Attenuating depletion using goal priming

This research examines how goal priming can attenuate the depletion effect. Using different self-control goals (i.e., savings and healthy eating) and different measures of self-control ability (i.e., willingness to buy and actual consumption), this study reveals that when people were primed with cues related to a self-control goal and then depleted, the effect of depletion on a subsequent self-control task (related to the primed goal) became attenuated. Also, depleted people, relative to nondepleted people, reported a lower level of commitment to a self-control goal; however, when cues related to a self-control goal were primed, their level of goal commitment increased, weakening the depletion effect. This research clarifies questions related to the process underlying depletion, while highlighting the importance of goal commitment (a measure of motivation) in understanding depletion.     

Dyadic coping mediates the relationship between parents’ grief and dyadic adjustment following the loss of a child

Background and Objectives: This study aimed to examine forms of dyadic coping (DC) as mediators of the association between parents’ grief response and dyadic adjustment and to determine whether these indirect effects were moderated by the child’s type of death, timing of death, and age.

Design: The study design was cross-sectional.

Method: The sample consisted of 197 bereaved parents. Participants completed the Prolonged Grief Disorder Scale, Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale, and Dyadic Coping Inventory.

Results: Significant indirect effects of parents’ grief response on dyadic adjustment were found through stress communication by oneself and by the partner, positive and negative DC by the partner, and joint DC. The timing of death moderated the association between grief response and dyadic adjustment and between joint DC and dyadic adjustment. Grief response was negatively associated with dyadic adjustment only when the death occurred after birth. Grief response was negatively associated with joint DC, which, in turn, was positively associated with dyadic adjustment, when the death occurred both before and after birth. However, the association was stronger in the latter.

Conclusions: Specific forms of DC might be mechanisms through which grief response is associated with dyadic adjustment and should be promoted in clinical practice.     

先“自我中心”再“调整”:成人推理他人心理状态的加工过程

成人在某些情况下推理他人心理状态时也会像较小的儿童一样出现自我中心化。本研究通过控制完成心理理论任务的反应时间,比较成人被试在有/无时间压力情况下推理他人心理状态时行为表现上的差异。其中,实验1选取24名大学生被试进行指示交流任务(考察视觉观点采择),实验2选取76名大学生被试进行成人版意外地点任务(考察错误信念理解)。结果发现,在限制反应时间的条件下,被试会更加自我中心化。两个实验的结果支持了成人推理他人心理状态可能是一个两阶段的加工过程的假设,即先自我中心再调整:首先以自我心理状态进行自我中心锚定,然后(若自我和他人心理状态存在差异)克服自我中心,理解他人的心理状态。     

Attentional control adjustments in Eriksen and Stroop task performance can be independent of response conflict

In the Eriksen flanker and colour-word Stroop tasks, the response time (RT) difference between incongruent and congruent trials is smaller following incongruent trials than following congruent trials: the “Gratton effect” (Gratton, Coles, & Donchin, 1992). According to the prevailing conflict-monitoring theory (Botvinick, Braver, Barch, Carter, & Cohen, 2001), the Gratton effect reflects attentional control adjustment following response conflict on incongruent trials. However, because previous studies compared incongruent and congruent trials, it remains unclear to what extent the Gratton effect is driven by incongruent rather than congruent trials. To resolve this issue, we included neutral trials in addition to incongruent and congruent trials in the Eriksen (Experiment 1) and Stroop (Experiment 2) tasks. Participants responded manually and vocally in both tasks. Moreover, we assessed responding to Stroop stimuli that were preceded by neutral cues or by incongruent- or congruent-predicting cues (Experiment 3). In all three experiments, the RT difference between incongruent and congruent trials was larger for postcongruent trials than for postincongruent and postneutral trials. These findings suggest that control adjustments can be independent of response conflict, challenging conflict-monitoring theory.     

Prioritizing—The task strategy of the powerful?

Previous research has shown that power increases focus on the main goal when distractor information is present. As a result, high-power people have been described as goal-focused. In real life, one typically wants to pursue multiple goals at the same time. There is a lack of research on how power affects how people deal with situations in which multiple important goals are present. To address this question, 158 participants were primed with high or low power or assigned to a control condition, and were asked to perform a dual-goal task with three difficulty levels. We hypothesized and found that high-power primed people prioritize when confronted with a multiple-goal situation. More specifically, when task demands were relatively low, power had no effect; participants generally pursued multiple goals in parallel. However, when task demands were high, the participants in the high-power condition focused on a single goal whereas participants in the low-power condition continued using a dual-task strategy. This study extends existing power theories and research in the domain of goal pursuit.     

Adjustment of cognitive control to the frequency of dual-task interference

ABSTRACT

This study explored whether the control mechanisms recruited for optimising performance are similar for dual-task and interference-task settings. We tested whether the frequency of appearance of a secondary task resulted in an adjustment of anticipatory and reflexive forms of attentional control, as has been observed with other interference tasks (e.g. stroop and flanker). The results of two experiments demonstrated a proportion congruency effect (PCE): when a secondary task frequently appeared, primary task performance was slower. Additionally, there was a relative slowdown of dual-task performance in blocks wherein the secondary task appeared infrequently compared to blocks wherein it appeared frequently. However, this slowdown occurred when the primary task entailed a low level of control (Experiment 1) but was absent when it demanded a high level of control (Experiment 2). Overall, the results suggest that level of control can be adjusted to task demands related to the frequency of the secondary task.     

幼儿害羞与社会适应:母亲教养方式的调节作用

本研究以487名幼儿为被试,探讨害羞与社会适应的关系,以及母亲教养方式在害羞与社会适应之间的调节作用。幼儿母亲完成儿童社会偏好量表和教养方式问卷,幼儿教师完成对幼儿社会适应的评价。结果表明:(1)害羞与不合群和同伴排斥显著正相关;(2)母亲教养方式在害羞与社会适应之间具有调节作用。具体来说,母亲温暖、说理和鼓励自主的教养方式可减弱害羞幼儿的消极适应,而体罚和指令型的教养方式会加剧害羞幼儿的消极适应。研究结果对于害羞幼儿的干预具有重要价值。     

初中生的社会支持与学校适应的关系

采用问卷法对328名初中生的社会支持和学校适应状况进行研究,探讨不同支持源的社会支持和初中生的学校适应之间的关系。结果表明;(1)母亲是初中生最经常的支持源。(2)初一年级学生感受到的社会支持显著高于初二学生,其学校适应状况也显著好于初二学生。(3)社会支持水平不同的初中生在学校适应的质量上存在差异,高支持水平学生的适应质量显著高于低支持水平学生的适应质量。(4)教师支持、同学支持对初中生的学校适应具有显著的回归效应。两者对积极的学校适应具有增益作用,而对消极的学校适应具有缓冲作用。     

Collective efficacy following a series of natural disasters

This article examined adolescents' reports of how they cope with a specific social stressor: authority conflict with parents. This situation was presented to 626 adolescents as part of a larger study on coping with stress. Students were requested to report on the intensity of the stress experienced, intensity of emotions, emotion regulation, perceived availability of social support, goal framing, and coping strategies used. Coping strategies split up factor-analytically into two coping patterns, namely fighting the stressor and coming to terms with the stressor. The relations between these two coping modes and various aspects of the students' mental representation of the stressor were examined. It was predicted that the way students frame the coping goal would affect their choice of coping strategies. Direct effects of coping strategy, emotion regulation and social support on intensity of stress were tested as well as moderating effects of the type of coping mode used on the relationship between emotion regulation and experienced stress. It is suggested that some youngsters consider an authority conflict with their parents as a normal aspect of daily functioning, whereas other view it as a developmental challenge.