The role of controlled attention on recall in major depression

Information processing biases are hallmark features of major depressive disorder (MDD). Depressed individuals display biased memory and attention for negative material. Given that memory is highly dependent on attention for initial encoding, understanding the interplay of these processes may provide important insight into mechanisms that produce memory biases in depression. In particular, attentional control—the ability to selectively attend to task-relevant information by both inhibiting the processing of irrelevant information and disengaging attention from irrelevant material—may be one area of impairment in MDD. In the current study, clinically depressed (MDD: n = 15) and never depressed (non-MDD: n = 22) participants' line of visual gaze was assessed while participants viewed positive and negative word pairs. For each word pair, participants were instructed to attend to one word (target) and ignore one word (distracter). Free recall of study stimuli was then assessed. Depressed individuals displayed greater recall of negatively valenced target words following the task. Although there were no group differences in attentional control in the context of negative words, attention to negative targets mediated the relationship between depression status and recall of negative words. Results suggest a stronger link between attention and memory for negative material in MDD.     

Seeing through the eyes of anxious individuals: An investigation of anxiety-related interpretations of emotional expressions

The interpretation of emotional states is necessary for successful social communication. Often individuals interpret emotional expressions intuitively and without full cognitive awareness. The aim of the present study was to test whether anxiety would influence affect interpretation in the manner suggested by interpretation bias—the tendency to interpret ambiguous cues in a threatening way. Interpretation of social cues was assessed with the similarity rating task (simtask) in two studies (n₁ = 116, n₂ = 76). The similarity ratings were analysed with a multidimensional scaling (MDS) approach, and the effects of anxiety on the interpretation of emotional expressions were analysed with multilevel modelling. The results of both studies showed evidence for an anxiety-related interpretation bias. High-anxious individuals tended to interpret milder threats as more negative than low-anxious individuals did. The consequences for anxiety research are discussed.     

Task conflict,information processing,and decision-making: The damaging effect of relationship conflict

A popular theoretical assumption holds that task-related disagreements stimulate critical thinking, and thus may improve group decision making. Two recent meta-analyses showed, however, that task conflict can have a positive effect, a negative effect, or no effect at all on decision-making quality (De Dreu & Weingart, 2003; De Wit, Greer, & Jehn, 2012). In two studies, we built upon the suggestion of both meta-analyses that the presence of relationship conflict determines whether a task conflict is positively or negatively related to decision making. We hypothesized and found that the level of perceived relationship conflict during task conflict (Study 1), and the actual presence (vs. absence) of relationship conflict during task conflict (Study 2), increased group members’ rigidity in holding onto suboptimal initial preferences during decision making and thus led to poor decisions. In both studies the effect of relationship conflict on decision making was mediated by biased use of information.     

The effects of team strategic orientation on team process and information search

We tested the effects of team strategic orientation on team member perceptions, work strategy and information search. In Experiment 1, 80 teams worked on a hidden profile decision-making task. A defensive team strategic orientation increased members’ perceptions of the problem’s scope, leading to a more process-focused work strategy and broader information search compared to an offensive team strategic orientation. When teams needed critical information from the environment, defensive teams outperformed offensive teams; offensive teams performed better when critical information resided within the team. In Experiment 2, these findings were replicated with 92 teams performing a different decision task. When making a second decision, half of the teams were led to change their strategic orientation; teams shifting from offense to defense altered their information search behavior more readily than did teams shifting in the opposite direction, suggesting an asymmetric adaptation effect.     

Military Influence Tactics: Lessons Learned in Iraq and Afghanistan

When deployed U.S. soldiers attempt to influence the attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors of civilians, success can save lives and failure can be deadly. Survey data from 228 military personnel with deployment experience to Iraq and Afghanistan revealed that in a challenging wartime environment, empathy, respect, prior relationships, and familiarity with influence targets predicted success in cross-cultural influence attempts. Influence techniques involving resources and positive feelings were used more commonly in relatively successful influence attempts; negative tactics were used more commonly in unsuccessful attempts.     

Task-load manipulation in the Symbol Digit Modalities Test: An alternative measure of information processing speed

ObjectiveTo evaluate the utility of an oral fMRI-adapted version of the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) to assess information processing speed (IPS) using three different interstimulus intervals (ISI).MethodsNineteen right-handed healthy controls performed the adapted version of the SDMT, consisting of a block design that had a total of 6 control/activation block pairs with 3 different ISIs (1.5, 2 and 2.5 s) presented in two different runs: in ascending and descending orders. The brain activation patterns during different ISIs were assessed by effective functional connectivity analysis based on independent component analysis.ResultsAs expected, all conditions yielded activations in the fronto-parietal networks (FPNs) related to attention processes. Shorter ISIs (1.5 and 2 s) not only yielded greater patterns of connectivity within fronto-parietal and occipital regions such as the FPN and fronto-occipital network (FON), but also recruited more functional networks overall. Task performance at the shortest ISI was negatively correlated with connectivity at the FPN and activity of the pre-supplementary motor area extending to the cingulate gyrus.ConclusionIncreasing IPS demands due to shorter ISIs resulted in an increased level and number of functional networks required, increased connectivity within the FPN and FON, and enhancement of the prefrontal cortex. IPS does not arise from activity of a single b area but from affective information transfer among distant cortical regions of the frontal and parietal cortices. This adapted version of the SDMT may be useful for studying alterations of IPS in clinical and nonclinical populations.     

South African Adolescents' Career Development through the Lens of the Systems Theory Framework: An Exploratory Study

Adolescent career development has predominantly been studied in the context of middle class Eurocentric cultures and there have been calls for greater attention to the career development of non-dominant and disadvantaged groups. Further, there have been calls to explore career development in terms of its context and process. In this regard, the need for research measures and approaches sensitive to adolescents and particular cultures has been recognised. This is particularly the case in South African career psychology. The present study used a qualitative career assessment instrument, My System of Career Influences, to explore influences on the career development of disadvantaged South African adolescents living in a children's home. Consistent with previous international and national studies, parents were shown to be an important influence. Unlike previous studies, the influence of working overseas was also identified as an important influence. The MSCI was shown to be effective in providing insight into both the context and process of career development and as a research instrument that may be used with adolescents. Recommendations for future research are made.     

A Psychology of Indigenous Healing in Southern Africa

Converging lines of evidence from various scientific disciplines consistently point to humanity's African roots. In this context, the term “indigenous healing” is used to refer to universal forms of healing that began in Africa and were developed further both locally and internationally. This article examines the notion of a psychology of indigenous healing and suggests that investigations continually reveal essential structures and practices of a perennial psychology underlying modern scientific, academic and professional forms of this discipline. Examination of such structures and practices illuminates an original psychological theme in Southern African indigenous healing involving recognition of Spirit as Source of Self that extends into transpersonal realms. Related themes include ancestral consciousness, familial and communal spirituality, healers and specializations, illness prevention, health promotion and various forms of empathy. The need for future in depth research into such psychological themes and issues is identified and explicated.     

Self‐regulatory strength amplification through selective information processing

We propose and demonstrate that although depletion of self-regulatory strength is common, it is not inevitable. Four experiments show that under certain conditions, consumers can amplify their self-regulatory strength and, as a result, increase their ability to control their behavior. Experiments 1–3 examine the depleting effects of information processing by exposing dieters and nondieters to either cost or pleasure information about chocolate. The results of experiments 1–3 show that when dieters have the ability to monitor the costs of consumption, they are motivated to mobilize additional strength and increase their ability to self-regulate. In experiment 4 we show the practical implications of our work and show that dieters are better able to control their eating because they choose to focus more on the cost (versus pleasure) of consumption.