bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Childhood harshness predicts long-lasting leader preferences
Authors: Safra Lou , Algan Yann , Grèzes Julie , Tecu Teodora , Baumard Nicolas , Chevallier Coralie
Published: July 2018

Understanding the origins of political authoritarianism is of key importance for modern democracies. Recent works in evolutionary psychology suggest that human cognitive preferences may be the output of a biological response to early stressful environments. In this paper, we hypothesized that people’s leader preferences are partly driven by early signals of harshness perceived during childhood. We experimentally elicited children’s (Study 1) and adults’ (Study 2) political preferences using faces controlled for dominance and trustworthiness and showed that early childhood harshness has an enduring effect on adult political attitudes. Importantly, this impact was further confirmed using self-reported extreme authoritarianism (Study 2) and by the analysis of the large database of the European Value Survey (Study 3). We discuss the potential political implications of this early calibration of leader preferences.
Fixation-related brain activity during semantic integration of object-scene information
Authors: Coco Moreno I. , Nuthmann Antje , Dimigen Olaf
Published: July 2018

In vision science, a topic of great interest and considerable controversy is the processing of objects that are (in)consistent with the overall meaning of the scene in which they occur. How quickly can we access the semantic properties of objects and does this happen before the object is directly looked at? Here we brought novel evidences to this debate by co-registering eye-movements and EEG while participants freely explored photographs of indoor scenes. Each scene contained a target object that was either consistent or inconsistent with the scene context (e.g., toothpaste vs. flashlight in a bathroom). Eye-movement behaviour showed that inconsistent objects were not only more effortful to process (i.e., looked at longer), but also prioritized over consistent objects while they were still in extrafoveal vision (i.e., looked at earlier after scene onset). In fixation-related brain potentials (FRPs), we used a linear deconvolution technique to compare the activity elicited by semantically consistent versus inconsistent objects at scene onset (i.e. in the stimulus-locked ERP), during the target fixation (t), and during the preceding fixation (t-1). We demonstrate a fixation-related N300/N400 effect, whereby inconsistent objects elicited a larger negative shift of FRP activity than consistent objects, already at the pre-target fixation t-1 and throughout fixation t. Taken together, our results suggest that object meaning can be, at least partly, extracted in extrafoveal vision, and highlight how attentional and neural mechanisms can be simultaneously investigated to uncover the mechanisms of object-scene integration during natural viewing.
Divergent roles of autistic and alexithymic traits in utilitarian moral judgments in adults with autism
Authors: Patil Indrajeet , Melsbach Jens , Hennig-Fast Kristina , Silani Giorgia
Published: July 2018

This study investigated hypothetical moral choices in adults with high-functioning autism and the role of empathy and alexithymia in such choices. We used a highly emotionally salient moral dilemma task to investigate autistics’ hypothetical moral evaluations about personally carrying out harmful utilitarian behaviours aimed at maximizing welfare. Results showed that they exhibited a normal pattern of moral judgments despite the deficits in social cognition and emotional processing. Further analyses revealed that this was due to mutually conflicting biases associated with autistic and alexithymic traits after accounting for shared variance: (a) autistic traits were associated with reduced utilitarian bias due to elevated personal distress of demanding social situations, while (b) alexithymic traits were associated with increased utilitarian bias on account of reduced empathic concern for the victim. Additionally, autistics relied on their non-verbal reasoning skills to rigidly abide by harm-norms. Thus, utilitarian moral judgments in autism were spared due to opposite influences of autistic and alexithymic traits and compensatory intellectual strategies. These findings demonstrate the importance of empathy and alexithymia in autistic moral cognition and have methodological implications for studying moral judgments in several other clinical populations.
The Acquisition of Color Words
Authors: Barner David
Published: July 2018

Our experience of color results from a complex interplay of our perceptualand linguistic systems. At the lowest level of perception, our visualsystem transforms the visible light portion of the electromagnetic spectruminto a rich 3D experience of color. Despite our ability to discriminatemillions of different color shades, most languages categorize color intodiscrete color categories. Perception provides constraints on the likelylocations of color word boundaries but does not fully define color wordmeanings. Once acquired, although language likely does not influence thelowest levels of color perception, language does influence our memory andprocessing speed of color. One approach to examining the relationshipbetween perception and language in forming our experience of color is tostudy children as they acquire color language. Children produce color wordsin speech for many months to years before acquiring adult-like meanings forcolor words. Research in this area has focused on whether children’sdifficulties stem from 1) an inability to identify color properties as alikely candidate for words meanings or alternatively 2) inductive learningof language specific color word boundaries. Supporting the first account,there is evidence that children more readily attend to object traits likeshape rather than color as likely candidates for word meanings; however,children seem to have successfully identified color a candidate for wordmeaning before they begin to produce color words in speech. There is alsoevidence that pre-linguistic infants, like adults, perceive colorcategorically. While these perceptual categories likely constrain themeanings that children consider, they cannot fully define color wordmeanings because languages vary in both the number of location of colorword boundaries. Recent evidence suggests that the delay in color wordacquisition primarily stems from an inductive process of refining theseboundaries.
Variable Control and Conceptual Change: A Large-Scale Quantitative Study in Elementary School
Authors: Edelsbrunner Peter Adriaan , Schalk Lennart , Schumacher Ralph , Stern Elsbeth
Published: July 2018

We examined the predictive value and interplay of elementary school students’ understanding of the control-of-variables strategy, a domain-general experimentation skill, and their prior content knowledge for subsequent conceptual knowledge acquisition and conceptual change. Trained teachers provided N = 1809 first to sixth graders with 15 lessons of guided inquiry-based instruction on the topic floating and sinking. We assessed students’ understanding of variable control before instruction, and their conceptual content knowledge before and after the instruction. Mixture model analyses indicate that the understanding of variable control predicts students’ content knowledge structure before instruction, and their content knowledge development from before to after instruction. Thus, reinstating prior lab-based findings, the understanding of a basic experimentation skill matters in teacher-guided inquiry, in interaction with prior content knowledge. We describe how students’ learning pathways vary depending on their understanding of variable control and prior content knowledge, and discuss implications for learning and instruction.
Mechanisms underlying effective thought suppression using focused-distraction strategies: A self-determination theory approach
Authors: Wang Deming , Chatzisarantis Nikos , Hagger Martin S
Published: July 2018

Research has shown that thought suppression is not an ideal mental control strategy as it can ironically increase intrusions and accessibility of unwanted thought. Although focused-distraction has been shown as an effective strategy in mitigating such ironic effects, mixed findings have rendered this evidence inconclusive. In the present study, we sought to resolve this inconsistency by examining variables related to distractor content as mechanisms for effective thought suppression, an aspect yet to be examined. Building on ironic process theory and self-determination theory, the current study predicted that distractors associated with fulfilment of the psychological need for competence would improve thought suppression outcomes because they would be satisfying and immersive to think about. We asked 93 undergraduate students to engage in a thought suppression task and examined the influence of perceived satisfaction and immersion of distractors as mechanisms mitigating ironic effects of thought suppression. Results supported our predictions. In addition, they suggested that our predicted relationships persisted after controlling for effects of focused-distraction strategies that focused participants’ attention on a neutral object and distractors reflecting the attainment of the extrinsic goal of financial success. This allows us to eliminate the alternative explanations that need-supportive distractors are effective as a result of the focused-distraction strategy in general, or due to its pleasant and personally relevant content. Findings suggest that effectiveness of focused-distraction in thought suppression can be augmented by using satisfying and immersive distractors, such as those with need-supportive content.
Prototypical actions with objects are more easily imagined than atypical actions
Authors: Madan Christopher R , Ng Adrian , Singhal Anthony
Published: July 2018

Tool use is an important facet of everyday life, though sometimes it is necessary to use tools in ways that do not fit within their typical functions. Here we asked participants to imagine characters using objects based on instructions that fit the prototypical actions for the object or were atypical in a novel object-action imagery task. Atypical action instructions either described sensible, substitute uses of the object, or actions that were bizarre but possible. Participants were better able to imagine the prototypical than atypical actions, but no effect of bizarreness was found. We additionally assessed inter-individual differences in movement imagery ability using two objective tests. Performance in the object-action imagery task correlated with the movement imagery tests, providing a link between motor simulations and mental imagery ability.
Individual differences related to present and future mental orientation predict the sense of time
Authors: Wittmann Marc , Fiedler Henrike , Gros Wilhelm Johannes , Mossbridge Julia , Lucci Cintia Retz
Published: July 2018

With this cross-sectional study we investigated how individual differences regarding present- and future-oriented mental processes are related to the experience of time in the seconds and minutes range. A sample of students (N = 100) filled out self-report measures of time perspective (ZTPI), mindfulness (FMI), impulsiveness (BIS), and the daydreaming frequency scale (DDFS). Furthermore they were asked to (a) retrospectively judge the duration of a waiting period of five minutes, and (b) to prospectively perform an visual duration reproduction task with intervals of 3, 6, and 9 seconds. Regression models show that (a) being more present fatalistic (ZTPI) and more impulsive are related to longer duration estimates of the waiting period, and (b) having a stronger propensity to daydream leads to a stronger under-reproduction of temporal intervals. These findings show how personality traits related to present orientation are associated with the state-like perception of duration.
Decision tree stability and its effect on interpretation.
Authors: Jacobucci Ross
Published: July 2018

Decision Trees (DT), one method falling under the umbrella of Exploratory Data Mining (EDM; McArdle & Ritschard, 2013), has seen an increasing amount of use in psychological research. This can be attributed to its easily interpretable tree structure, along with its propensity to automatically capture interactions among predictors. However, the creation of tree structures comes at the expense of generalizability – namely that slight perturbations in the sample can result in dramatically different results. The purpose of this paper was to investigate this instability (reliability) and to provide metrics to quantify the propensity for the results to generalize. This was examined across multiple DT algorithms and datasets to determine whether there were differences in stability, and what factors accounted for these differences. There were large differences in both stability and predictive performance across algorithms, with some favoring simplistic, stable trees, and others large, unstable, but highly predictive models. Finally, this comparison was applied to three empirical examples – predicting dementia with various cognitive scales and demographic factors, using depression scales to predict suicidal ideation, and predicting science achievement in Kindergarten. In sum, we demonstrate that measuring the stability of DT algorithms has utility in comparing multiple algorithms and methods, providing additional information to researchers as to both the viability and usefulness of using DT algorithms in their research.
Individual differences in decoding skill, print exposure, and cortical structure in young adults
Authors: Johns Clinton L. , Jahn Andrew A. , Jones Hannah R. , Kush Dave , Molfese Peter J. , Van Dyke Julie A. , Magnuson James , Tabor Whitney , Mencl W. Einar , Shankweiler Donald P. , Braze David
Published: July 2018

This exploratory study investigated relations between individual differences in cortical grey matter structure and young adult readers' cognitive profiles. Whole-brain analyses revealed neuroanatomical correlations with word and nonword reading ability (decoding), and experience with printed matter. Decoding was positively correlated with grey matter volume (GMV) in left superior temporal sulcus, and thickness (GMT) in right superior temporal gyrus. Print exposure was negatively correlated with GMT in left inferior frontal gyrus (pars opercularis) and left fusiform gyrus (including the visual word form area). Both measures also correlated with supramarginal gyrus (SMG), but in spatially distinct subregions: decoding was positively associated with GMV in left anterior SMG, and print exposure was negatively associated with GMT in left posterior SMG. Our comprehensive approach to assessment both confirms and refines our understanding of the novel relation between the structure of pSMG and proficient reading, and unifies previous research relating cortical structure and reading skill.
Power analysis and effect size in mixed effects models: A tutorial
Authors: Brysbaert Marc
Published: July 2018

In psychology, attempts to replicate published findings are less successful than expected. For properly powered studies replication rate should be around 80%, whereas in practice less than 40% of the studies selected from different areas of psychology can be replicated. Researchers are hindered in estimating the power of their studies, because the designs they use present a sample of stimulus materials to a sample of participants, a situation not covered by most power formulas. To remedy the situation, we review the literature related to the topic and introduce recent software packages, which we apply to the data of two masked priming studies with high power. We checked how we could estimate the power of each study and how much they could be reduced to remain powerful enough. On the basis of this analysis, we recommend that a properly powered reaction time experiment with repeated measures has at least 1,600 word observations per condition (e.g., 40 participants, 40 stimuli). This is considerably more than current practice. We also show that researchers must include the number of observations in meta-analyses because the effect sizes currently reported depend on the number of stimuli presented to the participants. Our analyses can easily be applied to new datasets gathered.
Kill or Cure? Different Types of Social Class Identification Amplify and Buffer the Relation between Social Class and Mental Health
Authors: Rubin Mark
Published: July 2018

The present research investigated different types of social class identification as moderators of the negative relation between social class and mental health problems. Psychology undergraduates (N = 355) completed an online survey that included measures of social class, mental health and well-being, and three aspects of social class identification: importance of identity, salience of identity, and perceived self-class similarity. Perceived self-class similarity buffered the negative association between social class and depressive symptoms. However, importance and salience of social class identity amplified the associations between social class and anxiety and life satisfaction. These findings contribute to a more sophisticated understanding of the way in which social identification may operate as a social cure.
Global and interdisciplinary perspectives on human rights and other global justice issues in the university curriculum. Diversity Research Symposium 2017
Authors: Signorella Margaret L. , Montecinos Veronica , Mazur Elizabeth , Higgins MaryEllen
Published: July 2018

A major challenge of teaching US students using a global, interdisciplinary perspective is encouraging students to expand their local perspectives and focus. Global challenges (i.e. demographic and migratory trends, political representation) have made more urgent the need for more inclusive analytical viewpoints. For both practical and philosophical reasons, we eschewed a reliance on study abroad as a means to cross global boundaries and break down barriers. We illustrate one successful model for incorporating interdisciplinary and global perspectives in the undergraduate curriculum with a long-standing campus initiative (Teaching International; 2004-present). We also present data on impact from surveys of undergraduate students.
Interference Control in Working Memory
Authors: Singh Kris , Ecker Ullrich K. H. , Gignac Gilles , Brydges Christopher , Rey-Mermet Alodie
Published: July 2018

Working memory (WM) is a limited-capacity system requiring an interference-control process to avoid being cluttered from irrelevant information. Recently, it has been suggested that this “housekeeping” mechanism can be attributed to an item-wise removal process serving to actively remove irrelevant information from WM. It has been theorized that this active removal process serves to facilitate both WM maintenance in the face of distraction as well as the updating of outdated information. An alternate view, however, is that interference control in WM relies on an inhibitory process that suppresses the activation of distractors against competing, task-relevant representations. This study is the first to assess the extent to which removal and inhibition represent the same cognitive process. One-hundred and thirty-eight undergraduate students from the University of Western Australia (M = 20.42, SD = 3.09) completed a novel removal task battery in addition to an inhibition task battery. Data were analysed using a hybrid path analytic and structural equation model. The modelling found that there was unique variance associated with the removal latent variable, and estimated that only approximately 9 % of the variance in the removal latent variable could be accounted for by the inhibition tasks, providing tentative support that removal should not be considered a process of cognitive inhibition. The findings support previous claims that removal is an independent WM updating process. The findings are also consistent with a class of computational WM models proposing that removal and inhibition operate on different levels.
The role of fathers’ versus mothers’ parenting in emotion-regulation development from mid-late adolescence: Disentangling between-family differences from within-family effects
Authors: Van Lissa Caspar J. , Keizer Renske , van Lier Pol A. C. , Meeus Wim H. J. , Branje Susan
Published: July 2018

This four-year, multi-informant longitudinal study (N=480, initial age: 15) investigated the interplay between parental support, behavioral- and psychological control, and adolescents’ emotion regulation development. We examined reciprocal effects between parents and children, mothers' versus fathers’ unique roles in emotion regulation development, and sex differences. Multi-informant data allowed us to compare effects of adolescent-perceived and parent-reported parenting. Finally, innovative analyses allowed us to disentangle between-family differences from within-family predictive processes. Parenting and emotion regulation were associated at the between-family and within-family levels, especially according to adolescent reports. Support primarily played a role between mothers and adolescents, and perceived behavioral control between fathers and adolescents. Sex moderation revealed that support played a more prominent role in mother-daughter than mother-son relationships, and that daughters experienced greater behavioral control. Child effects outnumbered parent effects, which might reflect the increasing equality of adolescent-parent relationships. Finally, adolescent-perceived parenting was a stronger correlate of emotion regulation than parent-reports, suggesting that adolescents' perceptions are a relevant source of information for research and practice. Consistent with the self-determination theory perspective on parenting, emotion regulation flourished when adolescents felt like mothers provided support, and fathers loosened behavioral control. These results are in line with the notion that mother-child relationships are supportive attachment relationships, whereas fathers provide "activation" relationships, challenging adolescents to regulate emotions autonomously by providing less explicit structure.
BayesFit: A tool for modeling psychophysical data using Bayesian inference
Authors: Slugocki Michael , Sekuler Allison B. , Bennett Patrick J.
Published: July 2018

BayeFit is a module for Python that allows users to fit, plot, and extract parameter estimates from models of psychophysical data using Bayesian inference. The module makes extensive use of the module PyStan, which in turn makes extensive use of the package Stan, a powerful tool for Bayesian inference using a No-U-Turn sampler. Although PyStan provides an interface between Python and Stan, defining models for use with PyStan can be difficult for most users given the models are defined in C++ language. BayesFit removes this barrier to entry by providing researchers with functions that streamline the process of defining psychophysical models, obtaining fits, extracting outputs, and visualizing fitted models. The source code for BayesFit is available at https://github.com/slugocm/bayesfit. This module can be expanded and reused as newer versions of Python are developed to ensure researchers always have a tool available to ease the process of fitting models to psychophysical data.
P-value, Confidence Intervals and Statistical Inference: A New Dataset of Misinterpretation
Authors: Lyu Ziyang , Peng Kaiping , Chuan-Peng Hu
Published: July 2018

Previous surveys showed that most of students and researchers in psychology misinterpreted P-value and confidence intervals (CIs), yet presenting results in CIs may help them to make better statistical inferences. In this data report, we describe a dataset of 362 valid data from students and researchers in China that replicate these misinterpretations. Part of these data had been reported in [Hu, C.-P., Wang, F., Guo, J., Song, M., Sui, J., & Peng, K. (2016). The replication crisis in psychological research (in Chinese). Advances in Psychological Science, 24(9), 1504–1518 doi:10.3724/SP.J.1042.2016.01504]. This dataset can be used for educational purposes. Also, they can serve as the pilot data for future studies on the relationship between the understanding of P-value/CIs and statistic inference based on P-value/CIs.
What's fair? How children assign reward to members of teams with differing causal structures
Authors: koskuba karla , Gerstenberg Tobias , Gordon Hannah , Lagnado David , Schlottmann Anne
Published: July 2018

How do children reward individual members of a team that has just won or lost a game? We know that from pre-school age, children consider agents' performance when allocating reward. Here we assess whether children can go further and appreciate performance in context: The same pattern of performance can contribute to a team outcome in different ways, depending on the underlying rule framework. Two experiments, with three age groups (4/5-year-olds, 6/7-year-olds, and adults), varied performance of team members, with the same performance patterns considered under three different game rules for winning or losing. These three rules created distinct underlying causal structures (additive, conjunctive, disjunctive), for how individual performance affected the overall team outcome. Even the youngest children differentiated between different game rules in their reward allocations. Rather than only rewarding individual performance, or whether the team won/lost, children were sensitive to the team structure and how players' performance contributed to the win/loss under each of the three game rules. Not only do young children consider it fair to allocate resources based on merit, but they are also sensitive to the causal structure of the situation which dictates how individual contributions combine to determine the team outcome.
As long as you get paid: expectation of reward modulates executive inhibition
Authors: Herrera Gomez Paula Marcela , van Meerbeke Alberto Velez , Speranza Mario , Cabra Claudia Lopez , Carreno Fidel Mauricio Bonilla , Canu Michael , Bekinschtein Tristan
Published: July 2018

In order to address the question of the adaptive changes in executive inhibition induced by expectation, we designed a stop signal task where participants either knew or ignored the possibility of receiving distinct monetary feedbacks after each successful inhibition. Our results confirmed previous observations demonstrating a “kick start effect”: that the presence of a high reward feedback at the beginning of the task has the potential to enhance response inhibition, compared to when participants start with low reward, getting high reward at the end. The progression of inhibition scores (SSRT) evidenced a progressive delta change between the 1st and the following trial blocks when participants were aware of the reward shift. In contrast, the unexpected reward shift group exhibited a main change between the no rewarded and the first rewarded block, with no further changes on the SSRT scores. Our findings suggest that the cognizance of reward magnitudes seems to play a crucial role in executive modulation of inhibition.
Perspective taking in a novel signaling task: effects of world knowledge and contextual constraint
Authors: Sulik Justin , Lupyan Gary
Published: July 2018

Perspective taking - the ability to see things from someone else's point of view - can boost success in communication. A signaler might take perspective when designing an utterance that is informative from the receiver's point of view, or the receiver might take perspective when inferring the signaler's communicative intentions. Perspective taking is supposed to play a particularly vital role when people try to communicate in the absence of a conventional signaling system. However, the task demands in such cases are extremely different from those in typical experimental approaches to perspective taking. Thus, current evidence for perspective taking does not establish whether humans can take perspective in those cases where perspective taking is arguably most helpful. We describe experimental tests of perspective taking that are suitable for settling the matter. Our task focuses on the use of shared world knowledge rather than shared visual scenes, and it is suitable for both open-ended and contextually constrained responses. We show that people generally fail at perspective taking in a novel signaling task, but that perspective taking can be boosted by contextual constraint. In that case, however, it is context, rather than perspective taking or shared world knowledge, that explains communicative success.
Virtue of Charity To Lighten and Relieve Depression Symptoms
Authors: Hao Victoria
Published: July 2018

Depression is a complex illness relating to a person’s mood. This disease impacts a person beyond one's emotions and affects a person's thoughts and actions. A depressed person may exhibit symptoms of severe conflict or fracture in one's social, professional, or family relationship or physical sickness. Also, depression often is accompanied by an existential and spiritual crisis that leaves a person unable to perceive the meaning of ordinary daily activities or life. This paper discusses theological insights into depression from a Catholic-Thomistic perspective. The virtue of charity is considered and proffered to provide relief for symptoms of depression.
When Less is More: Mindfulness Predicts Adaptive Affective Responding to Rejection via Reduced Prefrontal Recruitment
Authors: Martelli Alexandra , Chester David , Brown Kirk Warren , Eisenberger Naomi I. , DeWall C. Nathan
Published: July 2018

Social rejection is a distressing and painful event that many people must cope with on a frequent basis. Mindfulness – defined here as a mental state of receptive attentiveness to internal and external stimuli as they arise, moment-to-moment – may buffer such social distress. However, little research indicates whether mindful individuals adaptively regulate the distress of rejection—or the neural mechanisms underlying this potential capacity. To fill these gaps in the literature, participants reported their trait mindfulness and then completed a social rejection paradigm (Cyberball) while undergoing functional MRI. Approximately one hour after the rejection incident, participants reported their level of distress during rejection (i.e., social distress). Mindfulness was associated with less distress during rejection. This relation was mediated by lower activation in the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) during the rejection incident, a brain region reliably associated with the inhibition of negative affect. Mindfulness was also correlated with less functional connectivity between the left VLPFC and the bilateral amygdala and the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, which play a critical role in the generation of social distress. Mindfulness may relate to effective coping with rejection by not over-activating top-down regulatory mechanisms, potentially resulting in more effective long-term emotion-regulation.
(At least) two factors moderate the relationship between implicit and explicit attitudes
Authors: Nosek Brian A. , Banaji Mahzarin R.
Published: July 2018

This initial research synthesis suggests that the relationship between implicit and explicit attitudes is determined by (at least) two factors – self-presentation and elaboration. A new formulation of the nature of the relationship between implicit and explicit attitudes must be devised to handle these observations. The independent evaluations view does not explain how reliable and predictable relationships can exist between implicit and explicit attitudes. And, the implicit as lie detector view does not anticipate that factors other than self-presentation will moderate IE correspondence. Developing strong theory about the functional relationship between implicit and explicit attitudes requires examination of other factors that could moderate the relationship (e.g., attitude accessibility, attitude importance), and attention to the cognitive processes that give rise to these two modes of evaluation. In other words, the same heavy doses of theorizing about explicit attitudes, if brought to bear on the IE relationship will quickly provide answers to the conditions under which they are likely to be associated or dissociated.
A Model for Visual Perception and Recognition of Outlines
Authors: Firth David
Published: July 2018

Many topics in vision are still not well understood. A model for visual perception and recognition of shapes is described, by combining ideas relating to receptive fields of ganglion cells in the retina, eye movements during fixation, multiple spatial scales of precision, attention, axes and coordinates. The main objective is to provide a realistic scheme for perception of outlines, with recognition that is not prevented by changes of size and viewpoint. Outlines are detected by changes with time arising from eye movements, followed by identification of vertical and horizontal axes, and use of levels of precision that depend on the size of the area of attention. The increments of position in these levels increase in size as the size of area increases, so in an index of positions the increment numbers remain constant for all sizes. After changes of viewpoint, “attentional planes” connect changed positions on outlines to positions with a standard orientation of axes, so that shapes may be matched with stored representations. Spatial coordinates are related to positions at the retina by representations based on eye movements.
Getting a grip on insight: An embodied measure of Aha! and metacognition during problem solving
Authors: Laukkonen Ruben , Ingledew Daniel , Tangen Jason Marcus
Published: July 2018

A challenge unique to psychology is objectively capturing ephemeral subjective states during controlled experiments. Large bodies of literature use metacognitive probes and self-reports in order to measure states of knowing, perceived progress, as well as the onset of phenomenologies such as surprise or insight. Here we evaluate the usefulness of a visceral measure—the dynamometer—in a problem solving context to detect feelings of progress and insight experiences. The continuous measure of hand grip strength provides multiple data points per second and effectively captures the onset of insight experiences in real-time, and maps onto other measures showing convergent validity. Our results highlight the importance of viewing metacognitions during problem solving and insight moments as dissociable events that show different behavioural outcomes. We also found evidence that the participants were embodying the intensity of the insight experience, despite not being instructed to do so. The dynamometer may be a useful tool in any context where metacognitions are monitored continuously, and is particularly well suited for research in problem solving and insight.
Retention strategies in longitudinal cohort studies: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Teague Samantha , Youssef George Joseph , Macdonald Jacqui A , Sciberras Emma , Shatte Adrian B. R. , Fuller-Tyszkiewicz Matthew , Greenwood Christopher , Mcintosh Jennifer , Olsson Craig , Hutchinson Delyse
Published: July 2018

Background: Participant retention strategies that minimise attrition in longitudinal cohort studies have evolved considerably in recent years. This study aimed to assess, via systematic review and meta-analysis, the effectiveness of both traditional strategies and contemporary innovations for retention adopted by longitudinal cohort studies in the past decade.Methods: Health research databases were searched for retention strategies used within longitudinal cohort studies published in the 10-years prior, with 142 eligible longitudinal cohort studies identified (140 articles; sample size range: 30 to 61,895). Details on retention strategies and rates, research designs, and participant demographics were extracted. Meta-analyses of retained proportions were performed to examine the association between cohort retention rate and individual and thematically grouped retention strategies.Results: Results identified 95 retention strategies, broadly classed as either: barrier-reduction, community-building, follow-up/reminder, or tracing strategies. Forty-four of these strategies had not been identified in previous reviews. Meta-regressions indicated that studies using barrier-reduction strategies retained 10% more of their sample (95%CI [0.13 to 1.09]; p=.01); however, studies using follow-up/reminder strategies lost an additional 10% of their sample (95%CI [-1.19 to -0.21]; p<.01). The overall number of strategies employed was not associated with retention.Conclusions: Employing a larger number of retention strategies may not be associated with improved retention in longitudinal cohort studies, contrary to earlier narrative reviews. Results suggest that strategies that aim to reduce participant burden (e.g., flexibility in data collection methods) might be most effective in maximising cohort retention.
Evolution of Cultural Identity Terms in Lay and Academic Sources: Implications for Research and Public Policy
Authors: Moadel-Attie Roxanne , Levy Sheri R. , London Bonita , Al-Rfou Rami
Published: July 2018

Increasingly, individuals identify as bicultural and multicultural, yet are sometimes externally misclassified, contributing to experiences of invisibility within U.S. society. Using computational techniques, we examined the transmission of cultural identity terms through time, providing some evidence for the changing representation of social identity. We examined the usage patterns of cultural identity terms with the prefixes (mono-, bi-, multi-), modifying the social identity terms: culture, ethnicity, and race (e.g., comparing monocultural, monoethnic and monoracial). For bicultural and multicultural terms, those with -racial suffixes were the earliest used terms, while those with -cultural and -ethnic suffixes gained more popularity recently. We examined the evolution of the higher frequency social identity terms in lay sources (NY Times, Reddit), and found that interracial and multicultural were the most popular over time, peaking recently. We examined the potential time lag in the sequence of identity terms amongst academic (PsycINFO, NIH and NSF Databases), lay (NY Times) and mixed sources (Google Books N-Grams), supporting our hypothesis that newer terms (e.g., multicultural) are first used and gain prevalence in lay sources, then mixed sources, and eventually academic sources. The implications of these findings for research, public policy and psychosocial experiences of individuals are discussed.
Decision landscapes: visualizing mouse-tracking data
Authors: Zgonnikov Arkady , Aleni Andrea , Piiroinen Petri Tomas , O'Hora Denis , di Bernardo Mario
Published: July 2018

Computerized paradigms have enabled gathering rich data on human behaviour, including information on motor execution of a decision, e.g. by tracking mouse cursor trajectories. These trajectories can reveal novel information about ongoing decision processes. As the number and complexity of mouse-tracking studies increase, more sophisticated methods are needed to analyse the decision trajectories. Here, we present a new computational approach to generating decision landscape visualizations based on mouse-tracking data. A decision landscape is an analogue of an energy potential field mathematically derived from the velocity of mouse movement during a decision. Visualized as a three-dimensional surface, it provides a comprehensive overview of decision dynamics. Employing the dynamical systems theory framework, we develop a new method for generating decision landscapes based on arbitrary number of trajectories. This approach not only generates three-dimensional illustration of decision landscapes, but also describes mouse trajectories by a number of interpretable parameters. These parameters characterize dynamics of decisions in more detail compared with conventional measures, and can be compared across experimental conditions, and even across individuals. The decision landscape visualization approach is a novel tool for analysing mouse trajectories during decision execution, which can provide new insights into individual differences in the dynamics of decision making.
Moderated mediation of the link between parent-adolescent conflict and adolescent risk-taking: The role of physiological regulation and hostile behavior in an experimentally controlled investigation
Authors: Thomas Sarah , Jain Anjali , Wilson Tristan , Deros Danielle E. , Jacobs Irene , Dunn Emily J. , Aldao Amelia , Stadnik Ryan , De Los Reyes Andres
Published: July 2018

Compared to childhood and adulthood, adolescence is a time of greater risk-taking behavior, potentially resulting in serious consequences. Theories of adolescent brain development highlight the imbalance between neural circuitry for reward vs. regulation. Although this imbalance may make adolescents more vulnerable to impaired decision-making in the context of heightened arousal, not all adolescents exhibit problematic risk behavior, suggesting other factors are involved. Relatedly, parent-adolescent conflict increases in mid-adolescence, and is linked to negative outcomes like substance use related risk-taking. However, the mechanism by which parent-adolescent conflict and risk-taking are linked is still unknown. Therefore, we investigated this association using a multi-method experimental design. Parent-adolescent dyads were randomly assigned to complete a discussion task together on the topic of either the adolescent’s dream vacation or an adolescent-identified conflict topic. During the task, adolescent peripheral psychophysiology was measured for later calculation of heart rate variability (HRV), an index of self-regulation. Immediately after the discussion task, adolescents completed a performance-based measure of risk-taking propensity that indexes real-world risk behaviors. We hypothesized that parent-adolescent conflict would predict greater adolescent risk-taking propensity, and that increased behavioral arousal in the context of conflict, coupled with impaired self-regulation, would explain this link. Results indicated no direct effect of parent-adolescent conflict on adolescent risk-taking propensity. However, there was a significant conditional indirect effect: lower HRV, indexing worse regulatory ability, mediated the relation between conflict and risk-taking propensity but only for adolescents exhibiting behavioral arousal during the discussion task. We discuss implications for understanding adolescent risk-taking behavior.
The conflict negativity: Neural correlate of value conflict and indecision during financial decision making
Authors: Petersen Gesa-Kristina , Saunders Blair , Inzlicht Michael
Published: July 2018

Individuals struggle when making financial decisions, sometimes preferring lower future rewards over actively making decisions at all. Here, we examine how conflict deriving from objective and subjective value characteristics of stocks, as well as the behavioural and phenomenological correlates of decision conflict, are accompanied by variation in a thus far understudied ERP component, the conflict negativity (CN). In a novel EEG paradigm (N = 53), we simulated a financial decision situation in which participants made incentivized choices between different, sometimes conflicting, stock options. Our results indicate that participants take longer, are more undecided and less pleased, when choosing between conflicting options compared to choices where one option is obviously better than the alternative—even when choosing between two objectively good alternatives. We further provide preliminary evidence that the CN, a negative-going ERP recorded over the medial prefrontal cortex, not only reacts to conflict decisions but also predicts participants’ behavioural indecision during choice. What is more, subjective value characteristics of stocks, impressions based on brand perception of the stock options, influenced affective and behavioral reactions over and above objective stock characteristics. While our results are at odds with assumptions made by classic economic theory, they can be applied to real world observations on private investor behaviour.
The Influence of Mate Choice Motivation on Non-financial Altruism
Authors: Bhogal Manpal Singh , Bartlett James Edward , Farrelly Daniel
Published: July 2018

Several studies have found that individuals are more altruistic towards potential mates than others, suggesting altruistic behavior may be a mating signal. Much of the literature focuses on financial altruism using economic games, however altruism can also comprise of non-financial acts, which this experiment examined in an attempt to replicate and refine these previous findings. A study was conducted with 199 participants, who viewed both high attractive and low attractive opposite-sex images, and were asked how likely they would be to altruistically share their research credits with the person in the image, whilst controlling for self-rated attractiveness. The findings suggest that both men and women were more altruistic towards pictures of high attractive than low attractive potential mating partners (Cohen’s d = 0.37). This study therefore partially replicates previous research exploring the role of mate choice effects when exploring non-financial altruism.
Applying the Cultural Ratchet to a Social Artefact: The Cumulative Cultural Evolution of a Language Game
Authors: Fay Nicolas , Ellison T. Mark , Tylén Kristian , Fusaroli Riccardo , Walker Bradley , Garrod Simon
Published: July 2018

Material artefacts evolve by cumulative cultural evolution (CCE), the accumulation of adaptive modifications over time. We present a large-scale experiment investigating the CCE of a social artefact in transmission chains, each containing 8 adult human participants (N=408). The social artefact is what Wittgenstein calls a ‘language game’, the subset of language used to perform a particular activity; in the present study the language game is to communicate a route on a map. Two social learning conditions were compared: Observational Learning and Social Coordinative Learning. Participants tried to accurately communicate a route on a map to the next person in their transmission chain. Over the experimental generations the routes were reproduced with progressively higher accuracy in both conditions, demonstrating the CCE of the language game. The rate of CCE was comparable across conditions, but route reproduction accuracy was consistently higher in the Social Coordination condition compared to the Observation condition. In both conditions performance improved due to the accumulation of adaptive patterns of verbal route descriptions, and the progressive elimination of non-adaptive patterns. Whereas change in the content of the language game was similar across conditions, change to the communication process differed between the Observation and Social Coordination conditions. In conclusion, like material artefacts, social artefacts, in our case the language game, evolve by cumulative cultural evolution.