The influence of ongoing task absorption on preschoolers’ prospective memory with peripheral cues

ABSTRACT

Prospective memory (PM) represents the ability to perform a planned action after a certain delay. Substantial increases of PM have been shown across the ages of preschool children. However, previous studies have mostly focused on PM tasks, in which the PM cue was presented centrally (i.e. inside the centre of attention). The current study examined developmental differences between 3-, 4-, and 5-year old preschoolers using PM tasks, in which the PM cue was presented peripherally and investigated the influence of ongoing task absorption on children’s performance on such tasks. Results showed that PM performance increased over preschool age and that it was affected by ongoing task absorption, with significantly better PM performance on a low- versus a high-absorbing ongoing task. Importantly, age differences were only present in the low- but not in the high-absorbing condition, showing that preschoolers’ PM improves when less cognitive resources are absorbed by the ongoing task.     

Parental loss of close family members and propensities towards absorption in offspring

Parental unresolved/disorganized responses to loss assessed in the Adult Attachment Interview predict infant disorganized (D) attachment. Parental experiences of loss near the birth of an infant should therefore increase the likelihood of D attachment to that parent. Liotti (1992) suggested that D attachment may increase tendencies to altered states of consciousness, and some support for this hypothesis has been obtained in clinical and high-risk samples. Here, Tellegen's Absorption Scale was used to measure propensities to altered consciousness in two low-risk samples of young adults (N=136, N=308). In both studies, participants whose parents experienced familial loss within two years of their birth showed elevated levels of absorption. These outcomes (a) support the proposed connection between disorganized attachment and tendencies to altered consciousness, and (b) suggest that queries regarding parental loss experiences should be further explored as a ‘rough and ready’ estimate of disorganized attachment in large-scale studies.     

教师工作投入:结构与影响因素的研究

为研究区分教师工作态度的一个重要变量——工作投入,采用自编教师工作投入量表对432名小学教师进行了测查。研究结果表明:教师工作投入由工作重要性、工作乐趣和工作专注等三个因素构成;性别、教龄和从教原因对教师的工作投入有显著影响;女教师的工作投入高于男教师;随教龄增长,教师工作投入水平呈“波浪型”上升趋势;把“教师”作为理想职业的教师在工作投入上显著高于其他原因从教的教师,别无选择才当教师的人工作投入水平最低。     

On the origin of worries about modern health hazards: Experimental evidence for a conjoint influence of media reports and personality traits

Objective: Worries about health threatening effects of potential health hazards of modern life (e.g. electric devices and pollution) represent a growing phenomenon in Western countries. Yet, little is known about the causes of this growing special case of affective risk perceptions termed Modern Health Worries (MHW). The purpose of this study is to examine a possible role of biased media reports in the formation of MHW.

Design: In two experiments, we investigated whether typical television reports affect MHW. In Study 1, 130 participants were randomly assigned to a film on idiopathic environmental intolerance (IEI) or a control film about cystic fibrosis. In Study 2, 82 participants were randomly assigned to either a film on the dangers of electromagnetic fields or a control condition.

Main outcome measures: Increases in MHW after sensational media reports.

Results: In Study 1, only participants high on the personality trait of absorption revealed increased MHW after watching the IEI film. In Study 2, specifically worries about radiation were found to be elevated after watching the film on the dangers of electromagnetic fields compared to the control film.

Conclusion: The results of both studies reveal a significant and specific influence of sensational short mass media reports on MHW. The influence of potential moderators such as absorption remains to be clarified.     

Triggering Individual Emergence: Inspiration of Banathy,the Visionary

This paper examines how metaphors can play a key role in triggering individual emergence. Metaphor is referenced in two main ways: the enthalpy metaphor is used to provide understanding of, and guide, the process of effective conversation. Metaphor is also interpreted very broadly to define those images, analogies, concepts, models, and theories that define our understanding of the world and our perception. It is our perception that must change if we are to improve the future. The paper examines how sharing of appropriate metaphor through conversation can lead to collective emergence; and similarly, how integral conversation-with-self triggered by metaphors in (1) conversation with others, (2) other external stimuli, and (3) internal thought processes, can trigger individual emergence. The paper examines which of the three sources of trigger may be singly/jointly or sequentially the most powerful in their effect of triggering individual emergence, and under what context. The model presented is evaluated for the process of emergence of the paper. The reader is invited to participate in furthering the evaluation process. The author's own individual emergence is recognized as stemming from ongoing association with, and inspiration of, Bela Banathy, to whom the work is dedicated.     

Self‐absorption paradox is not a paradox: Illuminating the dark side of self‐reflection

Although considered an important component of a healthy personality, self‐reflection has not so far been shown to have any specific benefits for mental health. This research addresses this issue by taking into consideration two important suppressor variables, self‐rumination and the need for absolute truth. The latter is an innovative variable, defined and presented in this research. The first two studies aimed to validate a new measure that acts as an operational definition of the need for absolute truth. The first study was conducted with two group of participants; the first group consisted of 129 females and 67 males, mean age = 20 years, and the second 182 females and 104 males, mean age = 27. In the second study, participants were 22 females and 18 males, mean age = 20.5. In the final study, conducted with 296 female, 163 male participants (mean age = 37), suppressor effects were tested using structural equation modeling. The results showed that by taking account of these two suppressor variables, particularly the need for absolute truth, the expected relationship between self‐reflection and mental health was revealed. The need for absolute truth was shown to be crucial for understanding the effects of self‐reflection on mental health, therefore it should be considered in all processes of psychotherapy.     

UNSELF‐CONSCIOUS CONTROL: BROADENING THE NOTION OF CONTROL THROUGH EXPERIENCES OF FLOW AND WU‐WEI

Abstract. This paper both clarifies and broadens the notion of control and its relation to the self. By discussing instances of skillful absorption from different cultural backgrounds, I argue that the notion of control is not as closely related to self‐consciousness as is often suggested. Experiences of flow and wu‐wei exemplify a nonself‐conscious though personal type of control. The intercultural occurrence of this type of behavioral control demonstrates its robustness, and questions two long‐held intuitions about the relation between self‐consciousness and the experience of control. The first intuition holds that the conscious self initiates and controls actions, thoughts, and feelings. The second is the view that losing this self‐conscious type of control is a negative and upsetting experience. By focusing on “the paradox of control” in these experiences of skillful absorption, I argue that a feeling of control can occur without a self that narratively claims control. Furthermore, this type of control can be a very positive and pleasurable experience. Therefore, the common views of the notion of control are in need of broader conceptualization and further refinement.     

People performance enablers in relation to employees’ psychological attachment to the organisation

This study investigated the relationship between a set of people performance enablers and psychological attachment behavioural states in a variety of South African work settings. The sample (N?=?582) comprised mostly males (69%) and black Africans from organisations in the manufacturing (17%), financial services (14%), information technology (16%) and the non-profit sectors (53%). Data on employees’ perceptions of performance enablers and their psychological attachment to the particular organisation were collected using the Psychological Work Immersion Scale (PWIS: Veldsman, 2013 Veldsman, D. (2013). Moving towards a strategic human capital return on investment model: An exploratory study of the Psychological Work Immersion Scale. Unpublished research report, Rocketfuel Consulting, Randburg, South Africa. [Google Scholar]). The data were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis to reveal the structure of the people enablers and psychological attachment variables in the South African work settings. Structural equation modelling was used to predict psychological attachment from the performance enabler indicators. The findings provided evidence that employees’ perceptions of performance enablers significantly explain their level of psychological attachment (commitment, motivation and work absorption). Manager credibility appears as a key performance enabler and commitment as a strong element of psychological attachment. The research contributes to the literature on individual and organisational performance by extending research on work psychology in the South African context.     

Characterization of Al/n-ZnO/p-Si/Al structure with low-cost solution-grown ZnO layer

We report the fabrication of Al/n-ZnO/p-Si/Al diode structures with a flower-like ZnO layer. The average grain size, microstrain and dislocation density in the ZnO layer were determined as 25?nm, 1.55?×?10^?3 and 3.23?×?10¹³?cm^?2, respectively. From absorption spectra, the optical band gap was found to be ～3.17?eV. A red shift was attributed to non-stoichiometry arising from Zn⁺² ions substituting for oxygen vacancies. The ideality factor was determined as 1.55. The barrier height was calculated as 0.71?eV from I–V characteristics and 0.73?eV using the Norde plots.     

Animal model of posterior cingulate cortex hypometabolism implicated in amnestic MCI and AD

The posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) is the brain region displaying the earliest sign of energy hypometabolism in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) who develop Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In particular, the activity of the mitochondrial respiratory enzyme cytochrome oxidase (C.O.) is selectively inhibited within the PCC in AD. The present study is the first experimental analysis designed to model in animals the localized cortical C.O. inhibition found as the earliest metabolic sign of early-stage AD in human neuroimaging studies. Rats were used to model local inhibition of C.O. by direct injection of the C.O. inhibitor sodium azide into the PCC. Learning and memory were examined in a spatial holeboard task and brains were analyzed using quantitative histochemical, morphological and biochemical techniques. Behavioral results showed that sodium azide-treated rats were impaired in their memory of the baited pattern in probe trials as compared to their training scores before treatment, without non-specific behavioral differences. Brain analyses showed that C.O. inhibition was specific to the PCC, and sodium azide increased lipid peroxidation, gliosis and neuron loss, and lead to a network functional disconnection between the PCC and interconnected hippocampal regions. It was concluded that impaired memory by local C.O. inhibition in the PCC may serve to model in animals a metabolic lesion similar to that found in patients with amnestic MCI and early-stage AD. This model may be useful as an in vivo testing platform to investigate neuroprotective strategies to prevent or reduce the amnestic effects produced by posterior cingulate energy hypometabolism.