Multitrait Multimethod validation of Implicit Association Test as a measure of individual differences in personality: Is there personality at all?

The objective of the study was to investigate the validity of IAT in the assessment of the Big five personality traits. We employed the Multi-Trait Multi-Method (MTMM) approach on a sample of 146 respondents. We collected measures on IATs assessing Big five personality traits, self-reports, and two ratings of close others of different gender on NEO PI-R. Additionally, we assessed behavior related to the Big five personality traits in a structured interview where three experts independently provided rating measures. MTMM analyses suggest that personality IAT measures have little in common with personality traits measured traditionally using explicit methods. The evidence does not support the claim that personality IAT can serve as a valid measure of individual differences in personality traits.     

A cross-cultural examination of implicit attitudes toward shyness in Canada and China

The goal of this research was to explore implicit and explicit attitudes about shyness in Canada and Mainland China. In Study 1, Canadian undergraduate students (N = 650) completed a newly developed online version of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) focused on shyness, as well as questionnaires about their own shyness and explicit beliefs about shyness. Results suggested that Canadian university students automatically associated shyness with negative words. In Study 2, Chinese undergraduate students (N = 290) completed a newly developed Mandarin Chinese online version of the IAT related to shyness, as well as questionnaires of their own shyness explicit beliefs about shyness. Results indicated that Chinese students also automatically associated shyness with negative words, but differences were observed in the pattern of association with participants’ own shyness. Results are discussed in terms of the implications of attitudes toward shyness in both cultures.     

Of deadly beans and risky stocks: Political ideology and attitude formation via exploration depend on the nature of the attitude stimuli

An attitude formation task examined how conservatives and liberals explore information about novel stimuli and form attitudes towards them. When framed as the BeanFest game, conservatives sampled fewer beans and exhibited a stronger learning asymmetry (i.e., better learning for negative than positive beans) than liberals. This has been taken as strong evidence that conservatives are more sensitive to negative stimuli than liberals. We argue that the learning asymmetry and sampling bias by conservatives is due to framing of the game. In addition to the BeanFest, we framed the game as StockFest (i.e., a stock market game) where participants learned about novel stocks. We replicated the pronounced learning asymmetry for conservatives in the BeanFest game, but found a pronounced learning asymmetry for liberals in the StockFest game. We suggest that conservatives and liberals are equally sensitive to negative stimuli but in different domains.     

外群体一定贬损吗：来自蒙古族和汉族群体的证据

本研究采用单一复述法考察了我国非冲突性、地位平等的蒙古族和汉族群体,在面对面传递彼此不同效价的民族刻板印象信息时的群体效应。实验1证明了蒙古族和汉族间表现出的并非“外群体贬损”,而是“外群体偏爱”。实验2通过考察人际敏感性和群际态度两个变量验证了蒙汉间外群体偏爱的真实性,但这一效应在群际态度消极的高敏感汉族中表现出了人为增益性;而且发现了蒙汉族际沟通中的不同信息传递模式,蒙古族同时着眼于积极和消极信息,而汉族更偏重于积极信息。由此可知,外群体并不一定引发贬损,群体性质兹事体大。     

内隐关系评估程序(IRAP)：测量原理及应用

内隐关系评估程序(Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure, 简称IRAP)是基于关系结构理论直接测量社会认知、信念或态度的新内隐测量方法, 具备一定的可靠性和有效性, 并与其它相关测量方法的适用性存在一定差异。不同的理论模型为IRAP的不同效应提供了解释。IRAP最初应用于临床诊断性研究, 新近已扩展到自我、社会认知、群体和态度等研究领域。进一步验证不同形式IRAP的信效度、探究IRAP的心理机制及产生的心理效应、在不同领域发挥IRAP的方法优势等将是未来研究的重要方向。     

任务转换中惯性激活对内隐记忆的影响：来自ERPs的证据

以往研究认为内隐记忆具有不受干扰影响的自动化加工特征,其证据主要来自于对内隐记忆编码过程的研究。最近已有多项研究发现,内隐记忆受提取过程中的干扰影响,但对这一现象的产生机制目前仍尚无定论。本研究根据任务转换相关理论,通过将go/no-go范式引入干扰任务,探讨提取过程中前置干扰对内隐记忆产生影响的内在机制。结果表明,前置的干扰任务产生惯性激活时,后续的内隐记忆任务会受到影响,即启动效应降低。对惯性激活进行抑制后,随后的内隐记忆则不受影响。并且,在内隐记忆相关的N400成分上得到了与行为数据一致的结果,即在no-go干扰下,获得的N400新旧效应,在go干扰下却未被发现。研究结果证明,提取干扰对内隐记忆的影响主要由干扰任务与内隐记忆任务对认知资源的竞争导致。     

冲突视阈下类别信息与个体信息知觉负载的认知控制效应

个体根据知觉选择、反应偏向以及实时更新的情境信息调节自身状态,以适应性地促进对当前知觉信息的灵活编码,这一过程即为印象形成的认知控制。采用词语判断任务与侧抑制任务的变式将他人信息(类别信息vs.个体信息)分成高、低知觉负载两种水平,考察了冲突视阈下认知控制策略对他人印象形成的调控作用及知觉负载的效应。结果发现:(1)知觉负载影响他人印象形成的认知控制策略。(2)当类别信息与个体信息存在知觉冲突且个体的知觉负载较高时,受到反应性控制的作用,他人印象形成易出现冲突适应偏向; 当个体的知觉负载较低时,他人印象形成易受主动性控制的作用,从而产生冲突抑制偏向。这些结果表明,当个体形成他人印象时,其认知控制策略因受知觉负载影响而呈现分阶段加工特征。     

Contextual cueing is not flexible

Target detection is faster when search displays repeat, but properties of the memory representations that give rise to this contextual cueing effect remain uncertain. We adapted the contextual cueing task using an ABA design and recorded the eye movements of healthy young adults to determine whether the memory representations are flexible. Targets moved to a new location during the B phase and then returned to their original locations (second A phase). Contextual cueing effects in the first A phase were reinstated immediately in the second A phase, and response time costs eventually gave way to a repeated search advantage in the B phase, suggesting that two target-context associations were learned. However, this apparent flexibility disappeared when eye tracking data were used to subdivide repeated displays based on B-phase viewing of the original target quadrant. Therefore, memory representations acquired in the contextual cueing task resist change and are not flexible.     

Implicit and explicit attitudes in transportation research: A literature review

Dual-Process Models of Attitudes (DPMA) have provided new concepts and methods for attitude-behavior research in the field of transportation. Notwithstanding, there is a lack of critical reviews on this topic; leaving researchers with an unclear picture of the key issues to consider in developing new research. This paper reviews previous studies on DPMA in traffic and transportation research. A systematic review of English and non-English language articles using Transport Research International Documentation (TRID) as main database was conducted. Additional studies were identified by searching in ScienceDirect and Google Scholar. A total of 1674 references were revised. Twenty-eight articles met the inclusion criteria. Four central issues were examined: (a) the role of implicit and explicit attitudes in transport behavior, (b) the degree of relationship between implicit and explicit attitudes, (c) the types of measures used to assess implicit attitudes, and (d) the malleability of implicit attitudes. The review has identified that: (a) implicit attitudes were associated with a wide variety of transport-related behavior, (b) implicit and explicit attitudes were weakly correlated (mean correlation, weighted by sample size was r = 0.11), and little knowledge exists on factors moderating the implicit-explicit relationship, (c) the evidence on the indirect measures’ better resistance to social desirability bias as compared with traditional techniques is scant and inconclusive, (d) some studies exhibit problems in the application of indirect measures, and (e) few studies (n = 2) aimed to evaluate interventions for attitude change. The analysis showed the sustained growth of the applications, the potential of DPMA, and the need for more rigorous research. Most studies of area do not consider the theoretical and methodological shortcomings of the DPMA, and tend to be based on a controversial notion of implicit and explicit attitudes.