Relations between general goal orientations and task-specific self-appraisals

Abstract:   The purpose of the present study was to examine the influence of goal orientations on ninth-grade students' (54 girls and 55 boys) task-specific appraisals (i.e., anticipated interest, self-efficacy, test anxiety, and physical symptoms) and subsequent task performance. The results of structural equation modeling showed that different goal orientations had different effects on task-specific appraisals. In addition, task performance was directly influenced by self-efficacy and physical symptoms, whereas the goal orientation served as a predictor of task performance indirectly through task-specific appraisals. Students' posttask estimation of success and involvement were differently predicted by the pretask appraisal and actual task performance. Thus self-appraisals that students experience after performing the task are not only influenced by the actual performance, but also by the task-related appraisal they form before the task, which is partially determined by their goal orientations. Cluster analysis revealed students with multiple goals, in whom learning and performance goals can work together to facilitate performance and motivation.     

I like it, because I like myself: Associative self-anchoring and post-decisional change of implicit evaluations

Research in the cognitive dissonance tradition has shown that choosing between two equally attractive alternatives leads to more favorable evaluations of chosen as compared to rejected alternatives (spreading-of-alternatives effect). The present research tested associative self-anchoring as an alternative mechanism for post-decisional changes of implicit evaluations. Specifically, we argue that choosing an object results in the creation of an association between the chosen object and the self. By virtue of this association, implicit evaluations of the self tend to transfer to the chosen object, such that implicit evaluations of the chosen object depend on implicit evaluations of the self. Importantly, this mechanism can lead to ownership-related changes in implicit evaluations even in the absence of cognitive dissonance. Results from four experiments provide converging evidence for these assumptions. Implications for a variety of phenomena are discussed, including cognitive dissonance, the mere ownership effect, the endowment effect, and ingroup favoritism.     

Occasion setting is specific to the CS-US association

In Experiment 1, rats were trained on a discrimination in which one occasion setter, A, signaled that one cue (conditioned stimulus, CS), x, would be followed by one outcome, p (unconditioned stimulus, US), and a second CS, y, by a different outcome, q (x → p and y → q); a second occasion setter, B signalled the reverse CS-outcome relations (x → q and y → p). In a subsequent stage, the animals were divided into two groups, and trained as before, except that both A and B were presented in compound with a novel occasion setter, C. For Group S (same) the CS-outcome relations following A and B were identical to those in the pretraining stage, whereas in Group D (different) they were reversed. In a subsequent test, stimulus C was shown to be a more effective occasion setter in Group D than in Group S. In Experiment 2, rats were trained on a negative occasion-setting discrimination in which CS x signaled outcome p, and y outcome q; when x and y were signaled by the occasion setter A then no outcome followed (x → p, y → q, A:x-, and A:y-). In a subsequent stage, A was now trained as a positive occasion setter, signaling reinforcement of x and y. In Group S, x and y signaled the same outcomes as in the prior training stage (x-, y-, A:x → p, and A:y → q), whereas in Group D they signaled the opposite outcomes (x, y, A:x → q, and A:y → p); more efficient test performance was seen in the latter group. These results suggest that the each occasion setter conveyed information about the specific combination of CS and US paired in its presence (i.e., x → p and y → q, or x → no p and y → no q). These results are consistent with the suggestion that occasion setters operate, at least in part, on a specific CS-US association.     

Invariance in Measurement and Prediction Revisited

Borsboom (Psychometrika, 71:425–440, 2006) noted that recent work on measurement invariance (MI) and predictive invariance (PI) has had little impact on the practice of measurement in psychology. To understand this contention, the definitions of MI and PI are reviewed, followed by results on the consistency between the two forms of invariance in the general case. The special parametric cases of factor analysis (strict factorial invariance) and linear regression analyses (strong regression invariance) are then described, along with findings on the inconsistency between the two forms of invariance in this context. Two numerical examples of inconsistency are reviewed in detail. The impact of violations of MI on accuracy of selection is illustrated. Finally, reasons for the slow dissemination of work on invariance are discussed, and the prospects for altering this situation are weighed. This paper is based on the Presidential Address given at the International Meeting of the Psychometric Society in Tokyo, Japan, on July 11, 2007. This research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health grants 1P30 MH 068685-01A1 and RO1 MH64707-01.     

Gradations of awareness in a modified sequence learning task

We argue performance in the serial reaction time (SRT) task is associated with gradations of awareness that provide examples of fringe consciousness [Mangan, B. (1993b). Taking phenomenology seriously: the “fringe” and its implications for cognitive research. Consciousness and Cognition, 2, 89–108, Mangan, B. (2003). The conscious “fringe”: Bringing William James up to date. In B. J. Baars, W. P. Banks & J. B. Newman (Eds.), Essential sources in the scientific study of consciousness (pp. 741–759). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.], and address limitations of the traditional SRT procedure, including criticism of exclusion generation tasks. Two experiments are conducted with a modified SRT procedure where irrelevant stimulus attributes obscure the sequence rule. Our modified paradigm, which includes a novel exclusion task, makes it easier to demonstrate a previously controversial influence of response stimulus interval (RSI) on awareness. It also allows identification of participants showing fringe consciousness rather than explicit sequence knowledge, as reflected by dissociations between different awareness measures. The NEO-PI-R variable Openness to Feelings influenced the diversity of subjective feelings reported during two awareness measures, but not the degree of learning and awareness as previously found with traditional SRT tasks [Norman, E., Price, M. C., & Duff, S. C. (2006). Fringe consciousness in sequence learning: the influence of individual differences. Consciousness and Cognition, 15(4), 723–760.]. This suggests possible distinctions between two components of fringe consciousness.     

The impact of post-learning sleep vs. wakefulness on recognition memory for faces with different facial expressions

A beneficial effect of sleep after learning, compared to wakefulness, on memory formation has been shown in many studies using a variety of tasks. However, none of these studies has specifically addressed recognition memory for faces so far. The recognition of familiar faces, together with the extraction of emotional information from facial expression, is a fundamental cognitive skill in human everyday life, for which specific neural systems and mechanisms of processing have been developed. Here, we investigated the role of post-learning sleep for later recognition memory for neutral, happy, and angry faces. Twelve healthy subjects, after judging the emotional valence of the faces in the evening (learning phase), either slept normally in the subsequent night, with sleep recorded polysomnographically (sleep condition), or remained awake (wake condition) according to a cross-over design. Recognition testing took place in the second evening after learning, i.e. after a further night of regular sleep spent at home. Sleep after learning, compared to wakefulness, enhanced memory accuracy in recognition memory. This effect was independent of the emotional valence of facial expression. The response criterion at recognition testing did not differ between sleep and wake conditions. The amount of non rapid eye movement (NonREM) sleep during post-learning sleep correlated positively with memory accuracy at recognition testing, while time in REM sleep was associated with a speeded responding to the learned faces. Results suggest that face recognition, despite its dependence on specialized brain systems, nevertheless relies on the general neural mechanisms of sleep-associated memory consolidation.     

测验情境对错误记忆的影响

本研究采用DRM范式,通过两个实验考察测验情境对错误记忆的影响,结果发现：（1）在两个实验中均产生了错误记忆现象：实验一关键诱饵的错误再认率为M=0．514,SD=0233;实验二关键诱饵的总错误再认率M=0．510,SD=0．215：（2）学习词表的语义关联越大,错误再认率越低：实验一项目语义关联程度主效应显著,F（1,84）=6．145．MSE=0．312．P=0．015;实验二,F（1,84）=5．143,MSE=0．225,P=0．026;（3）关键诱饵的位置造成了不同的情境效应：实验一,关键诱饵出现在第一个位置和第二个位置之间错误再认率差异显著（P=0．024）;实验二,关键诱饵出现第二个位置和第三个位置之间的错误再认率边缘显著（P=0．052）。该研究揭示了情境对错误记忆的影响。     

征兵用数字搜索测验的研制

基于信息加工速度理论自编征兵用数字搜索测验,使用该测验对全国15735名应征青年及190名新兵进行了测量,3个月新兵营训练结束时由228上级对1900名士兵的智力相关工作绩效情况进行了调查,通过对上述数据的分析确定了测验方法及划界分数,并进行了信、效度检验。结果表明:缺失不同数字对题目难度有影响;划界分数为197秒正确应答27题以上;该测验的内部一致性α系数为0.864;预测符合率为95.7%。     

内隐自尊的功能:缓冲器,还是滤波器

用内隐联想测验（IAT）测量被试的内隐自尊,通过成败操纵来检验内隐自尊的缓冲器假设。研究发现,无论面对成功反馈还是失败反馈,高内隐自尊者对自己的表现均比较满意,且成功时的满意度显著高于失败时的满意度;低内隐自尊者面对成功时对自己的表现满意,面对失败时对自己的表现不满意,且二者差异显著。这表明内隐自尊可能并非具有缓冲作用,而是具有滤波作用。较之低内隐自尊者,高内隐自尊者在应对压力或威胁时能够更多地过滤负面效应。据此,本文提出了内隐自尊的滤波器假设。