Search

In the Attentional Boost Effect (ABE), words or images encoded with to-be-detected target squares are later recognized better than words or images encoded with to-be-ignored distractor squares. The present study sought to determine whether the ABE enhanced the encoding of the item-specific and relational properties of the studied words by using the multiple recall paradigm. Previous evidence indicates that manipulations fostering item-specific encoding increased the number of item gains, whereas manipulations fostering relational encoding decreased item losses. Across three experiments, participants were presented with lists of semantically related or unrelated words paired with target (red) or distractor (green) squares, under the instructions to remember all the words and press the spacebar when the square was red. Immediately after the study phase, they were involved in four consecutive recall attempts. In all cases, the classical ABE was replicated, in that participants recalled more target- than distractor-paired words. Most importantly, the analyses converged in showing that item gains were significantly greater for target- than for distractor-paired words when participants studied lists of related words (but not when they studied unrelated lists); in contrast, item losses did not differ between the two types of words, irrespective of the nature of the studied list. Taken together, these data suggest that the ABE enhanced the encoding of item-specific information but had no effect on the encoding of relational information.

The present study aimed at investigating the links between body dissatisfaction and other psychological variables pertaining to emotional life and mental health, as a function of menopausal status. To this purpose, we administered the Body Uneasiness Test (BUT), a self-report questionnaire specifically devoted to the examination of body image disorders, to a sample of pre-, peri-, or postmenopausal women aged between 45 and 55 years. In addition, mood states, feelings of anger and general health conditions were assessed with the Profile of Mood States (POMS), the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) and the Short Form General Health Survey (SF-36), respectively. The results showed that high levels of body dissatisfaction were associated with increases in mood disorders and anger expression, as well as with decreases in mental health and the ability to control angry feelings. Moreover, the regression analyses indicated that these associations remained significant after controlling for age and menopausal status. Body dissatisfaction remained stable across the menopausal period; however, perimenopausal women reported higher scores of depression, fatigue, and anxiety in the POMS, were less able to control angry feelings in the STAXI and had significantly lower scores of physical and mental health in the SF-36, compared to either premenopausal or postmenopausal women. In summary, our results suggest that body dissatisfaction might constitute a significant risk factor for the mental health of midlife women experiencing the menopausal transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined predictions of the early-phase-elevated-attention hypothesis of the attentional boost effect (ABE), which suggests that transient increases in attention at encoding, as instantiated in the ABE paradigm, should enhance the recognition of neutral and positive items (whose encoding is mostly based on controlled processes), while having small or null effects on the recognition of negative items (whose encoding is primarily based on automatic processes). Participants were presented a sequence of negative, neutral and positive stimuli (pictures in Experiment 1, words in Experiment 2) associated to target (red) squares, distractor (green) squares or no squares (baseline condition). They were told to attend to the pictures/words and simultaneously press the spacebar of the computer when a red square appeared. In a later recognition task, stimuli associated to target squares were recognised better than stimuli associated to distractor squares, replicating the standard ABE. More importantly, we also found that: (a) the memory enhancement following target detection occurred with all types of stimuli (neutral, negative and positive) and (b) the advantage of negative stimuli over neutral stimuli was intact in the DA condition. These findings suggest that the encoding of negative stimuli depends on both controlled (attention-dependent) and automatic (attention-independent) processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]