Affect and performance in simple problems

We investigate the effects of emotional mood states on solving simple pattern comparison tasks. It is assumed that the effects of mood are mediated through response biases as well as effort expenditure. Departing from these assumptions, trend hypotheses are derived for the response biases evaluated by means of a signal detection analysis, for the response latencies, and for an adequate index of the underlying ability. The data support the hypotheses, and in particular, a positive mood state is found to improve performance. The assumption of mood-dependent differences in effort expenditure provides a parsimonious and integrative account of our results, while a reduced-capacity view cannot explain the findings obtained under positive mood induction.     

On belief bias in syllogistic reasoning

A multinomial model is used to disentangle the respective contributions of reasoning processes and response bias in conclusion-acceptance data that exhibit belief bias. A model-based meta-analysis of 22 studies reveals that such data are structurally too sparse to allow discrimination of different accounts of belief bias. Four experiments are conducted to obtain richer data, allowing deeper tests through the use of the multinomial model. None of the current accounts of belief bias is consistent with the complex pattern of results. A new theory of belief bias is proposed that assumes that most reasoners construct only one mental model representing the premises as well as the conclusion or, in the case of an unbelievable conclusion, its logical negation. New predictions derived from the theory are confirmed in 4 additional studies.     

On the measurement of criterion noise in signal detection theory: the case of recognition memory

Traditional approaches within the framework of signal detection theory (SDT; Green & Swets, 1966), especially in the field of recognition memory, assume that the positioning of response criteria is not a noisy process. Recent work (Benjamin, Diaz, & Wee, 2009; Mueller & Weidemann, 2008) has challenged this assumption, arguing not only for the existence of criterion noise but also for its large magnitude and substantive contribution to individuals' performance. A review of these recent approaches for the measurement of criterion noise in SDT identifies several shortcomings and confoundings. A reanalysis of Benjamin et al.'s (2009) data sets as well as the results from a new experimental method indicate that the different forms of criterion noise proposed in the recognition memory literature are of very low magnitudes, and they do not provide a significant improvement over the account already given by traditional SDT without criterion noise.     

Perceiving minority members as individuals: the effects of relative group size in social categorization

According to the account by comparative distinctiveness, minorities draw attention by virtue of their relative size, leading to more individuation and more stereotyping of their members. Using the ‘Who said what?’ paradigm by Taylor, Fiske, Etcoff, and Ruderman ( 1978 ) in Klauer and Wegener's ( 1998 ) modified version, relative group size of gender categories and age categories was varied in a pilot study and a main experiment, respectively. In the pilot study, memory for discussion statements and in both studies, memory for individuating information increased as subgroup size decreased. Rating measures obtained in the main experiment revealed most stereotyping of minority members. The findings thereby support major predictions of the account by comparative distinctiveness, but demonstrate dissociations between different modes of category‐based processing, i.e. category memory, reconstructive category use, and stereotyping. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Training propositional reasoning

Two experiments compared the effects of four training conditions on propositional reasoning. A syntactic training demonstrated formal derivations, in an abstract semantic training the standard truth-table definitions of logical connectives were explained, and a domain-specific semantic training provided thematic contexts for the premises of the reasoning task. In a control training, an inductive reasoning task was practised. In line with the account by mental models, both kinds of semantic training were significantly more effective than the control and the syntactic training, whereas there were no significant differences between the control and the syntactic training, nor between the two kinds of semantic training. Experiment 2 replicated this pattern of effects using a different set of syntactic and domain-specific training conditions.     

Psychotherapie und soziale Unterstützung

Relations between social support as an informal helping system on one hand and psychological intervention on the other are outlined. Starting from an overview of approaches to define and conceptualize social support, common aspects of informal and professional help are derived. These are then illustrated by two intervention contexts which mark the transition between support and psychological intervention. Furthermore, effects of the individuals’ support network on utilization, maintenance, and outcome of psychotherapy are summarized. Finally, interventions to optimize the individual support situation are discussed.     

Priming of semantic classifications by novel subliminal prime words

Four experiments demonstrate category congruency priming by subliminal prime words that were never seen as targets in a valence-classification task (Experiments 1, 2, and 4) and a gender-classification task (Experiment 3). In Experiment 1, overlap in terms of word fragments of one or more letters between primes and targets of different valences was larger than between primes and targets of the same valence. In Experiments 2 and 3, the sets of prime words and target words were completely disjoint in terms of used letters. In Experiment 4, pictures served as targets. The observed subliminal priming effects for novel primes cannot be driven by partial analysis of primes at the word-fragment level; they suggest instead that primes were processed semantically as whole words contingent upon prime duration.     

Keys and seats: Spatial response coding underlying the joint spatial compatibility effect

Spatial compatibility effects (SCEs) are typically observed when participants have to execute spatially defined responses to nonspatial stimulus features (e.g., the color red or green) that randomly appear to the left and the right. Whereas a spatial correspondence of stimulus and response features facilitates response execution, a noncorrespondence impairs task performance. Interestingly, the SCE is drastically reduced when a single participant responds to one stimulus feature (e.g., green) by operating only one response key (individual go/no-go task), whereas a full-blown SCE is observed when the task is distributed between two participants (joint go/no-go task). This joint SCE (a.k.a. the social Simon effect) has previously been explained by action/task co-representation, whereas alternative accounts ascribe joint SCEs to spatial components inherent in joint go/no-go tasks that allow participants to code their responses spatially. Although increasing evidence supports the idea that spatial rather than social aspects are responsible for joint SCEs emerging, it is still unclear to which component(s) the spatial coding refers to: the spatial orientation of response keys, the spatial orientation of responding agents, or both. By varying the spatial orientation of the responding agents (Exp. 1) and of the response keys (Exp. 2), independent of the spatial orientation of the stimuli, in the present study we found joint SCEs only when both the seating and the response key alignment matched the stimulus alignment. These results provide evidence that spatial response coding refers not only to the response key arrangement, but also to the—often neglected—spatial orientation of the responding agents.     

An exact and optimal standardized person test for assessing consistency with the rasch model

The Rasch model predicts that an individual's ability level is invariant over subtests of the total test, and thus, all subtests measure the same latent trait. A person test of this invariance hypothesis is discussed that is uniformly most powerful and standardized in the sense that the conditional distribution of the test statistic, given a particular level of ability, does not depend on the absolute value of the examinee's ability parameter. The test can be routinely performed by applying a computer program designed by and obtainable from the author. Finally, a suboptimal test is derived that is extremely easy to use, and an overall group test of the invariance hypothesis discussed. All tests considered do not rely on asymptotic approximations; hence, they may be applied when the test is of only moderate length and the group of examinees is small.