Journal of General Psychology最新文献

We examined the influence of prospective memory (PM) cue focality in a sample of preschool children. Prior investigations in older populations indicated that focal targets were associated with enhanced PM performance, perhaps through more automatic retrieval processes. Importantly, this influential variable has not been thoroughly explored in younger samples. Over three test sessions, preschool children completed a memory task where they were shown a series of animals. During retrieval, participants were shown all of the animals except for one, and they had to name the missing animal. While engaged in this task, participants in the focal PM condition were instructed to remove particular animals (e.g., spider) from the game if they saw them. In the nonfocal condition, participants were told to remove any animal that was entirely one color (e.g., black) if they saw them during the game. The results demonstrated no difference in PM remembering between focal and nonfocal conditions. These results suggest that the effects of focality may not be present at the beginning stages of PM development. The implications for PM retrieval processes also are discussed.

This study compares the levels of felt arousal and cognitive anxiety between male and female archers across different competition stages. Fifty-seven professional recurve archers (28 men, 29 women) who participated in the Asian Archery Championships were recruited as participants. Their levels of felt arousal and cognitive anxiety were recorded during the stages of qualifying, individual elimination, and team competition using the Sport Grid-Revised. The results showed no sex-based differences in competitive anxiety when competition stages were considered. However, the female archers demonstrated higher levels of felt arousal and cognitive anxiety than the male archers across the different stages. Further, all archers regardless of sex showed higher cognitive anxiety in the individual elimination and team competition stages than the qualifying stage. The findings show sex-based differences in felt arousal and cognitive anxiety before competitions. In addition, increasing cognitive anxiety is likely associated with fundamental differences in levels of competition pressure at various stages of a match. It seems beneficial for athletes to focus on reducing gender stereotypes through preventive interventions and developing effective coping strategies toward competitive anxiety.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a threat to mental health worldwide. The current study aims to investigate the role of intolerance of uncertainty in cognitive, emotional and behavioral reactions to this pandemic and propose a path model of these reactions. In the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia, participants in a general sample (n = 1,011) as well as an older adult sample (n = 655) completed measures regarding intolerance of uncertainty, mental health (anxiety, well-being, perceived stress) and adherence to preventive measures. Two rounds of data collection were carried out in the first sample. Intolerance of uncertainty was found to be related to mental health indicators and the structural equation model showed a direct and indirect effect on them as well as on the adherence to preventive measures. However, the comparison of data from different time points has brought inconsistent results. The findings highlight the role of intolerance of uncertainty in reaction to threat and indicate the potential of uncertainty reduction e.g., getting clear messages from authorities, as a way of decreasing mental health problems.

Myopic loss aversion (MLA)-a combination of myopic loss and a greater sensitivity to losses than gains-has been proposed to explain the equity premium puzzle and then extended to myopic prospect theory (MPT). However, such an expected-value/utility-based theory has been challenged and the underlying mechanism remains debatable. In the current study, we applied the modified equate-to-differentiate model to address this phenomenon. In Experiment 1, we first directly explored the relationship between individuals' degree of loss aversion and their investment amounts in risky lotteries for both single and repeated plays. We found no correlations between these variables; this was inconsistent with the MLA/MPT prediction. Experiment 2 showed that individuals' evaluation scores of the differences within the dimension (probability or outcome) that has larger differences highly predicted their investment behavior, which supported the equate-to-differentiate model.

Many studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of different couples therapy methods for mitigating difficulties in emotion regulation; however, few studies have compared the effectiveness of these methods. Therefore, the present study compares the effectiveness of the Gottman couples therapy and the Dattilio couples therapy methods for mitigating difficulties in emotion regulation of coupled partnerships. Though an analysis of the findings of the present study shows that these two approaches work independently of each other, they are both effective in mitigating difficulties in emotion regulation.

The purpose of this study was to assess whether self-imagery is more effective than other-imagery, and if so, to investigate the mechanism of how self-imagery generates more increased positive responses from consumers. Furthermore, we explored the boundary conditions associated with reduced positive effects of self-imagery on consumer responses. The results of Experiment 1 suggest that self-imagery was more effective than other-imagery in generating a favorable attitude toward an advertisement and purchase intention, since it enhanced a sense of presence, and consequently, imagery engagement. However, based on the results of Experiment 2, when an advertisement evoked a sense of high-risk, self-imagery generated a less favorable attitude toward the advertisement than other-imagery due to the emotion of fear evoked by the advertisement.

Loneliness is a public health problem. Its assessment is important to identify older adults who experience greater loneliness and appropriate interventions can be carried out. The De Jong Gierveld Solitude Scale (DJGLS) is one of the most widely used, at least in the European context, to measure loneliness. Although the Spanish version of the DJGLS has shown reliability and validity in Spanish samples of older adults, there is no evidence of adequacy in the Latin American context. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the psychometric properties of the DJGLS in Peruvian older adults. Specifically, factorial validity, internal consistency and criterion-related validity were studied, based on a double analytical perspective: Classical Test Theory (SEM models) and Item Response Theory. The participants were 235 Peruvian older adults with ages ranging from 61 to 91 years old (Mean = 72.69, SD = 6.68) that assisted to Centers for the Elderly in the city of Trujillo, Peru. Together with the DJGLS, information from the three-item UCLA loneliness scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Brief Resilient Coping Scale and the Patient Health Questionnarie-2 was also gathered. The results support a one-dimensional structure of the DJGLS but with the presence of method effects associated to the negatively worded items. Additionally, the IRT multidimensional model applied also indicated the presence of a second dimension related to these negative items. Finally, other evidences of reliability and validity were adequate. In summary, the DJGLS may be considered a reliable and valid instrument to be used in the Peruvian (older adults) context.

Much research suggests mental health diagnoses elicit stigmatization of individuals. The current study builds upon this literature at the intersection of same- and cross-race perceptions. Black and White participants viewed Black and White targets paired with either a mental health diagnosis (e.g., depression), a physical health diagnosis (e.g., high blood pressure), or no health information (control) while indicating each target's favorability and how much social distance they would want from them. Overall, people were more stigmatizing toward targets with a mental health diagnosis than a physical health diagnosis or no diagnosis. Black targets with a mental health diagnosis were stigmatized more than White targets with a mental health diagnosis and White participants displayed a greater aversion to Black targets with a mental health diagnosis than did Black participants. Results contribute to the mental health stigma literature and suggest it may be particularly problematic for White perceivers' attitudes toward Black individuals with mental health diagnoses. Findings may shed light on the racial differences in treatment-seeking amongst Black and White individuals.

Previous research suggests that common modifiable health risk factors (e.g., depression, anxiety, metabolic illness, inflammation) may have an impact on memory. In the present study, we sought to investigate relationships between a number of these health risk factors and two components of recognition memory (recollection and familiarity). Data were analyzed for 96 healthy young adults between 17 and 25 years old. Recollection and familiarity were measured using an associative recognition procedure involving unitized and unrelated word pairs, and regression analyses were used to relate recognition memory performance to physical health (inflammation via plasma IL-6 levels, central obesity via waste-to-hip ratio, and heart rate variability) and mental health (depression via CESD-R, stress via PSS, and state and personality trait anxiety via STAI) measures of modifiable risk factors. Together, these health variables predicted an additional 19% of the variance in recollection beyond what was accounted for by familiarity, and 15% of the variance in familiarity beyond what was accounted for by recollection. These effects were primarily driven by inflammation, depression, and trait anxiety, which were each significant (p < .05) independent predictors of recognition. Higher levels of depression and inflammation were related to worse recollection yet better familiarity. Higher levels of trait anxiety were related to better recollection but were not related to familiarity. These findings demonstrate complex relationships between these modifiable health risk factors and recognition memory. Future longitudinal and cross-sectional research is needed to further explore these relationships and determine whether or not poor health causes these changes in recognition.