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Background: Former studies demonstrated that negative outcome expectations (OE) toward psychotherapy predict unfavorable psychotherapy outcomes. Critically, the measurement of OE is limited to direct measures that could be subject to self-presentational distortions. This study aimed to validate an online single category implicit association test (SC-IAT) to measure OE toward psychotherapy indirectly. Methods: We conducted three direct measures of OE, the Therapy SC-IAT, and a (control) Flower SC-IAT in a large sample (N = 705). Results: The Therapy SC-IAT correlated with most direct measures of OE (convergent validity) but not with measures of flower associations (discriminant validity). In exploratory analyses, we found that direct and indirect measurements of OE were related to prior experiences with psychotherapy. Conclusion: We discuss ways to improve the indirect-direct correlations and suggest that our newly developed indirect measure could complement the assessment of expectations in research and clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic modification (GM) technology is a technology that changes the characteristics of species through changing the genes of species. Public attitudes toward GM technology have an important impact on the technology's development. Previous surveys conducted in China used to assess public attitudes toward GM have mostly focused on the explicit level, which is recognized and acknowledged through the self-report method. However, the corresponding research on the implicit level is still lacking, which is unconscious and automated. The public attitudes toward the complete concept of GM are still unclear. In order to fill this gap, this study uses a questionnaire survey (Study 1), and interaction verification of the SC-IAT paradigm and the GNAT paradigm (Study 2) to investigate the explicit and implicit attitudes of Chinese university students towards GM. The role of education level is also examined in this study. The results show that the explicit attitudes of Chinese university students towards GM are generally positive, and the main effect of education level is significant. Finally, the mediating effect of the cognitive level between education level and explicit GM attitude is significant. However, the implicit GM attitudes of university students are generally negative, and neither the main effect of education level nor the mediating effect of cognition level is significant. University students as the future consumers and an important part of public opinion, their attitude to GM will affect the development of GM technology to a large extent. This study provides a theoretical basis for improving Chinese university students' attitudes toward GM, and also provides new research ideas for the public view of GM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often report intrusive memories that appear to lack the appropriate spatio-temporal context. Objective We examined whether focusing on the spatio-temporal context of aversive autobiographical memories reduces negative emotions, appraisals, and re-experiencing symptoms. Methods We recruited 109 healthy adults and had them rate emotionality, vividness, and re-experiencing of an aversive autobiographical memory. Furthermore, we assessed automatic associations of idiosyncratic memory triggers with the concepts ‘past’ vs. ‘now’, and self-reported sense of memory closure and distancing. To manipulate spatio-temporal memory (re-)organization, the experimental group (n = 53) performed a lifeline exercise in virtual reality (VR), where participants symbolically placed memory triggers along a path representing their own personal life story. The control group (n = 56) completed a non-personalized VR task. Results We found a marked decrease in negative emotions, negative appraisals, and re-experiencing in the following week, but on average, the lifeline exercise was not superior to the control condition. However, those in the lifeline group with stronger trigger-past associations subsequently exhibited a more pronounced reduction in re-experiencing. Also, participants with a higher subjective sense of memory distancing reported less re-experiencing. Conclusions The findings lend tentative support for theoretical assumptions about PTSD, but the potential causal role of automatic associations with spatio-temporal information remains to be clarified.

Individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often report intrusive memories that appear to lack the appropriate spatio-temporal context. We examined whether focusing on the spatio-temporal context of aversive autobiographical memories reduces negative emotions, appraisals, and re-experiencing symptoms. We recruited 109 healthy adults and had them rate emotionality, vividness, and re-experiencing of an aversive autobiographical memory. Furthermore, we assessed automatic associations of idiosyncratic memory triggers with the concepts 'past' vs. 'now', and self-reported sense of memory closure and distancing. To manipulate spatio-temporal memory (re-)organization, the experimental group (n = 53) performed a lifeline exercise in virtual reality (VR), where participants symbolically placed memory triggers along a path representing their own personal life story. The control group (n = 56) completed a non-personalized VR task. We found a marked decrease in negative emotions, negative appraisals, and re-experiencing in the following week, but on average, the lifeline exercise was not superior to the control condition. However, those in the lifeline group with stronger trigger-past associations subsequently exhibited a more pronounced reduction in re-experiencing. Also, participants with a higher subjective sense of memory distancing reported less re-experiencing. The findings lend tentative support for theoretical assumptions about PTSD, but the potential causal role of automatic associations with spatio-temporal information remains to be clarified. We tested a VR lifeline exercise to alter spatio-temporal associations and intrusions of aversive autobiographical memories. This was not superior to a non-personalized control group, but temporal associations and memory distancing predicted reduced re-experiencing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implicit and explicit self-identification as a drug user specific to the substance used (e.g., viewing oneself as a drinker) have been examined, as they relate to that drug use. However, studies have rarely explored whether identifying as a “drug user” differs implicitly and explicitly for people who use different drugs and how this identification relates to drug-use behaviors or abstinence. This study examined implicit and explicit self-identification as a “drug user” and their associations with drug-use behaviors and abstinence in people who used heroin (PWUH) and people who used methamphetamine (PWUM). Forty PWUH and 35 PWUM in a rehabilitation facility completed the single category implicit association test (SC-IAT), which evaluated implicit associations of a “drug user” with “self,” and a measure of explicit self-identification as a “drug user.” Prior drug-use behaviors and current abstinence duration of the participants were assessed. PWUH demonstrated stronger implicit “self + drug user” associations and higher levels of explicit self-identification as a “drug user” than PWUM. A higher frequency of drug use was associated with higher levels of explicit drug-user self-identity, and longer abstinence duration was positively related to stronger implicit “self + drug user” associations in PWUH. The drug type of heroin (vs. methamphetamine) participants used was associated with a higher frequency of use, which, in turn, predicted higher levels of explicit drug-user self-identity. Given that the PWUH group differs from the PWUM group in terms of implicit and explicit self-identification as “drug users,” it would be more appropriate to address drug-user self-identity of individuals according to the substance they use rather than as a collective group.

Implicit and explicit self-identification as a drug user specific to the substance used (e.g., viewing oneself as a drinker) have been examined, as they relate to that drug use. However, studies have rarely explored whether identifying as a "drug user" differs implicitly and explicitly for people who use different drugs and how this identification relates to drug-use behaviors or abstinence. This study examined implicit and explicit self-identification as a "drug user" and their associations with drug-use behaviors and abstinence in people who used heroin (PWUH) and people who used methamphetamine (PWUM). Forty PWUH and 35 PWUM in a rehabilitation facility completed the single category implicit association test (SC-IAT), which evaluated implicit associations of a "drug user" with "self," and a measure of explicit self-identification as a "drug user." Prior drug-use behaviors and current abstinence duration of the participants were assessed. PWUH demonstrated stronger implicit "self + drug user" associations and higher levels of explicit self-identification as a "drug user" than PWUM. A higher frequency of drug use was associated with higher levels of explicit drug-user self-identity, and longer abstinence duration was positively related to stronger implicit "self + drug user" associations in PWUH. The drug type of heroin (vs. methamphetamine) participants used was associated with a higher frequency of use, which, in turn, predicted higher levels of explicit drug-user self-identity. Given that the PWUH group differs from the PWUM group in terms of implicit and explicit self-identification as "drug users," it would be more appropriate to address drug-user self-identity of individuals according to the substance they use rather than as a collective group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been well demonstrated that shared multisensory experiences between the self and others can influence the social perception of out-group members. Previous research has shown that the illusion of ownership over a dark-skinned rubber hand or full virtual body generated less negative implicit bias against people with dark skin. However, less is known about how perceived attractiveness difference between self and other affects social perception toward those others after shared multisensory experience. The present study assessed whether shared multisensory experience between the self and attractive others would affect the implicit evaluation of goodness of others. Seventy-three women participated in the study. After the visuotactile multisensory stimulation procedure, participants were administered the Single Category Implicit Association Test (SC-IAT), which presents two attributes (good and bad) and one concept (other). Results showed that the more attractive the faces are, the more positive their implicit evaluation becomes after the synchronous tactile stimulation. This result suggests that shared multisensory experience makes people feel more positive toward others who have positive attribute. This finding suggests that self-other blurring in social contexts might be a compelling factor in evaluating other people positively.

It has been well demonstrated that shared multisensory experiences between the self and others can influence the social perception of out-group members. Previous research has shown that the illusion of ownership over a dark-skinned rubber hand or full virtual body generated less negative implicit bias against people with dark skin. However, less is known about how perceived attractiveness difference between self and other affects social perception toward those others after shared multisensory experience. The present study assessed whether shared multisensory experience between the self and attractive others would affect the implicit evaluation of goodness of others. Seventy-three women participated in the study. After the visuotactile multisensory stimulation procedure, participants were administered the Single Category Implicit Association Test (SC-IAT), which presents two attributes (good and bad) and one concept (other). Results showed that the more attractive the faces are, the more positive their implicit evaluation becomes after the synchronous tactile stimulation. This result suggests that shared multisensory experience makes people feel more positive toward others who have positive attribute. This finding suggests that self-other blurring in social contexts might be a compelling factor in evaluating other people positively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study (a) investigates effects of the transition to motherhood on implicit and explicit responses to infant cues; (b) assesses influences of prior parenting and delivery experiences on implicit and explicit responses to infant cues; and (c) investigates relations between implicit and explicit responses to infant cues and parenting beliefs. A total of 45 pregnant women were followed from the sixth month of pregnancy to the third month after the childbirth and were administered a Single Category Implicit Association Test, a semantic differential scale, the Adult Parental Acceptance–Rejection scale, and the Parental Style Questionnaire. The transition to motherhood influenced explicit not implicit responses; only implicit responses were shaped by prior parenting experiences and mode of delivery; and parenting beliefs were related in independent and different ways to implicit and explicit evaluations. These findings indicate that implicit responses are valid and meaningful indices of maternal responsiveness to infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the early 20th century, the German expressionist painter Franz Marc formulated assumptions concerning the meanings of color, based on his individual sensations. He characterized the ‘cool’ blue as the ‘masculine principle’. Yellow represented the ‘feminine principle’ which he declared as ‘gentle, cheerful, and sensual’. This leaves red, the color he perceived as ‘brutal and heavy’. Here, we tested some of the color-meaning associations assumed by Franz Marc via implicit measures based on response times, using Single Category Implicit Association Tests. The participants had to classify words as belonging to one of two semantic categories (e.g., masculine or feminine) by pressing one of two response buttons. One of the semantic categories shared a response button with a hue (e.g., masculine-blue), and this button needed to be pressed whenever a color patch was presented on the screen. The results showed that response times were faster when related hues and meaning categories (according to Marc’s assumptions) shared the same response button, compared to when unrelated hues and meaning categories were assigned to the same button. The pattern of response times was compatible with the associations of blue-masculine, yellow-feminine, blue-cool and yellow-gentle as proposed by Marc. In addition, our data indicate associations of yellow-warm and red-warm, which were not explicitly formulated by Franz Marc. However, the proposed red-brutal association was not confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diet failures are often attributed to an increase in cravings for attractive foods. However, accumulating evidence shows that food cravings actually decrease during energy-restricting weight-loss interventions. The current study aimed at elucidating possible mechanisms that may explain how and under which circumstances food cravings in- or decrease during dieting. Specifically, decreases in food cravings during weight-loss diets may be due to effects of energy restriction (homeostatic changes) and to effects of avoiding specific foods (hedonic changes). Thus, we used a selective, hedonic deprivation (i.e., restricting intake of a specific food in the absence of an energy deficit) that precludes homeostatic changes due to energy restriction. Furthermore, interindividual differences in food craving experiences might affect why some individuals are more prone to experience cravings during dieting than others. Thus, we investigated whether a selective deprivation of chocolate would in- or decrease craving and implicit preference for chocolate as a function of trait-level differences in chocolate craving. Participants with high and low trait chocolate craving (HC, LC) refrained from consuming chocolate for 2 weeks but otherwise maintained their usual food intake. Both groups underwent laboratory assessments before and after deprivation, each including explicit (i.e., state chocolate craving) and implicit measures (i.e., Single Category Implicit Association Test, SC-IAT; Affect Misattribution Procedure, AMP). Results showed that hedonic deprivation increased state chocolate craving in HCs only. HCs also showed more positive implicit attitudes toward chocolate than LCs on the SC-IAT and the AMP irrespective of deprivation. Results help to disambiguate previous studies on the effects of dieting on food cravings. Specifically, while previous studies showed that energy-restricting diets appear to decrease food cravings, the current study showed that a selective, hedonic deprivation in the absence of an energy deficit increases food cravings. However, this effect can only be observed for individuals with high trait craving levels. Thus, if attractive foods are strictly avoided through a selective deprivation, HCs are at risk to experience craving bouts in the absence of an energy deficit. As implicit preference was unaffected by chocolate deprivation, strong implicit preference for chocolate likely characterize a stable mechanism that drives consumption in HCs.

Recycled water has been widely recognized in the world as an effective approach to relieve the issue of water shortage. Meanwhile, with several decades of development, the insufficiency of technology is no longer the primary factor that restricts the popularization of recycled water. What makes it difficult to promote the concept of reusing recycled water in China? To solve this issue, a special experiment on the public's attitude towards the reuse of recycled water was designed based on a Single Category Implicit Association Test (SC-IAT), so as to avoid factors like social preference that can influence the survey results, and to gain the public's negative implicit attitude towards reusing recycled water reuse, which is close to the public's real attitude to it. From the perspective of implicit attitude, this research testifies the "spiritual contagion" phenomenon of the public, which refers to refusing recycled water reuse because recycled water is made from sewage treatment. By comparing the implicit attitude to recycled water reuse with the explicit attitude that is acquired from self-reporting questionnaires about reusing recycled water, this research finds that the implicit attitude is more positive than the explicit attitude, which accounts for the phenomenon of "best game no one played" in the promotion of the recycled water reuse, that is, the public though applauding the environment-friendly policy, will not actually use the recycled water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study a novel auditory version of the Single Category Implicit Association Test (SC-IAT-A) was developed to investigate (a) the valence of adults’ associations to infant cries and laughs, (b) moderation of implicit associations by gender and empathy, and (c) the robustness of implicit associations controlling for auditory sensitivity. Eighty adults (50% females) were administered two SC-IAT-As, the Empathy Quotient, and the Weinstein Noise Sensitivity Scale. Adults showed positive implicit associations to infant laugh and negative ones to infant cry; only the implicit associations with the infant laugh were negatively related to empathy scores, and no gender differences were observed. Finally, implicit associations to infant cry were affected by noise sensitivity. The SC-IAT-A is useful to evaluate the valence of implicit reactions to infant auditory cues and could provide fresh insights into understanding processes that regulate the quality of adult–infant relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Research has widely demonstrated that religiosity is related to psychological well-being even in situations of severe illness. To assess religious beliefs, explicit measures have generally been used. In this study, we measured the belief that God is reality as opposed to myth or abstraction by using an implicit technique (the Single Category Implicit Association Test). The study was carried out in Italy, where a large majority of the population is Catholic, and the prevailing image of God is that of a compassionate and supportive father. Participants were cancer patients identifying themselves as believers. As expected, the automatic belief that God is reality (vs. abstraction) was related to beneficial outcomes: lower reported psychophysical anxiety symptoms and a weaker use of avoidance strategies to cope with stress. Thus, also, automatic religious beliefs may affect feelings and behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic modification (GM) technology is a technology that changes the characteristics of species through changing the genes of species. Public attitudes toward GM technology have an important impact on the technology's development. Previous surveys conducted in China used to assess public attitudes toward GM have mostly focused on the explicit level, which is recognized and acknowledged through the self-report method. However, the corresponding research on the implicit level is still lacking, which is unconscious and automated. The public attitudes toward the complete concept of GM are still unclear. In order to fill this gap, this study uses a questionnaire survey (Study 1), and interaction verification of the SC-IAT paradigm and the GNAT paradigm (Study 2) to investigate the explicit and implicit attitudes of Chinese university students towards GM. The role of education level is also examined in this study. The results show that the explicit attitudes of Chinese university students towards GM are generally positive, and the main effect of education level is significant. Finally, the mediating effect of the cognitive level between education level and explicit GM attitude is significant. However, the implicit GM attitudes of university students are generally negative, and neither the main effect of education level nor the mediating effect of cognition level is significant. University students as the future consumers and an important part of public opinion, their attitude to GM will affect the development of GM technology to a large extent. This study provides a theoretical basis for improving Chinese university students' attitudes toward GM, and also provides new research ideas for the public view of GM., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Zhang, Zou and Yue.)

Abstract: Previous research on the Implicit Association Test (IAT) has almost completely neglected stimuli effects caused by individual differences in concept representations. The present study describes a more person-centered idiographic approach (i.e., individualized stimulus word selection) in which stimuli are either selected from a list or freely associated by the participants. To investigate whether this method can be used to reduce unexplained variance and ameliorate the IAT-family’s psychometric properties, we conducted two experiments with a test–retest design using an anxiety–IAT as well as an anxiety- and a calmness–SC-IAT (a single category variant of the IAT). Personalizing stimulus selection had no effect on the measurement outcome, reliability, and correlations (implicit–explicit, implicit–implicit) of the IAT and SC-IAT when measuring implicit anxiety. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Self-esteem has been traditionally assessed via self-report (explicit self-esteem: ESE). However, the limitations of self-report have prompted efforts to assess self-esteem indirectly (implicit self-esteem: ISE). It has been theorized that ISE and ESE reflect the operation of largely distinct mental systems. However, although low correlations between measures of ISE and ESE empirically support their discriminant validity, similarly low conelationS between different measures of ISE do not support their convergent validity. We explored whether such patterns would reemerge if more recently developed, specific, and reliable ISE measures were used. They did, although some convergent validity among ISE measures emerged once confounds resulting from conceptual mismatch, individual differences, and random variability were minimized. Nonetheless, low correlations among 1SE measures are not primarily caused by the usual psychometric suspects, and may be the result of other factors including subtle differences between structural features of such measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often report intrusive memories that appear to lack the appropriate spatio-temporal context., Objective: We examined whether focusing on the spatio-temporal context of aversive autobiographical memories reduces negative emotions, appraisals, and re-experiencing symptoms., Methods: We recruited 109 healthy adults and had them rate emotionality, vividness, and re-experiencing of an aversive autobiographical memory. Furthermore, we assessed automatic associations of idiosyncratic memory triggers with the concepts 'past' vs. 'now', and self-reported sense of memory closure and distancing. To manipulate spatio-temporal memory (re-)organization, the experimental group ( n  = 53) performed a lifeline exercise in virtual reality (VR), where participants symbolically placed memory triggers along a path representing their own personal life story. The control group ( n  = 56) completed a non-personalized VR task., Results: We found a marked decrease in negative emotions, negative appraisals, and re-experiencing in the following week, but on average, the lifeline exercise was not superior to the control condition. However, those in the lifeline group with stronger trigger-past associations subsequently exhibited a more pronounced reduction in re-experiencing. Also, participants with a higher subjective sense of memory distancing reported less re-experiencing., Conclusions: The findings lend tentative support for theoretical assumptions about PTSD, but the potential causal role of automatic associations with spatio-temporal information remains to be clarified., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s)., (© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.)