In the visual tongue twister effect, readers take longer to silently read sentences with repeated word-initial phonemes (Twenty toys were in the trunk) than sentence with a normal mixture of word-initial phonemes (Several games were in the chest) (McCutchen & Perfetti, 1982). The explanation of this effect is that when words are identified during reading, they are held in a working memory buffer. The first phoneme of each word is used as a marker to differentiate them. When all of the phonemes are the same, it becomes difficult to differentiate each word, thus tongue twisters take longer to read silently than neutral sentences. Although this explanation sounds plausible, there has been no research yet to test the hypothesis that the visual tongue twister effect is caused by confusion in working memory. The current study tested this hypothesis to determine if working memory is really related to the visual tongue twister effect. Participants read 40 sentences with repeated phonemes (tongue twister) and 40 sentences with no repeated phonemes (neutral) and completed a working memory task. Tongue twister sentences were paired with neutral sentences and controlled for syntactic structure, reading difficulty, and semantic similarity. Participants with low working memory capacity were more affected by the tongue twister sentences than readers with high working memory capacity. This result indicates that working memory plays an important role during reading. The results support the theory that word-initial phonemes serve to differentiate words that are held in a working memory buffer.

Initial misinformation in news reports can continue to influence readers’ judgments and inferences even after a correction has been provided (Lewandowsky et al., 2012). Successful correction is cognitively demanding; readers must extract the implications of the correction and inhibit reliance on the misinformation. Hence, we assessed whether the effectiveness of a correction at reducing reliance on misinformation is associated with working memory. Participants recruited online read a news story containing misinformation that was later either corrected or not depending upon condition. Reliance on the misinformation was assessed by examining how often participants answered open-ended questions with inferences based on the misinformation. Consistent with past findings, we expected that No Correction participants would provide more inferences consistent with the misinformation than Correction participants. To measure working memory, participants completed a 2-back task where they had to determine whether the current letter in a continuous stream of letters matched the letter two previous. The total inferences generated were modeled using a regression with Correction condition, 2-back performance, and the interaction as predictors. As expected, performance on the 2-back task was a significant moderator of the relationship between Correction and total inferences generated such that better 2-back performance was associated with a greater reduction in inferences following Correction. The present study provides evidence that ability to correct misinformation encountered in a news story is moderated by working memory.

Research has well-documented the relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use following a traumatic event. However, few studies have examined the development of PTSD in survivors who are under the influence of substances during the traumatic event. The current literature boasts mixed results; some studies find sexual assault survivors under the influence of alcohol report fewer PTSD symptoms, while other studies show survivors demonstrate higher levels of PTSD symptoms subsequent to the trauma exposure. The current study examined whether alcohol use at the time of a sexual assault or other type of trauma was associated with severity of PTSD symptoms in 1045 Kent State undergraduate students. Through anonymous online testing, participants completed the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS), to screen and assess for the severity of PTSD symptoms and substance use at the time of the trauma. Univariate analysis of variance revealed that for all surveyed trauma types, alcohol use at the time of the trauma was associated with increased severity of PTSD symptoms (p < .001). When investigating only interpersonal types of trauma, reports of alcohol use at the time of trauma did not have a significant effect on PTSD symptoms (p = .533). The findings underscore the need to further examine the relationship between trauma exposure and PTSD when victims are under the influence of alcohol.

Perfectionism is defined as the degree to which we strive for perfection. In the scientific literature this enigmatic personality trait is viewed as both good and bad. Perfectionism has been found to be a sub-factor of Conscientiousness, which is closely associated with work performance and leadership (Howard and Howard, 2001). In medical and psychological literature it is often associated with maladaptive behavior (Pacht, 1984). Perfectionism is often associated with setting unrealistic goals and feelings of failure and worthlessness. This is particularly true in research in the formulation of self-concept and the development of relationships with others. However, there is little research on the relationship of perfectionism to human performance in an organizational context. The present study looks at the relationship between perfectionism and quality, timeliness of work, performance related competencies and overall work performance. Claims supervisors from a large Midwest-based insurance company were assessed a Big Five Personality Theory instrument which includes a subscale measuring perfectionism. Manager ratings of performance and measures of quality and timeliness of case closings based on independent audits were also collected. The data was analyzed using both linear and non-parametric techniques. The results show the complex relationship between this trait and performance and relationships at work. The study makes recommendations for the future research of this trait and human performance.

Prior studies have suggested that members of different religions have better mental and physical health than those who identify as “religious-none”. However, the potential differences between groups based on whether they simply believe in a higher power or not (or are not sure) has not gotten much attention. The present study examines the differences in self-reported mental and physical health between those who identify as atheist, agnostic and theist. 3,695 participants completed a short questionnaire online, assessing their mental and physical health. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) test showed that overall (on the mental and physical health constructs combined) there was a significant difference between groups (F [2, 3692] = 3.985 p < .05). A post hoc Tukey test (p < .05) showed that theists scored significantly higher than agnostics overall. Contrary to expectations, atheists scored between the two: being neither significantly higher than agnostics nor significantly lower than theists. These results may give a new perspective on the relationships between belief and health. Specifically, the current results show that certainty of belief (or nonbelief) on either side of the spectrum might be associated with higher levels of physical and mental health.