Change detection versus change localization for faces, houses, and words.

Holistic processing aids in the discrimination of visually similar objects, but it may also come with a cost. Indeed holistic processing may improve the ability to detect changes to a face while impairing the ability to locate where the changes occur. We investigated the capacity to detect the occurrence of a change versus the capacity to detect the localization of a change for faces, houses, and words. Change detection was better than change localization for faces. Change localization outperformed change detection for houses. For words, there was no difference between detection and localization. We know from previous studies that words are processed holistically. However, being an object of visual expertise processed holistically, visual words are also a linguistic entity. Previously, the word composite effect was found for phonologically consistent words but not for phonologically inconsistent words. Being an object of visual expertise for which linguistic information is important, letter position information, is also crucial. Thus, the importance of localization of letters and features may augment the capacity to localize a change in words making the detection of a change and the detection of localization of a change equivalent.

Path analysis from COVID-19 perceptions to psychological health: The roles of critical distance and mastery.

OBJECTIVE: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was previously associated with psychopathological symptoms. However, the psychological mechanisms underlying these associations are largely unexplored. Previous studies suggested associations between metacognitive abilities (e.g., mastery) and symptomatology, which may have impacts on COVID-19 perceptions. This study aims to explore, using path analysis, the mediational role of Critical Distance (differentiation and decentration abilities) and Mastery on the relationships between COVID-19 perceptions and psychological well-being and distress. METHODS: In a cross-sectional design, 227 participants (M = 34.21, SD = 10.9) filled self-report questionnaires. RESULTS: Metacognitive abilities were negatively correlated with psychopathological symptoms. Both Critical Distance and Mastery mediated the path from COVID-19 perceived severity and anxiety to psychological distress and well-being. Critical Distance seems to augment Mastery which tends to increase psychological well-being and limited psychological distress. CONCLUSIONS: Metacognition seems to play a mediational role on the relationship between COVID-19 perceptions and mental health. Clinical psychologists and psychotherapists may enhance psychological interventions regarding COVID-19 psychopathological symptomatology by working on metacognitive Critical Distance and Mastery abilities.

Change detection vs. change localization for own-race and other-race faces.

The other-race effect (ORE) is a well-known phenomenon in which people discriminate and recognize faces from their ethnic group more accurately than faces from other ethnic groups. Holistic processing, or the mandatory tendency to process all parts of an object together, has been proposed as an explanation for the ORE. According to the holistic perspective of the ORE, other-race faces might be subject to weaker holistic processing than own-race faces. However, evidence for this hypothesis is inconsistent. Although it is generally assumed that holistic processing helps the individuation of objects, holistic processing may also come at a cost. Specifically, holistic processing may reduce the capacity to localize changes in the constituent parts of an object, but not in detecting changes to an object as a whole. In the present study, we examined change detection and change localization accuracy for Caucasian and African faces, and houses. Performance was better for change detection than change localization for Caucasian faces. While clear costs of holistic processing for Caucasian faces were thus found, the difference between change localization and change detection was not obvious for African faces. However, childhood exposure to other-race people correlated with change detection for African faces, but not with change localization for African faces. Our results thus show that holistic processing of other-race faces may depend on early contact with other-race people.

Early maladaptive schemas and COVID-19 anxiety: The mediational role of mistrustfulness and vulnerability to harm and illness.

BACKGROUND: Early maladaptive schemas (EMS), as lifelong psychological structures, tend to be associated with psychopathological symptomatology. Previous research has suggested that schemas act as psychological vulnerabilities to stressful life situations, such as the present worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, anxiety and psychological distress have been documented as two of the main psychological symptoms associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the associations between specific EMS and COVID-19 anxiety remain unexplored. Therefore, this study aims to explore the relationships between EMS, COVID-19 anxiety as well as other mental health variables such as psychological well-being, distress and life satisfaction. METHODS: In a cross-sectional design, 249 individuals (M = 34.2, SD = 12.0) completed several self-report measures. RESULTS: EMS from different schematic domains were positively associated with COVID-19 anxiety and psychological distress and negatively associated with psychological well-being and life satisfaction. An EMS hierarchical regression model predicted COVID-19 anxiety. Mistrustfulness and vulnerability to harm and illness mediated the relationships between COVID-19 anxiety, psychological distress and life satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: According to these results, mistrustfulness and vulnerability to harm and illness can act as underlying variables for the decrease in mental health associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 Inventory and Mental Health: Preliminary Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic imposed a set of drastic worldwide changes to and restrictions on daily life. Despite predictions of the harmful impacts of the pandemic on mental health, empirical data are lacking. This study sought to examine the relationship between individuals' perceptions about COVID-19 and scores on mental health indexes. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 183 individuals answered self-report questionnaires. A new inventory based on the health belief model (HBM) developed in Portugal was explored with a factor analysis, which revealed two significant factors: COVID-19 anxiety and perceived severity of the disease. RESULTS: Results showed that anxiety about COVID-19 was positively correlated with psychological distress, somatization, and paranoid ideation and was negatively correlated with psychological well-being. COVID-19 anxiety mediated the relationship between symptomatology and mental health. CONCLUSIONS: Perceptions about COVID-19 seem to play pivotal roles in mental health. These results may inform interventions focused on reducing psychological distress and symptomatology and on increasing psychological well-being.

Exploring the impacts of COVID-19 related social distancing on loneliness, psychological needs and symptomatology.

Loneliness may be a consequence of social distancing, a measure imposed by several governments to try to reduce the contagion of severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Despite being necessary, this measure may have thus caused a rise in mental health issues, leading to higher psychological distress and symptomatology. Thus, it is also important to explore how loneliness relates to the regulation of psychological needs. This study aims to explore the relationships between loneliness, symptomatology, and the regulation of psychological needs. 142 individuals (M age=32.7, SD=10.9), answered self-report questionnaires in a cross-sectional design. Results show that loneliness is positively correlated with symptomatology and difficulties in the regulation of psychological needs, with these relationships being mediated by psychological distress and psychological well-being. We discuss our results with a focus on loneliness and related psychopathological symptomatology, as they seem to be core factors in the regulation of psychological needs.