Implicit Cognition Research Articles

Self-reported and automatic cognitions are associated with exercise behavior in cancer survivors.

Physical activity is beneficial for cancer survivors, but exercise participation is low in this population. It is therefore important to understand the psychological factors underlying exercise uptake so that more effective interventions can be developed. Social-cognitive theory constructs such as outcome expectancies predict exercise behavior, but self-report measures have several limitations. We examined the associations between implicit (automatic) cognitions and exercise behavior and self-efficacy in endometrial cancer survivors. This was a longitudinal study to examine predictors of exercise behavior in female endometrial cancer survivors who all received an exercise intervention. Participants (N = 100, mean age of 57.0) completed questionnaires to assess self-report exercise-related measures (outcome expectancy and attitudes about and identification with exercise) and reaction time (RT) tasks to assess implicit exercise cognitions (expectancy accessibility, implicit attitudes about exercise, and implicit self-identification with exercise) at baseline and at 2, 4, and 6 months at follow-up. Exercise behavior was measured using accelerometers and self-report. Data were analyzed using linear mixed models. Expectancy accessibility was associated with exercise duration independent of the corresponding self-report measure. Exercise implicit attitudes and self-identification were prospectively associated with exercise self-efficacy only after adjustment for the corresponding self-report measures and baseline self-efficacy. Self-report measures were also associated with study outcomes. Both self-reported cognitions and implicit cognitions may be useful to identify individuals at risk of failing to exercise. Individuals so identified might be provided with a different or more intensive intervention. The data also suggest cognitive targets for intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record

Modification of implicit cognition and executive functioning in substance use disorder treatment – challenges in research and treatment implementation

Modification of implicit cognition and executive functioning in substance use disorder treatment – challenges in research and treatment implementation

Explicit and implicit image cognitions toward destination: Application of the Single-Target Implicit Association Test (ST-IAT)

Abstract Understanding the nature of destination images has considerable importance in the tourism industry, which is highly image-driven. This study aims to measure the image attributes of destinations using data for both explicit cognitions (based on self-report surveys) and implicit cognitions (based on reaction times) based on theory drawn from tourism psychology. A series of experimental studies was carried out using the Single-Target Implicit Association Test (ST-IAT) to measure individuals’ explicit and implicit cognitions of image attributes in the context of three destination countries: China, England and France. The findings imply that knowing the weight values between explicit image measures and the ST-IAT is imperative in predicting behavioral intentions in tourism.

Is cake more appealing in the afternoon? Time of day is associated with control over automatic positive responses to unhealthy food

Despite researchers considering time of day an important variable in studies on implicit food evaluations and food intake, time of day effects on implicit food evaluations have yet to be tested. Positive implicit evaluations of unhealthy food stimuli measured with an implicit association test (IAT) predict behaviour toward those stimuli, and are assumed to reflect automatic reactions outside of conscious awareness and control. However, recent research has revealed controlled processing to have an influence on IAT performance. The current study tested time of day effects on implicit evaluations of unhealthy food measured with an IAT, and specifically on automatic and controlled processes underlying IAT performance. A sample of 304 undergraduate women aged 17–25years completed a single-category IAT at varying times of the day. Results revealed that participation later in the day was associated with a more positive implicit evaluation of unhealthy food. This was mediated by a decrease in the ability to inhibit positive food reactions (i.e., controlled processing), rather than an increase in automatic positive reactions. The findings draw attention to the importance of considering time of day in studies measuring aspects of implicit cognition using tasks such as the IAT.

VIII—What Do We Want from a Model of Implicit Cognition?

In this paper, I set out some desiderata for a model of implicit cognition. I present test cases and suggest that, when considered in light of them, some recent models of implicit cognition fail to satisfy these desiderata. The test cases also bring to light an important class of cases that have been almost completely ignored in philosophical discussions of implicit cognition and implicit bias. These cases have important work to do in helping us understand both the role of implicit cognition in action and our attempts to combat implicit biases.

Immediate effects of alcohol marketing communications and media portrayals on consumption and cognition: a systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental studies.

BackgroundRestricting marketing of alcoholic products is purported to be a cost-effective intervention to reduce alcohol consumption. The strength of evidence supporting this claim is contested. This systematic review aimed to assess immediate effects of exposure to alcohol marketing on alcoholic beverage consumption and related cognitions.MethodsElectronic searches of nine databases, supplemented with reference list searches and forward citation tracking, were used to identify randomised, experimental studies assessing immediate effects of exposure to alcohol marketing communications on objective alcohol consumption (primary outcome), explicit or implicit alcohol-related cognitions, or selection without purchasing (secondary outcomes). Study limitations were assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. Random and fixed effects meta-analyses were conducted to estimate effect sizes.ResultsTwenty four studies met the eligibility criteria. A meta-analysis integrating seven studies (758 participants, all students) found that viewing alcohol advertisements increased immediate alcohol consumption relative to viewing non-alcohol advertisements (SMD = 0.20, 95 % CI = 0.05, 0.34). A meta-analysis integrating six studies (631 participants, all students) did not find that viewing alcohol portrayals in television programmes or films increased consumption (SMD = 0.16, 95 % CI = −0.05, 0.37). Meta-analyses of secondary outcome data found that exposure to alcohol portrayals increased explicit alcohol-related cognitions, but did not find that exposure to alcohol advertisements influenced explicit or implicit alcohol-related cognitions. Confidence in results is diminished by underpowered analyses and unclear risk of bias.ConclusionsViewing alcohol advertisements (but not alcohol portrayals) may increase immediate alcohol consumption by small amounts, equivalent to between 0.39 and 2.67 alcohol units for males and between 0.25 and 1.69 units for females. The generalizability of this finding beyond students and to other marketing channels remains to be established.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-016-3116-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A two-week pilot study of intranasal oxytocin for cocaine-dependent individuals receiving methadone maintenance treatment for opioid use disorder

About 30–60% of the patients receiving methadone for opioid use disorder (OUD) actively use cocaine. Cocaine use disorder (CUD) has no FDA-approved pharmacological treatment; existing psychosocial treatments are inadequate. Oxytocin (OT), a social neuropeptide, has preclinical promise as an adjunctive treatment for both OUD and CUD. Twenty-two individuals receiving methadone for OUD with co-occurring CUD were randomized to receive OT or placebo intranasally 40 IU twice daily for two weeks. A priori aims were feasibility and safety. Exploratory effectiveness aims included laboratory-based measures of drug craving, drug-related implicit cognition, and drug use. High retention rates (93.5%), the absence of study-related adverse events, and the fact that OT was well tolerated in this population support the feasibility of larger trials. Two weeks of OT (but not placebo) significantly reduced cocaine craving at day 15 compared to baseline (mean change ± SD: OT = −0.23 ± 0.19, p = 0.004; PL = −0.16 ± 0.29, p = 0.114). For heroin craving, the placebo group reported a trend-level increase over time while the OT group remained unchanged – with medium to large effect sizes between the groups (Cohen’s d = 0.71–0.90). OT led to a significant switch from implicit self-association with drugs to implicitly associating drugs with others (mean change ± SD: 0.25 ± 0.35, p = 0.037) and a trend-level reduction in self-reported cocaine use over time (Z = −1.78, p = 0.075). Furthermore, OT significantly increased the accuracy of self-reported cocaine use when correlated with quantitative urine levels of cocaine metabolite. This proof-of-concept study provides promising early evidence that OT may be an effective adjunct to the treatment of co-occurring CUD and OUD. Further investigation with larger trials is warranted.

Assessing Implicit Cognition Among Patients Lost to Follow-up for HIV Care: A Preliminary Study.

Objective: While a growing body of research indicates that implicit cognitive processes play an important role in a range of health behaviors, the assessment of these impulsive, associative mental processes among patients living with HIV has received little attention. This preliminary study explored how multidimensional scaling (MDS) could be used to assess implicit cognitive processes among patients lost to follow-up for HIV care and develop interventions to improve their engagement. Method: The sample consisted of 33 patients who were identified as lost to follow up for HIV care at two urban hospitals. Participants were randomly assigned to either the MDS assessment program or control group. All participants underwent measures designed to gauge behavioral change intentions and treatment motivation. Assessment group participants were interviewed to determine their reactions to the assessment program. Results:The MDS assessment program identified cognitive processes and their relationship to treatment-related behaviors among assessment group participants. Assessment group participants reported significantly greater behavior change intentions than those in the control group (p =.02; Cohen’s d = 0.84). Conclusion: MDS shows promise as a tool to identify implicit cognitive processes related to treatment-related behaviors. Assessments based on MDS could serve as the basis for patient-centered clinical interventions designed to improve treatment adherence and HIV care engagement in general.

Implicit Cognition and Gifts: How Does social Psychology help Us Think Differently about Medical Practice?

This article takes the following two assumptions for granted: first, that gifts influence physicians and, second, that the influences gifts have on physicians may be harmful for patients. These assumptions are common in the applied ethics literature, and they prompt an obvious practical question, namely, what is the best way to mitigate the negative effects? We examine the negative effects of gift giving in depth, considering how the influence occurs, and we assert that the ethical debate surrounding gift-giving practices must be reoriented. Our main claim is that the failure of recent policies addressing gift giving can be traced to a misunderstanding of what psychological mechanisms are most likely to underpin physicians' biased behavior as a result of interaction with the medical industry. The problem with gift giving is largely not a matter of malicious or consciously self-interested behavior, but of well-intentioned actions on the part of physicians that are nonetheless perniciously infected by the presence of the medical industry. Substantiating this claim will involve elaboration on two points. First, we will retrace the history of policies regarding gift giving between the medical profession and the medical industry and highlight how most policies assume a rationalistic view of moral agency. Reliance on this view of agency is best illustrated by past attempts to address gift giving in terms of conflicts of interest. Second, we will introduce and motivate an alternate view of moral agency emerging from recent literature in social psychology on implicit social cognition. We will show that proper consideration of implicit social cognition paints a picture of human psychology at odds with the rationalistic model assumed in discussions of COIs. With these two pieces on the table we will be able to show that, without fully appreciating the social-psychological mechanisms (both cognitive and affective) of implicit cognition, policy-makers are likely to overlook significant aspects of how gifts influence doctors.

Effects of evaluative context in implicit cognitions associated with alcohol and violent behaviors

IntroductionA large body of literature has substantiated the relationship between alcohol use and violent behaviors, but little consideration has been given to implicit interactions between the two. This study examines the implicit attitudes associated with alcoholic drinks and violent behaviors, and their relationship to explicit reports of problematic behaviors associated with alcohol use. MethodsThe Go/No-Go Association Task (GNAT; Nosek & Banaji, 2001) was used to test the effect of distracters (noise) on implicit cognitions associated with alcoholic drinks and violent behaviors. Data was collected from 148 students enrolled in a Midwestern university. ResultsIrrespective of contextual distractions, participants consistently exhibited negative implicit cognitions associated with violent behaviors. However, context impacted the valence of cognitions associated with alcoholic beverages. Implicit cognitions associated with alcoholic beverages were negative when nonalcoholic beverages were used as distracters, but were positive when licit and illicit drugs were used as distracters. Implicit cognitions associated with alcoholic drinks were correlated with implicit cognitions associated with violent behaviors and explicit measures of problem drinking, problem drug-related behaviors, and measures of craving, to name a few. ConclusionEvaluative context can have an effect on the expressed appraisal of implicit attitudes. Implications, limitations, and future directions for using the GNAT in addictions research are discussed.

Testing the Implicit and Explicit Cognitions Underlying Behavioral Inhibition System-Related Drinking in Young Adults.

There is great interest in the role of the behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and the behavioral approach system (BAS) in the etiology of alcohol use because of the strong links of these systems to neuroscience and cognitive models of addiction. The revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory suggests that the strength of the BIS and BAS jointly influences behavior, so-called the joint systems hypothesis. Yet, relatively little work has examined this hypothesis, particularly with respect to alcohol information processing. Grounded in dual-process theories of alcohol information processing, this study aimed to clarify the roles of implicit (i.e., automatic processes) and explicit (i.e., controlled processes) cognitions in BIS-related drinking. When anxious and presented with an alcohol (vs. neutral) cue, we expected those with an elevated BIS to have increased implicit and explicit alcohol cognitions related to tension reduction, but only at elevated BAS. Shifts in cognitions following cue exposure were expected to positively correlate with alcohol misuse. Students (N=110) completed baseline measures followed by the Trier Social Stress Test. This was followed by a cue exposure (random assignment to alcohol or water cue), during which participants completed postmood assessments of implicit/explicit alcohol cognitions. Overall, participants' implicit alcohol cognition was negative. The effect of BIS on implicit and explicit cognitions was moderated by BAS; however, results were not as hypothesized. In the alcohol condition only (when controlling for baseline implicit cognition), BIS predicted relatively weak implicit negative alcohol cognition, but only at low BAS. Interestingly, in the alcohol condition only, BIS predicted increased explicit reward (but not relief) expectancies, but only at high BAS. Changes in explicit reward expectancies positively correlated with alcohol misuse. Our results suggest that explicit cognitions may be relevant to drinking among anxious individuals who are also reward responsive. Cognitive behavioral interventions should target reward expectancies to reduce anxiety-related drinking.

Enhancing the Conceptualization and Measurement of Implicit and Explicit Affective Evaluations: A Case Study in Disordered Eating

AbstractAffective evaluations (i.e., evaluations of affectively evocative stimuli) play important roles in many behaviors, including clinically relevant behaviors like disordered eating. Understanding automatic and controlled affective evaluations can enhance prediction and treatment of more deliberate versus more impulsive clinical behaviors, respectively. However, methodological and theoretical shortcomings cloud the implicit affective evaluation literature, particularly as applied in clinical psychology. This article aims to improve the clinical science of implicit and explicit affective evaluation by capitalizing on theoretical and methodological advancements drawn from implicit social cognition. We recommend three key enhancements to the affective evaluation literature: improve the structural comparability between indirect and direct measures, assess evaluations on both valence and arousal dimensions of affect, and carefully characterize and select stimuli. Additional improvements to analytic approaches (e.g., mixed effects modeling and process dissociation) are also recommended. Such efforts will advance our theoretical understanding of the relative contributions of automatic and controlled processes to clinically relevant affective evaluation, thereby informing assessment and improving intervention. Applying advanced methodologies of implicit cognition to clinical phenomena will also reiterate and reinforce the use of these advances in social psychology.

The implicit cognition of reciprocal exchange: automatic retrieval of positive and negative experiences with partners in a prisoner's dilemma game

ABSTRACTModels of reciprocity imply that cheater detection is an important prerequisite for successful social exchange. Considering the fundamental role of memory in reciprocal exchange, these theories lead to the prediction that memory for cheaters should be preferentially enhanced. Here, we examine whether information of a partner's previous behaviour in an interaction is automatically retrieved when encountering the face of a partner who previously cheated or cooperated. In two studies, participants played a sequential prisoner's dilemma game with cheaters and cooperative partners. Alternating with the game blocks, participants were asked to classify the smiling or angry facial expressions of cooperators and cheaters. Both experiments revealed congruence effects, reflecting faster identification of the smiles of cooperators (Experiments 1 and 2) and faster identification of the angry facial expressions of cheaters (Experiment 2). Our study provides evidence for the automatic retrieval of the partner's behaviour in the game, regardless of whether partners cheated or cooperated, and thus provides further evidence against the cheater detection hypothesis.

The Form of Practical Knowledge and Implicit Cognition

The Form of Practical Knowledge and Implicit Cognition

The Creative Process: Effort and Effortless Cognition

Education at its best allows students to experience the fruitfulness and joy of the creative process. One complexity of applying research findings to education is that creative work unfolds in phases and the various phases engage distinctively different cognitive processes. Since Wallas first described four phases, psychologists have elaborated on them and pointed to additional phases and subphases. Some involve effortful conscious processes; others entail implicit cognition and/or effortless attention. The field has benefitted from research in related areas as well as from direct studies of conditions that enhance various phases of creative performance. This article reviews current knowledge on the phases and incorporates findings from related areas. The challenge for educators is to structure student work in ways which support the different phases—both deliberate phases such as preparation and evaluation and those which appear to emerge spontaneously such as insight and flow. The findings underscore of the value of specific classroom activities, activities which scaffold and/or invite the different phases of creative work. The cognitive processes engaged by the creative process also benefit from other activities which enhance executive function, elevate mood, and allow opportunities for flow.

Implicit Cognitive Strategies of EFL College Reading:An Interpretation of Complex Responses in Think-Aloud Interviews

Implicit Cognitive Strategies of EFL College Reading:An Interpretation of Complex Responses in Think-Aloud Interviews

EMDR With Sex Offenders: Using Offense Drivers to Guide Conceptualization and Treatment

Evidence shows that sexual offenders have higher levels of adverse childhood experiences (ACE) than either the general population or other criminal populations. Historically, it was considered standard practice for sex offender therapists to dissuade their clients from addressing childhood trauma or adversity for fear of excuse making for his offending. The pathways model, which highlights etiology, made room for trauma treatment for offender’s ACE as a legitimate treatment intervention. The adaptive information processing model inherent in eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) trauma therapy is theorized to reorganize the maladaptively stored clustering of cognitions and emotions related to overwhelming or traumatic experiences such as childhood sexual abuse. We suggest EMDR therapy as a means of restructuring distorted implicit cognitions and personal vulnerability factors which are theorized to drive offending behavior. Through a comprehensive literature review, the authors considered 5 extant models in the sex offender literature and developed theoffense driversmodel. This model is designed to guide and inform EMDR therapy with sex offenders. A case example illustrates the implementation of this treatment process. A checklist ofoffense driversis provided to assist in case conceptualization and treatment.

"Whether I like it or not, it's important": Implicit importance of means predicts self-regulatory persistence and success.

To effectively self-regulate, people must persevere on tasks that they deem important, regardless of whether those tasks are enjoyable. Building on past work that has noted the fundamental role of implicit cognition in guiding effective self-regulation, the present paper tests whether an implicit association between goal means and importance predicts self-regulatory persistence and success. Implicit importance predicted markers of effective self-regulation-better grades, more studying and exercise, and stronger standardized testing performance-over and above, and often better than, explicit beliefs about the importance of that self-regulation, as well as implicit evaluations of those means. In particular, those for whom tasks were fairly taxing to complete (i.e., those for whom this self-regulation required effortful self-control) were those who most benefitted from the implicit association between means and importance. Moreover, when participants were reminded of recent self-regulatory failure that they believed could be overcome through hard work, implicit importance toward the means increased as if to prepare them to achieve self-regulatory persistence. A final study sought to reconcile the present findings with previous work showing the key role that implicit evaluations play in effective self-regulation. We reasoned that means are important precisely because they are associated with valued end-states. Consistent with this account, implicit evaluations of end-states predicted the implicit importance of means, which in turn predicted effective self-regulation. (PsycINFO Database Record

Implicit cognition about self-injury predicts actual self-injurious behavior: results from a longitudinal study of adolescents.

The implicit association hypothesis of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) proposes that individuals who engage in self-injury develop, over time, strong associations between themselves and NSSI, and their identification with this behavior guides their future selection of NSSI to cope. Prior research has established a relationship between implicit NSSI associations (using an Implicit Association Test for Self-Injury) and engagement in NSSI. However, previous studies have been small and cross-sectional, and thus underpowered to examine the nature of this association and the extent to which implicit associations predict the persistence of NSSI. This study builds on previous research in a prospective, longitudinal examination of implicit self-identification with NSSI in a large sample of middle school students. NSSI behavior and implicit NSSI associations were assessed annually in school at three time points. Adolescents who engaged in NSSI exhibited stronger implicit self-identification with NSSI than adolescents who did not engage in NSSI. Moreover, implicit NSSI identification was stronger among adolescents who engaged in cutting, frequent NSSI, and recent NSSI. A reciprocal association was observed between NSSI frequency and implicit NSSI identification over 1year. Notably, implicit NSSI identification uniquely and prospectively predicted engagement in NSSI over the subsequent year. Implicit self-identification with NSSI may track both trait- and state-related changes in the behavior and, importantly, may help predict continued engagement in NSSI.

If We Build It Comparative Psychologists Will Come. Commentary: A Crisis in Comparative Psychology: Where Have All the Undergraduates Gone?

If We Build It Comparative Psychologists Will Come. Commentary: A Crisis in Comparative Psychology: Where Have All the Undergraduates Gone?