bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Age-related Decline in Associative Memory: Understanding the Roles of Controlled and Automatic Processes
Authors: Zhong Jimmy Y.
Published: July 2018

Memory decline in old age is highly noticeable based on tasks assessing episodic memory, which require remembering information about events at specific times and places. The exact cognitive mechanism that accounts for this prominent age-related decline in episodic memory has not been well-understood, and the multitude of mechanisms that were proposed have drawn a credible amount of research and discussions. The current review focuses on the associative deficit hypothesis (ADH) - originally proposed by Naveh-Benjamin and colleagues - that was suggested to form the basis of age-related declines in episodic memories. According to the ADH, older adults’ poorer episodic memory is attributed to the difficulties they experience in formulating relations or links between single units of information (i.e., items or contextual elements), binding them together into a coherent distinctive unit, and retrieving the links between the component features/units whenever necessary [COPYRIGHT CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 J. Y. ZHONG, 2018].
Some Reflections on Combining Meta-Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling
Authors: Cheung Mike W.-L.
Published: July 2018

Meta-analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) are two of the most prominent statistical techniques employed in the behavioral, medical, and social sciences. They each have their own well-established research communities, terminologies, statistical models, software packages, and journals (Research Synthesis Methods and Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal). In this paper, I will provide some personal reflections on combining meta-analysis and SEM in the forms of meta-analytic SEM (MASEM) and SEM-based meta-analysis. The critical contributions of Becker (1992), Shadish (1992), and Viswesvaran and Ones (1995) in the early development of MASEM are highlighted. Another goal of the paper is to illustrate how meta-analysis can be extended and integrated with other techniques to address new research questions such as the analysis of Big Data. I hope that this paper may stimulate more research development in the area of combining meta-analysis and SEM.
Dissociable Contributions of the Prefrontal Cortex in Group-Based Cooperation
Authors: Wills Julian Augustus , FeldmanHall Oriel , Meager Michael , Van Bavel Jay Joseph
Published: July 2018

The success of our political institutions, environmental stewardship, and evolutionary fitness all hinge on our ability to prioritize collective-interest over self-interest. Despite considerable interest in the neuro-cognitive processes that underlie group cooperation, the evidence to date is inconsistent. Several papers support models of prosocial restraint, while more recent work supports models of prosocial intuition. We evaluate these competing models using a sample of lesion patients with damage to brain regions previously implicated in intuition and deliberation. Compared to matched control participants (brain damaged and healthy controls), we found that patients with dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) damage were less likely to cooperate in a modified public goods game, whereas patients with ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) damage were more likely to cooperate. In contrast, we observed no association between cooperation and amygdala damage relative to controls. These findings suggest that the dlPFC, rather than the vmPFC or amygdala, plays a necessary role in group-based cooperation. These findings suggest cooperation does not solely rely on intuitive processes. Implications for models of group cooperation are discussed.
Network analysis of empathy items from the Interpersonal Reactivity Index in 1973 young adults
Authors: Briganti Giovanni , Kempenaers Chantal , Braun Stephanie , Fried Eiko I , Linkowski Paul
Published: July 2018

The aim of this work is to perform a network analysis on the French adaptation of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) scale from a large Belgian database and provide additional information for the construct of empathy. We analyze a database of 1973 healthy young adults who were queried on the IRI scale. A regularized partial correlation network is estimated. In the visualization of the model, items are displayed as nodes, edges represent regularized partial correlations between the nodes. Centrality denotes a node's connectedness with other nodes in the network. The spinglass algorithm and the walktrap algorithm are used to identify communities of items, and state-of-the-art stability analyses are carried out. The spinglass algorithm identifies four communities, the walktrap algorithm five communities. Positive edges are found among nodes belonging to the same community as well as among nodes belonging to different communities. Item 14 ("Other people's misfortunes do not usually disturb me a great deal") shows the highest strength centrality score. The network edges and node centrality order are accurately estimated. Network analysis highlights interesting connections between indicators of empathy; how these results impact empathy models must be assessed in further studies.
Positive emotion differentiation: A functional approach
Authors: Shiota Michelle N. , Neufeld Samantha L. , Danvers Alexander Francois , Osborne Elizabeth A. , Sng Oliver , Yee Claire I.
Published: July 2018

While positive emotion can be conceptualized broadly as a response to the potential for reward, the environment offers different kinds of rewards, and these are best approached in somewhat different ways. A functional approach to positive emotion differentiation distinguishes among several different types of rewards with strong implications for adaptive fitness and posits the existence of “discrete” positive emotions that promote an adaptive response to each reward. A taxonomy of eight positive emotions, dubbed the “PANACEAS” taxonomy based on an acronym of the first letter of each of the eight constructs, is presented as an example of this approach. Positive emotion constructs defined through functional analyses are useful for guiding empirical research, especially for identifying prototypical eliciting stimuli, and generating hypotheses about the implications of different positive emotions for a variety of outcomes. Research findings are reviewed that support the importance of positive emotion differentiation in understanding the effects of positive emotions on cognition, physiology, and behavior. Advantages of the functional approach are discussed, as well as implications of the approach for evaluating major theories of the structure of emotion.This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Shiota, M. N., Neufeld, S. L., Danvers, A. F., Osborne, E. A., Sng, O., & Yee, C. I. (2014). Positive emotion differentiation: A functional approach. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 8(3), 104-117.which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/spc3.12092/full. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
Seeking support in response to social and achievement stressors: a multi-venue analysis
Authors: Rife Sean Chandler , Kerns Kathryn A. , Updegraff John
Published: July 2018

Social support is the subject of much research, but comparatively little attention has been paid to support seeking. Moreover, what research exists on support seeking has primarily addressed in-person support seeking, despite the proliferation of new support venues (e.g., Facebook, websites, etc.). The present paper examines support seeking behavior men (N=41) and women (N=97) exhibit in response to various types of stressors. Results indicate that (1) in-person support seeking remains the most popular form, (2) compared to achievement stressors, social stressors are more likely to result in emotional support seeking rather than instrumental support seeking, and (3) men may engage in more support seeking than has been previously suggested by the literature, particularly in electronic venues.
A Structural Model of Intrinsic Motivation: On the Psychology of Means-Ends Fusion
Authors: Kruglanski Arie W. , Fishbach Ayelet , Woolley Kaitlin , Belanger Jocelyn , Chernikova Marina , Molinario Erica , Pierro Antonio
Published: July 2018

The term intrinsic motivation refers to an activity being seen as its own end. Accordingly, we conceptualize intrinsic motivation (IM) as (perceived) means-ends fusion and define an intrinsicality continuum reflecting the degree to which such fusion is experienced. Our Means-Ends Fusion (MEF) theory assumes four major antecedents of activity-goal fusion: (1) Repeated pairing of the activity and the goal, (2) Uniqueness of the activity-goal connection, (3) Perceived similarity between the activity and its goal, and (4) temporal immediacy of goal attainment following the activity. MEF theory further identifies two major consequences of the activity-goal fusion (i.e., manifestations of intrinsic motivation): (1) Perceived instrumentality of the activity to goal attainment and consequent activity engagement; (2) goal-related affective experience of the activity. Empirical evidence for MEF theory comes from diverse fields of psychological inquiry, including animal learning, brain research, and social cognition.
Practical solutions for sharing data and materials from psychological research
Authors: Gilmore Rick Owen , Kennedy Joy Lorenzo , Adolph Karen E
Published: July 2018

Widespread sharing of data, materials, displays, and experimental procedures will improve the reproducibility of psychological science and accelerate the pace of discovery. Here, we describe some barriers to open sharing and offer practical solutions for researchers who wish to share more of the products—and process—of their research. We provide guidance to researchers about general issues in data sharing and describe solutions devised by the Databrary.org data library for storing and sharing video, audio, and other forms of sensitive or identifiable data. We also discuss ways that researchers can make shared data and materials easier for others to find and reuse. Widely adopted, these solutions and practices will increase transparency and speed progress in psychological science.
Emotional complexity across the life story: Diminished positive emodiversity and elevated negative emodiversity in sufferers of chronic depression
Authors: Werner-Seidler Aliza , Hitchcock Caitlin , Hammond Emily , Travers-Hill Emma , Golden Ann-Marie , Breakwell Lauren , Ramana Rajini , Dalgleish Tim
Published: July 2018

Greater diversity in the experience of negative and positive emotion – emodiversity - is associated with better mental health outcomes in the general population (Quoidbach et al. 2014). However, conceptual accounts of clinical depression suggest that extensive and prolonged exposure to negative emotional states might actually be reflected in enhanced diversity across negative emotion experiences. Conversely, the opportunity to experience a myriad of varied positive emotions is likely to be reduced in depression, given existing deficits in positive affective experience associated with the disorder. In this study, the diversity of negative and positive emotion experiences in a treatment-resistant chronically depressed sample and a never-depressed control group were compared. We hypothesized that depressed individuals (n=22) would show enhanced emodiversity in the negative emotion domain but reduced emodiversity in the positive domain, relative to the control group (n=20). Results supported these hypotheses. Analyses also showed that among those with depression, reduced positive emodiversity was associated with disorder chronicity, such that both length of time depressed and frequency of past episodes were linked to reduced positive emodiversity. No support was found for an association between negative emotion diversity and depression chronicity. This study provides the first investigation into the relationship between clinical depression and emodiversity, and suggests that supporting depressed individuals to experience a range of diverse positive emotions could be a valuable therapeutic target.
No Evidence for Unethical Amnesia for Imagined Actions: A Failed Replication and Extension
Authors: Stanley Matthew , Yang Brenda , De Brigard Felipe
Published: July 2018

In a recent paper, Kouchaki and Gino (2016) suggest that memory for unethical actions is impaired, regardless of whether such actions are real or imagined. However, as we argue in the current paper, their claim that people develop “unethical amnesia” confuses two distinct and dissociable memory deficits: one affecting the phenomenology of remembering and another affecting memory accuracy. To further investigate whether unethical amnesia affects memory accuracy, we conducted three studies exploring unethical amnesia for imagined ethical violations. The first study (N = 228) attempts to directly replicate the only study from Kouchaki and Gino (2016) that includes a measure of memory accuracy. The second study (N = 232) attempts again to replicate these accuracy effects from Kouchaki and Gino (2016), while including several additional variables meant to potentially help in finding the effect. The third study (N = 228) is an attempted conceptual replication using the same paradigm as Kouchaki and Gino (2016), but with a new vignette describing a different moral violation. We did not find an unethical amnesia effect involving memory accuracy in any of our three studies. These results cast doubt upon the claim that memory accuracy is impaired for imagined unethical actions. Suggestions for further ways to study memory for moral and immoral actions are discussed.
Prematurity Stereotyping: Absence of Evidence (DRAFT 1.DEC2015)
Authors: Ansarinia Morteza
Published: July 2018

Forty-seven participants attended an experiment to rate two infants according to their perceived behavior. Half of participants rated in a setting where one infant identified with prematurely born (PL) and the other with full-term birth (FTL). The rest rated with the same configuration, except those labels were swapped for the infants. Results showed not significant difference between PL and FTL for perceived strength, alertness, and physical size. But participants rated FTL infants more positively for motor coordination. Moreover, statistical interaction between two infants when they are presented simultaneously was found and further studies seem necessary to investigate interactions more. A new experimental design to study attitudes via ultimatum game is proposed. In general, previous findings of prematurity stereotyping is replicated partially, but it does not count as an evidence for the rejection of the prematurity stereotyping hypotheses.
Evidence for preference consistency across risky, ambiguous, and vague gambles
Authors: Chung Dongil , Kadlec Kelly , Ball Sheryl , King-Casas Brooks , Chiu Pearl H
Published: July 2018

Humans have variable preferences over the uncertainty of potential outcomes during decision-making. To date, most uncertainty research has focused on how individuals form subjective values of risky and ambiguous choices where uncertainty results from known or unknown outcome variability, rather than exploring situations where outcome values are uncertain. Here we examine ‘vagueness,’ defined as a specific form of uncertainty in which a player is informed only that the outcome of a decision lies somewhere within a known range of values. We use a model-based approach and an experimental gambling task to examine whether individuals evaluate uncertainty in outcome values differently from uncertainty in the probability of the outcomes. Our results show that subjective valuation of vagueness, risk, and ambiguity depend upon individuals’ distinct preferences for the first and second moments of gamble outcomes, indicating that individuals have preferences for uncertainty in mean outcome values and outcome variability, respectively, that guide decision-making across types of uncertain situations.
The Moral Standing of Animals: Towards a Psychology of Speciesism
Authors: Caviola Lucius , Everett Jim Albert Charlton , Faber Nadira Sophie
Published: July 2018

We introduce and investigate the philosophical concept of ‘speciesism’ — the assignment of different moral worth based on species membership — as a psychological construct. In five studies, using both general population samples online and student samples, we show that speciesism is a measurable, stable construct with high interpersonal differences, that goes along with a cluster of other forms of prejudice, and is able to predict real-world decision-making and behavior. In Study 1 we present the development and empirical validation of a theoretically driven Speciesism Scale, which captures individual differences in speciesist attitudes. In Study 2, we show high test-retest reliability of the scale over a period of four weeks, suggesting that speciesism is stable over time. In Study 3, we present positive correlations between speciesism and prejudicial attitudes such as racism, sexism, homophobia, along with ideological constructs associated with prejudice such as social dominance orientation, system justification, and right-wing authoritarianism. These results suggest that similar mechanisms might underlie both speciesism and other well-researched forms of prejudice. Finally, in Studies 4 and 5, we demonstrate that speciesism is able to predict prosociality towards animals (both in the context of charitable donations and time investment) and behavioral food choices above and beyond existing related constructs. Importantly, our studies show that people morally value individuals of certain species less than others even when beliefs about intelligence and sentience are accounted for. We conclude by discussing the implications of a psychological study of speciesism for the psychology of human-animal relationships.
Spoilers affect the enjoyment of television episodes but not short stories
Authors: Daniel Thomas A. , Katz Jeffrey S.
Published: July 2018

When participants are given plot-crucial information, or a “spoiler,” before reading a short story, the story is subsequently enjoyed as much as, or more than, unspoiled stories (Leavitt & Christenfeld, 2011, 2013). Other research (Rosenbaum & Johnson, 2016; Levine, Betzner, & Autry, 2016) offers a more complicated picture, showing that these findings may be driven by an interaction of individual differences, such as Need for Cognition, rather than a broad spoiling effect. These findings are counterintuitive because spoilers are culturally regarded as something that detracts enjoyment from a narrative. In Experiment 1, we tested if reported enjoyment of a narrative decreased even when participants were alerted to the presence of a plot spoiler, to replicate previous findings for short stories while adding a condition informing participants beforehand that their short stories was being spoiled. Experiment 2 extended this methodology to episodes of television. Our results fail to replicate previously reported positive effects of spoilers and show that spoilers have a negative effect on enjoyment for television, but not short stories.
Models of human decision-making as tools for estimating and optimising impacts of vehicle automation
Authors: Markkula Gustav , Romano Richard , Madigan Ruth , Fox Charles W. , Giles Oscar Terence , Merat Natasha
Published: July 2018

With the development of increasingly automated vehicles (AVs) comes the increasingly difficult challenge of comprehensively validating these for acceptable, and ideally beneficial, impacts on the transport system. There is a growing consensus that virtual testing, where simulated AVs are deployed in simulated traffic, will be key for cost-effective testing and optimisation. The least mature model components in such simulations are those generating the behaviour of human agents in or around the AVs. In this paper, human models and virtual testing applications are presented for two example scenarios: (i) a human pedestrian deciding whether to cross a street in front of an approaching automated vehicle, with or without external human-machine interface elements, and (ii) an AV handing over control to a human driver in a critical rear-end situation. These scenarios have received much recent research attention, yet simulation-ready human behaviour models are lacking. They are discussed here in the context of existing models of perceptual decision-making, situational awareness, and traffic interactions. It is argued that the human behaviour in question might be usefully conceptualised as a number of interrelated decision processes, not all of which are necessarily directly associated with externally observable behaviour. The results show that models based on this type of framework can reproduce qualitative patterns of behaviour reported in the literature for the two addressed scenarios, and it is demonstrated how computer simulations based on the models, once these have been properly validated, could allow prediction and optimisation of AV impacts on traffic flow and traffic safety.
Moving forward: challenges and directions for psychopathological network theory and methodology
Authors: Fried Eiko I , Cramer Angélique Odette Joanne
Published: July 2018

Since the introduction of mental disorders as networks of causally interacting symptoms, this novel framework has received considerable attention. The past years have resulted in over 40 scientific publications and numerous conference symposia and workshops. Now is an excellent moment to take stock of the network approach: what are its most fundamental challenges, and what are potential ways forward in addressing them? After a brief conceptual introduction, we first discuss challenges to network theory: (1) What is the validity of the network approach beyond some commonly investigated disorders such as major depression? (2) How do we best define psychopathological networks and their constituent elements? (3) And how can we gain a better understanding of the causal nature and real-life underpinnings of associations among symptoms? Next, after a short technical introduction to network modeling, we discuss challenges to network methodology: (4) Heterogeneity of samples studied with network analytic models; and (5) a lurking replicability crisis in this strongly data-driven and exploratory field. Addressing these challenges may propel the network approach from its adolescence into adulthood, and promises advances in understanding psychopathology both at the nomothetic and idiographic level.
Measuring the “Why” of Interaction: Development and Validation of the User Motivation Inventory (UMI)
Authors: Brühlmann Florian , Vollenwyder Beat , Opwis Klaus , Mekler Elisa D
Published: July 2018

Motivation is a fundamental concept in understanding people’s experiences and behavior. Yet, motivation to engage with an interactive system has received only limited attention in HCI. We report the development and validation of the User Motivation Inventory (UMI). The UMI is an 18-item multidimensional measure of motivation, rooted in self-determination theory (SDT). It is designed to measure intrinsic motivation, integrated, identified, introjected, and external regulation, as well as amotivation. Results of two studies (total N = 941) confirm the six-factor structure of the UMI with high reliability, as well as convergent and discriminant validity of each subscale. Relationships with core concepts such as need satisfaction, vitality, and usability were studied. Additionally, the UMI was found to detect differences in motivation for people who consider abandoning a technology compared to those who do not question their use. The central role of motivation in users’ behavior and experience is discussed.
On the role of responses in Pavlovian acquisition
Authors: Ghirlanda Stefano , Enquist Magnus
Published: July 2018

A defining feature of Pavlovian conditioning is that the unconditioned stimulus (US) is delivered whether or not the animal performs a conditioned response (CR). This has lead to the question: Does CR performance play any role in learning? Between the 1930's and 1970's, a consensus emerged that CR acquisition is driven by CS-US experiences, and that CRs play a minimal role, if any. Here we revisit the question and present two new quantitative methods to evaluate whether CRs influence the course of learning. Our results suggest that CRs play an important role in Pavlovian acquisition, in such paradigms as rabbit eyeblink conditioning, pigeon autoshaped key pecking, and rat autoshaped lever pressing and magazine entry.
Open Practices Badges for Curricula Vitae: An additional way to help change incentives in Psychological Science?
Authors: Aarts Alexander A.
Published: July 2018

Psychological Science currently faces (a wide-spread realization of) several problematic issues. Many proposals have already been made in order to try and improve matters. One of which is signaling, promoting, and rewarding good and/or open practices via the use of badges that indicate that a paper provides access to things like open data, open materials, and pre-registration information. In order to maximize the possible usefulness of badges for signaling, promoting, and (possibly) rewarding good and/or open practices, using badges on CV’s could be of tremendous help in changing incentives.
Predictors of refugee adjustment Hahn et al.
Authors: Hahn Elisabeth , Richter David , Schupp Juergen , Back Mitja
Published: July 2018

In light of the recent worldwide migration of refugees, determinants of a more or less successful integration are heavily discussed, but reliable empirical investigations are scarce and have often focused on sociodemographic factors. In the present study, we explore the role of several individual characteristics for refugee adjustment in the areas of institutional, interpersonal and intrapersonal adaptation. In a sample of 4,527 refugees (M = 33.6 years, 38% women), we investigated the predictive power of sociodemographic characteristics, cognitive skills and personality factors. Both, cognitive skills and personality, showed incremental predictive validity beyond sociodemographic factors for refugee adjustment comparable across contextual factors. The study underscores the importance of personality providing important implications for understanding integration processes and optimizing interventions on personal, social, and societal levels.
Symptom Network Models of Psychosis
Authors: Isvoranu Adela-Maria , Boyette Lindy-Lou , Guloksuz Sinan , Borsboom Denny
Published: July 2018

Disorders within the psychosis spectrum are highly heterogeneous and multifactorial [1,2]. Despite intensive research over the past century, the causes and pathogenesis of psychosis are still unclear, and no genetic marker has been consistently linked to developing a psychotic disorder [3–5]. In recent years, in an attempt to overcome this conundrum, the conceptualization of mental disorders as networks of interacting symptoms has gained considerable ground [4,6]. This conceptualization aligns well with practitioners’ viewpoints as it focuses on concrete symptoms and their interrelations, rather than on abstract latent disorders or syndromes [7]. Even though direct influences of one symptom on another are routinely observed in clinical practice (e.g., if a patient shows social withdrawal, this may soon lead to the patient displaying paranoid ideation and vice versa), in classical (psychometric) approaches to psychosis, which underlie most common psychometric practices in research, such direct influences are not modeled. Instead, symptoms are treated as passive psychometric indicators of a (set of) latent variable(s) – thus, it is assumed that symptoms are simply a result of the underlying disorder, rather than influencing each other [4,6,8]. As a result, correlations between symptoms are in a nontrivial sense spurious: symptoms cluster together because of their common dependence on the disorder. The assumption that correlations between symptoms arise from a common cause, which has been deemed problematic by both psychometricians and clinicians [4,7], has spurred the development of alternative psychometric approaches to mental disorders, in which symptoms are viewed instead as networks of mutually interacting components. Collectively, these lines of research have become known as the network approach to mental disorders. The centerpiece of the network approach is the idea that symptoms are active causal agents in producing disorder states, and that the study of their causal interaction is central to progress in understanding and treating mental disorders. This chapter aims to introduce the network approach to mental disorders in the context of psychotic symptomatology. We first discuss standard approaches to psychotic disorders, highlighting unresolved issues, and we then provide an introduction to network models of psychosis, with a focus on the general theoretical framework. We concentrate on how (environmental and genetic) risk factors can be understood from a network perspective and how they can be included in network models. We complete the chapter with a discussion on how network models can be integrated into treatment approaches.
Uncontrolled eating: A unifying heritable trait linked with obesity, overeating, personality, and the brain
Authors: Vainik Uku , García-García Isabel , Dagher Alain
Published: July 2018

Many eating-related psychological constructs have been proposed to explain obesity and over-eating. However, these constructs, including food addiction, disinhibition, hedonic hunger, emotional eating, binge eating, and the like all have similar definitions, emphasising loss of control over intake. As questionnaires measuring the constructs correlate strongly (r>0.5) with each other, we propose that these constructs should be reconsidered to be part of a single broad phenotype: uncontrolled eating. Such an approach enables reviewing and meta-analysing evidence obtained with each individual questionnaire. Here, we describe robust associations between uncontrolled eating, body mass index (BMI), food intake, personality traits, and brain systems. Reviewing cross-sectional and longitudinal data, we show that uncontrolled eating is phenotypically and genetically intertwined with BMI and food intake. We also review evidence on how three psychological constructs are linked with uncontrolled eating: lower cognitive control, higher negative affect and a curvilinear association with reward sensitivity. Uncontrolled eating mediates all three constructs’ associations with BMI and food intake. Finally, we review and meta-analyse brain systems possibly subserving uncontrolled eating: namely, (i) the dopamine mesolimbic circuit associated with reward sensitivity, (ii) frontal cognitive networks sustaining dietary self-control, and (iii) the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, amygdala and hippocampus supporting stress reactivity. While there are limits to the explanatory and predictive power of the uncontrolled eating phenotype, we conclude that treating different eating-related constructs as a single concept, uncontrolled eating, enables drawing robust conclusions on the relationship between food intake and BMI, psychological variables, and brain structure and function.
Intrinsically memorable words have unique associations with their meanings
Authors: Tuckute Greta , Mahowald Kyle , Isola Phillip , Oliva Aude , Gibson Edward , Fedorenko Evelina
Published: July 2018

What makes a word memorable? An important claim from past work is that words are encoded by their meanings, and not their forms. If true, then, following rational analysis, memorable words should convey a lot of information about their meaning (i.e., uniquely pick out a particular meaning). Words with multiple meanings have been shown to be forgettable, but the other side of the word-meaning relationship (whether a meaning can be expressed by multiple words) has not been previously explored. Across two large-scale recognition-memory experiments (2,222 target words and >600 participants each, plus 3,780 participants for the norming experiments), we found that memory performance is overall high, on par with memory for images in similar paradigms. Critically, the most memorable words indeed have a one-to-one relationship with their meanings—with number of synonyms being a stronger contributor than number of meanings—and this property explains >80% of explainable variance in memorability.
The blind mind: No sensory imagery in aphantasia
Authors: Keogh Rebecca , Pearson Joel
Published: July 2018

For most people the use of visual imagery is pervasive in daily life, but for a small group of people the experience of visual imagery is entirely unknown. Research based on subjective phenomenology indicates that otherwise healthy people can completely lack the experience of visual imagery, a condition now referred to as aphantasia. As aphantasia has thus far been based on subjective reports, it remains unclear whether participants are really unable to imagine visually, or if they have very poor metacognition; that is they have images in their mind, but are blind to them. Here we measured subjectively diagnosed aphantasic's sensory imagery, using the binocular rivalry paradigm, as well as measuring their self-rated object and spatial imagery with multiple questionnaires (VVIQ, SUIS and OSIQ). Unlike, the general population, experimentally naive aphantasics showed almost no imagery-based rivalry priming. Aphantasic participant's self-rated visual object imagery was also well below average, however their spatial imagery scores were above average. These data suggest that aphantasia is a condition involving a lack of sensory and phenomenal imagery, and not a lack of metacognition. The possible underlying neurological cause of aphantasia is discussed as well as future research directions.
Wisdom in a complex world: A situated account of wise reasoning and its development
Authors: Santos Henri C. , Huynh Alex , Grossmann Igor
Published: July 2018

Social issues (e.g., partisan politics, economic decisions, interpersonal conflicts) often involve trade-offs, necessitating the consideration of multiple interests. Such issues do not have simple answers and benefit from wise reasoning – a set of meta-cognitive strategies that guide people toward managing complexity and balancing different interests. We review recent advances in research on wise reasoning, including evidence pertinent to the question of wisdom’s trait-like and state-specific features, how it varies across situations, and how one can develop it. Overall, empirical studies suggest that researchers can understand wisdom better by paying attention to its situated nature across time and contexts.
Performance similarities predict collective benefits in dyadic and triadic joint visual search
Authors: Wahn Basil , Czeszumski Artur , König Peter
Published: July 2018

When humans perform tasks together, they may reach a higher performance in comparison to the best member of a group (i.e., a collective benefit). Earlier research showed that interindividual performance similarities predict collective benefits for several joint tasks. It is unknown whether this is also the case for joint visuospatial tasks. Moreover, it is unknown whether dyads and triads reach a collective benefit when they are not allowed to exchange any information while performing a visuospatial task. In this study, participants performed a joint visual search task either alone, in dyads, or triads, and were not allowed to exchange any information while performing the task. We found that dyads reached a collective benefit while this was not the case for triads. That is, dyads do outperform individuals but triads do not outperform dyads. Nonetheless, similarities in performance significantly predicted the collective benefit for dyads and triads. In addition, we find that the dyads’ and triads’ search performances closely match a simulated performance based on the individual search performances, which assumed that members of a group act independently. Overall, present findings further support the view that similarities in performance could be a general predictor for collective benefits in joint tasks.
Is perfectionism rising over time? A meta-analysis of birth cohort differences from 1989 to 2016
Authors: Curran Thomas
Published: July 2018

From the 1980’s onwards, neoliberal governance in the US, Canada, and the UK has emphasized competitive individualism and people have seemingly responded, in kind, by agitating to perfect themselves and their lifestyles. In this study, we examine whether cultural changes have coincided with an increase in multidimensional perfectionism in college students over the last 27 years. Our analyses are based on 164 samples and 41,641 American, Canadian, and British college students, who completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (Hewitt & Flett, 1991) between 1989 and 2016 (70.92% female, Mage = 20.66). Cross-temporal meta-analysis revealed that levels of self-oriented perfectionism, socially prescribed perfectionism, and other-oriented perfectionism have linearly increased. These trends remained when controlling for gender and between-country differences in perfectionism scores. Overall, in order of magnitude of the observed increase, our findings indicate that recent generations of young people perceive that others are more demanding of them, are more demanding of others, and are more demanding of themselves.
Privacy and anonymity in public sharing of high-dimensional datasets: legal and ethical restrictions
Authors: Jolij Jacob , Maeckelberghe Els , Koolhoven Rosalie , Lorist Monicque
Published: July 2018

Over the past years, psychology has seen a remarkable move to increasing research transparency, following several high-profile cases of scientific misconduct and the realization that reproducibility of psychological research findings may be disappointingly low. Taking from exact science disciplines such as experimental physics, there is increasing support for public sharing of empirical data, with some researchers even arguing that public data sharing should be a requirement for publication. Indeed, the principle of data transparency is a core value in science. However, in psychology and cognitive neuroscience, researchers work with human subject data. This makes that data sharing is subject to legal and ethical restrictions. Here we discuss the legal and ethical implications of public data sharing, as advocated by several authors. We conclude that large scale public sharing leads to inevitable legal and ethical problems with participant privacy, especially in the light of continuous technological developments. What might be ‘anonymity’ today could be become personal data tomorrow.
Do Two Eyes See More Generosity Than One?
Authors: Bekkers Rene
Published: July 2018

In two studies, the effects of gender, cues of being watched and their interaction on charitable donations were examined among a national sample of male and female adolescents in the Netherlands. In both studies, I find that females are more generous than males when no cues of being watched are presented. While subtle cues of being watched had no effects, black/white pictures of one real eye and one pair of real eyes enhanced generosity towards charitable causes, especially among boys.
Equalitarianism: A source of liberal bias
Authors: Winegard Bo M , Clark Cory J , Hasty Connor R , Baumeister Roy
Published: July 2018

Recent scholarship has challenged the long-held assumption in the social sciences that Conservatives are more biased than Liberals, contending that the predominance of Liberals in social science may have caused social scientists to ignore liberal bias. Here, we demonstrate that Liberals are particularly prone to bias about victims’ groups (e.g. Blacks, Muslims, women) andidentify a trait that consistently predicts this bias. This trait, termed Equalitarianism, stems from an aversion to inequality and is comprised of three interrelated assumptions: (1) demographic groups do not differ biologically; (2) prejudice is ubiquitous; (3) society can, and should, make all groups equal in society. This leads to bias against information that portrays a perceived privileged group more favorably than a perceived victims’ group. Eight studies (n=3,274) support this theory. Liberalism was associated with perceiving certain groups as victims (Studies 1a-1b). In Studies 2-7, Liberals evaluated the same study as less credible when the results concluded that a privileged group (men and Whites) had a superior quality relative to a victims’ group (women and Blacks) than vice versa. Ruling out alternative explanations of Bayesian (or other normative) reasoning, significant order effects in within-subjects designs in Studies 6 and 7 suggest that Liberals think that they should not evaluate identical information differently depending on which group is said to have a superior quality, yet do so. In all studies, higher equalitarianism mediated the relationship between more liberal ideology and lower credibility ratings when privileged groups were said to score higher on a socially valuable trait.
The misuse of ANCOVA in neuroimaging studies
Authors: van Eersel Gerdien , Bouwmeester Samantha , Verkoeijen Peter , Polak Marike Geertruida
Published: July 2018

Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) is a technique that is frequently used in neuroimaging studies to control for covariates. An assumption of ANCOVA is that the between-subjects factor and the covariate are independent. In some observational studies in the neuroimaging literature, this assumption is violated. The question that these studies attempt to answer is what the difference would be between group means on the dependent variable if the group means on the covariate were equal. However, when there is a dependency between the between-subjects factor and the covariate, then correcting for differences between groups on the covariate may misrepresent the factor and distort its definition. Moreover, the situation where all subjects have equal scores on the covariate may be unrealistic. If the assumption of independence is violated, there are several procedures to follow. Generally, it is of crucial importance to consider the question what it means to correct for a variable that has a relationship with the factor under study. In case of an observational study, ANCOVA does not facilitate the estimation of the causal effect of the between-subjects factor. When two variables are related, there is no statistical method available to correct for this relationship.
Playground Social Interaction Analysis using Bespoke Wearable Sensors for Tracking and Motion Capture
Authors: Heravi Behzad , Gibson Jenny Louise , Hailes Stephen , Skuse David
Published: July 2018

Unstructured play is considered important for the social, physical and cognitive development of children. Traditional observational research examining play behaviour at playtime (recess) has been hampered by challenges in obtaining reliable data and in processing sufficient quantities of that data to permit credible inferences to be drawn. The emergence of wearable wireless sensor technology makes it possible to study individual differences in childhood social behaviour based on collective movement patterns during playtime. In this work, we introduce a new method to enable simultaneous collection of GNSS/IMU data from a group of children interacting on a playground. We present a detailed description of system development and implementation before going on to explore methods of characterising social groups based on collective movement recording and analysis. A case study was carried out for a class of 7-8 year old children in their school playground during 10 episodes of unstructured play. A further 10 play episodes were monitored in the same space following the introduction of large, loose play materials. This experimental design allowed us to study the effect of an environmental intervention on social movement patterns. Sociometric analysis was conducted for comparison and validation. This successful case study demonstrates that sensor based movement data can be used to explore children’s social behaviour during naturalistic play.
Decoding the Neural Representation of Story Meanings across Languages
Authors: Dehghani Morteza , Boghrati Reihane , Man Kingson , Hoover Joseph , Gimbel Sarah , Vaswani Ashish , Zevin Jason D , Immordino Mary Helen , Gordon Andrew , Damasio Antonio , Kaplan Jonas
Published: July 2018

Drawing from a common lexicon of semantic units, humans fashion narratives whose meaning transcends that of their individual utterances. However, while brain regions that represent lower-level semantic units, such as words and sentences, have been identified, questions remain about the neural representation of narrative comprehension, which involves inferring cumulative meaning. To address these questions, we exposed English, Mandarin and Farsi native speakers to native language translations of the same stories during fMRI scanning. Using a new technique in natural language processing, we calculated the distributed representations of these stories (capturing the meaning of the stories in high-dimensional semantic space), and demonstrate that using these representations we can identify the specific story a participant was reading from the neural data. Notably, this was possible even when the distributed representations were calculated using stories in a different language than the participant was reading. Relying on over 44 billion classifications, our results reveal that identification relied on a collection of brain regions most prominently located in the default mode network. These results demonstrate that neuro-semantic encoding of narratives happens at levels higher than individual semantic units and that this encoding is systematic across both individuals and languages.
Goal pursuit: Current state of affairs and directions for future research
Authors: Milyavskaya Marina , Werner Kaitlyn M.
Published: July 2018

Personal goals are ubiquitous in everyday life, with people typically pursuing multiple personal goals at any given time. This paper provides a review and synthesis of the vast and varied research on personal goals. A growing body of research shows that goals are best conceptualized as a distinct unit of analysis, with extensive within-person variations in both goal characteristics and attainment. In this paper, we review existing literature on personal goals, examining the process of goal pursuit from start to finish, including goal setting, goal pursuit and self-regulation, and the outcomes associated with attainment and/or failure. We also address the many aspects of personal goal pursuit that are still poorly understood, highlighting directions for future research.