Effects of mixed versus blocked design on stimulus evaluation: combining underaddative effects.

(from the journal abstract) According to the asynchronous discrete coding model of Miller, two manipulations should display underadditive effects on reaction time if they slow down noncontingent stages associated with the processing of two separable dimensions of a stimulus. Underadditive effects are also predicted by a dual route model when a task variable is factorially varied with design type (mixed vs blocked). Interpretations of both underadditive effects and their combination were evaluated. Intact and degraded stimuli were presented to 18 young adults either in a single block (mixed) or in separate blocks (blocked). Spatial stimulus-response (S-R) compatibility was manipulated in all conditions. Stimulus degradation and S-R compatibility interacted underadditively, but only in blocked presentations. Both interpretations of underadditive effects were supported. Eye-movement registrations provided additional support for the alternative routes model

Measuring automatic associations:Validation of algorithms for the Implicit Association Test (IAT) in a laboratory setting

<p>Background and objectives: In their paper, "Understanding and using the Implicit Association Test: I. An improved scoring algorithm", Greenwald, Nosek, and Banaji (2003) investigated different ways to calculate the IAT-effect. However, up to now, it remained unclear whether these findings based on internet data also generalize to laboratory settings. Therefore, the main goal of the present study was to cross-validate scoring algorithms for the IAT in a laboratory setting, specifically in the domain of psychopathology.</p><p>Methods: Four known IAT algorithms and seven alternative IAT algorithms were evaluated on several performance criteria in the large-scale laboratory sample of the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (N = 2981) in which two IATs were included to obtain measurements of automatic self-anxious and automatic self-depressed associations.</p><p>Results and conclusions: Results clearly demonstrated that the D-2SD-measure and the D-600-measure as well as an alternative algorithm based on the correct trials only (D-noEP-measure) are suitable to be used in a laboratory setting for IATs with a fixed order of category combinations. It remains important to further replicate these findings, especially in studies that include outcome measures of more spontaneous kinds of behaviors. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.</p>

Implicit measures of association in psychopathology research

Studies obtaining implicit measures of associations in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Menta

Implicit and explicit alcohol-related cognitions in heavy and light drinkers

Implicit and explicit alcohol-related cognitions were measured in 2 dimensions: positive-negative (valence) and arousal-sedation, with 2 versions of the Implicit Association Test (IAT; A. G. Greenwald, D. E. McGhee, &amp; J. L. Schwartz) and related explicit measures. Heavy drinkers (n = 24) strongly associated alcohol with arousal on the arousal IAT (especially men) and scored higher on explicit arousal expectancies than light drinkers (n = 24). On the valence IAT, both light and heavy drinkers showed strong negative implicit associations with alcohol that contrasted with their positive explicit judgments (heavy drinkers were more positive). Implicit and explicit cognitions uniquely contributed to the prediction of 1-month prospective drinking. Heavy drinkers' implicit arousal associations could reflect the sensitized psychomotor-activating response to drug cues, a motivational mechanism hypothesized to underlie the etiology of addictive behaviors