It feels like yesterday: Self-esteem, valence of personal past experiences, and judgments of subjective distance.

Supporting predictions from temporal self-appraisal theory, participants in 3 studies reported feeling farther from former selves and experiences with unfavorable implications for their current self-view than from equally distant selves and experiences with flattering implications. This distancing bias occurred when assignment to negative and positive pasts was random, for both achievement and social outcomes and for single episodes as well as longer term experiences. Consistent with a motivational interpretation, the distancing bias was stronger among high than low self-esteem participants and occurred for personal but not for acquaintances' past events. Frequency of rehearsal and ease of recall of past episodes also predicted feelings of distance, but these variables did not account for the Self-Esteem × Valence interaction on subjective distancing of personal events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The mass media and judgments of risk: Distinguishing impact on personal and societal level judgments.

Recent research findings about whether mass media reports influence risk-related judgments have not been consistent. One reconciliation of the differing findings is the impersonal impact hypothesis, which suggests that media impact occurs with societal level judgments about general problem importance or frequency but not with judgments about personal risks. Three studies, with 465 undergraduates were conducted to test this hypothesis. Results support the impersonal impact hypothesis by suggesting that personal and societal level judgments are distinct and that media reports exert their primary influence on societal rather than personal judgments. Although media reports influenced judgments about societal risks but not about risks to one's self under the conditions examined in the present research, personal judgments may be affected under other conditions. Conditions under which media reports may have differential or similar effects on personal and societal-level judgments are considered in relation to the base rates of an event occurring, the strength of the media case that a problem exists, and the individual's identification with the problem. (55 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Embodied memory judgments: A case of motor fluency.

It is well known that perceptual and conceptual fluency can influence episodic memory judgments. Here, the authors asked whether fluency arising from the motor system also impacts recognition memory. Past research has shown that the perception of letters automatically activates motor programs of typing actions in skilled typists. In this study, expert typists made more false recognition errors to letter dyads which would be easier or more fluent to type than nonfluent dyads, while no typing action was involved (Experiment 1). This effect was minimized with a secondary motor task that implicated the same fingers that would be used to type the presented dyads, but this effect remained with a noninterfering motor task (Experiment 2). Typing novices, as a comparison group, did not show fluency effects in recognition memory. These findings suggest that memory is influenced by covert simulation of actions associated with the items being judged—even when there is no intention to act—and highlight the intimate connections between higher level cognition and action. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative processes in personal and group judgments: Resolving the discrepancy.

The judgment mechanisms underlying personal- and group-level ratings of discrimination and privilege were investigated in high- and low-status groups. A consistent personal–group discrepancy is found for discrimination and privilege but is not due to personal differentiation from the group. Instead, personal and group ratings are based on different comparison standards and levels of self (personal vs. social identity); personal motives influence personal ratings, and social motivations influence group ratings. This analysis is supported by contrasting the traditional discrepancy score with a direct comparison measure (Study 2) and by showing the sensitivity of group ratings (but not personal ratings) to group audience and degree of group identification (Studies 3 and 4). Studying the different meanings communicated with personal and group ratings provides more insight into the dimensions of deprivation than do analyses of discrepancy scores. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

MINERVA-DM: A memory processes model for judgments of likelihood.

This article describes an integration of most of the disparate likelihood judgment phenomena in behavioral decision making using a mathematical memory model. A new theory of likelihood judgments based on D. L. Hintzman's (1984, 1988) MINERVA2 memory model is described. The model, MINERVA-DM (DM?=?decision making), accounts for a wide range of likelihood judgment phenomena including frequency judgments, conditional likelihood judgments, conservatism, the availability and representativeness heuristics, base-rate neglect, the conjunction error, the validity effect, the simulation heuristic, and the hindsight bias. In addition, the authors extend the model to expert probability judgment and show how MINERVA-DM can account for both good and poor calibration (overconfidence) as a function of varying degrees of expertise. The authors' work is presented as a case study of the advantages of applying memory theory to study decision making. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decision rules for recognition memory confidence judgments.

According to the standard signal-detection model of recognition memory, confidence judgments for recognition responses are reached in much the same way that old-new decisions are reached (i.e., on the basis of criteria situated along the strength-of-evidence axis). The question investigated here is how the confidence criteria shift when recognition accuracy is manipulated across conditions. Although several theories assume that the old-new decision criterion shifts when recognition accuracy changes, less is known about how the confidence criteria move. An analysis of data previously reported by R. Ratcliff, G. McKoon, and M. Tindall (1994) and some new data reported here suggest that the confidence criteria fan out on the decision axis as d' decreases. This result is qualitatively consistent with the predictions of a likelihood ratio model, although the data did not support the stronger quantitative predictions of this account. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

ROC curves and confidence judgments in recognition memory.

Most models of recognition memory rely on a strength/familiarity-based signal detection account that assumes that the processes giving rise to a confidence judgment are the same as those giving rise to an old-new decision. Confidence is assumed to be scaled directly from the perceived familiarity of a probe. This assumption was tested in 2 experiments that examine the shape of confidence-based z receiver operating characteristic (zROC) curves under different levels of response bias induced by changing stimulus probabilities (Experiment 1) and payoffs (Experiment 2). Changes in the shape of the zROC curves with bias indicate that confidence is not scaled directly from perceived familiarity or likelihood. A model of information accumulation in recognition memory is proposed that can account for the observed effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Separating bias and sensitivity in judgments of associative memory.

Ratings of the degree of association between words are linearly related to normed associative strengths, but the intercept is high, and the slope is shallow (the judgments of associative memory [JAM] function). Two experiments included manipulations intended to decrease the intercept and increase the slope. Discrimination training on many pairs of words and constraining ratings to sum to a constant both reduced the intercept but failed to change the slope. The intercept of the JAM function appears to contain a bias component that can be manipulated independently of the slope, which reflects sensitivity to associative strengths. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mood, memory, and social judgments in children.

The influence of positive and negative moods on children's recall and recognition memory and impression-formation judgments was investigated in a two-list experimental design. A total of 161 schoolchildren, 8 to 10 years old, were presented with audiovisual information containing positive and negative details about 2 target children. Each presentation was preceded by happy or sad mood manipulations. One day later, the children were again placed in a happy or sad mood, and their recall and recognition memory and impression-formation judgments were assessed. Results showed that memory was better when (a) the children felt happy during encoding, retrieval, or both; (b) the material was incongruent with learning mood; (c) the 2 target characters were encountered in contrasting rather than in matching mood states; and (d) recall mood matched encoding mood. A happy mood increased the extremity of both positive and negative impression-formation judgments. Results are contrasted with experimental data obtained with normal or depressed adults, and implications are considered for contemporary theories of mood effects on cognition and for social-developmental research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Describing jurors' personal conceptions of insanity and their relationship to case judgments.

In a series of studies, prototype theory was applied to describe the nature, variability, and effect of jurors' conceptions of insanity. Specifically, (a) 80 jurors described the features of their prototypes of insanity, (b) 5 jurors combined similar features to develop a core set of features to measure individual differences, and (c) 135 jurors and 236 undergraduates completed measures of individual differences in prototypes and attitudes toward the insanity defense and the criminal justice system and rendered insanity case judgments. Results suggest that (a) jurors' prototypes of insanity cannot be reduced to legal or psychiatric constructs; (b) although there are marked individual differences in prototypes, there are 3 identifiable groups of jurors with prototypes that emphasize severe mental disability, "moral insanity," and mental state at the time of the offense; and (c) these prototypes are associated with case-relevant attitudes and affect the way in which jurors interpret case information and render verdicts. Implications for future research, legal reform, and the presentation of expert evidence are analyzed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The processes and outcomes of psychotherapists' personal treatment experiences.

234 nationally surveyed psychologists, 104 psychiatrists, and 171 clinical social workers reported on the processes and outcomes of their personal psychotherapy experiences. These Ss were 71% of a larger sample and indicated at least 1 episode of personal therapy; insight-oriented and female psychotherapists were more likely to seek treatment. Marital conflict, depression, and anxiety were the most frequent presenting problems. Over 90% indicated improvement in behaviors, cognitions, and emotions as a result of the experience; several covariates of harmful treatment were identified. Lasting lessons from personal therapy commonly concerned the importance of the therapeutic relationship and nurturing interpersonal skills. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Event memory: The effects of processing objectives and time delay on memory for action sequences.

Tested a general model of information processing proposed by the present 1st author and T. K. Srull (1980, 1984) that conceptualizes the memorial representations of events that result from different types of goal-directed cognition. 248 undergraduates read a passage describing events that took place at a cocktail party. They were told either to form an impression, to empathize with the writer, or to remember the information presented. The stimulus passage contained 2 target events described chronologically or in reverse order that were presented together or were separated. After a short or long delay, Ss recalled the information they read in the order it came to mind. Ss were given the individual event actions and told to place them in the order they were presented. The target events were more likely to be recalled together and in chronological order when Ss had learned about them with either an impression formation or an empathy objective. Orderings of these actions were affected by task objectives only after a long delay. Ss with an empathy objective were most likely to recall the last target event presented before the 1st one after a long delay, whereas Ss with an impression objective were least likely to do so. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work and personal life boundary management: Boundary strength, work/personal life balance, and the segmentation-integration continuum.

While researchers are increasingly interested in understanding the boundaries surrounding the work and personal life domains, few have tested the propositions set forth by theory. Boundary theory proposes that individuals manage the boundaries between work and personal life through processes of segmenting and/or integrating the domains. The authors investigated boundary management profiles of 332 workers in an investigation of the segmentation-integration continuum. Cluster analysis indicated consistent clusters of boundary management practices related to varying segmentation and integration of the work and personal life domains. But, the authors suggest that the segmentation-integration continuum may be more complicated. Results also indicated relationships between boundary management practices and work-personal life interference and work-personal life enhancement. Less flexible and more permeable boundaries were related to more interference, while more flexible and more permeable boundaries were related to more enhancement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Uncertainty orientation and persuasion: Individual differences in the effects of personal relevance on social judgments.

In two studies we investigated the effects of personal relevance on attitude change as a function of one's uncertainty orientation. We predicted that, unlike uncertainty-oriented persons, high personal relevance would make certainty-oriented persons less careful or systematic in their processing of message arguments and more dependent on heuristics, or persuasion cues, than would low personal relevance. Results from both studies, within and across 2-week time periods, supported predictions. In Study 1, high personal relevance led to higher persuasiveness of two-sided communications and lower persuasiveness of one-sided communications than low personal relevance for uncertainty-oriented persons, but the reverse occurred for certainty-oriented persons. In Study 2, high personal relevance led to higher persuasive impact of strong arguments and lower impact for source expertise than did low personal relevance for uncertainty-oriented persons, but, again, the reverse occurred for certainty-oriented persons. We discuss implications for current theories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The shifting basis of life satisfaction judgments across cultures: Emotions versus norms.

The relative importance of emotions versus normative beliefs for life satisfaction judgments was compared among individualist and collectivist nations in 2 large sets of international data (in total, 61 nations, N?=?62,446). Among nations, emotions and life satisfaction correlated significantly more strongly in more individualistic nations (r?=?.52 in Study 1; r?=?.48 in Study 2). At the individual level, emotions were far superior predictors of life satisfaction to norms (social approval of life satisfaction) in individualist cultures, whereas norms and emotions were equally strong predictors of life satisfaction in collectivist cultures. The present findings have implications for future studies on cultural notions of well-being, the functional value of emotional experiences, and individual differences in life satisfaction profiles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mood dependent memory for events of the personal past.

Previous research on mood dependent memory (MDM) suggests that the more one must rely on internal resources, rather than on external aids, to generate both the target events and the cues required for their retrieval, the more likely is one's memory for these events to be mood dependent. To instantiate this "do-it-yourself" principle, 3 experiments were conducted in which Ss experiencing either a pleasant or an unpleasant mood generated autobiographical events in response to neutral nouns. Subsequently, Ss were tested for event free recall while in the same or the alternative mood state. All 3 studies showed MDM, such that the likelihood of recalling an event generated 2 or 3 days ago was higher when generation and recall moods matched than when they mismatched. Prospects for future research aimed at elucidating and extending these results are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Complaints, malpractice, and risk management: Professional issues and personal experiences.

As psychologists strive to affect human welfare in a positive way, their greater exposure and responsibilities have led to worry about potential malpractice lawsuits and state licensing board complaints. Are psychologists at increasing risk for litigation? What steps can they take to alleviate the stress and worry? A survey of licensed psychologists (N?=?284) explored professional awareness, personal experiences, and practice activities related to complaints, malpractice lawsuits, and risk management. Professional psychologists are urged to stay informed regarding events and activities that may result in lawsuits or complaints and to practice in a manner that best provides protection. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)