IMAGINATIVE CONTAGION

Abstract: The aim of this article is to expand the diet of examples considered in philosophical discussions of imagination and pretense, and to offer some preliminary observations about what we might learn about the nature of imagination as a result. The article presents a number of cases involving imaginative contagion: cases where merely imagining or pretending that P has effects that we would expect only perceiving or believing that P to have. Examples are offered that involve visual imagery, motor imagery, fictional emotions, and social priming. It is suggested that imaginative contagion is a more prevalent phenomenon than has typically been recognized.     

5～9岁儿童对心理过程差异的理解

对心理过程差异的理解是学龄后儿童心理理论发展的一部分。本文主要探讨5-9岁儿童对心理过程差异的理解,即理解两个体在看到同样的物体时思维过程是否相同。采用“思想泡泡”的方法给5岁、7岁、9岁各20名儿童讲述故事,考察故事中人物背景知识的有无、对象的不同(自我-他人/他人-他人)及对象间关系的不同(朋友/陌生人)对儿童判断心理过程差异的影响。结果发现,有无背景信息对儿童理解心理过程差异有显著影响,而故事中对象不同及对象之间关系的不同对儿童理解心理过程差异无显著影响。同时还发现,随着年龄的增长,儿童逐渐意识到两个体的思维过程是不同的且能提供比较充分的解释,对心理过程差异的理解使学龄后儿童对个体独特性有更深的了解。     

Personality and lexical decision times for evaluative words

We studied personality influences on accessibility of pleasant and unpleasant stimuli in a sample of 129 students. Self‐reports and reports by knowledgeable informants on extraversion, neuroticism, approach temperament and avoidance temperament were combined with a go/no‐go lexical decision task that included pleasant, unpleasant and neutral words, and two response modes, manual and vocal. The data were analysed using multilevel modelling. Extraversion and approach temperament predicted faster identification of pleasant words than of neutral and of unpleasant words. Vocal responses took longer than manual responses, but mode of response did not interact with the valence of the words. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The voice of self-control: Blocking the inner voice increases impulsive responding

Philosophers and psychologists have long-debated the notion that the voice in our heads might help us to control our actions. Evidence from a number of lines of research suggests that verbal resources help us to focus attention, providing reason to believe that the inner voice might aid self-control via this capacity. In this study we explored the link between verbal resources and self-control by occupying the inner voice and then assessing behavioral indices of self-control. Participants completed regular and switching versions of the Go/No-Go task while doing verbal or spatial secondary tasks. Compared with the spatial task, doing the verbal task resulted in more impulsive responding, as indicated by a greater tendency to make a ‘Go’ response, a pattern that was accentuated in the switching version of the Go/No-Go. Our results suggest that the inner voice helps us to exert self-control by enhancing our ability to restrain our impulses.     

Relationship between religion and obsessive phenomena

The study examined the relationship between religion and symptoms of psychopathology, particularly obsessive‐compulsive (OC) and scrupulosity symptoms. Religious affiliation, religiosity variables (strength of faith, religious application, the beliefs about God's nature), and cognitive factors (e.g., obsessive beliefs) were studied as predictors of OC and scrupulosity symptoms in 179 non‐clinical participants. The main groups (Catholic, Protestant, and no religion) were not different with regard to measures of wellbeing or symptoms of general psychopathology (depression, anxiety, and stress), but were different with regard to OC symptoms. Consistent with cognitive theory, OC beliefs strongly predicted both OC and scrupulosity symptoms, even when general levels of psychopathology were controlled. Religion bore a less major but significant association with OC phenomena. Religious affiliation (being Catholic) was associated with higher levels of OC symptoms, and higher levels of personal religiosity (strength of faith) were associated with higher levels of scrupulosity.     

The link between belongingness and depressive symptoms: An exploration in the workplace interpersonal context

Interpersonal factors are crucial to a deepened understanding of depression. Belongingness, also referred to as connectedness, has been established as a strong risk/protective factor for depressive symptoms. To elucidate this link it may be beneficial to investigate the relative importance of specific psychosocial contexts as belongingness foci. Here we investigate the construct of workplace belongingness. Employees at a disability services organisation (N = 125) completed measures of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, workplace belongingness and organisational commitment. Psychometric analyses, including Horn's parallel analyses, indicate that workplace belongingness is a unitary, robust and measurable construct. Correlational data indicate a substantial relationship with depressive symptoms (r = ?.54) and anxiety symptoms (r = ?.39). The difference between these correlations was statistically significant, supporting the particular importance of belongingness cognitions to the etiology of depression. Multiple regression analyses support the hypothesis that workplace belongingness mediates the relationship between affective organisational commitment and depressive symptoms. It is likely that workplaces have the potential to foster environments that are intrinsically less depressogenic by facilitating workplace belongingness. From a clinical perspective, cognitions regarding the workplace psychosocial context appear to be highly salient to individual psychological health, and hence warrant substantial attention.     

Distinguishing rumination from worry in clinical insomnia

Research has found that repetitive thought processes, such as worry and rumination, play an important role in several disorders; however, these cognitive processes have not yet been examined in insomnia. This study explores rumination and worry in insomnia by examining: 1) whether those high and low on rumination and worry differ on subjective sleep measures, and 2) whether rumination and worry are distinct processes in insomnia. Participants (N = 242) were diagnosed with an insomnia disorder by sleep experts. Participants completed measures of worry and rumination and maintained a 2-week daily sleep log. Results of a multivariate analysis of variance found no main effect of worry; although high and low ruminators differed on several sleep log indices, including sleep efficiency, wakefulness after sleep onset and sleep quality. Factor analysis supported the idea that rumination and worry are separate constructs. Whereas previous research has focused on worry in insomnia, these findings suggest that rumination is important for understanding sleep disturbance. Further, although rumination and worry are both repetitive thought processes, these results indicate that they are distinct processes within insomnia and should be treated as such. The results are discussed with respect to treatment implications for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia.     

Emotions in action through the looking glass1

Abstract: The paper aims at highlighting how our primary understanding of others’ actions is rooted in the mirror mechanism. To this end, the anatomical architecture of the mirror neuron system for action will be outlined as well as its role in grasping goals and intentions in others’ motor behaviour. One further step through the looking glass of social cognition will be referring to the ubiquitous emotional colouring of actions and considering its links with the motor domain. This will allow a clearer perspective on the mechanism underlying our abilities for emotional understanding and on cases in which these abilities are amiss, as in autistic spectrum disorders.     

Fostering relationship resilience: An intervention for low self-esteem individuals

Low self-esteem individuals (LSEs) tend to react to relationship threats with self-protective and relationship-destructive behaviors that decrease their partners’ satisfaction with the relationship over time (Murray, Bellavia, Rose, & Griffin, 2003). In the current studies, we examined the effects of a theoretically driven intervention on LSEs’ relationship-destructive responses to threats. Participants were induced to reframe their partners’ compliments in a more abstract, meaningful way (the “abstract reframing intervention” or ARI), an intervention that has been shown to increase LSEs’ security in their relationships (Marigold, Holmes, & Ross, 2007). In Study 1, the ARI prevented LSEs from exaggerating the significance of relationship threats and self-protectively derogating their relationship (reported by LSEs in a one-time experimental situation). In Study 2, the ARI reduced LSEs negative, critical behaviors towards their partners (reported by LSEs’ partners for a 2-3 week period). The findings have important implications for breaking the self-fulfilling cycle of insecurity.