Conscious thought does not guide moment-to-moment actions—it serves social and cultural functions

Humans enjoy a private, mental life that is richer and more vivid than that of any other animal. Yet as central as the conscious experience is to human life, numerous disciplines have long struggled to explain it. The present paper reviews the latest theories and evidence from psychology that addresses what conscious thought is and how it affects human behavior. We suggest that conscious thought adapts human behavior to life in complex society and culture. First, we review research challenging the common notion that conscious thought directly guides and controls action. Second, we present an alternative view—that conscious thought processes actions and events that are typically removed from the here and now, and that it indirectly shapes action to favor culturally adaptive responses. Third, we summarize recent empirical work on conscious thought, which generally supports this alternative view. We see conscious thought as the place where the unconscious mind assembles ideas so as to reach new conclusions about how best to behave, or what outcomes to pursue or avoid. Rather than directly controlling action, conscious thought provides the input from these kinds of mental simulations to the executive. Conscious thought offers insights about the past and future, socially shared information, and cultural rules. Without it, the complex forms of social and cultural coordination that define human life would not be possible

When the going gets tough: the “Why” of goal striving matters

No prior research has examined how motivation for goal striving influences persistence in the face of increasing goal difficulty. This research examined the role of self-reported (Study 1) and primed (Study 2) autonomous and controlled motives in predicting objectively-assessed persistence during the pursuit of an increasingly difficult goal.\ud \ud In Study 1, 100 British athletes (64 males; Mage = 19.89 years, SDage = 2.43) pursued a goal of increasing difficulty on a cycle-ergometer. In Study 2, 90 British athletes (43 males; Mage = 19.63 years, SDage = 1.14) engaged in the same task, but their motivation was primed by asking them to observe a video of an actor describing her/his involvement in an unrelated study.\ud \ud In Study 1 self-reported autonomous goal motives predicted goal persistence via challenge appraisals and task-based coping. In contrast, controlled goal motives predicted threat appraisals and disengagement coping which, in turn, was a negative predictor of persistence. In Study 2 primed autonomous (compared to controlled) goal motives predicted greater persistence, positive affect, and future interest for task engagement.\ud \ud The findings underscore the importance of autonomous motivation for behavioral investment in the face of increased goal difficulty

Do Trait Emotional Intelligence and Dispositional Mindfulness Have a Complementary Effect on the Children's and Adolescents' Emotional States?

Mindfulness is both a non-judgmental and present-centered awareness, which has been applied to reduce negative emotions. On the other hand, Trait Emotional Intelligence (TEI) is the way of how good people perceive their emotional intelligence abilities (perceiving, expressing, understanding, and regulating emotions), which are involved in people's social functioning. This empirical study was designed to analyze whether dispositional mindfulness (DM) and TEI have a potential combined role for children and adolescent's emotional states. In a sample of primary school students (N = 318), age ranged from 8 to 16 years old (M = 11.25, SD = 2.20), participants filled a TEI measure (ESCQ, Emotional skills and competence questionnaire) and two measures of DM (CAMM, Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure and AFQ-Y, Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth). Measures selected included: PANAS (Positive affect and negative affect schedule), White Bear Suppression Inventory (a thought suppression inventory), and STAIC (State-Trait Anxiety for Children). Findings pointed out that TEI measures (labeling and expression, understanding, and managing emotions) were positively and significantly related to positive emotional states (especially, positive affect and balance) and negatively with a lower association with state anxiety. However, DM measures were both negatively and strongly associated with negative emotional states (thought suppression, negative affect, and anxiety). Conclusions indicate that a combined effect of both TEI skills and DM based interventions would be more complete than each one separately for better social functioning of children and teenagers

Predictors of Citation Rate in Psychology: Inconclusive Influence of Effect and Sample Size

In the present article, we investigate predictors of how often a scientific article is cited. Specifically, we focus on the influence of two often neglected predictors of citation rate: effect size and sample size, using samples from two psychological topical areas. Both can be considered as indicators of the importance of an article and post hoc (or observed) statistical power, and should, especially in applied fields, predict citation rates. In Study 1, effect size did not have an influence on citation rates across a topical area, both with and without controlling for numerous variables that have been previously linked to citation rates. In contrast, sample size predicted citation rates, but only while controlling for other variables. In Study 2, sample and partly effect sizes predicted citation rates, indicating that the relations vary even between scientific topical areas. Statistically significant results had more citations in Study 2 but not in Study 1. The results indicate that the importance (or power) of scientific findings may not be as strongly related to citation rate as is generally assumed

No effects of ingesting or rinsing sucrose on depleted self-control performance

Self-control tasks appear to deplete a limited resource resulting in reduced subsequent self-control performance; a state of ego depletion. Evidence of reduced peripheral glucose by exertion of self-control, and attenuation of ego depletion by carbohydrate metabolism underpins the proposition that this macronutrient provides the energetic source of self-control. However, the demonstration of positive, non-metabolic effects on ego depletion when merely sensing carbohydrates orally contradicts this hypothesis. Recent studies have also failed to support both metabolic and non-metabolic accounts. The effects of ingesting or rinsing a carbohydrate (sucrose) and an artificially sweetened (sucralose) solution on capillary blood and interstitial glucose, and depleted self-control performance were examined in older adults. Forty, healthy, adults (50-65. years) ingested and rinsed sucrose and sucralose solutions in a 2 (method). × 2 (source), fully counterbalanced, repeated measures, crossover design. Capillary blood and interstitial glucose responses were assayed. Depleted self-control performance (induced by the Bakan visual processing task) on an attention switch task was assessed under each study condition. Ego depletion had no consistent effects on peripheral glucose levels and no significant effects of ingesting or rinsing sucrose on self-control were observed. The act of rinsing the solutions, independent of energetic content, resulted in a small, non-significant enhancement of performance on the attention switch task relative to ingesting the same solutions (RT: p= 05; accuracy: p= 09). In conclusion, a metabolic account of self-control was not supported. Whilst a positive effect of rinsing on depleted self-control performance was demonstrated, this was independent of energetic content. Findings suggest glucose is an unlikely physiological analogue for self-control resources

How Bayes factors change scientific practice

Bayes factors provide a symmetrical measure of evidence for one model versus another (e.g. H1 versus H0) in order to relate theory to data. These properties help solve some (but not all) of the problems underlying the credibility crisis in psychology. The symmetry of the measure of evidence means that there can be evidence for H0 just as much as for H1; or the Bayes factor may indicate insufficient evidence either way. PP-values cannot make this three-way distinction. Thus, Bayes factors indicate when the data count against a theory (and when they count for nothing); and thus they indicate when replications actually support H0 or H1 (in ways that power cannot). There is every reason to publish evidence supporting the null as going against it, because the evidence can be measured to be just as strong either way (thus the published record can be more balanced). Bayes factors can be BB-hacked but they mitigate the problem because a) they allow evidence in either direction so people will be less tempted to hack in just one direction; b) as a measure of evidence they are insensitive to the stopping rule; c) families of tests cannot be arbitrarily defined; and d) falsely implying a contrast is planned rather than post hoc becomes irrelevant (though the value of pre-registration is not mitigated)

Developing self-regulation for dietary temptations: intervention effects on physical, self-regulatory and psychological outcomes

We aimed to investigate whether a self-regulatory skills intervention can improve weight loss-related outcomes. Fifty-five participants (M BMI = 32.60 ± 4.86) were randomized into self-regulation training and advice groups and received two training workshops and weekly practice tasks. The self-regulation training group was trained to use six self-regulatory skills: Delayed gratification, thought control, goal setting, self-monitoring, mindfulness, and coping. The advice group received dietary and physical activity advice for weight loss. Physical, self-regulatory, and psychological measures were taken at baseline, end of intervention (week 8) and at follow-up (week 12). Using intention-to-treat analysis, weight, waist circumference, body fat and body mass index (BMI) were significantly reduced at follow-up for both groups. There were significant increases in all six self-regulatory skills and the psychological measures of self-efficacy, self-regulatory success, and physical self-worth for both groups. Results indicate that self-regulatory skills training might be as effective as dietary and physical activity advice in terms of weight loss and related outcomes