Europe’s Journal of Psychology (PsychOpen)
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Predictive Attentional Bias Modification Induces Stimulus-Evoked Attentional Bias for Threat
No full textAttentional Bias Modification (ABM) aims to modulate attentional biases, but questions remain about its efficacy and there may be new variants yet to explore. The current study tested effects of a novel version of ABM, predictive ABM (predABM), using visually neutral cues predicting the locations of future threatening and neutral stimuli that had a chance of appearing after a delay. Such effects could also help understand anticipatory attentional biases measured using cued Visual Probe Tasks. One hundred and two participants completed the experiment online. We tested whether training Towards Threat versus Away from Threat contingencies on the predABM would cause subsequent attentional biases towards versus away from threat versus neutral stimuli, respectively. Participants were randomly assigned and compared on attentional bias measured via a post-training Dot-Probe task. A significant difference was found between the attentionalbias in the Towards Threat versus Away from Threat group. The training contingencies induced effects on bias in the expected direction, although the bias in each group separately did not reach significance. Stronger effects may require multiple training sessions. Nevertheless, the primary test confirmed the hypothesis, showing that the predABM is a potentially interesting variant of ABM. Theoretically, the results show that automatization may involve the process of selecting the outcome of a cognitive response, rather than a simple stimulus-response association. Training based on contingencies involving predicted stimuli affect subsequent attentional measures and could be of interest in future clinical studies
Individual Differences in Anchoring Effect: Evidence for the Role of Insufficient Adjustment
No full textAlthough the anchoring effect is one of the most reliable results of experimental psychology, researchers have only recently begun to examine the role of individual differences in susceptibility to this cognitive bias. Yet, first correlational studies yielded inconsistent results, failing to identify any predictors that have a systematic effect on anchored decisions. The present research seeks to remedy methodological shortcomings of foregoing research by employing modified within-subject anchoring procedure. Results confirmed the robustness of phenomenon in extended paradigm and replicated previous findings on anchor’s direction and distance as significant experimental factors of the anchoring effect size. Obtained measures of individual differences in susceptibility to anchoring were fairly reliable but shared only small portion of variability with intelligence, cognitive reflection, and basic personality traits. However, in a group of more reflective subjects, substantial negative correlation between intelligence and anchoring was detected. This finding indicates that, at least for some subjects, effortful cognitive process of adjustment plays role in the emergence of the anchoring effect, which is in line with expectations of dual-process theories of human reasoning
Conspiracy Mentality in Post-Conflict Societies: Relations With the Ethos of Conflict and Readiness for Reconciliation
No full textAfter almost 20 years since the end of the armed conflicts in former Yugoslavia, we are witnesses to the fact that the main causes of the conflicts have not been overcome. Reconciliation between ethnic groups that had been in conflict by means of economic and political cooperation, must have a psychological foundation. This study investigates the relations between Conspiracy Mentality, basic lexical social attitudes, and the factors important for Croatian-Serbian and Kosovo Albanian-Serbian reconciliation, i.e., the Ethos of Conflict and the Readiness for Reconciliation. We hypothesize that Conspiracy Mentality will predict the propensity for reconciliation over and above basic social attitudes, and that will mediate the relations between basic social attitudes and factors contributing (or preventing) reconciliation. With the samples of Serbs from Central Serbia (n = 307) and Northern Kosovo (n = 271), Conspiracy Mentality, Ethos of Conflict, Readiness for Reconciliation and five basic lexical social attitudes (Traditional Religiosity, Unmitigated Self-Interest, Communal Rationalism, Subjective Spirituality, and Inequality-Aversion) were measured. Results showed that Conspiracy Mentality is negatively related to the Readiness for Reconciliation and positively to the Ethos of Conflict. Additionally, Conspiracy Mentality predicts Ethos of Conflict over and above the basic social attitudes. Finally, Conspiracy Mentality mediates the relationships between Traditional Religiosity, Inequality-Aversion and Subjective Spirituality on the one hand, and Ethos of Conflict on the other. The results suggest that Conspiracy Mentality should be taken into consideration when creating policies and programmes focused on reconciliation
Homogeneity of Memory Errors in Abstract Visual Pattern Recall
No full textIn memory tests, recalled information can be distorted by errors in memory and these distortions can be more memorable than the original stimuli to a later learner. This is typically observed over several generations of learners but there is less exploration of the initial distortions from the first generation of learners. In this article, participants studied visual matrix patterns which were either erroneous recall attempts from previous participants or were random patterns. Experiment 1 showed some evidence that material based on previous participants’ recall data was more memorable than random material, but this did not replicate in Experiment 2. Of greater interest in the current data were homogeneity in the memory errors made by participants which demonstrated systematic recall biases in a single generation of learners. Unlike studies utilising multiple generations of learners, the currently observed distortions cannot be attributed to survival-of-thefittest mechanisms where biases are driven by encoding effects
How (Ir)rational Is it to Believe in Contradictory Conspiracy Theories?
No full textThere is evidence that not only believing in one conspiracy theory (CT) makes a person more probable to believe in others, however unrelated their content is, but that people can even believe in contradictory CTs about a single event. After piloting locally relevant conspiracy theories on a convenient Serbian speaking sample (N = 152), we sought to replicate this finding on a larger sample (N = 252), but introduced several changes. We differentiated necessarily and probably mutually exclusive CTs, and interviewed the participants who answered contradictory to understand the reasoning behind it. The participants were more prone to endorse probably than necessarily exclusive items (we registered positive correlations in former and no correlation or negative correlation in later). Two strategies enabled them to overcome the contradiction: (a) distilling the crucial content and downplaying other information and (b) treating the contradictory scenarios as possible versions of events. Taken together, these results indicate that participants are not as irrational as sometimes portrayed
Extreme Desire for Motherhood: Analysis of Narratives From Women Undergoing Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)
No full textThe problem of infertility and its consequent treatment (denoted as Assisted Reproductive Technology or ART) represent an increasing phenomenon, especially in industrialized countries. Confronting with one’s own procreative limitations can generate strong negative emotional reactions. This study aims at understanding how the desire for motherhood manifests itself in infertile women undergoing ART, studying their emotional and subjective perspective. An in-depth explorative research study was conducted on 17 infertile women attending an Italian hospital clinic for fertility treatment. Emotional text analysis was conducted to analyze the corpus of their interviews, allowing the identification of four thematic domains (clusters) which refer, respectively, to the following emotional dimensions: an inclination to self-sacrifice, seen as the price to be paid for the desired success of the treatment (Cluster 1), pursuit of inclusion in the world of procreative mothers (Cluster 2), precarious equilibrium between the deep desire for a baby and the withdrawal from the treatment (Cluster 3), surrender to any possible consequence in order to obtain the desired mother-child relationship (Cluster 4). The witness of the couples’ suffering for their condition of infertility and their strong desire for parenting can represent a source of high pressure for the fertility care staff, as they are the only ones responsible for the fulfillment of the great dream of biological parenthood. For these reasons, a multidisciplinary approach, which involves psychological as well as medical experts all working together, could benefit both the patients and the healthcare professionals and improve the quality of the reproductive healthcare services
Interventions for Reducing Suicide Risk in Cancer Patients: A Literature Review
No full textThe suicide risk of people diagnosed with cancer is two times higher than the general population. The number of cases of diagnosed cancer is estimated to rise by 70% over the next two decades. Evidence-based prevention strategies are necessary to protect this vulnerable group of individuals. The purpose of this review was to find out the risk factors of suicide and which types of interventions can serve as prevention strategies. Psychosocial interventions, pharmacotherapy and physical activity can play a preventive role in reducing psychosocial and physical risk factors, such as mental disorders, poor social support, poor performance status and pain. Further research is needed to develop effective suicide prevention strategies for cancer patients
Systematic Review of the Proposed Associations between Physical Exercise and Creative Thinking
No full textThe objective of this study was to evaluate the association between physical exercise and creative thinking. A systematic review approach was employed by searching PubMed, Google Scholar and PsychInfo databases. Among the evaluated 13 studies, 92% indicated a beneficial relationship. However, 77% were vulnerable to moderate-high risk for methodological bias, suggesting adherence to standardized and controlled research initiatives should be promoted. There appears to be weak to modest support for acute, moderate-intensity exercise to benefit creativity. Exercise timing relative to creativity assessment protocols should be addressed and further detailed. Creativity scoring procedures must be refined, and an increased focus on the motivational components of exercise may help guide researchers in measuring creative thoughts and behavior. Broader concluding claims that creativity, in general, is improved or impaired by exercise, is as problematic as sweeping statements that exercise improves or impairs a measure as dynamic as intelligence. Scientific inquiries must specify precisely which outcome characteristics are changing in line with research interventions. This review identifies several fallible linkages between physical activity and creativity. Too few studies were conducted on strong methodological foundations, perpetuating the risk for undermining or inaccurately inflating the potential association between exercise and creative thinking behavior
Who Believes in ESP: Cognitive and Motivational Determinants of the Belief in Extra-Sensory Perception
No full textMany people believe in extra-sensory perception, e.g. the ability to communicate with thoughts, to sense future events or locate radiation with the help of a V-shaped piece of wood. Addressing a gap in research specifically focused on ESP beliefs, we investigated cognitive styles and basic motivations related to these beliefs in two survey studies. The findings suggest that a propensity to use intuition is the best predictor of ESP beliefs in terms of cognitive style. ESP belief is positively related to fear of death, and this relation is partly mediated by fatalism, i.e. the belief that chance controls one’s life. ESP beliefs do not seem to be perceived as irreconcilable with a rational view of reality however, they do not necessarily provide psychological protection from existential concerns. The implications of the findings in terms of costs and benefits of these beliefs and the possibility to change them are discussed
How to Get Rid of the Belief Bias: Boosting Analytical Thinking via Pragmatics
No full textThe previous research attempts to reduce the influence of the belief bias on deductive thinking have often been unsuccessful and, when they succeeded, they failed to replicate. In this paper, we propose a new way to see an old problem. Instead of considering the analytical abilities of the respondent, we focus on the communicative characteristics of the experimental task. By changing the pragmatics into play through a subtle manipulation of the instruction of the syllogism problem, we obtained a strong improvement in the accuracy of the performance in both untrained and trained in logic respondents. We suggest that current models of deductive thinking should be broadened to consider also communicative understanding as part of the processing of the problem