Current Directions In Psychological Science Research Articles

Commentary on the power of predictability: patterns of signals in early life shape neurodevelopment and mental health trajectories.

As Davis and Glynn observe in the introduction to their review, early life adversity is a significant impediment to healthy child development. Whereas some theoretical accounts emphasize the sheer number of physical and psychosocial risk factors children experience (Evans, Li, & Whipple, Psychological Bulletin, 2013, 139, 1342), Davis and Glynn review a program of research that is aligned with models highlighting the types of adversity children encounter. They expand on accounts that differentiate threat from deprivation (McLaughlin & Sheridan, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2016, 25, 239) to draw attention to the role of unpredictability in children's development.

Some lie‐detection may actually be of forensic use: A comment on Brennen and Magnussen, Lie‐detection: What works

AbstractRecently, Brennen and Magnussen (2023, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 32, 395) reviewed several approaches to detection of deception that have been extensively researched for several decades. While this review is timely, it is overly pessimistic regarding the applicability of psychological research to criminal investigations, and at the same time seems overly optimistic on techniques that are still in their infancy. While we remain cautious in recommending the application of many tests, we argue that the potential contribution of detection tests to law enforcement is much greater than what was implied by Brennen and Magnussen (2023, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 32, 395).

What COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Disparity Reveals About Solidarity

What COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Disparity Reveals About Solidarity

Are latent working memory items retrieved from long-term memory?

Switching one's focus of attention between to-be-remembered items in working memory (WM) is critical for cognition, but the mechanisms by which this is accomplished are unclear. A long-term memory (LTM) account suggests that switching attention away from an item, and passively retaining and reactivating such "latent" items back into the focus of attention involves episodic LTM retrieval processes, even for delays of only a few seconds. We tested this hypothesis using a two-item, double-retrocue WM task that requires participants to switch attention away from and reactivate items followed by subsequent LTM tests for reactivated items from the initial WM task (vs. continuously retained or untested control items). We compared performance on these tests between older adults (a population with LTM deficits) and young adults with either full (Experiment 1) or divided (Experiment 2) attention during the WM delay periods. The effects of reactivating latent items, as well as ageing and divided attention, had significant effects on WM performance, but did not interact with or systematically affect subsequent LTM for reactivated versus control items on item-, location-, or associative-recognition memory judgements made with either high or low confidence. Experiment 3 confirmed that these effects did not depend on whether or not young participants were warned about the subsequent LTM tests before performing the WM task. These dissociations between WM and LTM are inconsistent with the LTM account of latent WM; they are more consistent with the dynamic processing model of WM (Current Directions in Psychological Science).

Composite Measures of Brain Activation Predict Individual Differences in Behavioral Stroop Interference.

The goal of the current study was to interrogate aspects of the cascade-of-control model [Banich, M. T. The Stroop effect occurs at multiple points along a cascade of control: Evidence from cognitive neuroscience approaches. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2164, 2019] (Banich, 2009), a neurocognitive model that posits how portions of pFC interact in a cascade-like manner to overcome interference from task-irrelevant information, and to test whether it could be used to predict individual differences in cognitive control outside the scanner. Participants (n = 62) completed two fMRI Word-Picture Stroop tasks, one containing emotional stimuli and one containing non-emotional stimuli, as well as a behavioral out-of-scanner Color-Word Stroop task at each of two time points. In a departure from the traditional approach of using a single task contrast to index neural activation across all ROIs, the current study utilized specific ROI by contrast pairings selected based on the specific level of control hypothesized by the cascade-of-control model to occur within that region. In addition, data across both tasks and both time points were combined to create composite measures of neural activation and of behavior. Consistent with the cascade-of-control model, individual differences in brain activation for specific contrasts within each of the three ROIs were associated with behavioral interference on the standard Color-Word Stroop task. Testing of alternative models revealed that these brain-behavior relationships were specific to the theoretically driven ROI by contrast pairings. Furthermore, such relationships were not observed across single-task and single-time point measures, but instead emerged from the composite measures. These findings provide evidence that brain activation observed across multiple regions of frontal cortex, each of which likely exerts cognitive control in a differential manner, is capable of predicting individual differences in behavioral performance.

Second Wind: Understanding How Academics from the Philippines Adjust to Retirement

Second Wind: Understanding How Academics from the Philippines Adjust to Retirement

Teaching the Teachers the Genetics of Learning: An Application of the Mixed Blessings Model

AbstractDecades of educational genetics research have highlighted that differences in academic achievement are partly explained by genetic variation between individuals. Consequently, there is ongoing discussion about whether genetic influences on educationally related traits should be more widely acknowledged in schools and communicated specifically to teachers. Nonetheless, there is little research on how teachers might interpret such information, and how it might alter their perceptions of the students they teach or their teaching practice. In this review, we draw on the mixed blessings model proposed by Haslam and Kvaale, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2015, 24, 399–404, as a framework for defining both positive and negative repercussions of disseminating the findings of educational genetic research to teachers. We discuss research examining teacher perceptions of student ability and behavior and findings outlining perceptions of psychological disorders when genetic explanations are invoked. We conclude by proposing new directions for research designed to better understand interpretations of genetic information in school contexts.

Performance, Well-Being, Motivation, and Identity in an Age of Abundant Data: Introduction to the “Well-Measured Life” Special Issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science

Our lives are being measured in rapidly increasing ways and frequency. These measurements have beneficial and deleterious effects at both individual and social levels. Behavioral measurement technologies offer the promise of helping us to know ourselves better and to improve our well-being by using personalized feedback and gamification. At the same time, they present threats to our privacy, self-esteem, and motivation. At the societal level, the potential benefits of reducing bias and decision variability by using objective and transparent assessments are offset by threats of systematic, algorithmic bias from invalid or flawed measurements. Considerable technological progress, careful foresight, and continuous scrutiny will be needed so that the positive impacts of behavioral measurement technologies far outweigh the negative ones.

Adaptive specialization for spatial memory does not improve route efficiency: Comparing the ability of Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana) and pigeons (Columba livia) to solve traveling salesperson problems.

An important question in comparative cognition is whether animals are capable of planning ahead. Todd and Hills (Current Directions in Psychological Science, 29(3), 309-315, 2020) recently suggested that the ability to plan and choose internally may have scaffolded upon the cognitive mechanisms required by animals to search among patchy resources in their external environment. The traveling salesperson problem (TSP) is a spatial optimization problem in which a traveler is faced with the task of finding the best route from a start location to two or more destinations or targets. The Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) is a food-storing corvid with a highly specialized spatial memory. Spatial memory would appear to be deeply rooted in the cognitive mechanisms required for choosing efficiently among multiple alternative routes during a TSP. If so, then species like nutcrackers that are more dependent upon spatial memory for survival may have a greater ability to plan ahead or choose more efficiently among different route options than species that have less selective pressure for remembering the location of food, like pigeons. We examined the ability of nutcrackers to solve TSPs using the same procedures and target configurations as in our past research (Gibson, Wilkerson, & Kelly, Animal Cognition, 15, 379-391, 2012) to explore if nutcrackers can efficiently solve TSPs and how their route solutions compare with those of pigeons. Nutcrackers did not display an advantage in route efficiency and performed comparably to pigeons. Both species tended to prefer a nearest-neighbor strategy to more globally efficient routes. Having a more robust spatial memory may not improve the ability of animals to determine routes to multiple locations.

Prior On-Off Relationship Instability and Distress in the Separation and Divorce Transition.

Divorce is considered distressing for many individuals (Sbarra etal., Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2015, 24, 109); however, individuals in poor-quality relationships may experience certain benefits of leaving an unstable union (Amato & Hohmann-Marriott, Journal of Marriage and Family, 2007, 69, 621). On-off relationship cycling, or the breakup and reconciliation of a relationship, is a salient indicator of poor relationship quality and a common form of relationship instability (Dailey etal., Personal Relationships, 2009, 16, 23) that is associated with distress (Monk etal., Family Relations, 2018, 67, 523). In line with divorce-stress-adjustment and relational turbulence theory perspectives, we hypothesized that those whose relationships were characterized by on-off instability would experience less distress during the separation and divorce process. Given gender inequality in marriage (e.g., Dempsey, Journal of Sociology, 2002, 38, 91; Monin & Clark, Sex Roles, 2011, 65, 320), we also hypothesized that this association would be more pronounced for women. Using data from 98 divorced or separating couples, we found that relationship cycling prior to the separation and divorce process was associated with fewer distress symptoms for women. Conversely, a history of relationship cycling was associated with more distress symptoms for men. Our study provides support and extends prior investigations illustrating that, for some, those in unions characterized by more turmoil, may experience relief following a termination.

A continuous source reinstatement model of true and false recollection.

In studies of false recognition, subjects not only endorse items that they have never seen, but they also make subjective judgments that they remember consciously experiencing them. This is a difficult problem for most models of recognition memory, as they propose that false memories should be based on familiarity, not recollection. We present a new computational model of recollection, based on the Recognition through Semantic Synchronization (RSS) model of Johns, Jones, & Mewhort (Cognitive Psychology, 2012, 65, 486), and fuzzy trace theory (Brainerd & Reyna, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2002, 11, 164), that offers a solution to this problem. In addition to standard true and false recognition results, the model successfully extends to explain multiple studies on both true and false recollection. This work suggests that recollection does not have to be thought of as a separate process from recognition, but instead as one that is reliant upon different information sources. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Relationship between Socio-Economic Status, Interpersonal Communication, and School Climate with Parental Involvement in Early Childhood Education

Relationship between Socio-Economic Status, Interpersonal Communication, and School Climate with Parental Involvement in Early Childhood Education

Introduction

Introduction

Knowing who knows: Metacognitive and causal learning abilities guide infants' selective social learning.

Given the widespread interest in the development of children's selective social learning, there is mounting evidence suggesting that infants prefer to learn from competent informants (Poulin-Dubois & Brosseau-Liard, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2016, 25). However, little research has been dedicated to understanding how this selectivity develops. The present study investigated whether causal learning and precursor metacognitive abilities govern discriminant learning in a classic word-learning paradigm. Infants were exposed to a speaker who accurately (reliable condition) or inaccurately (unreliable condition) labeled familiar objects and were subsequently tested on their ability to learn a novel word from the informant. The predictive power of causal learning skills and precursor metacognition (as measured through decision confidence) on infants' word learning was examined across both reliable and unreliable conditions. Results suggest that infants are more inclined to accept an unreliable speaker's testimony on a word learning task when they also lack confidence in their own knowledge on a task measuring their metacognitive ability. Additionally, when uncertain, infants draw on causal learning abilities to better learn the association between a label and a novel toy. This study is the first to shed light on the role of causal learning and precursor metacognitive judgments in infants' abilities to engage in selective trust.

Peer Socialization of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury in Adolescents' Close Friendships.

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), or self-harming behavior without intent to die (Nock Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18, 78-83, 2009), is associated with distress and impairment across domains, including increased risk for suicidality (Kiekens et al. Journal of Affective Disorders, 239, 171-179, 2018). In adolescence, prevalence of NSSI is high (Swannell et al. Suicide and Life-threatening Behavior, 44, 273-303, 2014), and peer influence regarding NSSI is thought to be strong (Brechwald and Prinstein Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21, 166-79, 2011). Although concern regarding "clusters" of NSSI has long been documented, peer socialization of NSSI in adolescence is understudied. This paper tests peer influence on NSSI frequency within adolescent friendship dyads. Emotion regulation difficulties and friendship quality were evaluated as factors that may influence susceptibility to peer influence effects. Adolescents (N = 196, M age = 15.68, 69.9% female, 87.6% White) nested within 93 friendship dyads reported on their own NSSI frequency, difficulties in emotion regulation, and friendship quality at three time points spaced 3months apart. Cross-lagged Actor-Partner Interdependence Models examined peer influence effects over time. Friends' Time 1 frequency of NSSI uniquely predicted adolescents' own NSSI frequency over 3 and 6months, controlling for initial similarity among friends as well as individual risk factors for NSSI. Peer influence effects were strongest in adolescents with higher levels of emotion regulation difficulty but did not vary as a function of friendship quality. Friends' NSSI frequency is a significant and unique predictor of increases in adolescents' own NSSI frequency over time. Implications for interventions that leverage the important developmental context of peer relationships are discussed.

DHH Students' Comprehension of Irony in Self-paced Reading.

Irony comprehension can be a kind of challenge to those who are relatively less skillful in reading. To examine how DHH college students (DCSs) were different from hearing college students (HCSs) in the reading of ironic discourses, we conducted two experiments in the self-paced reading task. In Experiment 1, the statement was either literally congruent with the preceding context or had to be understood in an ironic way in each trial; In Experiment 2, the statement was the same but the context was not across the two levels of discourse type. The DCSs generally had a poorer performance than the hearing participants. Although able to comprehend ironies, they had a significantly lower efficiency than their hearing counterparts. The results were consistently in agreement with the prediction of the graded salience hypothesis (Giora, R. (1997). Understanding figurative and literal language: The graded salience hypothesis. Cognitive Linguistics, 7, 183-206. doi:10.1515/cogl.1997.8.3.183) and the parallel-constraint-satisfaction framework (Pexman, P. M. (2008). It's fascinating research. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17(4)286-290. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2008.00591.x), and the DCSs' performance appears to indicate an amplified version of this support. It is implied that educational environments should be created in which deaf and DHH students are encouraged to do as much reading as possible. Exercises should be designed in helping them to improve vocabulary and syntactic skills in general and to improve skills of inference-making in particular.

Is a system motive really necessary to explain the system justification effect? A response to Jost (2019) and Jost, Badaan, Goudarzi, Hoffarth, and Mogami (2019).

The debate between the proponents of SIMSA and SJT does not pivot on whether system justification occurs - we all agree that system justification does occur. The issue is why it occurs? System justification theory (SJT; Jost & Banaji, 1994, British Journal of Social Psychology, 33, 1) assumes that system justification is motivated by a special system justification motive. In contrast, the social identity model of system attitudes (SIMSA; Owuamalam, Rubin, & Spears, , Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27, 2) argues that there is insufficient conclusive evidence for this special system motive, and that system justification can be explained in terms of social identity motives, including the motivation to accurately reflect social reality and the search for a positive social identity. Here, we respond to criticisms of SIMSA, including criticisms of its social reality, ingroup bias, and hope for future ingroup status explanations of system justification. We conclude that SJT theorists should decide whether system justification is oppositional to, or compatible with social identity motives, and that this dilemma could be resolved by relinquishing the theoretically problematic notion of a system justification motivation.

How Do Mothers and Fathers Interact With Their Children After An Injury? Exploring the Role of Parental Acute Stress, Optimism, and Self-Efficacy.

In the aftermath of a child injury, children and parents can jointly experience acute stress symptoms. Optimism and self-efficacy might buffer against post-traumatic stress disorder. Knowing that children are innately receptive to parent modeling, we were interested in exploring how parent acute stress, optimism, and self-efficacy might transpire in parent-child interactions and whether any differences existed between mothers and fathers. We recruited 71 families of seriously injured children who were hospitalized for at least 24 hr. Parents completed self-report measures of acute stress, optimism, and self-efficacy. Children wore the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR(2)); Mehl, M. R. [2017]. The electronically activated recorder (EAR): A method for the naturalistic observation of daily social behavior. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26, 184-190) for a 2-day period postdischarge. The EAR recorded ambient sounds for 30 s every 5 min. The audio recordings were transcribed and coded. We derived a percentage of time spent with each parent (interaction time), and average ratings of the emotional tone of voice for each speaker. Overall, parental acute stress and self-efficacy were not associated with interaction time or emotional tone, and parents generally spent less time with older children. Compared to fathers, mothers spent significantly more time with their child, particularly for daughters, but mothers did not differ from fathers in emotional tone, acute stress, optimism, or self-efficacy. For mothers, optimism may be associated with greater interaction time and more positive emotional tone. The present study highlighted parent gender differences in time spent with children and enabled the inclusion of more fathers using a naturalistic observational tool.

Exploring the Dunning-Kruger Effect in a Collectivist Arab Society: An empirical study in the United Arab Emirates

Exploring the Dunning-Kruger Effect in a Collectivist Arab Society: An empirical study in the United Arab Emirates

An objective signature of emotional expressions and context integration within a single glance: evidence from electroencephalographic frequency-tagging

The ability to quickly and accurately extract someone's emotional state from their face is crucial for social interaction. Over the last decades, the processing of emotional expressions has been studied mainly using isolated faces. However, at the behavioral level, contextual information often leads to radical changes in the categorization of facial expressions, yet the underlying mechanisms are not well understood (Aviezer et al., 2017, Current Opinion in Psychology, 17, 47–54; Barrett et al., 2011, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20, 286 –290). Here we examined the impact of emotional visual scenes on the perception of emotional expressions within a single glance by means of fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS). We recorded 128-channel EEG while participants viewed 60s sequences with a dual frequency-tagging paradigm (Boremanse et al, 2013, Journal of Vision (11):6, 1-18). We presented faces and scenes simultaneously, with each stimulus set flickering at specific frequency (f1=4.61 Hz and f2=5.99 Hz; frequencies were counterbalanced across stimuli). Each sequence displayed different faces with the same emotional expression (disgust, fear, or joy) within either positive or negative valence visual scenes. Periodic EEG responses at the image presentation frequencies (4.61 Hz and 5.99 Hz) captured general visual processing of the emotional faces and scenes, while intermodulation components (e.g. f2-f1: 5.99 – 4.61 Hz = 1.38 Hz) captured the integration between the emotional expressions and their context. At the group-level, emotional expressions elicited right-lateralized occipito-temporal electrophysiological responses that were stronger for negative valence expressions (especially disgust). Similarly, negative scenes elicited stronger neural responses than positive scenes over the medial occipital region. Finally, and critically, we observed intermodulation components that were prominent over right occipito-temporal sites and showed increased response amplitude for negative scenes, thereby providing an objective demonstration of the perceptual integration of emotional facial expressions with their emotional context.