As we fall asleep we forget about the future: A quantitative linguistic analysis of mentation reports from hypnagogia

We present a quantitative study of mental time travel to the past and future in sleep onset hypnagogia. Three independent, blind judges analysed a total of 150 mentation reports from different intervals prior to and after sleep onset. The linguistic tool for the mentation report analysis grounds on established grammatical and cognitive-semantic theories, and proof of concept has been provided in previous studies. The current results indicate that memory for the future, but not for the past, decreases in sleep onset – thereby supporting preliminary physiological evidence at the level of brain function. While recent memory research emphasizes similarities in the cognitive and physiological processes of mental time travel to the past and future, the current study explores a state of consciousness which may serve to dissociate between the two.     

Psychological refractory period in introverts and extraverts

The present study was designed to explore extraversion-related differences in the psychological refractory period (PRP). PRP refers to a bottleneck of information processing that becomes evident when participants are required to respond to two signals (S1 and S2) presented in rapid succession. If this capacity limit of premotor information processing is essential for differences in speed of information processing between introverts and extraverts, magnitude of the PRP effect should vary as a function of extraversion. Due to the failure of previous attempts to establish extraversion-related differences in the PRP effect, we also obtained lateralized readiness potentials (LRPs). For this purpose, 63 introverted and 63 extraverted female participants were tested with a standard PRP design. Extraverts responded faster to S2 and exhibited shorter stimulus-locked LRP latencies compared to introverts. Although a general PRP effect could be shown at the behavioral and psychophysiological level, there was no indication for any extraversion-related differences in PRP. Thus, extraversion-related differences in speed of information processing at the premotor level appear unlikely to originate from individual differences in the capacity limits underlying the PRP phenomenon. Furthermore, our findings provide converging evidence for the notion that extraversion-related individual differences in processing speed depend on specific task demands.     

Motivated to be socially mindful: Explaining age differences in the effect of employees’ contact quality with coworkers on their coworker support

In this research, we examine how high-quality contact can facilitate employees’ coworker support and explain why the benefits of high-quality contact are contingent upon age. First, we employ a social mindfulness lens to decipher the motivational mechanisms of high-quality contact with coworkers on providing coworker support via coworker-oriented perspective taking and empathic concern. Second, we utilize socioemotional selectivity theory to overcome the current age-blind view on workplace interactions and examine the indirect moderating effect of age via future time perspective on the link between contact quality, social mindfulness, and coworker support. We tested our hypotheses based on data from a sample of 575 employees collected in three waves. Results showed that both coworker-oriented perspective taking and empathic concern mediated the positive effects of contact quality on coworker support. The effect of contact quality on coworker-oriented empathic concern was stronger for older employees with a more constrained future time perspective as compared to younger employees with a more extensive future time perspective. Overall, we extend research on aging, workplace interactions, and support behavior by linking the literature on these topics using a social mindfulness lens and by adding employee age and age-related mechanisms as important boundary conditions that qualify the outcomes of positive workplace contact.     

Effects of access to a stimulating object on infant behavior during tummy time

Placing infants in a prone position for "tummy time" often is recommended to ensure appropriate infant development and to combat the effects associated with infants spending extended periods of time in a supine position. However, tummy time may be associated with inappropriate infant behavior such as crying and noncompliance. We provided continuous access to a preferred stimulus to decrease negative vocalizations and to increase the duration of an infant's head being elevated during tummy time.     

Acceptability of Personal Hormone Monitoring for Contraception: Longitudinal and Contextual Variables

Abstract

A new contraceptive technology may advance the science of family planning but may do little to affect health if potential users do not deem it an acceptable method. The authors conducted an acceptability study of a newly developed contraceptive method–personal hormone monitoring. A sample of 480 English volunteers present at the 6th month of a 13-month longitudinal study completed surveys regarding their attitudes toward a personal hormone monitor for the purpose of contraception. The authors used the participants' responses to determine (a) the extent to which the participants accepted the monitor, (b) how their ratings of acceptability changed over time, (c) the extent to which contextual variables predicted changes in acceptability over time, and (d) whether those contextual variables predicted final acceptability of the monitor. Results suggested that no single method of family planning is best for everyone and specified the people for whom personal hormone monitoring may be most suitable.     

The Need for Closure and the Spontaneous Use of Complex and Simple Cognitive Structures

Abstract

The authors performed 2 experiments that explored the causal role of need for closure in producing the use of simple structures. In particular, the authors gave the participants a cue that called for a complex or a simple solution on a cognitive complexity task. The authors created the participants' need for closure through the use of time pressure. The results of both experiments revealed that participants only generated complex solutions in the complex cue-no time pressure condition. The discussion is focused on the effects of need for closure in tasks calling for adaptive and spontaneous flexibility.     

Exploring the Interactive Effect of Time Control and Justice Perception on Job Attitudes

ABSTRACT

We investigated the associations between supervisor-related time control and two-job attitudes, and the moderating effects of distributive justice on these associations. A total of 505 full-time employees in Hong Kong responded to a structured telephone survey. The results showed that time control and perceived distributive justice were positively related to both job satisfaction and organizational commitment. More importantly, the positive relationships between time control and the two job attitudes were stronger when perceived distributive justice was high rather than low. These findings contrast with the typical buffering effects of organizational justice, in which perceived justice attenuates the beneficial effects of positive stimuli. Theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed.     

Response speed as an individual difference: Its role in moderating the agreeableness-anger relationship

Anger is an emotion that is precipitated by hostile attitudes and high arousal. The trait of agreeableness is a moderately inverse predictor of hostile attitudes and anger. Relations between agreeableness and anger are likely to be stronger to the extent that the person can be characterized as high in dispositional arousal. Arousal-related manipulations speed responses in cognitive tasks. Thus, individual differences in response speed may be informative concerning general tendencies toward aroused states. In three studies (N = 319) individual differences in response speed in basic choice tasks interacted with agreeableness to predict state-related experiences of anger. Specifically, the highest levels of anger were observed among fast/disagreeable individuals. The utility of this probe in future studies is discussed.