Effects of induced and naturalistic mood on the temporal allocation of attention to emotional information

Building upon recent findings that affective states can influence the allocation of spatial attention, we investigate how state, trait and induced mood are related to the temporal allocation of attention to emotional information. In the present study, 125 unscreened undergraduates completed a modified rapid serial visual presentation task designed to assess the time course of attention to positive and negative information, comparing a neutral baseline mood induction to either a positive or negative mood induction. Induced negative mood facilitated attentional engagement to positive information while decreasing attentional engagement to negative information. Greater naturally occurring negative state mood was associated with faster or more efficient disengagement of attention from negative information in the presence of manipulated negative mood, relative to baseline. The engagement findings were inconsistent with our mood-congruence hypotheses and may be better explained by mood repair or affective counter-regulation theories. In contrast, the disengagement findings for state mood were somewhat consistent with our mood-congruence hypotheses. The relationship between mood and attention to emotional information may differ depending on the combination of attentional mechanism (engagement versus disengagement), aspect of mood (state, trait or induced), stimulus valence (positive versus negative) and timescale (early versus late) under investigation.     

The etymology of basic concepts in the experimental analysis of behavior

The origins of many of the basic concepts used in the experimental analysis of behavior can be traced to Pavlov's (1927/1960) discussion of unconditional and conditional reflexes in the dog, but often with substantial changes in meaning (e.g., stimulus, response, and reinforcement). Other terms were added by Skinner (1938/1991) to describe his data on the rate of lever pressing in the rat (e.g., operant conditioning, conditioned reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and response induction and differentiation) and key pecking in the pigeon (shaping). The concept of drive, however, has largely disappeared from the current literature.     

Is There a Dark Side of Positive Illusions? Overestimation of Social Competence and Subsequent Adjustment in Aggressive and Nonaggressive Children

This study examined (a) the links between children's overly positive perceptions about the relations with the peer group and with their best friend to subsequent behavioral, emotional, and social adjustment, and (b) whether these links are moderated by children's aggression. Using a short-term longitudinal design, the study was based on a sample of 819 4th- to 6th-graders (427 girls) from low to average SES families. Results showed that positive illusions about their social relations with classmates and with friends were related to an increase in children's peer-rated social preference and fostered the stability of children's dyadic friendships, regardless of children's level of aggression. In addition, overestimation of social competence with the peer group and overestimation of friendship quality were both related to a decrease in children's depressive feelings. Extreme overestimation as well as extreme underestimation of social competence with the peer group was also related to an increase in children's aggression. This latter result, however, was only true for children who were highly aggressive to begin with. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.     

Temporal Relations in Daily-Reported Maternal Mood and Disruptive Child Behavior

Examined temporal relations between maternal mood and disruptive child behaviour using daily assessments of 30 mother-child dyads carried out over 8 consecutive weeks (623 pooled observations). Pooled time-series analyses showed synchronous fluctuation in child behaviour and maternal distress. Time-lagged models showed temporal relations between maternal and child outcomes that changed according to the type of maternal mood and child behaviour being reported. Controlling for cross-sectional relations, maternal anger and fatigue were related to previous child inattentive/impulsive/overactive behaviour (IO) and maternal confusion related to previous child oppositional/defiant behaviour (OD). However, maternal depression, low vigour, anger, and anxiety each predicted subsequent child IO and maternal confusion and anxiety each predicted subsequent child OD. Mutual influences on maternal and child functioning were interpreted in the context of interpersonal mechanisms that mediate psychological problems within families and their implications for treatment.     

State and Trait Correlates of Job Performance: A Tale of Two Perspectives

The relative importance of dispositional and situational influences on organizational behaviors has been widely debated within the organizational sciences. In the current research, we report the results of two field studies that, taken together, provide an opportunity to examine the relative contributions of psychological well-being, positive mood, and negative mood as predictors of job performance. In Study 1, bivariate correlational analyses demonstrated that psychological well-being and negative mood, but not positive mood, were related to job performance measured over the past year. Hierarchical regression analysis found that psychological well-being was positively related to job performance, even when controlling for positive and negative mood. These findings were replicated and extended in the second study. In particular, bivariate correlational analyses demonstrated that psychological well-being and negative mood were predictive of job performance at the present time. However, unlike Study 1, hierarchical regression analyses found that both psychological well-being and negative mood were predictive of performance, even after controlling for each other and positive mood.     

The association between parenting stress, depressed mood and informant agreement in ADHD and ODD

OBJECTIVE: In Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) agreement between parents and teachers is often low. Parental depressed mood and parenting stress are considered to decrease informant agreement. This study examined informant agreement in children with ADHD and the association between parental depressed mood, parenting stress and agreement in the ratings of ADHD, ODD and CD symptoms. METHOD: 65 parents completed questionnaires on ADHD behavior of their child, parenting stress and depressed mood, teachers reported on ADHD behavior. RESULTS: Low agreement was found for hyperactive and moderate agreement for inattentive, ODD and CD symptoms. Stepwise regression analyses showed that parenting stress, and not parental depressed mood accounted for 12% of the variance in inattention symptoms disagreement, 14% of the variance in hyperactive symptoms disagreement and 9% in oppositional behavior disagreement. No significant predictors were found for CD disagreement. The found effect was independent of stimulant medication use. CONCLUSION: Parenting stress, but not parental depressed mood, was associated with the disagreement between parents and teachers on both ADHD and ODD symptoms. These results emphasize the importance of considering parenting stress in diagnosing ADHD and comorbid ODD.     

Links Between Antisocial Behavior and Depressed Mood: The Role of Life Events and Attributional Style

Comorbidity between antisocial behavior and depression in adolescence is widely recognized. This paper examines whether links with depressed mood differ among three subtypes of antisocial behavior: oppositionality, physical aggression and delinquency. In addition we examine two possible contributors to these links: negative life events that are dependent upon the individual's actions and depressogenic attributional style. Data are drawn from the G1219 large-scale community twin and sibling sample, and include 2409 questionnaire responses from youths aged between 13 and 19 living in the United Kingdom. Depressed mood was independently associated with both oppositionality and delinquency, but not with physical aggression. Dependent negative life events were strongly implicated in the association between delinquency and depressed mood, whereas depressogenic attributional style was implicated in the associations of both oppositionality and delinquency with depressed mood. Oppositionality remained a significant predictor of depressed mood after accounting for attributional style and life events whereas delinquency did not. The pattern of associations was largely similar in boys and girls. We discuss these results in terms of developmental models of the links between antisocial behavior and depressed mood.     

Popper and Synthetic judgements A Priori

Summary  Popper uses the “Humean challenge” as a justification for his falsificationism. It is claimed that in his basic argument he confuses two different doubts: (a) the Humean doubt (Popper’s problem of induction), and (b) the “Popperean” doubt whether – presupposing that there are laws of nature – the laws we accept are in fact valid. Popper’s alleged solution of the problem of induction does not solve the problem in a straightforward way (as Levison and Salmon have remarked before). But if Popper’s solution of the Humean challenge is re-interpreted as being close to Kant’s it makes sense. Even though Popper explicitly rejects Kant’s synthetic judgements a priori, it is claimed here that this is so because he misinterprets Kant’s argument. If he had understood Kant correctly he should have been a modern “Kantianer”!     

Putative behavioral history effects and aggression maintained by escape from therapists

Differentially higher rates of aggression in treatment sessions occurred in the presence of two staff members who had previously worked with the participant at another facility. Adding an edible reinforcer for compliance and the absence of aggression in sessions conducted by these two staff members decreased aggression to rates similar to those obtained with less familiar therapists. Results suggest that embedding positive reinforcement within a demand context may reduce the aversiveness of therapists correlated with a history of demand situations.