More of myself: Manipulating interoceptive awareness by heightened attention to bodily and narrative aspects of the self

Psychology distinguishes between a bodily and a narrative self. Within neuroscience, models of the bodily self are based on exteroceptive sensorimotor processes or on the integration of interoceptive sensations. Recent research has revealed interactions between interoceptive and exteroceptive processing of self-related information, for example that mirror self-observation can improve interoceptive awareness. Using heartbeat perception, we measured the effect on interoceptive awareness of two experimental manipulations, designed to heighten attention to bodily and narrative aspects of the self. Participants gazed at a photograph of their own face or at self-relevant words. In both experimental conditions interoceptive awareness was significantly increased, compared to baseline. Results show that attention to narrative aspects of self, previously regarded as relying on higher-order processes, has an effect similar to self-face stimuli in improving interoceptive awareness. Our findings extend the previously observed interaction between the bodily self and interoception to more abstract amodal representations of the self.     

The influence of situational and personal variables on the effectiveness of social support during childbirth

Abstract

This study examined the proposition that the efficacy of social support depends upon situational and personality variables. Specifically, it was hypothesized that women high on trait anxiety or undergoing their first experience of childbirth, would profit more from the presence of the husband during delivery than women low on trait anxiety or who had previously given birth. One hundred and twenty new mothers were asked to rank the level of state anxiety, state anger, tension and pain they had experienced during childbirth. Changes in their blood pressure and the amount of tranquilizing medication they had received were also measured. Results obtained with negative affectivity measures almost fully confirmed the hypotheses. Hypotheses regarding blood pressure were confirmed in part, but no support was found when using pain level and amount of tranquilizing medication as dependent variables. The findings are discussed in relation to the stress-buffering hypothesis and the manner in which trait anxiety might mediate the relationship between level of social support and individuals' stress reactions.     

Relationships Between Attachment Security and Self-Construal Orientations

The authors report the results of two studies in which they explored the relationship of related and individuated self-construals, as suggested by the balanced integration—differentiation (BID) model (E. O. Imamo?lu, 2003), with (a) general attachment security in the first study (N = 168 Turkish university students) and (b) relationshipspecific attachment security with the family, peers, and romantic partners in the second study (N = 110 Turkish university students). Results indicated that attachment security tended to be associated with the relational self-orientation; however, when relatedness was complemented with individuation, there was a trend toward enhanced attachment security that reached significance when multiple measures of attachment across relationship contexts were considered. The authors discuss results with reference to their implications for attachment theory and the BID model.     

Life Expectancy Can Explain the Precocity-Longevity Hypothesis Association of Early Career Success and Early Death

The precocity-longevity hypothesis that those who reach career milestones earlier in life have shorter life spans was tested with the 430 men elected to serve in the House of Representatives for the 71st U.S. Congress in 1929–1930 who were alive throughout 1930. There was no tendency for those first serving at an earlier age to die sooner or those serving first at a later age to die later than expected based on individual life expectancy in 1930. Although age at first serving was correlated with death age, the correlation was not significant when expected death age was controlled. The results cast serious doubt on the contention of the precocity-longevity hypothesis that the developmental aspects of the prerequisites, concomitants, and consequences of early career achievement peaks actively enhance the conditions for an earlier death.     

The Confusion of Fear and Surprise: A Developmental Study of the Perceptual-Attentional Limitation Hypothesis Using Eye Movements

The goal of the present study was to test the Perceptual-Attentional Limitation Hypothesis in children and adults by manipulating the distinctiveness between expressions and recording eye movements. Children 3–5 and 9–11 years old as well as adults were presented pairs of expressions and required to identify a target emotion. Children 3–5 years old were less accurate than those 9–11 years old and adults. All children viewed pictures longer than adults but did not spend more time attending to the relevant cues. For all participants, accuracy for the recognition of fear was lower than for surprise when the distinctive cue was in the brow only. They also took longer and spent more time in both the mouth and brow zones than when a cue was in the mouth or both areas. Adults and children 9–11 years old made more comparisons between the expressions when fear comprised a single distinctive cue in the brow than when the distinctive cue was in the mouth only or when both cues were present. Children 3–5 years old made more comparisons for brow only than both. The results of the present study extend on the Perceptual-Attentional Limitation Hypothesis showing an importance of both decoder and stimuli, and an interaction between decoder and stimuli characteristics.     

The cultural mediation hypothesis: A critical examination

A fascinating hypothesis has been proposed by Woodley (2010, Intelligence, 38: 471–480) to explain why intelligence, in contemporary Western countries, appears to be positively associated with left wing political attitudes. According to the hypothesis, the current Western ‘norm’ is relatively left-wing values, the intelligent are better at norm-mapping and better at perceiving the benefits of conforming to the dominant set of values and this explains why they are more likely, in this context, to be relatively left wing. This article will critically examine this hypothesis. It will argue that the evidence for it is questionable and open to different interpretations, there is evidence that contradicts it, and it leaves key questions unanswered. The article will propose that a simpler explanation for the association is that intelligence is positively associated with openness-intellect, low time preference and agreeableness.     

Perceptual Learning in the Rat: Stimulus Differentiation or Latent Inhibition of Common Elements?

Preexposure to an unreinforced stimulus facilitates learning (perceptual learning) under some conditions, but it can have the opposite effect (latent inhibition) under other conditions. Researchers have suggested that perceptual learning depends on a change of context, whereas latent inhibition is usually context specific. The associative theory explains both phenomena within a single framework. The authors report 4 experiments that show that perceptual learning does not depend on a context change. The experiments suggest that latent inhibition, unlike perceptual learning, depends on passive exposure. Thus the results do not support the associative theory. They are more consistent with Gibson's stimulus-differentiation theory.     

There Is But One Love We Share

SUMMARY

The spiritual void of our culture, the dependency that maintains the isolation, and gives rise to the violence that permeates from individual to personal relationships to national policy, is examined. As an antidote, the article explores development of inner lives of awareness and connectedness with all that exists that begins with each person, leads to the qualities that are the groundwork for peaceful relationships. Special emphasis is given to the moral responsibility of clinicians who hope to be serving others.