The Struggle of Giving Up Personal Goals – Affective, Physiological, and Cognitive Consequences of an Action Crisis.

A critical phase in goal striving occurs when setbacks accumulate and goal disengagement becomes an issue. This critical phase is conceptualized as an action crisis and assumed to be characterized by an intrapsychic conflict in which the individual becomes torn between further goal pursuit and goal disengagement. Our theorizing converges with Klinger’s conceptualization of goal disengagement as a process, rather than a discrete event. Two longitudinal field studies tested and found support for the hypothesis that an action crisis not only compromises an individual’s psychological and physiological well-being, but also dampens the cognitive evaluation of the respective goal. In Study 3, marathon runners experiencing an action crisis in their goal of running marathons showed a stronger cortisol secretion and a lower performance in the race 2 weeks later. Results are interpreted in terms of action-phase–specific mindsets with a focus on self-regulatory processes in goal disengagement.

Effects of the glucocorticoid antagonist, mifepristone, on the consequences of withdrawal from long term alcohol consumption

BACKGROUND: Studies were carried out to test the hypothesis that administration of a glucocorticoid Type II receptor antagonist, mifepristone (RU38486), just prior to withdrawal from chronic alcohol treatment, would prevent the consequences of the alcohol consumption and withdrawal in mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The effects of administration of a single intraperitoneal dose of mifepristone were examined on alcohol withdrawal hyperexcitability. Memory deficits during the abstinence phase were measured using repeat exposure to the elevated plus maze, the object recognition test, and the odor habituation/discrimination test. Neurotoxicity in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex was examined using NeuN staining. RESULTS: Mifepristone reduced, though did not prevent, the behavioral hyperexcitability seen in TO strain mice during the acute phase of alcohol withdrawal (4 hours to 8 hours after cessation of alcohol consumption) following chronic alcohol treatment via liquid diet. There were no alterations in anxiety-related behavior in these mice at 1 week into withdrawal, as measured using the elevated plus maze. However, changes in behavior during a second exposure to the elevated plus maze 1 week later were significantly reduced by the administration of mifepristone prior to withdrawal, indicating a reduction in the memory deficits caused by the chronic alcohol treatment and withdrawal. The object recognition test and the odor habituation and discrimination test were then used to measure memory deficits in more detail, at between 1 and 2 weeks after alcohol withdrawal in C57/BL10 strain mice given alcohol chronically via the drinking fluid. A single dose of mifepristone given at the time of alcohol withdrawal significantly reduced the memory deficits in both tests. NeuN staining showed no evidence of neuronal loss in either prefrontal cortex or hippocampus after withdrawal from chronic alcohol treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest mifepristone may be of value in the treatment of alcoholics to reduce their cognitive deficits.

Corrective experiences in psychotherapy: Definitions, processes, consequences, and research directions

After 5 years of conceptualizing, investigating, and writing about corrective experiences (CEs), we (the authors of this chapter) met to talk about what we learned. In this chapter, we summarize our joint understanding of (a) the definition of CEs; (b) the contexts in which CEs occur; (c) client, therapist, and external factors that facilitate CEs; (d) the consequences of CEs; and (e) ideas for future theoretical, clinical, empirical, and training directions. As will become evident, the authors of this chapter, who represent a range of theoretical orientations, reached consensus on some CE-related topics but encountered controversy and lively debate about other topics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)

Cognitive effects of masculine generics in German. An overview of empirical findings

This article presents a series of experiments which were conducted among native speakers of German to determine the influence of different types of German generics on the cognitive inclusion of women. Results indicate that the inclusion of women is higher with ‘non-sexist’ alternatives than with masculine generics, a tendency which was consistent across different studies. The different alternatives, however, showed different effects which also varied depending on the context. These results are discussed with regard to their practical consequences in situations such as nominating women and men for awards or political offices.

Meta-cognition about biological sex and gender-stereotypic physical appearance: Consequences for the assessment of leadership competence

Previous findings are inconsistent with regard to whether men are judged as being more or less competent leaders than women. However, masculine-relative to feminine-looking persons seem to be judged consistently as more competent leaders. Can this different impact of biological sex and physical appearance be due to the disparate availability of meta-cognitive knowledge about both sources? The results of Study 1 indicated that individuals possess meta-cognitive knowledge about a possible biasing influence of persons’ biological sex, but not for their physical appearance. In Study 2, participants judged the leadership competence of a male versus female stimulus person with either masculine or feminine physical appearance. In addition, the available cognitive capacity was manipulated. When high capacity was available, participants corrected for the influence of stimulus persons’ sex, but they fell prey to this influence under cognitive load. However, the effect of physical appearance was not moderated by cognitive capacity.