The error choice (EC) technique was among the earliest indirect attitude measures developed and was originally designed to overcome social desirability concerns (Hammond, 1948). This programme of research set out to advance EC research in several ways. First, an exploratory factor analysis examined whether participants’ responses to the EC target items produced a systematic pattern of responding. The factor analysis indicated that a single underlying factor best accounted for the data. Additionally, the EC measure demonstrated good reliability across the 3 studies. Second, these studies provided evidence that the EC measure is, at least in part, attitudinal. The EC measure showed a modest positive correlation with the direct measure of attitude in all 3 studies. This suggested that participants’ responses to the EC target items were, at least partially, attitudinal. Additionally, across the studies participant’s EC scores did not change between the high and low social desirability conditions, while participants’ scores on the direct measure were significantly more positive in the high social desirability condition. These findings suggest that the EC measure is, to some degree, resistant to socially desirable responding. Studies 2 and 3 also represent the first time that recommendations made by early EC researchers to improve the EC technique were systematically examined. In these studies the amount of time participants had to complete the EC measure was restricted. The time restriction did not improve the performance of the EC measure. The other optimal condition examined in Study 3 was the presence and absence of filler items in the EC measure. Indeed, removing filler items from the EC measure did not negatively impact its performance. Finally, this programme of research compared the EC measure with more contemporary indirect measures of attitude. In Study 2, the Implicit Association Test (IAT) was compared with the EC and direct measure. In Study 3, the Personalized IAT was compared to the EC and direct measure. The results revealed that neither the IAT nor PIAT correlated with the EC measure. In summary, these results suggest the EC technique holds some promise as an approach to attitude measurement and is well worth resurrecting. / Thesis (Ph.D, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2010-04-21 09:32:11.904

Introduction: Eating is a highly motivated and reinforced behaviour, therefore human eating behaviour is not a passive response or merely physiological drives providing nutrients for survival; it is about cognitive and emotional processes based choice. Obesity is a condition in which the natural energy reserve, stored in the fatty tissue of humans is increased to a point where it is associated with certain health conditions or increased mortality. Anorexia nervosa is a condition of self initiated weight loss characterised by a profound disturbance of the body image, distorted self-perception, and obsessive fear of gaining weight and problem in the cognitive and the emotional functioning. Continuum model proposed that eating disorders from restriction to overeating can be placed on a linear dimension. Aim: The main goal of the doctorate thesis is to examine the existence of certain common dysfunction related to the two extreme sides of the dimension of the eating disorders (restrictive anorexia and stable obesity). Therefore we compared cognitive profile, emotion functioning (explicit and early categorization of facial emotions) and attitudes (explicit and implicit) towards body image both in obesity and anorexia. Results: The neuropsychological tasks show attentional deficit and distractibility in obesity and anorexia nervosa. In obesity we have found perseveration, deficit on the shifting and inhibition capacity, while in anorexia nervosa perseveration was linked to anxiety. These findings suggest that the PFC based executive function can be associated with modified brain dopamine turnover in the PFC area in obesity. Beside, the higher level of depression in both patient groups; our findings proved that obese patients were more sensitive to the positive emotions and the same time they ignored the negative emotions. In contrary to obesity, anorexic patients were more sensitive to negative emotions specifically those one which represent possible threats such as anger. Obese patients evaluated implicitly more positive the overweight body figures than controls. There was an attitudinal discrepancy between the explicit, socially exposed “ideal body” and the internal (implicit) body shape preference. The anorexic group did not evaluate positively the underweight body shape as we expected either implicitly or explicitly. Based on these findings we suggest that not the underweight body preference is a key issue in anorexia, but the obsessive fear for the obesity. Conclusion: We have found different psychological mechanisms in the pathology of restrictive anorexia nervosa and stable obesity. Our results did not confirm the idea of the continuum model about the linear spectrum based on eating behaviour (from the restriction to overeating), and from body weight (from underweight to obese). Our results suggest that restrictive anorexia nervosa has several common features with anxiety disorder or affective disorders, while obesity most probably can be associated with addictive pathologies.

The measurement of religious belief has some social desirability concerns that make the development of an implicit measure of religiosity advantageous. Currently, there are few options for implicitly measuring religious belief. This study attempted to add to this literature by analyzing the automatic judgements of religious belief through the use of an implicit measure known as the MouseTrack task, allowing for the measurement of latency in the expression of these beliefs as well as the certainty of these beliefs by tracking the path taken during the decision process. A sample of 121 undergraduates was recruited from the UK SONA subject pool. Desired religious variance was not achieved in the sample, making interpretation of results difficult. Detailed breakdowns of these path analyses are given. Key trends in findings are discussed.

In the wake of the death of a prominent atheist figure in 2011, an especially unsavory side of anti-atheist prejudice became evident as many celebrated the death of a prominent atheist, rejoicing that he would be in hell. The current study explores how these attitudes reveal a sense of schadenfreude in anti-atheist prejudice previously unexplored in the literature. Potential origins of this schadenfreude are discussed, and a study to experimentally explore this phenomenon was carried out. Using the repeated taste-test paradigm, this study gave participants atheist primes and hell primes between identical drinks and measure perceived taste after these manipulations, intending for the hell primes to induce schadenfreude after atheist primes as a result from participants thinking about the atheists going to hell for their lack of faith. All predicted main effects and interactions were non-significant. Exploratory analyses were carried out to explain these null results. Implications and future directions are discussed.

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The current study examined the utility of an idiographic configuration of the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) as a measure of psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility is the overarching outcome variable of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and may be defined as the ability to make full contact with the present moment and persist in behavior that serves valued ends (Hayes, 2004). One hundred six participants first completed questionnaires assessing individual valued activities and distressing private events. These data were utilized to populate the IRAP. Depending on the administration order, the subjects either continued with the IRAP or with a series of self-report measures evaluating psychological functioning and ACT processes. Results indicated that IRAP scores modestly correlated with some self-reports of psychological flexibility and were also able to significantly predict symptomology. However, the study revealed inadequate internal consistency of the IRAP, which constitutes a limitation to the validity of the measure. This study represents one step in a long line of research examining a variety of procedural and contextual variables influencing the reliability of the IRAP, offering preliminary support for the utility of an idiographic IRAP as an implicit measure of psychological flexibility. Future additions to IRAP research similar to the current study will continue to enhance the field’s understanding of implicit cognitions and the effectiveness of the IRAP in psychological research.

Perception of moral violations and people’s misbehaviours are crucial elements that allow people to live in the society. The literature suggested that both explicit and implicit processes are involved in the moral cognition (Cameron et al., 2012). However still nowadays, the majority of the literature focused only on the explicit aspects of morality, while scarce attention was given to the study of implicit moral attitudes (Cameron et al., 2018). Furthermore, researchers on morality are currently attracting by the investigation of moral cognition in people with impairments in social cognition (e.g., people with autism spectrum disorder; ASD) who may process the moral violations differently compared neurotypical people (see e.g., Gallese, 2006), However, this line of research is at the beginning stage, and the use of implicit measures to understand the mechanisms underpinning the morality in autism (or in people with high autistic traits) have not yet been considered in previous studies. The present dissertation aimed to investigate important aspects of moral cognition that currently are still under-investigated in literature, offering a wider view on implicit aspects of morality in autism. Through six experiments, this work wanted to provide new empirical findings concerning the implicit mechanisms underpinning moral cognition in both neurotypical and autistic people without intellectual disability. Experiment 1 and 2 According to Moral Foundation Theory (Graham et al., 2013) specific emotions are associated to different types of moral violations. For instance, when people perceive that a victim is physically or emotionally harmed by someone else, they feel anger against the perpetrator. By contrast, people feel disgust when they perceive that someone ate inedible food or made blasphemous practices (Haidt et al., 1993). However, empirical finding that assessed the link between different types of moral violations and specific emotions showed mixed results. Indeed, it was suggested that other important factors might also modulate the relations between different moral violations and emotions (Atari et al., 2020; Kemper & Newheiser, 2018). Specifically, the benign violation hypothesis (McGraw & Warren, 2010) claimed that sometimes people could perceive moral violations as amusing, and this specific emotion seems elicited by specific contextual (e.g., psychological distance) as well as interpersonal factors (e.g., humor traits). However, previous studies never tested whether people perceive amusement in response to all types of moral violation, or whether amusement emerged only in response to specific norm violations (e.g., purity violations). Furthermore recently, Dempsey and colleagues (2020a) emphasized the importance to test the assumptions of Moral Foundation Theory in autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). Interviewing six autistic participants, the authors found that the participants endorsed all moral domains as morally relevant. However, the relations between emotional reaction and moral domains in autism have never been tested, as well as whether autistic people perceive moral violations as benign and amusing. In the first two experiments of this thesis, it was assessed the amusement reaction in response to different types of moral violations (purity vs. harm) and extending such investigation involving a group of autistic participants. Furthermore, the studies conducted so far on moral cognition has prevalently used explicit methodology. By contrast, in these experiments it was assessed the emotional reaction in response to different types of moral violations analysing the spontaneous facial expressions in neurotypical people (experiment 1), and the cardiac response of both typical and autistic individuals (experiment 2). The aim of these experiments was to investigate whether neurotypical people perceive specific types of moral violations as benign and amusing, and then whether autistic people expressed different emotions compared neurotypical people in response to different types of moral violations. Experiment 3, 4 and 5 As opposite of Moral Foundation Theory, the Dyadic Model claimed that a sine qua non for moral perception is the implicit activation of harm (Gray et al., 2012). In other words, always immorality automatically activates perceptions of harm regardless of someone is harmed (acts which involve physical and emotional damage; harm violations) or not (i.e., acts which involve impure and degradation behaviour; purity violations). Indeed, empirical evidence suggested that, during the reading of a scenario depicting a harmless moral violation in the domain of purity, people nevertheless implicitly infer that harm was involved. Across three experiments, we tested whether ostensibly harmless moral violations activated implicitly the harm concept. In all these three experiments the participants’ implicit attitude in response to moral violations was tested by using the affective misattribution paradigm (AMP; Payne et al., 2014), which is one of the most reliable methods to assess individual unconscious mental processes in psychology (Znanewitz et al., 2018). Specifically, Experiment 3 aimed to replicate previous findings which highlighted the implicit role of harm in response to harmless moral violations (Gray et al., 2014). Experiment 4 extended previous results with an investigation aimed to verify whether people with high autistic traits showed less implicit activation of harm in response to harmless scenarios than people with low autistic traits. Finally, Experiment 5 aimed to investigate whether autistic people (without intellectual disability) implicitly activated the harm concept in response to harmless scenarios as well as neurotypicals. Experiment 6 The majority of the studies which investigated the moral cognition in autism started to the premise that autistic people have a selective impairment in Theory of Mind (ToM; Moran et al., 2011), which is also a fundamental skill to understand the moral behaviours (e.g., Hamlin, 2015). However, the literature is far to show the role of Theory of Mind in the moral processing. Recently, it was suggested that ToM is a cognitive skill that involves both explicit and implicit processes (e.g., Southgate et al., 2007). The born of new implicit measures to assess the ToM brought an initial enthusiasm in this area of study. For instance, studies on clinical psychology, using both explicit and implicit ToM measures in order to understand selective ToM difficulties by autistic individuals without intellectual disability showed that, although this population presented high performance to explicit ToM tasks, they showed lower performance in the newer implicit ToM tasks compared to neurotypical participants (e.g., Schuwerk et al., 2015; Senju et al., 2009). Late unfortunately, these interesting results were put into question by other studies, which argued against the reliability of these new implicit measures (Kulke et al., 2018b). Moreover, another important gap in implicit ToM literature was that, while previous models in developmental psychology and psychopathology have suggested a link between attachment and the development of ToM, the relationship between attachment and implicit ToM has been so far neglected. In this experiment, we assessed both implicit and explicit mental state attribution, by means of a new implicit ToM task, as well as some attachment dimensions, comparing a group of autistic participants, without intellectual disability, and a control group. Specifically, in this experiment it was investigated participants’ spontaneous anticipatory look in response to false beliefs tasks using the eye-tracking methodology (one of the most used implicit ToM paradigms in literature). This study aimed to investigate the Theory of Mind (ToM) at both explicit and implicit level (Southgate et al., 2007), investigating possible differences between neurotypical individuals and autistic people. Furthermore, in the same study it was also investigated the link between the participants’ attachment and the explicit and implicit ToM skills. Moral cognition is a complex object of study that should be investigated with a multi-dimensional approach. In the experiments described in this thesis it was proposed a combined methodology that allowed to gather both explicit and implicit cognitive and emotional mechanisms that stay at the root of the moral judgment. Thanks to this approach it was found that deliberate and involuntary processes did not present convergent responses in the moral cognition of participants. Indeed, self-reported emotions seem to show divergent responses compared to the spontaneous facial expressions and the cardiac response to moral violations. These results support extant literature that raises concerns about the intuitionist assumptions of the moral cognition based on the assessment of only explicit responses of participants (e.g., Gutierrez & Giner-Sorolla, 2007; Nosek, 2007). Furthermore, this thesis highlighted the importance of studying the moral cognition in people affected by the autism spectrum disorder. Despite the social impairments that this neurodevelopmental disorder presents, we found that autistic people with cognitive level in average with the typical population, did not show any differences compared to the control group in both explicit and implicit mechanisms of moral cognition. These interesting findings may bring important theoretical reflections in moral and clinical psychology.

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Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T13:16:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2021003 bytes, checksum: 5ad4eefd617aac07ae5ffec54035a65b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-12-28 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Traditionally, human values have been measured by explicit forms of measurement, like self-report questionnaires. Nevertheless, it is known that these measures are susceptible to social desirability influence, which tends to mask and skew the results. One of the forms that have been used to control this tendency is by the use of implicit measures, which presuppose a decrease in reactivity of the measurement. In this sense, considering the problems inherent in explicit forms of measurement and the lack of instruments in the area of implicit measures, particularly in regard of values, this study was designed, specifically, to focus on the Functionalist Theory of Human Values (Gouveia, 2003). This study aimed to: construct two measures of human values, based on an adaptation of the IAT (SC-IAT), versions pencil and paper (study 1) and computed (study 2). As specific objectives, we sought to test the structure of the Functionalist Theory of Human Values through implicit measures and correlate them with explicit measurement instruments. Participated in the study 1, 154 college students, which are predominantly women (70%) with an average age of 38 years (sd = 6.75). A Multivariate Analysis of Variance for repeated measures revealed differences between the scores in the congruent and incongruent tasks, thereby indicating the effect implicit in the association. Analysis of Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) Confirmatory revealed consistency between the theoretical model and the observed structure (Phi Tucker > 0.90), identifying the values belonging to each of the six sub-functions, which are structured by reason of the dimensions: kind of guidance and type of motivator. Through correlation analysis, we observed a low convergent validity between the SC-IAT-Values and the QVB. Furthermore, was observed the discriminating validity of the instrument within the social desirability scale. Moreover, no correlations were observed between the measured implicit and behavioral variable. The second study, with the participation of 50 students, which are predominantly women (54%) with a average age of 24.8 years (sd = 9.88). Through D score was observed on the implicit effect association. MDS analyzes revealed consistency between the theoretical model and the observed structure (Phi Tucker > 0.90) as well as computed. Through correlation analysis, can t to be observed the convergent validity of the measure with the QVB, however, it presented discriminating validity with the scale of social desirability. Again, no relationship was observed between the measured implicit and behavioral variable. In short, this dissertation has achieved its objectives, building the measure of human values implicit in version pencil and paper and computerized, testing the Functionalist Theory through this, as well as linking it with the explicit measures. / Tradicionalmente, os valores humanos têm sido avaliados por meio de formas explícitas de mensuração, como, questionários de autorrelato. Não obstante, sabe-se que estas medidas são susceptíveis à influência da desejabilidade social, o que tende a mascarar e enviesar os resultados. Uma das formas que vêm sendo utilizada para controlar esta tendência é por meio de mensurações implícitas, que pressupõem uma diminuição da reatividade da medida. Neste sentido, tendo em vista os problemas inerentes às formas explícitas de mensuração e a carência de instrumentos na área de medidas implícitas, em especial no que concerne aos valores, esta dissertação foi pensada. Especificamente, seu foco foi a Teoria Funcionalista dos Valores Humanos, objetivando construir duas medidas de valores humanos, com base em uma adaptação do TAI (SC-IAT), nas versões lápis e papel (Estudo 1) e computadorizada (Estudo 2). Como objetivos específicos, buscou-se testar a hipótese de estrutura dos Valores Humanos por meio das medidas implícitas, bem como correlacioná-las com instrumentos de mensuração explícita. No Estudo 1 participaram 154 estudantes universitários, predominantemente mulheres (70%), com idade média de 38 anos (dp = 6,75). A Análise Multivariada de Variância para medidas repetidas revelou diferenças entre as pontuações nas tarefas congruentes e incongruentes, indicando, assim, o efeito implícito na associação. Análises de Escalonamento Multidimensional (MDS) Confirmatório revelaram coerência entre o modelo teórico e a estrutura observada (Phi de Tucker > 0,90), cujas seis subfunções, se estruturam em razão das dimensões tipo de orientação e tipo de motivador. Entretanto, observou-se baixa validade convergente entre o SC-IAT-Valores e o QVB. Por outro lado, observou-se a validade discriminante da medida implícita com aquela de desejabilidade social. Ademais, não foram observadas correlações entre a medida implícita e a variável comportamental. O Estudo 2 contou com a participação de 50 estudantes universitários, majoritariamente mulheres (54%), com idade média de 24,8 anos (dp = 9,88). Por meio do escore D, observou-se o efeito implícito na associação. Análises MDS revelaram coerência entre o modelo teórico e a estrutura observada (Phi de Tucker > 0,90) também na medida computadorizada. Não foi constatada a validade convergente da medida implícita com o QVB, porém foi observada sua validade discriminante com a medida de desejabilidade social. Novamente, não foi possível observar relação entre a medida implícita e a variável comportamental. Em suma, esta dissertação cumpriu com os seus objetivos, construindo a medida implícita de valores humanos na versão lápis e papel e computadorizada, corroborando a hipótese de estrutura dos valores, assim como observando a validade discriminante desta medida.