Nostalgia enhances detection of death threat: neural and behavioral evidence

An experiment examined the potency of nostalgia—a sentimental longing for one’s past—to facilitate detection of death-related stimuli, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and behavioral techniques (i.e., judgmental accuracy, reaction times). We hypothesized and found that, at the neural level, nostalgic (relative to control) participants evinced more intense activation in right amygdala in response to death-related (vs. neutral) words. We also hypothesized and found that, at the behavioral level, nostalgic (relative to control) participants manifested greater accuracy in judging whether two death-related (vs. neutral) words belonged in the same category. Exploratory analyses indicated that nostalgic (relative to control) participants did not show faster reaction times to death-related (vs. neutral) words. In all, nostalgia appeared to aid in death threat detection. We consider implications for the relevant literatures.

The Realistic Accuracy Model

This chapter describes the realistic accuracy model (RAM), starting with a history of its development. It then describes the four moderators of accuracy in personality judgment—good judge, good target, good trait, and good information—and how these moderators interact with each other. Next, it describes the four stages in the process of making accurate judgments, which are relevance, availability, detection, and utilization. Implications of the model for improving judgment accuracy and applications to judgments of states are then discussed. The chapter concludes with suggested directions for future research, including judgments of other levels of personality besides traits, interactions between moderators, the development of judgmental ability, and the consequences of judgmental accuracy.