Predicting the direction of selective recall: Its relation to ego strength and N achievement.

2 experiments are conducted to explore the relationship between strong ego and weak ego Ss and the recall of uninterrupted vs. completed tasks. The results confirm an earlier finding that strong ego Ss recall significantly more completed tasks as the experiment conditions become more threatening to self-esteem; "weak ego subjects, interrupted tasks." 29 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive adaptation of female incest survivors.

A survey questionnaire was completed by 142 adult female incest survivors. It was hypothesized that the closeness between the offender and the survivor at the time of the abuse (termed perceived incestuousness) was related to adult functioning and that this relationship could be examined, in part, by the level of accomplishment of three cognitive coping tasks (S. E. Taylor; see record 1984-17824-001). These tasks are searching for the meaning of a threatening event, regaining a sense of mastery over the event and over one's life generally, and enhancing one's self-esteem by engaging in downward social comparisons. The mediational model as described was not supported because perceived incestuousness was not significantly related to the tasks or to adult functioning. Most of the tasks, however, were significantly related to adult functioning, providing some empirical support for Taylor's (1983) model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examining the relationship between free recall and immediate serial recall: The effects of list length and output order.

In 4 experiments, participants were presented with lists of between 1 and 15 words for tests of immediate memory. For all tasks, participants tended to initiate recall with the first word on the list for short lists. As the list length was increased, so there was a decreased tendency to start with the first list item; and, when free to do so, participants showed an increased tendency to start with one of the last 4 list items. In all tasks, the start position strongly influenced the shape of the resultant serial position curves: When recall started at Serial Position 1, elevated recall of early list items was observed; when recall started toward the end of the list, there were extended recency effects. These results occurred under immediate free recall (IFR) and different variants of immediate serial recall (ISR) and reconstruction of order (RoO) tasks. We argue that these findings have implications for the relationship between IFR and ISR and between rehearsal and recall. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in social memory tasks.

College females were superior to college males in memory for 3 tasks—one life situation and 2 names-and-faces tests. A new test, the KW Memory for Names and Faces Test, demonstrated a "same-sex recall" tendency for this sample. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of decision making by group members on recall of finished and unfinished tasks.

The hypothesis is suggested that as a result of decision making, motivational energy tends to be channeled into action which may be indexed by the tendency to recall unfinished tasks; and in the absence of decision making, motivational energy tends to be channeled into wish fulfillment which may be indexed by the tendency to recall finished tasks. The data presented tend to support this hypothesis. 20 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Slow and steady often ties the race: Effects of item-specific and relational processing on cumulative recall.

Analysis of cumulative recall curves originally led to the conclusion that asymptotic recall is inversely related to the rate of approaching asymptote. This finding suggests that recall differences between conditions on a short test would continue to exist with longer tests. However, this assumption is not always correct. In Experiments 1 and 2, orienting tasks promoting relational processing produced an initial recall advantage over item-specific processing tasks, but the advantage diminished by the end of the recall period. In Experiment 3, item-specific tasks produced a recall advantage over the relational processing task, but this advantage was manifested only after several minutes of recall. Experiments 4 and 5 extended these results. It was suggested that the results of a single recall test can be misleading when conditions differ in the amount of relational and/or item-specific information encoded. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ego strength and the recall of tasks.

"A study was made of the relation between selected Rorschach factors believed to measure ego strength and recall preferences obtained from a modified interruption-of-tasks procedure… Recall ratios for the group (of Ss) as a whole did not reveal any preference, either for completed or for interrupted tasks." Two Rorschach factors, M greater than FM, and A%, correlated slightly with the recall ratios in a manner which supported the hypothesis that strong egos will recall mostly interrupted tasks and weak egos will recall completed tasks. F + % of 80 to 90 correlated with the recall data in a manner opposite to the hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Body image, self-esteem, expectations, self-assessments, and actual success in a simulated job interview.

98 female undergraduates completed the Body Image Satisfaction Scale, Self-Cathexis Scale, Janis-Field-Eagly Self-Esteem Scale, and a job interview performance expectation scale prior to participating in a 15-min simulated job interview. After the job interviews, Ss rated their own performance. Two judges independently rated each S's performance by viewing videotapes of the job interviews. Expectations for job interview success were significantly related to both body satisfaction and self-esteem. Job interview self-ratings and the tendency to overrate or underestimate how well one actually performed were significantly related to self-esteem but not to body satisfaction. Body satisfaction was found to be subsumed by self-esteem in ability to predict interview expectations and self-assessments. Actual quality of interview performance was not related to either self-esteem or body attitudes. Discussion focuses on self-esteem consistency theory and implications for assisting applicants to assess more accurately their behavior in actual job interviews. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of self-esteem in typical and atypical changes in expectations

Self-esteem was explored as a factor in appropriate (typical) and inappropriate (atypical) changes in performance expectations across trials of a nonthreatening success condition vs. a threatening failure condition. Participants (51 women, 45 men) were randomly assigned to one of the conditions and completed a self-esteem scale and 8 trials of a timed digit-substitution task. Moderated multiple regression revealed significant interactions between self-esteem and condition for typical and atypical changes. A significant positive relationship between self-esteem and typical changes was found under success and between self-esteem and atypical changes under failure. Differences between conditions were evident only for high self-esteem, with greater typical changes for success and greater atypical changes for failure.     

Investigations of repression: Differential recall of material experimentally or naturally associated with ego threat.

Reviews the wide variety of relatively recent research conducted to test predictions derived from the theory of repression. It is found that none of the investigations provided support for the predictions. Changes in recall when threat was experimentally introduced and then eliminated were due to increases and decreases in distraction, and differences in recall of material identified as threatening and nonthreatening by the word association technique could not be used as evidence because threat and association value (which can be related to recall but independent of threat) were confounded in the word association measure. Research employing personally conflictual material or material identified as threatening on the basis of a theory also failed to provide evidence for repression. Theoretical implications and alternative approaches for understanding differential recall in the applied setting are discussed. (64 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Repression and self-presentation: When audiences interfere with self-deceptive strategies.

To defend against threatening feedback, one may avoid and ignore it, or one may dwell on it and think of refutations. Repressors who received threatening feedback privately spent the least amount ot time reading it, whereas repressors who received the same feedback publicly spent a long time reading it. Thus, the audience prevented repressors from ignoring threatening feedback; instead, they thought and worried about the partner's (bad) impression of them. Nonrepressors were unaffected by the favorability of the evaluation or the public nature of the situation. Repressors showed superior recall for the few bits of threatening information embedded in a generally favorable evaluation, suggesting that they are especially sensitive when their defenses are down. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The adaptive function of sleep: The differential effects of sleep and dreaming on recall.

Tested the hypothesis that REM sleep serves an adaptive function by examining the effects of sleep and dreaming vs. dream deprivation on the recall of ego-threatening or nonthreatening material. Ss were 40 undergraduates with high ego strength, as measured by the Rorschach Concept Evaluation Technique and the Psychological Insight Test. Ss were given an interrupted task paradigm under conditions which would lead to a threat to self-esteem for failed items, and were tested for recall after REM-deprivation, NREM awakening, or 2 or 10 hr. of daytime activity. Scores on the Repression-Sensitization scale were also examined in relation to ego strength and recall on the interrupted task. Results show that Ss who slept recalled neutral material better than Ss who did not sleep, and Ss who had REM sleep recalled threatening material better than those who had no opportunity to dream. It is concluded that NREM sleep facilitates retention of nonemotional material, while REM sleep deals with material containing affective components. (39 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Selective recall in schizophrenia and its relation to ego strength.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the nature of selective recall in schizophrenic patients. "Two hypotheses concerning certain aspects of the schizophrenic symptomatology were tested. (a) Schizophrenics manifest a distinctive type of memory process which results in the selective recall of experiences connoting personal failure and diminished self-esteem and (b) this process is related to deficient ego strength… . While the first hypothesis was confirmed at a significant level of confidence, the second was not supported by the experimental data." 22 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between sports participation and self-esteem during early adolescence.

The main purpose of the present study was to examine the links between sports participation and self-esteem, with particular interest in the possible mediating role of physical self-esteem. The participants in this study were 382 students (167 boys; 215 girls) in Grades 5-8. Participants completed a series of paper and pencil measures, detailing their sports participation, as well as their self-perceptions concerning physical and general self-esteem. Sports participation was related to all indices of self-esteem and this was equally true for boys and girls. Two distinct but related factors were identified as components of physical self-esteem (Physical appearance and Physical competence), differentially associated with self-esteem for boys and girls. Results supported a mediational model, with physical self-esteem mediating the relationship between sports participation and general self-esteem. Significant sex differences were noted with regard to specific indices of physical self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trait anxiety and beliefs regarding danger and threat to self-esteem.

Administered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory to 46 Ss, who were then asked to rate the degree of threat or danger involved in several hypothetical situations. Results support R. Lazurus' theory that chronic or dispositional anxiety is significantly related to beliefs that the environment is physically dangerous and threatening to self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interactive effects of personality and mood on emotion-congruent memory and judgment.

Prior research on emotion congruency has tended to focus on either the effects of mood states or of personality traits on cognition. The aim of the present research was to explore when and how personality traits and mood states interact to influence emotion-congruent memory and judgment. In Study 1, participants filled out measures of personality and natural mood and then completed a series of memory and judgment tasks. The same procedure was used in Study 2, except a positive or negative mood state was induced prior to completion of the cognitive tasks. Extraversion and positive affectivity were related to retrieval of positive memories and the tendency to make positive judgments. Neuroticism and negative affectivity were related to retrieval of negative memories and the tendency to make negative judgments. In addition, several significant personality by mood interaction effects on memory and judgment were obtained in Study 2, which suggests that personality and mood effects on cognition are not independent of one another. Discussion focuses on integrating mood-congruency theories with personality theories and specifying the conditions under which mood by trait interaction effects emerge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Serial Position Effects and the Picture-Superiority Effect in the Group Recall of Unshared Information.

This research examined how serial position effects (i.e., primacy and recency effects) and the picture-superiority effect (i.e., the tendency to recall pictures better than words) can impact the recall of unshared information (i.e., information known by only 1 group member). In 2 experiments, participants studied a stimulus list of pictures and words and completed a group recall task. In both experiments, the authors found that the primacy effect and the picture-superiority effect influenced how much unshared information was recalled and when it was recalled. However, there was little impact of the recency effect on either how much unshared information was recalled or when it was recalled. The implications of these findings for future theoretical research and applications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-esteem stability and depressive symptoms in acute stroke rehabilitation: Methodological and conceptual expansion.

Objectives: Explore the relationship of self-esteem level, self-esteem stability, and other moderating variables with depressive symptoms in acute stroke rehabilitation. Measures: One hundred twenty participants completed measures of state self-esteem, perceived recovery, hospitalization-based hassles, impairment-related distress, and tendency to overgeneralize negative self-connotations of bad events. Self-report of depressive symptoms was collected at admission and on discharge. Four regression analyses explored the relationship of self-esteem level and stability and each of 4 moderating variables (perceived recovery, hassles, impairment-related distress, and overgeneralization) with depressive symptoms at discharge. Results: Analyses indicated significant 3-way interactions in the 4 regression models. In general, individuals with unstable high self-esteem endorsed greater depressive symptoms under conditions of vulnerability (e.g., lower perceived recovery) than did individuals with stable high self-esteem. Under conditions of vulnerability, participants with stable low self-esteem indicated the highest levels of depressive symptoms. Implications: Self-esteem level and stability interact with psychological, environmental, and stroke-specific variables to predict depressive symptoms at discharge from stroke rehabilitation. This suggests the viability of self-esteem stability in exploring depressive symptoms in this setting and the complexity of emotional adjustment early after stroke. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Variations in mothers' self-esteem in daily life.

Used the experience sampling method (ESM; Csikszentmihalyi & Larson, 1987) to assess variations in self-esteem of mothers. Responding to random signals, 49 middle-class White working mothers reported present experience by answering a 1-page questionnaire 4 to 5 times a day for 2 wks. A measure of current, ongoing self-esteem was built from mothers' responses to the ESM and was compared with 3 standard self-esteem measures. Results support Fiske's (1971) ideas that although both types of procedures give a view of self-esteem, the views differ and cannot be considered interchangeable. Results showed that mothers' ongoing self-esteem fluctuated according to who mothers were with, was lower when they were with children than when with adults, and was related to aspects of their interpersonal situation. Results support viewing self-esteem as a complex phenomenon that is likely to require several types of measurement procedures to bring into clearer focus. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)