Individual differences in the rejection-aggression link in the hot sauce paradigm: The case of rejection sensitivity

Prior research shows that social rejection elicits aggression. In this study, we investigated whether this effect is moderated by individual differences in Rejection sensitivity (RS)—a processing disposition to anxiously expect, readily perceive and overreact to rejection. Participants (N = 129) took part in a purported web-based social interaction in which they were either rejected or not by a potential partner. Subsequently, they were given the opportunity to allocate hot sauce to the perpetrator, knowing that he/she disliked spicy food. Amount of hot sauce was used as a behavioral index of aggression. Participants in the rejection condition allocated more hot sauce to the perpetrator than those in the control condition. However, RS moderated this effect such that rejection elicited aggression in high but not in low RS people. These results held after controlling for trait neuroticism. Implications of these findings for understanding how and why rejection elicits aggression are discussed.     

Influence of suggestion in the DRM paradigm: what state of consciousness is associated with false memory?

We assessed the effect of suggestion on the Deese–Roediger–McDermott paradigm and associated it with the Remember–Know–Guess paradigm. Undergraduate students were given either lists of semantically related words or texts containing these words. After the recall task, if participants did not produce the critical lure, the experimenter suggested that the word had been present, using either a question (moderate suggestion) or an assertion (strong suggestion); these conditions were compared to a condition without suggestion. Afterwards, participants took a recognition test. The results showed that strong suggestions lead to more false recognitions than other conditions and the state of consciousness associated with false recognitions tends to be a feeling of knowing rather than remembering, regardless of the verbal version (list or text). Therefore moderate suggestions did not lead to more false recognitions compare to no suggestion. We discuss the impact of suggestion on consciousness associated with false memories.     

儿童外显视空间注意转移

采用提示范式探讨了三、六年级儿童的外显视空间注意转移。实验结果表明：内源性提示下儿童表现出显著的提示效度效应,其效度效应量在年龄组间没有显著差异;较短SOAs的外源性提示下,儿童表现出显著的提示效度效应;较长SOAs的外源性提示下儿童没有表现出返回抑制效应。用注意的过滤器理论和对象文件模型讨论了本研究的结果     

The clock as a focus of selective attention in those with primary insomnia: An experimental study using a modified Posner paradigm

Espie and colleagues [(2006). The attention-intention-effort pathway in the development of psychophysiological insomnia: a theoretical review. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 10, 215-245] propose a route into psychophysiological insomnia along the attention-intention-effort pathway which focuses on the inhibition of sleep-wake automaticity. A contributing factor to this is selective attention to sleep (alongside explicit intention to sleep and effort in the sleep engagement process). Following on from previous work on selective attention to sleep [Marchetti, L. M., Biello, S. M., Broomfield, N. M., MacMahon, K. M. A., & Espie, C. A. (2006). Who is pre-occupied with sleep?. A comparison of attention bias in people with psychphysiological insomnia, delayed sleep phase syndrome and good sleepers using the induced change blindness paradigm. Journal of Sleep Research, 15, 212-221; MacMahon, K., Broomfield, N., Macphee, L., & Espie, C. A. (2006). Attention bias for sleep related stimuli in primary insomnia and delayed sleep phase syndrome using the dot-probe task. Sleep, 29, 11] and considering the importance of monitoring both internal and external cues in the maintenance of insomnia, as highlighted in the cognitive model of insomnia [Harvey, A. G. (2002). A cognitive model of insomnia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 40, 869-893], a cognitive probe task was employed to investigate further the role of the clock as a focus of selective attention in those with primary insomnia.A 2 × 2 between participants design comparing reaction time of individuals with primary insomnia (n = 22) and normal sleepers (n = 22) on a modified Posner paradigm. Responses obtained from a computer task presenting times which fall within a normal sleep period were analysed.Individuals with primary insomnia demonstrated delayed disengagement to the clock (F(1,84) = 6.9, p < 0.05) which is taken as further support for previous research demonstrating that individuals with primary insomnia exhibit an attentional bias to sleep related stimuli.These results lend support to the attention-intention-effort model (Espie et al., 2006) and the cognitive model (Harvey, 2002) both of which recognise the importance of selective attention towards salient stimuli in the maintenance of insomnia. Possible clinical implications of attentional bias to sleep as a marker of psychopathology progression and treatment efficacy are discussed.     

Is choice a reliable predictor of choice? A comment on Sagarin and Skowronski

In a recent working paper, Chen (2008) argues that a methodology central to the cognitive dissonance literature (the free-choice paradigm) has suffered from an inability to separately measure how much choices affect people’s preferences, and how much they simply reflect those preferences, by failing to fully control for the fact that subjects tend to choose goods they prefer. Although Sagarin and Skowronski concede this, they discount Chen’s argument, claiming that for revealed preferences to completely account for observed choice-effects the relationship between choice and preference would have to be unrealistically high. In this comment, we argue that their critique both misses the crux of Chen’s analysis, and is incorrect. Specifically, to properly test whether choices affect preferences, it is essential that researchers experimentally control for revealed preferences rather than speculate how much of a role they may play. Moreover, Sagarin and Skowronski’s critique rests on two fundamental errors—a misunderstanding of the function of the null-hypothesis and a misunderstanding of preference-measurement psychometrics. These errors leads Sagarin and Skowronski to suggest alternative experimental designs which while a good first step, do not address the problems identified in Chen (2008).     

内隐记忆研究综述

近年来,内隐记忆逐渐成为心理学研究的热点。本文概述了内隐记忆研究中两种主要的实验研究范式;任务分离范式和加工分离范式。同时,归纳与评价了四种主要的内隐记忆模型：阈限说、激活扩散理论、多重记忆系统理论和迁移恰当加工理论最后提出了四点内隐记忆研究对于教学的启发。     

国外婴儿动词习得的两种研究范式

通过介绍国外婴儿动词习得的研究范式, 一是习惯化研究(Habituation paradigm), 二是多通道优先注视范式(IPLP), 来揭示婴儿语言前概念形成的认知心理。国外的研究表明, 婴儿的动词习得晚于名词学习; 动词的成分习得(路径成分或是方式成分)在婴儿周岁前也有时间先后; 动词完整意义的获得还与母语的输入有密切关系。综述说明, 采用这两种研究范式研究语前婴儿的语言认知是较为经济和有效的。     

错误记忆的产生是否依赖对词表的有意加工：无意识激活的证据

使用DRM范式考察了错误记忆产生过程中无意识激活的存在与否。通过操纵实验任务和呈现方式,导致被试对学习词表的无意加工和不同水平的有意加工。结果发现,无意加工时所产生的对关键诱饵的无意识激活足以导致错误记忆效应,说明对词表的有意加工并非错误记忆产生所必需。随着对词表有意加工水平的提高,多次无意识激活的累积可导致增强的错误记忆效应,且表现出与真实记忆的共变,而阻断连续激活累积的因素可有效降低错误记忆     

Psychopathy and aggression: Examining the role of psychopathy factors in predicting laboratory aggression under hostile and instrumental conditions

Psychopathy is a problematic configuration of traits and behaviors that is consistently correlated with aggressive, criminal behavior. Studies have suggested that psychopathy is composed of related but distinct factors that manifest divergent relations with a host of constructs including aggression. In the current study, we used a sample of 126 men to examine whether these psychopathy factors are differentially related to aggression manifested in two conditions (instrumental and hostile/reactive aggression) of a laboratory aggression paradigm. Traits related to an antagonistic interpersonal style and emotional detachment (i.e., Factor 1) were related to aggression in both conditions whereas traits related to negative emotionality, impulsivity, and an antagonistic style (i.e., Factor 2) were related to aggression only in the hostile/reactive condition. Potential explanations for these findings are put forth.     

Anxiety sensitivity, conscious awareness and selective attentional biases in children

The current study investigated whether physical anxiety sensitivity (AS) is associated with selective attentional biases to affective stimuli in children. The dot-probe paradigm was used to examine the deployment of attention towards words pertaining to anxiety symptomatology, socially threatening words, and positive words, in samples of 8-10-year-old children. Word pairs were presented under both masked and unmasked conditions. Irrespective of masking, children high in physical AS displayed an attentional vigilance for emotional words relative to neutral words, whereas those low in physical AS displayed a relative avoidance of such material. The results of this study are interesting as they not only suggest the presence of automatic AS-related biases in childhood, but that this is a general emotionality bias rather than one related to specific anxiety-related stimuli.