Annual Review of Psychology

Maccoby, Eleanor E.

doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.51.1.1pmid: 10751963

There is clear evidence that parents can and do influence children. There is equally clear evidence that children’s genetic makeup affects their own behavioral characteristics, and also influences the way they are treated by their parents. Twin and adoption studies provide a sound basis for estimating the strength of genetic effects, although heritability estimates for a given trait vary widely across samples, and no one estimate can be considered definitive. This chapter argues that knowing only the strength of genetic factors, however, is not a sufficient basis for estimating environmental ones and indeed, that attempts to do so can systematically underestimate parenting effects. Children’s genetic predispositions and their parents’ childrearing regimes are seen to be closely interwoven, and the ways in which they function jointly to affect children’s development are explored.

Watkins, L. R.; Maier, S. F.

doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.51.1.29pmid: 10751964

This review focuses on the powerful pain facilitatory effects produced by the immune system. Immune cells, activated in response to infection, inflammation, or trauma, release proteins called proinflammatory cytokines. These proinflammatory cytokines signal the central nervous system, thereby creating exaggerated pain as well as an entire constellation of physiological, behavioral, and hormonal changes. These changes are collectively referred to as the sickness response. Release of proinflammatory cytokines by immune cells in the body leads, in turn, to release of proinflammatory cytokines by glia within the brain and spinal cord. Evidence is reviewed supporting the idea that proinflammatory cytokines exert powerful pain facilitatory effects following their release in the body, in the brain, and in the spinal cord. Such exaggerated pain states naturally occur in situations involving infection, inflammation, or trauma of the skin, of peripheral nerves, and of the central nervous system itself. Implications for human pain conditions are discussed.

Wenzlaff, Richard M.; Wegner, Daniel M.

doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.51.1.59pmid: 10751965

Although thought suppression is a popular form of mental control, research has indicated that it can be counterproductive, helping assure the very state of mind one had hoped to avoid. This chapter reviews the research on suppression, which spans a wide range of domains, including emotions, memory, interpersonal processes, psychophysiological reactions, and psychopathology. The chapter considers the relevant methodological and theoretical issues and suggests directions for future research.

Macrae, C. Neil; Bodenhausen, Galen V.

doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.51.1.93pmid: 10751966

In attempting to make sense of other people, perceivers regularly construct and use categorical representations to simplify and streamline the person perception process. Noting the importance of categorical thinking in everyday life, our emphasis in this chapter is on the cognitive dynamics of categorical social perception. In reviewing current research on this topic, three specific issues are addressed: ( a ) When are social categories activated by perceivers, ( b ) what are the typical consequences of category activation, and ( c ) can perceivers control the influence and expression of categorical thinking? Throughout the chapter, we consider how integrative models of cognitive functioning may inform our understanding of categorical social perception.

Medin, Douglas L.; Lynch, Elizabeth B.; Solomon, Karen O.

doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.51.1.121pmid: 10751967

Past research on concepts has focused almost exclusively on noun-object concepts. This paper discusses recent research demonstrating that useful distinctions may be made among kinds of concepts, including both object and nonobject concepts. We discuss three types of criteria, based on structure, process, and content, that may be used to distinguish among kinds of concepts. The paper then reviews a number of possible candidates for kinds based on the discussed criteria.

Iyengar, Shanto; Simon, Adam F.

doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.51.1.149pmid: 10751968

We review recent empirical evidence that shows political campaigns are more potent than widely believed, focusing on the conceptual and methodological advances that have produced these findings. Conceptually, a broader definition of effects—that includes learning and agenda-control, as well as vote choice—characterizes contemporary research. This research also features two kinds of interactive models that are more complex than the traditional hypodermic (message-based) approach. The resonance model considers the relationship between message content and receivers’ predispositions, while the strategic model highlights the interactions between competing messages. Finally, we attribute the emergence of stronger evidence in favor of campaign effects to the use of new methodologies including experimentation and content analysis, as well as the more sophisticated use of sample surveys.

Covington, Martin V.

doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.51.1.171pmid: 10751969

The purpose of this review is to document the directions and recent progress in our understanding of the motivational dynamics of school achievement. Based on the accumulating research it is concluded that the quality of student learning as well as the will to continue learning depends closely on an interaction between the kinds of social and academic goals students bring to the classroom, the motivating properties of these goals and prevailing classroom reward structures. Implications for school reform that follow uniquely from a motivational and goal-theory perspective are also explored.

MacCallum, Robert C.; Austin, James T.

doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.51.1.201pmid: 10751970

This chapter presents a review of applications of structural equation modeling (SEM) published in psychological research journals in recent years. We focus first on the variety of research designs and substantive issues to which SEM can be applied productively. We then discuss a number of methodological problems and issues of concern that characterize some of this literature. Although it is clear that SEM is a powerful tool that is being used to great benefit in psychological research, it is also clear that the applied SEM literature is characterized by some chronic problems and that this literature can be considerably improved by greater attention to these issues.

Suedfeld, Peter; Steel, G. Daniel

doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.51.1.227pmid: 10751971

Capsule habitats make it possible for human beings to survive and function in environments that would otherwise be lethal, such as space, the ocean depths, and the polar regions. The number of people entering capsules in the course of their work or for purposes of recreation is constantly increasing. However, long-term living in such habitats imposes physical and psychological risks as well as offering opportunities and benefits. This paper reviews what is known about the environmental, social, and personality aspects of adaptation to capsules, including sources of stress, selection criteria, obstacles to and facilitators of adequate coping, changes in group interaction, the role of temporal factors, and post-mission consequences.

Woods, Stephen C.; Schwartz, Michael W.; Baskin, Denis G.; Seeley, Randy J.

doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.51.1.255pmid: 10751972

This chapter reviews the recent literature on hormonal and neural signals critical to the regulation of individual meals and body fat. Rather than eating in response to acute energy deficits, animals eat when environmental conditions (social and learned factors, food availability, opportunity, etc.) are optimal. Hence, eating patterns are idiosyncratic. Energy homeostasis, the long-term matching of food intake to energy expenditure, is accomplished via controls over the size of meals. Individuals who have not eaten sufficient food to maintain their normal weight have lower levels of adiposity signals (leptin and insulin) in the blood and brain, and one consequence is that meal-generated signals (such as CCK) are less efficacious at reducing meal size. The converse is true if individuals are above their normal weight, when they tend to eat smaller meals. The final section reviews how these signals are received and integrated by the CNS, as well as the neural circuits and transmitters involved.