Priming Procedure Research Articles

An Investigation of the Implicit Endorsement of the Sexual Double Standard Among U.S. Young Adults.

Despite empirical support for the sexual double standard (SDS, in which women are judged more harshly than men for engaging in sexual behavior), recent research has demonstrated inconsistencies, perhaps stemming from biased responding in the self-report measures that are commonly used. As a result, researchers are encouraged to adopt innovative methodological procedures to assess the SDS. Thus, the current study investigated the implicit endorsement of the SDS among 147 young adults (71 men, 76 women) using the Implicit Association Test (IAT) and a limited-awareness gender priming procedure. According to our results, young adults endorsed an implicit preference for sexual stimuli (as compared to neutral stimuli) after receiving a male prime in comparison to a female prime, evidence of an implicit SDS. These results indicate that traditional gendered expectations still exist, in which women are judged more harshly than men for engaging in comparable sexual behavior. Implications and recommendations are outlined for clinicians and researchers working to promote gender equality related to one’s sexuality.

Linguistic sources of stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination against circular migrants' children

<p>W artykule przedstawiono wyniki 3 eksperymentów testujących językowo wzbudzane procesy stereotypizacji, uprzedzeń i dyskryminacji dzieci cyrkularnych migrantów (tzw. eurosierot). Korzystając z procedury torowania nadprogowego semantycznego, wśród uczestników wzbudzano schematy: „eurosieroty”, „sieroty”, „euro” i „dziecka” (warunek kontrolny), a następnie proszono ich o rozwiązanie zadania właściwego. Osoby korzystające z terminu „eurosierota” i „sierota”: (a) chętniej wiązały niejednoznaczny materiał (odciski palców) z niską inteligencją ich rzekomych właścicieli (eksp. 1), (b) trafniej/mniej trafnie rozpoznawały ekspresje emocji smutku/radości na fotografiach twarzy dzieci (eksp. 2) i (c) były mniej cierpliwe, szybciej przerywając wykonywaną przez badacza czynność niż uczestnicy z warunków: „dziecko” oraz „euro” i „sierota”, traktowanych łącznie. Uzyskane wyniki podsumowano w dwóch metaanalizach. Średnia wielkość efektu etykiety „eurosierota” wahała się od d-Cohena = 0,608 do 1,614.</p>

Surgical Injury and Ischemia Prime the Adipose Stromal Vascular Fraction and Increase Angiogenic Capacity in a Mouse Limb Ischemia Model.

The adipose-derived stromal vascular fraction (SVF) is an effective source for autologous cell transplantation. However, the quality and quantity of SVFs vary depending on the patient's age, complications, and other factors. In this study, we developed a method to reproducibly increase the cell number and improve the quality of adipose-derived SVFs by surgical procedures, which we term “wound repair priming.” Subcutaneous fat from the inguinal region of BALB/c mice was surgically processed (primed) by mincing adipose parenchyma (injury) and ligating the subcutaneous fat-feeding artery (ischemia). SVFs were isolated on day 0, 1, 3, 5, or 7 after the priming procedures. Gene expression levels of the primed SVFs were measured via microarray and pathway analyses which were performed for differentially expressed genes. Changes in cellular compositions of primed SVFs were analyzed by flow cytometry. SVFs were transplanted into syngeneic ischemic hindlimbs to measure their angiogenic and regeneration potential. Hindlimb blood flow was measured using a laser Doppler blood perfusion imager, and capillary density was quantified by CD31 staining of ischemic tissues. Stabilization of HIF-1 alpha and VEGF-A synthesis in the SVFs were measured by fluorescent immunostaining and Western blotting, respectively. As a result, the number of SVFs per fat weight was increased significantly on day 7 after priming. Among the differentially expressed genes were innate immunity-related signals on both days 1 and 3 after priming. In primed SVFs, the CD45-positive blood mononuclear cell fraction decreased, and the CD31-CD45-double negative mesenchymal cell fraction increased on day 7. The F4/80-positive macrophage fraction was increased on days 1 and 7 after priming. There was a serial decrease in the mesenchymal-gated CD34-positive adipose progenitor fraction and mesenchymal-gated CD140A-positive/CD9-positive preadipocyte fraction on days 1 and 3. Transplantation of primed SVFs resulted in increased capillary density and augmented blood flow, improving regeneration of the ischemic limbs. HIF-1 alpha was stabilized in the primed cutaneous fat in situ, and VEGF-A synthesis of the primed SVFs was on a peak on 5 days after priming. Wound repair priming thus resulted in SVFs with increased number and augmented angiogenic potential.

Reduced cadmium accumulation in tobacco by sodium chloride priming.

Cadmium (Cd) pollution threatens agricultural security worldwide. This study tested the efficacy of priming chemicals to decrease Cd uptake by tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum). After initial screening from nine different chemicals (NaCl, Cd(CH3COO)2, Cd(NO3)2, CdCl2, KHNO3, polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG-6000), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), ß-aminobutyric acid (BABA), and glutathione (GSH)), NaCl and PEG-6000 were further investigated because of their low risks to plant growth and efficiency to Cd reduction. Priming procedures (concentrations) were optimized for both chemicals and the best one (100 mM NaCl) was used to test both soil and hydroponic media. The results showed 31.3% lower Cd concentrations in shoots after priming with 100 mM NaCl. Phenotype parameters of the plants were also measured and showed no significant impacts of the priming procedures on the shoot biomass and the uptakes of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K), nor the photosynthetic capacity (net photosynthesis rate (Pn) and chlorophyll concentration (SPAD)). Histological observations of the roots showed a significant increase of the stele diameter after NaCl priming and a subsequent negative correlation between shoot Cd concentration and stele diameter was found after NaCl priming at different levels. This study confirmed 100 mM NaCl as an efficient priming treatment to decrease Cd uptake and the coarsening of the root stele was identified as a potential explanation for the observed decrease of Cd in tobacco shoots.

Upgradation of French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) seed production through priming

To obtain the quantity and quality of French bean seed, the seed priming procedure was functional using organic and inorganic compounds in three modes of priming viz. hydro-priming, osmo-priming (PEG6000, CaCl2, KNO3) and halo-priming (Thiourea, GA3) with control under 6 hours treatment durations. In assessment, the observations allied to eight plant growth and yield attributes including yield for getting the real exposure of qualitative and quantitative parameters. The treatments, T2 (Thiourea, 750 ppm) was most functioning with significant variation among diverse treatments except in seeds pod-1. In genotypes, V1 showed high significant demarcation predominantly in yield attributes and yield though, V2 was hopeful for a few characters predominantly in days to flower with number of pods and seeds. The treatments interaction with genotypes showed non-significant demarcation only in seeds pod-1 but, interacted value T2V1 was highest considering all parameters. The parameters related to seed weight were pronounced contributor in qualitative and quantitative upgradation in seed where the number of seeds or pods were immaterial. Diverse treatments specified the extent of effects on seed or plant to upgrade the quality. Therefore, the treatment T2 may be considered for French bean seed production to obtain capable seed for upcoming generation.

Goal-dependent automatic processing of potency: A potency-priming paradigm

Valence, arousal and potency can be conceived of as basic dimensions of meaning that are frequently activated. As an effect of frequent usage, research on evaluative priming has demonstrated that valence can be processed automatically. The present study addresses the question of whether potency as a frequently processed dimension is automatically activated, too. In four experiments we employed a category priming procedure with response window technique to test the assumption that shortly presented primes automatically influence responses to targets and/or the encoding of targets. Stimuli varying in potency (i.e., high vs. low potency) were presented as primes and targets with a short stimulus onset asynchrony (30 ms) whereas potency was the task-relevant stimulus feature. In Experiments 1a/b, participants conducted a strong-weak categorization on adjectives varying in potency and valence (Experiment 1a) or potency and arousal (Experiment 1b). In Experiment 2, we examined if novel primes also contribute to the potency priming effect. In Experiment 3, we tried to replicate the effect of novel primes and tested if potency-priming depends on the task. Results across all experiments revealed higher rates of correct responses on trials where prime and target were compatible in terms of their potency compared to trials with incompatible prime-target combinations. Since the priming effect emerges for novel primes, too, it is likely that prime potency is processed automatically. Moreover, the fact that potency priming was modulated by the task-goal further highlights the automaticity of this process.

Associations between materials used and work-related musculoskeletal hand complaints among haemodialysis nurses.

One in every two haemodialysis nurses has reported musculoskeletal complaints concerning their hands, which is twice that reported for hospital nurses in general. It is possible that there is an association between the materials used by haemodialysis nurses and the occurrence of hand complaints. To examine the association between the type of dialysis machine and disposables used with the occurrence of hand complaints among haemodialysis nurses. To compare occupational risks of developing work-related musculoskeletal disorders based on the materials used for haemodialysis. Cross-sectional. Two hundred and eighty-two nurses working in 27 haemodialysis centres in Sweden participated in a survey, and 19 nurses at five centres were observed during priming procedures. Nurses supplied demographic data and answered the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. Centre level data regarding machines and disposables used for haemodialysis during the past year were also collected. There were no differences in the prevalence of hand complaints based on the type of haemodialysis machines, dialysers or tubing used. There were no differences found in physical exposure to the hands during priming, based on machine type used. The results of this study could not reveal any association between disposable materials used and the occurrence of hand complaints among haemodialysis nurses. Additionally, there were no occupational risks detected based on the types of machines used. Hence, the results of the present study strongly indicate that a deeper ergonomic analysis of the work environment is needed to understand the prevalence of hand complaints among nurses working in haemodialysis settings.

Boosting attachment security to cope with threats: Behavioral and ERPs findings

Attachment security describes a sense of safety and security felt by individuals and promotes mental health. The mechanism by which attachment security buffers against psychological threat remains unclear, however. Here, we explored how attachment security attenuates the response to threatening information using a signal detection theory (SDT) and event-related potentials (ERPs) approach. Participants were assigned to an attachment security priming condition or a control condition. After a priming procedure, behavioral data and electroencephalography (EEG) signals were recorded while participants categorized threatening and neutral pictures. Our behavioral results revealed that attachment security biased participant responses to categorizing the two types of pictures; participants in the control condition exhibited a tendency to categorize stimuli as threatening, whereas those in the attachment security condition tended to categorize stimuli as neutral. Meanwhile, attachment security priming modulated early attention processes, reflected by an increased P200. The findings reported here suggest that attachment security buffers against external threats by modulating individual response preferences, the effects of which manifest in the early stages of attentional processing.

Does priming negative emotions really contribute to more positive aesthetic judgments? A comparative study of emotion priming paradigms using emotional faces versus emotional scenes and multiple negative emotions with fEMG.

An outstanding question in empirical aesthetics concerns whether negative emotions (e.g., fear, disgust) can improve aesthetic judgments of liking. Although negative emotions are sometimes linked with enjoyment in music or visual design/art, emotion priming studies have shown conflicting results, reporting both more negative and more positive assessments. These divergences may be driven by key differences in priming procedures. Specifically, past studies' use of either emotional faces or emotional scenes as primes as well as differing negative emotion content (fear, disgust) may involve differing processes leading to opposing effects, particularly in aesthetic judgments. To differentiate among these, we presented emotion primes (20 ms) consisting of either emotional faces or scenes, further subdivided in disgusting, fearful, neutral, or positive emotional content and tested how liking, valence, and arousal ratings of abstract patterns were affected. Additionally, facial electromyography (fEMG) over M. frontalis (indicator of fear), M. levator labii (disgust), and M. zygomaticus (positive) muscles was recorded, to see whether primes would elicit prime-emotion congruent changes. However, fEMG activations indicated no prime congruent changes. Critically, primes influenced ratings in an emotion congruent manner in both faces and emotional scenes. Stimuli were rated as more liked and positively valenced after positive primes and less liked/more negatively valenced after fear or disgust primes. The similarity of priming effects in both prime types in absence of congruent fEMG changes may suggest that priming exerts its influence via a cognitive rather than a more immediate emotional route. Overall-at least in emotional priming-negative emotions seem to be incompatible with higher liking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Shape congruence in product design: Impacts on automatically activated attitudes

Scientific studies have strongly emphasized the importance of automatic (unconscious) processes underlying consumers’ behavior. However, research is missing on automatically activated attitudes resulting from product design. This study aimed at examining such attitudes by relying primarily on evaluative priming methods (i.e., affective priming task, and lexical decision task combined with a semantic priming procedure). In line with a processing fluency framework, it provides evidence that shape-congruent (vs. shape-incongruent) product designs may be associated with a more positive affective response and a greater activation of trust-related perceptions. Important implications are involved for retailing and professionals in charge of product management.

English

Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) has been the prime procedure for decenniums to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), but is mainly predicated on historic data that lacks utilization of validated measures. It is noteworthy that TURP done nowadays significantly differs from that performed 30 years ago. Men who had undergone TURP between 2013 and 2018 were reviewed. 50 patients presented in the Department of Urology, Lahore General Hospital, Pakistan, with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) due to BPH (without retention) were recruited in the study. Related/required investigations were done and patients were operated for TURP after noting certain parameters. They were advised for follow up at 3 intervals (1st, 4th and 12th week postoperatively) and post-operative parameters were compared with pre-operative ones. International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), Quality of Life (QOL) and peak urinary flow rate (Qmax), and Post-Void Residual (PVR) were recorded. Operative details and postoperative complications were documented. Patients were then invited to attend for repeat assessment. Out of 50, 43(86%) patients had severe symptom score and 07 (14%) had moderate symptoms score (pre-operative). Out of total 50, 36 (72%) patients had Qmax less than 10 ml/s and 14 (28%) patients had Qmax between 10 and 15 ml/s as well as Post Micturition Residual Urine (PMRU) more than 50 ml pre-operatively. After 3 months of successful TURP, 49 (98%) patients’ conditions improved and they developed a normal flow rate of more than 20 to 25 ml/s. All the 50 patients remained with a PMRU of less than 50 ml.  There was an improvement in 47 patients and only 3 patients did not improve to their satisfaction. TURP is very effective and still considered a gold standard treatment for BPH with LUTS without retention of urine. Key words: TURP, BPH, LUTS, PMRU &nbsp

The developmental trend of transposed letters effects in masked priming

In the current study, we investigated the development of transposed letter (TL) priming effects with masked priming. Recent studies have reported different and contrasting results concerning the age at which TL priming effects first appear and whether they tend to decline or increase with age. One of the aims of this study was to investigate the developmental trend of orthographic mechanisms underlying the TL effects in Italian. We tested three groups of children (second, third, and fifth graders) and a group of adults with a sandwich masked priming procedure, presenting lists of target words preceded by TL or replaced letter (RL) primes. TLs and RLs were either at the beginning (second–third letters) or the end (fourth–sixth letters) of primes in order to see whether the TL priming effect varied according to position in the letter string. We found that TL priming effects increased with age in both accuracy and latency. No effect of position was found. The results are discussed in light of a possible difference in the development of orthographic mechanisms depending on the transparency of the language.

Does Power Distance Influence Perceptions of Sexual Harassment at Work? An Experimental Investigation

The influence of cultural values on perceptions of sexual harassment has often been examined by making comparisons across cultures. As the workplace becomes increasingly diverse, it becomes more important to investigate the effects of individual-level cultural values on workplace behaviors. In the present study, we investigated the influence of differences in power distance value orientation on perceptions of sexual harassment. Participants were primed with a high versus low power distance mindset using priming procedures (Brockner et al. in J Exp Soc Psychol 37:300–315, 2001) and then presented with sexual harassment scenarios (representing either hostile work environment or quid pro quo situations). Participant ratings of perceived severity of sexual harassment within the scenarios were obtained. Findings suggest that individuals primed with high power distance were more tolerant of sexual harassment and perceived these behaviors as less severe, as compared to those who were primed with low power distance. Implications for research and development of future sexual harassment training programs are discussed.

Effects of Non-verbal Priming on Attachment-Style Activation.

Using an affective priming procedure, two experiments examined the effects of non-verbal cues on activating attachment styles. In Study 1, the secure attachment group, which was primed non-verbally, showed higher levels of self-esteem, interpersonal competence, and positive affect than the insecure attachment group, which was also primed non-verbally. In contrast, no significant difference was found between the two attachment groups that were primed verbally. In Study 2, using a different priming method and adding a neutral group, similar interactions between priming modality (non-verbal or verbal cues) and attachment styles were found: the differences in self-esteem, interpersonal competence, and positive affect between the secure attachment group, neutral group, and insecure attachment group were greater when primed non-verbally than when primed verbally. Finally, the limitations of the research and recommendations for follow-up study are discussed.

How malleable are attentional biases in women with body dissatisfaction? Priming effects and their impact on attention to images of women’s bodies

Understanding attentional biases associated with body dissatisfaction can aid in devising and refining programs to reduce body dissatisfaction. This study compared attention to images of women’s bodies before and after a body satisfaction or body dissatisfaction priming task. Attention was assessed using eye-gaze tracking, by measuring participants’ fixations to images of “thin” models, “fat” models, and images of average women over an 8-s presentation. Women with high ( n = 65) and low ( n = 43) levels of trait body dissatisfaction, as measured by the Body Shape Questionnaire, were randomly assigned to a body satisfaction or body dissatisfaction priming task. Results indicated that both priming tasks were effective at modifying participants’ state body satisfaction. Women with high body dissatisfaction exhibited an attentional bias to thin and fat model images prior to the priming procedure, replicating previous findings. Contrary to predictions, body dissatisfaction priming increased attention to body images for women with both high and low body dissatisfaction, whereas body satisfaction priming had no effect on attention for either group. These findings show that women with high and low body dissatisfaction are vulnerable to the effects of body dissatisfaction priming.

Equivalence Class Formation and the N400: Methodological Issues

The electroencephalogram (EEG)-based N400 component is often described as an index of a semantic relation. Recent studies suggested that the N400 component can also be used as an electrophysiological measure of equivalence class formation, yet more research is needed to clarify the effects of experimental conditions on the N400 response. In Experiment 1 of the present study, the participants were trained on six conditional discriminations and tested for the formation of three 3-member classes. If they formed equivalence classes with half of the possible emerged relations, the participants were given a priming test with the other half. Related and unrelated stimulus pairs were presented, and the participant had to decide whether the stimuli were related or not. The results showed that a nonsignificant N400 response was observed after unrelated stimulus pairs were presented but not when related stimulus pairs were presented. The strength of the N400 response weakened over the number of stimuli presentations. In Experiment 2, we examined whether changes to the methodology of Experiment 1 would produce stronger N400 responses. The participants also underwent a word priming procedure, which has been shown to produce robust N400 responses. We found more robust N400 responses in Experiment 2 than in Experiment 1, and the N400 response was larger in transitivity/equivalence relations than in symmetry relations. There was also a significant relation effect in the word priming procedure. Together, these findings support the notion that the N400 component can be used as an electrophysiological measure of equivalence class formation and illustrate how experimental conditions can influence the N400 response.

Inducing spontaneous future thoughts in younger and older adults by priming future-oriented personal goals

In the past 15years, the study of spontaneous thoughts (i.e., thoughts coming to mind without intention and effort) has received increased attention. Spontaneous future thoughts (SFTs) are particularly important (e.g., in planning), yet difficult to study with regard to age differences. Two main problems arise: (1) lab tasks including word-cues induce more past than future thoughts; (2) younger adults report more spontaneous thoughts than older adults. To improve the elicitation of SFTs, we developed a future-oriented goal-related priming procedure and analyzed the extension of the goal-related priming effect in SFTs to older adults, to examine whether age-related changes in personal goals compromise the elicitation of SFTs. We also controlled for methodological factors that could influence age groups differently (including demand, retrospection, meta-awareness and instruction bias). Twenty-seven younger and 27 older adults performed a low-demand vigilance task including word-cues and were periodically stopped to describe their thoughts. The vigilance task was divided into two parts and, between them, participants performed a future-oriented goal-related priming task. An additional group of 27 younger participants performed the same procedure with a control task based on word counting. We found a significant increase in SFTs after priming in both age groups, but not in the control group, indicating that the priming manipulation was effective. This result suggests that age-related changes in personal goals do not disrupt the relation between personal goals and SFT frequency. The similar pattern of overall spontaneous thought in both age groups is also discussed considering methodological factors.

Investigating the effects of cultural-mindset priming on evaluation of job performance behaviors

Recent reviews of performance evaluation process and practices indicate that there is substantial variability in the structure and formalization of performance evaluations in organizations across cultures and call for further exploration of the role of cultural variables on the performance evaluation process. In the current study, we use self-construal priming procedures to evaluate the effects of cultural mindset on the performance evaluation process. Specifically, the effects of independent (individualistic) and interdependent (collectivistic) mindset priming on relative importance given to performance behaviors when making judgments of overall job performance was investigated. Participants first completed either independent (n = 87) or interdependent (n = 87) priming tasks by circling either I/me/my or we/us/our in a paragraph of text. Following this, they completed a managerial role-play exercise in which they read employee performance vignettes (manipulated on task, citizenship and counterproductive performance behaviors) and rated the overall performance of each employee. Rater policies were captured using regression analyses and relative weights placed on each performance behavior were computed. Results suggest that when making judgments of overall performance, as compared to raters primed with interdependence, raters primed with independence placed less weight on citizenship behaviors and higher weights on counterproductive performance behaviors. No significant differences were observed in the weights placed on task performance behaviors. Study limitations and implications for research are discussed.

The affective twitches of task switches: Task switch cues are evaluated as negative

Task switching refers to the demanding cognitive control process that allows us to flexibly switch between different task contexts. It is a seminal observation that task switching comes with a performance cost (i.e., switch cost), but recent theories suggest that task switching could also carry an affective cost. In two experiments, we investigated the affective evaluation of task switching by having participants perform a task-switching paradigm followed by an affective priming procedure. Crucially, the transition cues of the task-switching paradigm, indicating task alternations or task repetitions, were used as primes in the affective priming procedure to assess their affective connotation. We found that task alternation primes were evaluated as more negative than task repetition primes. These findings show that task switching is affectively tagged, and suggest a potential role for emotion regulation processes in cognitive control.

Nasya A novel route of administration for various Ophthalmic Disorder

Charakacharya explains that the channels carrying the sensory and motor impulse from the shiras are like the rays from the sun1. Since it is described that Nasa is the gateway for Shiras2. Dvaram hi siraso nasa. Dvaram denotes door, which is used to facilitate the entry or an exit. Acharya Charaka gives importance to nasya as he compiles Nasya in Panchkarma and devote separate chapter on Nasya procedure, types, indications. As mentioned in Astaangahridya sutra Nasya is useful in all the diseases above clavical2. Nasya is the noninvasive method that bypass the blood brain barrier and targets drugs to the central nervous system to treat neurodegenerative disorder as eye resides in head, thus Nasya can be one of the prime procedure to treat eye health and eye disorder.