The effects of music exposure and own genre preference on conscious and unconscious cognitive processes: a pilot ERP study

Did Beethoven and Mozart have more in common with each other than Clapton and Hendrix? The current research demonstrated the widely reported Mozart Effect as only partly significant. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 16 professional classical and rock musicians during a standard 2 stimulus visual oddball task, while listening to classical and rock music. During the oddball task participants were required to discriminate between an infrequent target stimulus randomly embedded in a train of repetitive background or standard stimuli. Consistent with previous research, the P3 and N2 ERPs were elicited in response to the infrequent target stimuli. Own genre preference resulted in a reduction in amplitude of the P3 for classical musicians exposed to classical music and rock musicians exposed to rock music. Notably, at the pre-attentive stage of processing (N2) beneficial effects of exposure to classical music were observed for both groups of musicians. These data are discussed in terms of short and long-term music benefits on both conscious and unconscious cognitive processes.     

Last night I had the strangest dream: Varieties of rational thought processes in dream reports

From the neurophysiological perspective, thinking in dreaming and the quality of dream thought have been considered hallucinatory, bizarre, illogical, improbable, or even impossible. This empirical phenomenological research concentrates on testing whether dream thought can be defined as rational in the sense of an intervening mental process between sensory perception and the creation of meaning, leading to a conclusion or to taking action. From 10 individual dream journals of male participants aged 22–59 years and female participants aged 25–49 years, we delimited four dreams per journal and randomly selected five thought units from each dream for scoring. The units provided a base for testing a hypothesis that the thought processes of dream construction are rational. The results support the hypothesis and demonstrate that eight fundamental rational thought processes can be applied to the dreaming process.     

Breast Cancer as Trauma: Posttraumatic Stress and Posttraumatic Growth

Diagnosis and treatment of cancer has been associated with both posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and posttraumatic growth (PTG). This cross-sectional study sought to assess the frequency, common predictors, and interrelationships of PTSD symptoms and PTG in breast cancer survivors (n = 65). In this sample, symptoms of PTSD and reports of PTG were common and were not significantly related to one another. Greater social constraints on talking about breast cancer and perception of cancer as a traumatic stressor were associated with greater PTSD symptomatology. Younger age and perception of cancer as a traumatic stressor were associated with greater PTG. Findings suggest the central role of subjective appraisal in adjustment to cancer. Psychosocial interventions should be sensitive to the potential for PTG, both in treatment design and in assessment of outcomes.     

Failure to warn: How student race affects warnings of potential academic difficulty

In two studies, we document “failure to warn”—a reduced likelihood of warning Black students against potential academic difficulty compared to White students. In both studies, participants placed in the role of academic advisors saw a highly challenging academic course plan, attributed to either a Black or a White student, and gave Black students less warning about the potential negative consequences of taking on the proposed plan. Study 1 (N = 172) demonstrates this effect using undergraduate peer academic advisors, and Study 2 (N = 58) provides evidence that this effect is moderated by Internal Motivation to Respond Without Prejudice (Plant & Devine, 1998), suggesting that this effect is driven by the fear that discouraging an ambitious Black student might reflect prejudice. This well-intentioned concern can have the ironic consequence of leading the recipients of this advice into academic difficulties.     

Croatia founded a national body for ethics in science

The Committee for Ethics in Science and Higher Education (CESHE) was created in Croatia as a national body appointed by the Parliament. Thus Croatia became one of a handful of countries with national means of responding to allegations of scientific misconduct. The Committee’s duties, with the help of the Ethics Code, include promotion of ethical norms and values in science and higher education. The CESHE will work on cases of possible research misconduct and alleged disregard for the ethical norms associated with research.     

Following the Path to Equality Through Law: Reflections on Baker et al., <Emphasis Type="Italic">Equality: from Theory to Action</Emphasis>

This article assesses the significance of Baker et al., Equality: from Theory to Action from the perspective of current concerns occupying legal equality scholars in the UK, focusing in particular on the practical relevance of equality studies to the kinds of issues arising from the debate over the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR). The article highlights and considers key issues, including the delineation of the sphere of inequality protection, the normative content of the concept of equality espoused by law and the potential of law to reach beyond its current limits to embrace the broader dimensions of (in)equality identified in Baker et al.’s account.     

Effects of route guidance variable message signs (VMS) on driver behaviour

Effects of route guidance Variable Message Signs (VMS) on speed and route choice were investigated in a field study on two sites on motorways. Two VMS were used in the study, which displayed information about a closed road section downstream on the motorways and recommendations for alternative routes. Route choice, speed and braking behaviour were compared between vehicles approaching the VMS while they displayed messages and while they were left blank without message. There was high compliance with the messages on the VMS. About every fifth vehicle changed route choice according to the recommendation, and almost none drove as far as the closed road section. Speed measurements of 3342 vehicles showed large speed reductions, and video observations showed that large proportions of vehicles braked while approaching the VMS. The speed reductions and braking manoeuvres can partly be attributed to attention overload or distraction due to the information on the VMS. However, a proportion of the speed reductions was due to chain reactions where one vehicle braked and forced the following vehicles to brake or change lanes in order to avoid collisions. Safety problems may result directly from distraction, or indirectly from the reactions of the drivers to the distraction.     

错误相关负波（ERN）在精神病理学研究中的应用

错误相关负波（error-related negativity, ERN）是由行为错误诱发的一种脑电波成分,最大峰值在错误反应之后的50ms左右,偶极子源定位于前扣带回（anterior cingulate cortex, ACC）附近。错误加工（error processing）的经典研究范式中出现的ERN成分可能反映了ACC具有错误检测、冲突监控、强化学习、情绪动机等功能。大量研究表明过度的和不足的错误相关脑活动（hyperactive and hypoactive error processing）可能分别与精神病理学的内化性和外化性障碍（internalizing and externalizing disorders）相关联。内化性和外化性障碍的内表型（endophenotype）的研究,还存在许多值得进一步探索的问题。     

个体真实性的心理学研究述评

真实性指个体“做真实的自己”的程度。真实性是一个与自我密切相关的概念,是影响个体心理健康的重要因素。本文介绍了真实性的概念、结构、测量方法及研究焦点,指出今后应对真实性的心理结构、后果变量及其对心理健康的影响机制等方面做进一步的探讨。     

“Der Weisheits letzter Schluss”? Wisdom’s Last Conclusion?

Unexpected empirical findings lead Schwarz (2009) to question current methodological approaches within psychology. He claims that distribution anomalies, which cannot be explained by independent variables, actually prove an error in classical test theory, which then leads him to criticize current scientific conventionalism. In this commentary, it is shown that the current university system not only uses, but often reproduces conventionalism. It is, of course, necessary to teach certain techniques and tools to future psychologists, but using these critically seem to be essential in preventing scientific approaches turn into ideologies that are or must not be questioned—even if this is sometimes less threatening to one’s identity as a scientist/psychologist. This is true for all sciences, but understanding the bio-psycho-social interdependencies of human nature (ambiguities), as Schwarz describes it, seems to be a particular challenge that is in many ways different from other disciplines. Instead of striving to be like them, it is suggested we establish an ambiguity-accepting and critical environment in psychology in which theories and approaches are not considered final but temporary to foster change and progress.