Links between distress & time perception suggest the possibility of downward spirals during stressful waiting periods, such that distress makes time seem to slow down, which then exacerbates distress

Associations between Subjective Time Perception and Well‐Being during Stressful Waiting Periods. Kyla Rankin  Kate Sweeny  Sandra Xu. Stress & Health, August 2 2019, https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.2888

Abstract: The passage of time is a subjective experience and can be easily distorted by concurrent emotions. Specifically, time seems to move particularly slowly when people are in a negative emotional state. The aim of the current studies was to evaluate the bidirectional relationship between subjective time perception and distress during stressful waiting periods, during which the slow passage of time may be particularly distressing. Across studies of undergraduate students awaiting a midterm exam grade (Study 1) and law graduates awaiting bar exam results (Studies 2 and 3), results revealed consistent links between distress and time perception across the waiting periods, with tentative evidence for bidirectional relationships between these experiences. That is, people who perceived time as moving slowly while they waited tended to report greater distress across the waiting period (particularly worry, anxiety, negative emotion, and poor coping), and people who reported greater distress tended to perceive time as moving more slowly. The links between distress and time perception suggest the possibility of downward spirals during stressful waiting periods, such that distress makes time seem to slow down, which then exacerbates distress. We discuss avenues for future research and potential remedies to derail the spiral of distress and time perception.

Techniques have been identified that can modify memories at both stages of initial storage and re-storage, but implementation into clinical therapies has produced inconsistent benefits

Memory editing from science fiction to clinical practice. Elizabeth A. Phelps & Stefan G. Hofmann. Nature, volume 572, pages 43–50 (2019). July 31 2019, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1433-7

Abstract: Science fiction notions of altering problematic memories are starting to become reality as techniques emerge through which unique memories can be edited. Here we review memory-editing research with a focus on improving the treatment of psychopathology. Studies highlight two windows of memory vulnerability: initial storage, or consolidation; and re-storage after retrieval, or reconsolidation. Techniques have been identified that can modify memories at each stage, but translating these methods from animal models to humans has been challenging and implementation into clinical therapies has produced inconsistent benefits. The science of memory editing is more complicated and nuanced than fiction, but its rapid development holds promise for future applications.

J‐curve association between alcohol intake and varicose veins in Japan: The Shimane CoHRE Study

J‐curve association between alcohol intake and varicose veins in Japan: The Shimane CoHRE Study. Kunie Kohno  Hiroyuki Niihara  Tsuyoshi Hamano  Miwako Takeda  Yusei Nakagawa  Kuninori Shiwaku  Toru Nabika  Bengt Zöller  Xinjun Li  Kristina Sundquist  Jan Sundquist  Eishin Morita. Concise Communication, July 29 2019 https://doi.org/10.1111/1346-8138.15022

Abstract: The effect of alcohol intake on varicose veins (VV) has not been determined by its consumption level. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between alcohol intake and VV in an elderly general population. Using a cross‐sectional approach, the Shimane CoHRE Study data, comprising a total of 1060 participants, were analyzed. By multivariate regression analysis adjusted with basic characteristics, past work history, lifestyle‐related factors and medical history, compared with non‐drinkers, mild drinkers (<20.0 g/day) showed a significantly lower adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of VV (aOR = 0.64, P = 0.036). In a similar way, regular drinkers (1–5 days/week) showed a significantly lower aOR of VV when compared with occasional drinkers (aOR = 0.57, P = 0.032). VV and alcohol intake showed J‐curve relationships. In a stratified analysis by alcohol consumption levels, the association of smoking and VV were also observed in moderate to heavy drinkers and habitual drinkers. These findings can provide better understanding of pathophysiological mechanism and be used for evidence‐based patient education.

Re-analysis of data reveals no evidence for neonatal imitation in rhesus macaques

Re-analysis of data reveals no evidence for neonatal imitation in rhesus macaques. Jonathan Redshaw. Biology Letters, July 24 2019, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0342

Abstract: Over the past decade, a growing number of publications have claimed to provide evidence for the existence and function of neonatal imitation in rhesus macaques. Here I show that there is in fact no empirical basis for these claims. Studies of the phenomenon have consistently failed to implement the gold standard cross-target analytical approach, which controls for increases in matching responses that may not be a function of the specific modelled behaviour. Critically, a pre-registered re-analysis of the entire set of existing data using this cross-target approach shows that macaque neonates have failed to produce matching tongue protrusion or lipsmacking responses at levels greater than chance. Furthermore, there is no evidence for intra-individual consistency in ‘imitative’ responses across different actions, as imitation scores for the two actions are negatively correlated with each other. Macaque tongue protrusion and lipsmacking responses may vary as a function of general factors that fluctuate over testing sessions, rather than as a function of the specific model or of between-individual variations in imitative tendencies.

Social media comparisons: More likely to be upward than downward, & making more frequent & more extreme upward comparisons yielded greater declines in self-evaluations, mood, & life satisfaction

When Every Day is a High School Reunion: Social Media Comparisons and Self-esteem. Claire Midgley. Psychology School, Toronto Univ. PhD Thesis, Jun 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/1807/95911

Abstract: Although past research has shown that social comparisons made through social media contribute to negative outcomes, little is known about the nature of these comparisons (e.g., domains, direction, and extremity), variables that determine the outcomes of these comparisons (e.g., post valence, perceiver’s self-esteem), and how these comparisons differ from those made in other contexts (e.g. while texting or interacting face to face). In five studies (N=900), I provide the first comprehensive analysis of how individuals make and respond to social comparisons on two different social media platforms (Facebook and Instagram), using comparisons made in real-time while participants browsed their own social media news feeds (Studies 1 and 3), experimenter-generated social media content (Study 2), and reports of comparisons made in various contexts, including social media (Studies 4 and 5). I found that individuals made frequent upward comparisons on social media. Further, social media comparisons were more likely to be upward than downward, and making more frequent and more extreme upward comparisons on social media resulted in greater declines in self-evaluations, mood, and life satisfaction. In addition, individuals with lower self-esteem made more frequent and extreme upward comparisons while browsing social media, resulting in even steeper declines in self-evaluations. Finally, compared to upward comparisons in other contexts, those made on social media were more often to distant (vs. close) targets, more likely to be image-based, and resulted in greater declines in self-evaluations. Together, these studies provide the first insights into the cumulative impact of multiple social comparisons, demonstrate the unique nature of social comparisons made on social media, and clarify the role of self-esteem in online social comparison processes.

Keywords: self-esteem; social comparison; social media

Evaluating the evidential value of empirically supported psychological treatments (ESTs): Failing to strengthen efficacy

Sakaluk, J. K., Williams, A. J., Kilshaw, R. E., & Rhyner, K. T. (2019). Evaluating the evidential value of empirically supported psychological treatments (ESTs): A meta-scientific review. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 128(6), 500-509. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/abn0000421

Abstract: Empirically supported treatments (or therapies; ESTs) are the gold standard in therapeutic interventions for psychopathology. Based on a set of methodological and statistical criteria, the APA has assigned particular treatment-diagnosis combinations EST status and has further rated their empirical support as Strong, Modest, and/or Controversial. Emerging concerns about the replicability of research findings in clinical psychology highlight the need to critically examine the evidential value of EST research. We therefore conducted a metascientific review of the EST literature, using clinical trials reported in an existing online APA database of ESTs, and a set of novel evidential value metrics (i.e., rates of misreported statistics, statistical power, R-Index, and Bayes Factors). Our analyses indicated that power and replicability estimates were concerningly low across almost all ESTs, and individually, some ESTs scored poorly across multiple metrics, with Strong ESTs failing to continuously outperform their Modest counterparts. Lastly, we found evidence of improvements over time in statistical power within the EST literature, but not for the strength of evidence of EST efficacy. We describe the implications of our findings for practicing psychotherapists and offer recommendations for improving the evidential value of EST research moving forward.

Participants increased in well-being when they were assigned to act extraverted & decreased when they were assigned to act introverted; changing behavior associated with personality is possible

Margolis, S., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2019). Experimental manipulation of extraverted and introverted behavior and its effects on well-being. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xge0000668

Abstract: Research in personality psychology has remained predominantly correlational. For example, 3 decades of research demonstrate a robust cross-sectional relationship between extraversion and positive affect. A handful of studies, however, have examined this link experimentally, showing that extraversion boosts positive affect over short durations. If this is true, behaving in an extraverted manner should be a reliable method for increasing positive affect and, thus, suitable as a well-being-increasing practice. The current study instructed participants to engage in both extraverted and introverted behavior, each for 1 week. Participants increased in well-being when they were assigned to act extraverted and decreased in well-being when they were assigned to act introverted. These findings suggest that changing behavior associated with personality is possible and can impact well-being. More broadly, this study adds to a growing body of research on the potential of experimental methods in personality psychology.

The influential hypothesis that humans imitate from birth – and that this capacity is foundational to social cognition – is currently being challenged from several angles

Individual differences in neonatal ‘imitation' fail to predict early social cognitive behaviour. Jonathan Redshaw  Mark Nielsen  Virginia Slaughter  Siobhan Kennedy‐Costantini  Janine Oostenbroek  Jessica Crimston  Thomas Suddendorf. Developemental Science, August 1 2019, https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12892 

Abstract: The influential hypothesis that humans imitate from birth – and that this capacity is foundational to social cognition – is currently being challenged from several angles. Most prominently, the largest and most comprehensive longitudinal study of neonatal imitation to date failed to find evidence that neonates copied any of nine actions at any of four time points (Oostenbroek et al., 2016). The authors of an alternative and statistically liberal post‐hoc analysis of these same data (Meltzoff et al., 2017), however, concluded that the infants actually did imitate one of the nine actions: tongue protrusion. In line with the original intentions of this longitudinal study, we here report on whether individual differences in neonatal ‘imitation' predict later‐developing social cognitive behaviours. We measured a variety of social cognitive behaviours in a subset of the original sample of infants (N = 71) during the first 18 months: object‐directed imitation, joint attention, synchronous imitation, and mirror self‐recognition. Results show that, even using the liberal operationalisation, individual scores for neonatal ‘imitation' of tongue protrusion failed to predict any of the later‐developing social cognitive behaviours. The average Spearman correlation was close to zero, mean rs = .027, 95% CI [‐.020, .075], with all Bonferroni adjusted p values > .999. These results run counter to Meltzoff et al.'s rebuttal, and to the existence of a “like me” mechanism that is foundational to human social cognition.