Be aware of the rifle but do not forget the stench: differential effects of fear and disgust on lexical processing and memory

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of discrete emotions in lexical processing and memory, focusing on disgust and fear. We compared neutral words to disgust-related words and fear-related words in three experiments. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants performed a lexical decision task (LDT), and in Experiment 3 an affective categorisation task. These tasks were followed by an unexpected memory task. The results of the LDT experiments showed slower reaction times for both types of negative words with respect to neutral words, plus a higher percentage of errors, this being more consistent for fear-related words (Experiments 1 and 2) than for disgust-related words (Experiment 2). Furthermore, only disgusting words exhibited a higher recall accuracy than neutral words in the memory task. Moreover, the advantage in memory for disgusting words disappeared when participants carried out an affective categorisation task during encoding (Experiment 3), suggesting that the superiority in memory for disgusting words observed in Experiments 1 and 2 could be due to greater elaborative processing. Taken together, these findings point to the relevance of discrete emotions in explaining the effects of the emotional content on lexical processing and memory.     

Evaluation of Affect in Mexico and Spain: Psychometric Properties and Usefulness of an Abbreviated Version of the Day Reconstruction Method

The aims of the present study were to assess the psychometric properties of the Spanish-language version of the abbreviated Day Reconstruction Method (DRM), and to investigate differences in affective experience in Mexico and Spain. A total of 2,629 adults from Mexico and 4,583 from Spain were interviewed. Information was obtained using an abbreviated version of the DRM, which had been translated into Spanish. Reliability, validity, and the structure of affect were assessed and compared between countries. The diurnal variation of affect, the changes in affect along the life span, time use, and the relationship between affect and socio-demographic characteristics were also analysed. Adequate psychometric properties for the Spanish-language version of the abbreviated DRM were found in both the Mexican and the Spanish samples, and affect tended to improve along the life span in both countries. However, net affect did not have the same distribution function (Kolmogorov–Smirnov statistic = 0.25, p < 0.001) in both countries, being higher in Spain. Moreover, both samples showed opposite patterns in the diurnal variation of affect. The results showed that the Spanish-language version of the DRM is a feasible and valid method to measure affect, its diurnal rhythms, and time use in large-scale surveys.     

Older Workers with Disabilities: Job Satisfaction Differences in the Public and Private Sectors in Europe

This study analyzes the differences in job satisfaction of older European people (aged 50-64), with or without disabilities, who are employed in either the public or the private sector. Using the data taken from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) for the years 2004, 2007 and 2011, job satisfaction equations are estimated for workers from both the public and private sectors, with panel data techniques that include variables related to the worker's degree of disability (nondisabled, non-limited disabled, and limited disabled), among others. The results show that the disabled workers who are limited in their everyday activities are less satisfied in both the public and private sectors than those who are non-disabled and non-limited. In addition, the levels of job satisfaction for non-limited disabled people are higher than their non-disabled counterparts but only in the public sector. From a point of view of public policies, it is necessary to design and undertake measures and actions that would contribute to improving the levels of job satisfaction of older workers with disabilities, especially among those who are limited in their everyday activities.     

Semantic Ambiguity: Do Multiple Meanings Inhibit or Facilitate Word Recognition?

It is not clear whether multiple unrelated meanings inhibit or facilitate word recognition. Some studies have found a disadvantage for words having multiple meanings with respect to unambiguous words in lexical decision tasks (LDT), whereas several others have shown a facilitation for such words. In the present study, we argue that these inconsistent findings may be due to the approach employed to select ambiguous words across studies. To address this issue, we conducted three LDT experiments in which we varied the measure used to classify ambiguous and unambiguous words. The results suggest that multiple unrelated meanings facilitate word recognition. In addition, we observed that the approach employed to select ambiguous words may affect the pattern of experimental results. This evidence has relevant implications for theoretical accounts of ambiguous words processing and representation.     

Learning associated increase in heat shock cognate 70 mRNA and protein expression

The Morris water maze is a task widely used to investigate cellular and molecular changes associated with spatial learning and memory. This task has both spatial and aversive (swimming related stress) components. It is possible that stress may influence cellular modifications observed after learning the Morris water maze spatial task. Heat shock proteins, also known as stress proteins, are up-regulated in response to thermal stress, trauma, or environmental insults. In the rat hippocampus, psychophysiological stress increases the levels of heat shock protein 70 (HSC70). In this study, we investigated whether the expression of the hsc70 gene is modulated in the hippocampus during learning of the Morris water maze task. Five groups of rats were trained in the Morris water maze task for varying amounts of time (either 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 days). Training consisted of 10 trials/day in which the animals were given 60s to find a submerged platform. Rats were sacrificed 24h after their last training trial. Results showed a significant increase in hsc70 mRNA and protein levels in the hippocampal formation after two and three days of training, respectively. The increase in mRNA and protein was associated with learning but not stress because the increase was not observed in the yoked control animals. These findings suggest that cellular and molecular changes can occur independent of stress. Moreover, the results are the first to implicate hsc70 expression in spatial learning.     

Count data in psychological applied research

As some authors have noticed in fields other than psychology, level of measurement and distributional characteristics of count data are commonly not taken into account, so that they are analysed as normally distributed continuous variables, and therefore some general linear model is applied. In this work, we review a random sample of 457 articles published in the last four years in journals with the highest impact factor in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR Social Sciences Edition) of the Institute for Scientific Information. The goals are to know how often count variables appear in psychological applied research and which data analyses are used when dealing with count response variables. Examination showed that there is a notable presence of count variables, especially in some topics in psychology and a remarkable misapplication of the general linear model. One deals with causes and consequences of this approach to data analysis and suggests the use of specific models to analyse count data.     

Positive psychotherapy for distressed cancer survivors: Posttraumatic growth facilitation reduces posttraumatic stress

Background/Objective

There is increasing evidence that positive life changes, such as posttraumatic growth (PTG), can result from the experience of coping with cancer. However, no interventions have been specifically designed to facilitate the development of PTG in cancer. In this article, we describe and assess the results of Positive Psychotherapy for Cancer (PPC) survivors. It aims to facilitate PTG as a way of achieving significant reductions in the symptoms of emotional distress and posttraumatic stress. In addition, the corroboration of this PTG facilitation is assessed using interpersonal indicators. Method: We allocated 126 consecutive survivors of cancer with high levels of emotional distress and who were seeking psychological support to either an experimental group (PPC) or a waiting list group. Results: The PPC group obtained significantly better results after treatment than the control group, showing reduced distress, decreased posttraumatic symptoms, and increased PTG. The benefits were maintained at 3 and 12 months’ follow-up. Participants’ PTG was correlated to the PTG that their significant others attributed to them, corroborating PTG facilitation. Conclusions: PPC appears to promote significant long-term PTG and can reduce emotional distress and posttraumatic stress in cancer survivors. In addition, PTG facilitation induced by PPC is corroborated by significant others.     

Factor structure analysis of the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scale scores in Spanish population

Social competence and antisocial behavior in children are interesting variables for researchers and educators. Nonetheless, there are few assessment instruments capable of measuring the two constructs in small children. The aim of this study is to verify the structural validity of the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scale for Teachers and Caregivers (PKBS-2), in order to determine the theoretical model that best fits the data from a Spanish sample. 1509 children from preschool education (741 males and 768 females) from 3 to 6 years old (M= 3.78; SD= 0.815) participated in the study. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS-15.0) and the Structural Equations Program (EQS 6.1). The resulting models of social skills and behavioral problems show adequate fit indexes, statistically significant loadings, and a high internal consistency index (Cronbach's alpha). Lastly, the structural model confirms a two-factor structure: a first factor of Social Skills, comprising three variables (social cooperation, social interaction, and social independence), and a second factor of Behavior Problems, comprising two variables (externalization and internalization of problems).     

Partial Likelihood Estimation of IRT Models with Censored Lifetime Data: An Application to Mental Disorders in the ESEMeD Surveys

Developmental studies of mental disorders based on epidemiological data are often based on cross-sectional retrospective surveys. Under such designs, observations are right-censored, causing underestimation of lifetime prevalences and correlations, and inducing bias in latent trait models on the observations. In this paper we propose a Partial Likelihood (PL) method to estimate unbiased IRT models of lifetime predisposition to develop a certain outcome. A two-step estimation procedure corrects the IRT likelihood of outcome appearance with a function depending on (a) projected outcome frequencies at the end of the risk period, and (b) outcome censoring status at the time of the observation. Simulation results showed that the PL method yielded good recovery of true frequencies and intercepts. Slopes were best estimated when events were sufficiently correlated. When PL is applied to lifetime mental health disorders (assessed in the ESEMeD project surveys), estimated univariate prevalences were, on average, 1.4 times above raw estimates, and 2.06 higher in the case of bivariate prevalences.     

Measurement Invariance of the Day Reconstruction Method: Results from the COURAGE in Europe Project

Given the growing interest in the study of subjective well-being as a measure of social progress, instruments that produce valid and reliable scores and that can be used within and across countries are needed. The aim of the present study was to analyze the measurement equivalence of the Day Reconstruction Method in its brief version, using nationally representative samples from Finland, Poland, and Spain obtained within the COURAGE in Europe project. The goodness-of-fit of a two-correlated-factors model and the reliability of the scores obtained were assessed. Cross-country invariance was tested employing a multiple group confirmatory factor analysis, through sequential constraint imposition. In each country, measurement invariance was tested across time frames (morning, afternoon and evening) and days of the week (weekday and weekend). The results found support for the hypothesis of a two-correlated-factors (positive and negative affect) structure; the reliability of the positive, the negative and the net affect scores showed appropriate values. A high equivalence across the three national samples was found: all items except one showed strong measurement invariance indicating that respondents from Finland, Poland, and Spain attribute the same meaning to the latent construct under study, and the levels of the underlying items are equal in all three countries. Similar results were found for the measurement equivalence across time frames and days of the week. Our findings support the assumption of comparability across the different samples considered; in general, higher positive affect and lower negative affect were found in Finland, in the evening and at the weekend.