and memory. Further research using specific genetically modified animals is necessary to delineate the role of LVGCC in fear memory extinction.     

Testing the cognitive relevance of a geometric model on a word association task: A comparison of humans, ACOM, and LSA

The general aim of this study is to validate the cognitive relevance of the geometric model used in the semantic atlases (SA). With this goal in mind, we compare the results obtained by the automatic contexonym organizing model (ACOM)—an SA-derived model for word sense representation based on contextual links—with human subjects’ responses on a word association task. We begin by positioning the geometric paradigm with respect to the hierarchical paradigm (WordNet) and the vector paradigm (latent semantic analysis [LSA] and the hyperspace analogue to language model). Then we compare ACOM’s responses with Hirsh and Tree’s (2001) word association norms based on the responses of two groups of subjects. The results showed that words associated by 50% or more of the Hirsh and Tree subjects were also proposed by ACOM (e.g., 71% of the words in the norms were also given by ACOM). Finally, we compare ACOM and LSA on the basis of the same association norms. The results indicate better performance for the geometric model.     

What I think you see is what you get: Influence of prejudice on assimilation to negative meta‐stereotypes among Dutch Moroccan teenagers

This research examined how Dutch Moroccan teenagers in the Netherlands deal with the negative stereotype that they believe the Dutch have about their group. We hypothesize that Moroccans act in line with this negative image when they are prejudiced against the Dutch and feel personally meta‐stereotyped. A survey study among 88 Dutch Moroccan teenagers revealed that Moroccan teenagers who felt negative about the Dutch and thought that they were personally negatively stereotyped, expressed attitudes in line with this negative “meta‐stereotype.” That is, they act in line with the outgroup's negative image by legitimizing criminality, aggression, loitering teenagers, and Muslim extremism. These findings suggest that being confronted with a negative stereotype about one's group might sometimes lead to a reaction that is both harmful for the stereotyped group as well as society in general. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Goal-directed access to mental objects in working memory: The role of task-specific feature retrieval

In the present study, we examined the hypothesis of task-specific access to mental objects from verbal working memory. It is currently assumed that a mental object is brought into the focus of attention in working memory by a process of object selection, which provides this object for any upcoming mental operation (Oberauer, 2002). We argue that this view must be extended, since the selection of information for processing is always guided by current intentions and task goals. In our experiments, it was required that two kinds of comparison tasks be executed on digits selected from a set of three digits held in working memory. The tasks differed in regard to the object features the comparison was based on. Access to a new mental object (object switch) took consistently longer on the semantic comparison task than on the recognition task. This difference is not attributable to object selection difficulty and cannot be fully accounted for by task difficulty or differences in rehearsal processes. The results support our assumptions that (1) mental objects are selected for a given specific task and, so, are accessed with their specific task-relevant object features; (2) verbal mental objects outside the focus of attention are usually not maintained at a full feature level but are refreshed phonologically by subvocal rehearsal; and (3) if more than phonological information is required, access to mental objects involves feature retrieval processes in addition to object selection.     

Does work engagement increase after a short respite? The role of job involvement as a double‐edged sword

This study extends research on work engagement by examining how a short respite and general job involvement contribute to work engagement. We gathered questionnaire data from 156 nurses before and after a short respite. Results indicated an increase of work engagement after the respite. Structural equation modelling showed that nurses who experienced psychological detachment from work during the respite showed a higher increase of work engagement. Moreover, nurses who indicated higher job involvement also showed a higher increase of work engagement. Contradictory to this direct positive effect job involvement had on change in work engagement, job involvement exerted a negative indirect effect on change in work engagement by impaired psychological detachment during the respite. Hence, job involvement acted as a double‐edged sword for the increase of work engagement. Practical implications for the organization of short respites and suggestions for future research on recovery processes are discussed.     

Cognitive Therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: a Case Example

Cognitive therapy for OCD is an empirically validated alternative to the more widely used and validated behavioral therapy for OCD. The cognitive approach is based on the premise that belief systems contribute importantly to the development and maintenance of all types of OCD. By identifying and challenging maladaptive thoughts, beliefs, and core beliefs, patients can improve significantly and maintain their gains over time. This approach is demonstrated in detail with the case of Caroline, a 51-year-old woman with contamination obsessions.     

L’indemnisation par la solidarité nationale des dommages imputables à des contaminations d’origine transfusionnelle

Until 2009, the national effort to prevent transfusion contamination was aimed exclusively at the human immunodeficiency virus. Article 67 of the law of 17th December, 2008 instituted a new procedure for the out of court settlement of litigation arising from the contamination of blood transfusions by hepatitis C virus. The application of these successive legislative regulations is bound to raise questions. With the special systems adopted in the matter of transfusion contamination, damages attributable to mandatory vaccinations, biomedical research, serious health threats or treatment with extractive human growth hormone, the legislator has sized up the usefulness of extending the protection given by the health insurance system to a larger area of national concern, that of the health risk.