bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Neuroanatomy of Speech Sequencing at the Syllable Level
Authors: Rong Feng , Isenberg A. Lisette , Sun Erica , Hickok Gregory
Published: July 2018

Correctly ordering a sequence of speech sounds is a crucial aspect of speech production. Although studies have yielded a rich body of data on the neural substrates of visuomotor sequencing and sequence learning, research on brain regions and their functions involving speech sequence production hasn’t attracted much attention until recently. Previous functional MRI studies manipulating the complexity of sequences at the phonemic, syllabic, and suprasyllabic levels have revealed a network of motor-related cortical and sub-cortical speech regions. In this study, we directly compared human brain activity measured with functional MRI during processing of a sequence of syllables compared with the same syllables processed individually. Among a network of regions independently identified as being part of the sensorimotor circuits for speech production, only the left posterior inferior frontal gyrus (pars opercularis, lIFG), the supplementary motor area (SMA), and the left inferior parietal lobe (lIPL) responded more during the production of syllable sequences compared to producing the same syllables articulated one at a time.
Associative Unitization via Semantic Relatedness Benefits Episodic Recognition of Component Elements
Authors: Tibon Roni , Gronau Nurit , Levy Daniel A.
Published: July 2018

It has been proposed that although unitization benefits associative episodic memory, such benefits may exact a cost of poorer subsequent memory for the individual component elements forming these associations. However, unitization effects on item memory may be a function of whether items were unitized in a top-down fashion (i.e., through encoding instructions) or in a bottom-up fashion (through inherent semantic relationships between the associated items). We hypothesized that semantic relatedness unitization would benefit item recognition due to processing fluency that affords availability of more encoding resources. In two experiments, we tested how relatedness unitization of object pictures at encoding affected subsequent item recognition. The first experiment used a between-subject inclusion/exclusion paradigm, while the second experiment used a within-subject three-alternative choice recognition test. Results of both experiments revealed that semantic relatedness unitization benefited item memory. However, both accuracy patterns and error analyses indicated that such relatedness-based unitization improved memory for an item’s gist (i.e., its categorical identity), but not for its visual details. This indicates that that associative relatedness at encoding strengthens representations of the semantic identity of individual stimuli, but not necessarily of their perceptual details, possibly because of enhanced semantic elaboration at encoding.
How many voices did you hear? Natural variability disrupts identity perception in unfamiliar listeners.
Authors: Lavan Nadine , Burston Luke , Garrido Lucia
Published: July 2018

Within-person variability is a striking feature of human voices: our voices sound different depending on the context (laughing vs. talking to a child vs. giving a speech). When perceiving speaker identities, listeners therefore need to not only "tell people apart" (perceiving exemplars from two different speakers as separate identities) but also "tell people together" (perceiving different exemplars from the same speaker as a single identity). In the current study, we investigated how such natural within-person variability affects voice identity perception. Using voices from a popular TV show, listeners, who were either familiar or unfamiliar with the show, sorted naturally-varying voice clips from 2 speakers into clusters to represent perceived identities. Across three independent participant samples, unfamiliar listeners perceived more identities than familiar listeners and frequently mistook exemplars from the same speaker to be different identities. These findings point towards a selective failure in "telling people together". Our study highlights within-person variability as a key feature of voices that has striking effects on (unfamiliar) voice identity perception. Our findings not only open up a new line of enquiry in the field of voice perception but also call for a re-evaluation of theoretical models to account for natural variability during identity perception.
Affective Objectification as the Perception of Intent To Be or Have an Object
Authors: Baxter Richard
Published: July 2018

The underling mechanism of sexual objectification requires identification. Cognitive objectification likely stems from gender specific motivations (Vaes et al., 2011) [1]. It is theorised that affective objectification is the adaptive subconscious (1) perception of intent to (2) be or (3) have an object (for males and females respectively). Four studies were conducted with 1800 USA participants. The studies presented visual stimuli representing a male, female, and male with female with minimal (typically provocative) clothing. Affective objectification was measured via self-report sensual affect (S1) and arousal (S1-S4). For both affective objectification measures of study S1, a significant effect of manipulating perception of intent to be an object (1) was confirmed for males between all negative manipulation conditions (relabelling the female images: ballet dancer/friend), the neutral condition (no labels), and the positive manipulation condition (relabelling the female images: nightclub dancer). All studies (S1-S4) confirmed that males were significantly more affected by a female stimulus than females (H2C). Studies S1B and S4B (supported by trends from S1A, S3 and S4A) confirmed that for males, the affect generated by an opposite sex stimulus was significantly influenced by the absence of an adjacent same sex stimulus (H2A). Furthermore, the effect was only significant and consistently observed for females with stimuli containing complete upper body exposure (no shirt; S2) and high body shape exposure (tight pants; S4), not high lower body exposure (short robe; S1-S4). All studies confirmed that males were significantly more affected by opposite sex visual stimuli than females (H2B). Similarly however, this was only consistently observed for high lower body exposure stimuli (S1-S6), not complete upper body exposure (S2) or high body shape exposure (S4). These findings support a male specific perception of intent to be a sexually accessible object (2). Moreover, study S4 found that high intent but low body shape exposure stimuli (short robe) did not produce significantly more affect for males than low intent but high body shape exposure stimuli (tight pants). The results suggest that perception of intent may be a gender specific moderator rather than the sole cause of affective objectification (innate affective biases in object recognition should be considered).
Neural Mechanisms of the Rejection-Aggression Link
Authors: Chester David , Lynam Donald , Milich Richard , DeWall C. Nathan
Published: July 2018

Social rejection is a painful event that often increases aggression. However, the neural mechanisms of this rejection-aggression link remain unclear. A potential clue may be that rejected people often recruit the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex’s (VLPFC) self-regulatory processes to manage the pain of rejection. Using functional MRI, we replicated previous links between rejection and activity in the brain’s mentalizing network, social pain network, and VLPFC. VLPFC recruitment during rejection was associated with greater activity in the brain’s reward network (i.e., the ventral striatum) when individuals were given an opportunity to retaliate. This retaliation-related striatal response was associated with greater levels of retaliatory aggression. Dispositionally aggressive individuals exhibited less functional connectivity between the ventral striatum and the right VLPFC during aggression. This connectivity exerted a suppressing effect on dispositionally aggressive individuals’ greater aggressive responses to rejection. These results help explain how the pain of rejection and reward of revenge motivate rejected people to behave aggressively.
Empathic emotion regulation in prosocial behavior and altruism
Authors: Brethel-Haurwitz Kristin M. , Stoianova Maria , Marsh Abigail
Published: July 2018

The emotions evoked in response to others’ distress are important for motivating concerned prosocial responses. But how various forms of emotional regulation shape prosocial responding is not yet well understood. When does regulation of empathy lead to prosocial motivation versus personal distress or apathy? We tested the role of empathic emotion regulation in promoting prosocial motivation and costly donations across two studies, first in a community sample and then in a sample of altruistic kidney donors and a matched comparison sample. Participants engaged in hopeful and distancing reappraisals while viewing images of others in distress, then decided whether to help by donating a portion of a monetary endowment to charity. Whereas hope was expected to evoke approach-based motivation indexed by increased donations, distance was expected to evoke avoidance-based motivation indexed by decreased donations. It was hypothesized that varying effects of the two reappraisals on positive and negative affect would influence donation decisions. Across both studies, both reappraisals decreased negative affect. Hopeful reappraisal also increased positive affect. Instructed reappraisal also altered donation behavior in the community sample: here, hopeful reappraisal resulted in higher donations than distancing reappraisal. Altruists were more prosocial overall, but the associations between affect and donation behavior in this group mirrored that of the hopeful reappraisal in the larger community sample, suggesting that altruists might adopt a more hopeful and compassionate appraisal by default. These findings further clarify the role of empathic emotion regulation in prosocial behavior and also independent effects of positive and negative affect.
Causation and norms of proper functioning: Counterfactuals are (still) relevant
Authors: Phillips Jonathan Scott , Kominsky Jonathan F.
Published: July 2018

Causal judgments are well-known to be sensitive to violations of moral and statistical norms. There is ongoing discussion as to whether these effects are both best explained through changes in the relevance of counterfactual possibilities, or if moral norm violations should be independently explained through a potential polysemy of the term ‘cause’. In support of the latter view, recent work has pointed out that moral norm violations affect judgments of agents, but not inanimate objects, and that their effects are moderated by agents’ knowledge states. We advance this debate by demonstrating that judgments of counterfactual relevance exhibit precisely the same patterns, and that judgments of inanimate objects are actually highly sensitive to whether the object violated a prescriptive norm by malfunctioning. The latter finding is difficult to account for through polysemy, but is predicted by changes in the relevance of counterfactual alternatives.
Understanding Individual Differences in Theory of Mind via Representation of Minds, Not Mental States; Conway, Catmur & Bird.
Authors: Conway Jane , Catmur Caroline , Bird Geoff
Published: July 2018

The human ability to make inferences about the minds of conspecifics is remarkable. The majority of work in this area focuses on mental state representation (‘theory of mind’), but has had limited success in explaining individual differences in this ability, and is characterized by the lack of a theoretical framework that can account for variability in the population of minds to which individuals are exposed. We draw analogies between faces and minds as complex social stimuli, and suggest that theoretical and empirical progress on understanding the mechanisms underlying mind representation can be achieved by adopting a ‘Mind-space’ framework; that minds, like faces, are represented as vectors in a multidimensional psychological space. This Mind-space framework can accommodate the representation of whole cognitive systems, and may help to explain individual differences in the consistency and accuracy with which the mental states of others are inferred. Mind-space may also have relevance for understanding human development, inter-group relations, and the atypical social cognition seen in several clinical conditions.
Self, Motivation, and Virtue or: How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Deep Integration
Authors: Syed Moin , DeYoung Colin G. , Tiberius Valerie
Published: July 2018

The Self, Motivation, and Virtue Project (Snow & Narvaez, 2015) was developed “to open avenues of inquiry into virtue using the framework of the ‘self,’ instead of ‘personality,’ to require deep and ongoing interdisciplinary collaboration, and to stimulate methodological innovation into the study of virtue.” But what does this mean to use a “framework of self” instead of “personality?” What do we mean by “self” and “personality”? In this chapter we provide a conceptual review and integration of self and personality, as well as identity, motivation, virtue, and well-being. In clarifying these different concepts, we demonstrate that the concept of personality--when conceptualized as extending beyond personality traits--provides the broadest, most inclusive framework for understanding self, identity, motivation, virtue, as well as all other traits and characteristic adaptations.
How many atheists are there?
Authors: Gervais Will M , Najle Maxine Belén
Published: July 2018

One crucible for theories of religion is their ability to predict and explain patterns of belief and disbelief. Yet, religious nonbelief is often heavily stigmatized, potentially leading many atheists to refrain from outing themselves even in anonymous polls. We used the unmatched count technique and Bayesian estimation to indirectly estimate atheist prevalence in two nationally representative samples of 2000 U.S. adults apiece. Widely-cited telephone polls (e.g., Gallup, Pew) suggest USA atheist prevalence of only 3-11%. In contrast, our most credible indirect estimate is 26% (albeit with considerable estimate and method uncertainty). Our data and model predict that atheist prevalence exceeds 11% with greater than .99 probability, and exceeds 20% with roughly .8 probability. Prevalence estimates of 11% were even less credible than estimates of 40%, and all intermediate estimates were more credible. Some popular theoretical approaches to religious cognition may require heavy revision to accommodate actual levels of religious disbelief.
Mapping early environment using communication deviance: A longitudinal study of maternal sensitivity towards 6-month-old children
Authors: de Sousa Paulo , Sellwood William , Fien Kirsten , Sharp Helen , Pickles Andrew , Hill Jonathan , Abbott Kate , Fisher Louise , Bentall Richard P.
Published: July 2018

The current study explored the association between communication deviance (CD) in a cohort of mothers (n= 287) at 32 weeks gestation and maternal sensitivity (MS) to the infant’s cues during playful interaction at 6 months into the post-natal period. CD during the antenatal period was a significant predictor of lower MS during play (B= -0.385; p< .001). The relationship remained significant when maternal age, IQ and index of multiple deprivation (IMD) were accounted for. Further analyses revealed that CD was a significant predictor of MS in the context of infant distress (B= -0.514; p< .001) but less so in the context of non-distress (B= -0.311; p< .01). Results suggest that CD may index a complex cross-modal process affecting mother-child interactions.
Developmental evidence for enhanced theory of mind for competitive versus cooperative contexts
Authors: Tsoi Lily , Hamlin Kiley , Waytz Adam , Baron Andrew Scott , Young Liane
Published: July 2018

There is a debate regarding the function of theory of mind (ToM), the capacity to infer, attribute, and reason about mental states. On the one hand are evolutionary and psychological work suggesting that ToM is greater for competition than cooperation. On the other hand are findings and theories promoting greater ToM for cooperation than competition. We investigate the question of whether ToM is greater for competition than cooperation or vice versa by examining the period of development during which explicit ToM comes online. In two studies, we examined preschool children’s abilities to explicitly express an understanding of false beliefs—a key marker of ToM—and ability to apply that understanding in first-person social interactions in competitive and cooperative contexts. Our findings reveal that preschool children are better at understanding false beliefs and applying that understanding in competitive contexts than in cooperative contexts.
Associations between maternal prenatal cortisol and fetal growth are specific to infant sex: Findings from the Wirral Child Health and Development Study
Authors: Braithwaite Elizabeth C. , Hill Jonathan , Pickles Andrew , Glover Vivette , O’Donnell Kieran , Sharp Helen
Published: July 2018

Recent findings highlight that there are prenatal risks for affective disorders that are mediated by glucocorticoid mechanisms, and may be specific to females. There is also evidence of sex differences in prenatal programming mechanisms and developmental psychopathology, whereby effects are in opposite directions in males and females. As birth weight is a risk for affective disorders, we sought to investigate whether maternal prenatal cortisol may have sex-specific effects on fetal growth. The Wirral Child Health and Development Study (WCHADS) cohort (n=1233) included a stratified subsample (n=241) who provided maternal saliva samples, assayed for cortisol, at home over two days at 32 weeks gestation (on waking, 30-minutes post-waking, and during the evening). Measures of infant birth weight (corrected for gestational age) were taken from hospital records. General population estimates of associations between variables were obtained using inverse probability weights. Maternal log of the area under the curve (LogAUC) cortisol predicted infant birth weight in a sex-dependent manner (interaction term p=0.040). There was a positive association between maternal prenatal cortisol in males, and a negative association in females. A sex-interaction in the same direction was evident when using the waking (p=0.010), and 30-minute post waking (p=0.013) cortisol measures, but not the evening measure. There was no interaction between prenatal cortisol and sex to predict gestational age. Our findings add to an emerging body of literature that suggests that there may be sex-specific mechanisms that underpin fetal programming. Further understanding of these mechanisms is important for tailoring intervention and prevention strategies.
A simple correction for non-independent tests
Authors: Derringer Jaime
Published: July 2018

Psychologists wrestle with how to best handle multiple comparisons, while maintaining a balance between false positives and false negatives. Undercorrection, such as ignoring the presence of multiple comparisons altogether, is known to yield an unacceptably high rate of false positives. Overcorrection, such as treating all tests as independent when they are not, results in overly conservative evaluations of statistical significance. This tutorial demonstrates $M_{eff}$ correction, a method for adjusting statistical significance thresholds for multiple comparisons, without the assumption of independence of tests. This method, in which the effective number of tests ($M_{eff}$) is estimated from the correlations among the variables being tested, was developed and validated in the field of genetics, but is based on statistical concepts (eigenvalues) that are very familiar to psychologists. $M_{eff}$ correction can be applied in psychological research to balance the necessity of correction for multiple comparisons with the concerns that arise from complex, correlated tests.
Rational speech act models of pragmatic reasoning in reference games
Authors: Frank Michael C.
Published: July 2018

Human communication is almost always ambiguous, but it typically takes place in a context where this ambiguity can be resolved. A key part of this process of disambiguation comes from pragmatic reasoning about alternative messages that a speaker could have said in that context. Following previous work, we describe pragmatic inference as recursive reasoning – in which listeners reason about speakers and vice versa – using a “rational speech act” (RSA) model. We then systematically test the parameters and design decisions of this model through a series of ten experiments using one-shot reference-resolution games (N = 7,569). Such games present a valuable and tractable microcosm for studying broader questions about communication in context, and human behavior within them can be described using the RSA framework.
Coordinated interpersonal behaviour in collective dance improvisation: the aesthetics of kinaesthetic togetherness
Authors: Himberg Tommi , Laroche Julien , Bigé Romain , Buchkowski Megan , Bachrach Asaf
Published: July 2018

Collective dance improvisation (e.g. traditional and social dancing, contact improvisation) is a participatory, relational and embodied art form which eschews standard concepts in aesthetics. We present our ongoing research into the mechanisms underlying the lived experience of “togetherness” associated with such practices. Togetherness in collective dance improvisation is kinaesthetic (based on movement and its perception), and so can be simultaneously addressed from the perspective of the performers and the spectators, and be measured. We utilise these multiple levels of description: the first-person, phenomenological level of personal experiences, the third-person description of brain and body activity, and the level of interpersonal dynamics. Here, we describe two of our protocols: a four-person mirror game and a ‘rhythm battle’ dance improvisation score. Using an interpersonal closeness measure after the practice, we correlate subjective sense of individual/group connectedness and observed levels of in-group temporal synchronization. We propose that kinaesthetic togetherness, or interpersonal resonance, is integral to the aesthetic pleasure of the participants and spectators, and that embodied feeling of togetherness might play a role more generally in aesthetic experience in the performing arts.
Cross-dimensional magnitude interaction is modulated by representational noise: Evidence from space-time interaction
Authors: Cai Zhenguang Garry , Wang Ruiming
Published: July 2018

Magnitudes along different dimensions (e.g., space and time) tend to interact with each other in perception, with some magnitude dimensions more susceptible to cross-dimensional interference than others. What causes such asymmetries in cross-dimensional magnitude interaction is being debated. The current study investigated whether the representational noise of magnitudes modulates the (a)symmetry in space-time interaction. In three experiments using different formats of length, we showed that dynamic unfilled lengths result in a higher representational noise than either static unfilled length or static filled length. Correspondingly, we observed that the time-on-space effect was larger for dynamic unfilled lengths than for static unfilled length or static filled length (and it did not differ between the latter two). Further correlational analyses showed that the susceptibility of a target dimension to the influence of a concurrent dimension increased as a function of participants’ representational noise in the target dimension (e.g., noisier length representations, a larger effect of stimulus duration on length reproduction). In all, our study showed that the representational noise of space and time modulate the way the two dimensions interact. These findings suggest that cross-dimensional magnitude interactions arise as a result of memory interference, with noisier magnitudes being more prone to being nudged by concurrent magnitudes in other dimensions. Such memory interference can be seen as a result of Bayesian inference with correlated priors between magnitude dimensions.
Language ERPs reflect learning through prediction error propagation
Authors: Fitz Hartmut , Chang Franklin
Published: July 2018

Event-related potentials (ERPs) provide a window into how the brain is processing language. Here, we propose a theory that argues that ERPs such as the N400 and P600 arise as side effects of an error-based learning mechanism that explains linguistic adaptation and language learning. We instantiated this theory in a connectionist model that can simulate data from three studies on the N400 (amplitude modulation by expectancy, contextual constraint, and sentence position), five studies on the P600 (agreement, tense, word category, subcategorization and garden-path sentences), and a study on the semantic P600 in role reversal anomalies. Since ERPs are learning signals, this account explains adaptation of ERP amplitude to within-experiment frequency manipulations and the way ERP effects are shaped by word predictability in earlier sentences. Moreover, it predicts that ERPs can change over language development. The model provides an account of the sensitivity of ERPs to expectation mismatch, the relative timing of the N400 and P600, the semantic nature of the N400, the syntactic nature of the P600, and the fact that ERPs can change with experience. This approach suggests that comprehension ERPs are related to sentence production and language acquisition mechanisms.
Working Memory Training Revisited: A Multi-Level Meta-Analysis of N-back Training Studies
Authors: Soveri Anna , Antfolk Jan , Karlsson Linda C. , Salo Benny , Laine Matti
Published: July 2018

The efficacy of working memory (WM) training has been a controversial and hotly debated issue during the last years, and despite a large number of training studies and several meta-analyses, the matter has not yet been solved. We conducted a multi-level meta-analysis on the cognitive transfer effects in healthy adults who have been administered WM updating training with n-back tasks, the most common experimental WM training paradigm. Thanks to this methodological approach that has not been employed in previous meta-analyses in this field, we were able to include effect sizes from all relevant tasks used in the original studies. Altogether 203 effect sizes were derived from 33 published randomized controlled trials. In contrast to earlier meta-analyses, we separated task-specific transfer (here untrained n-back tasks) from other WM transfer tasks. Two additional cognitive domains of transfer that we analyzed consisted of fluid intelligence (Gf) and cognitive control tasks. A medium-sized transfer effect was observed to untrained n-back tasks. For other WM tasks, Gf, and cognitive control, the effect sizes were of similar size and very small. Moderator analyses showed no effects of age, training dose, training type (single vs. dual), or WM and Gf transfer task contents (verbal vs. visuospatial). We conclude that a substantial part of transfer following WM updating training with n-back is task-specific and discuss the implications of the results to WM training research.
Psychosocial Factors Influencing Substance Abuse among Undergraduates
Authors: Adewumi Bukunmi O , Fadahunsi Imisioluwa , Ajayi Olubukola
Published: July 2018

This study investigated the psychosocial factors influencing substance abuse among undergraduates. The study was conducted in Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. 150 participants who are undergraduates of the university were used in this research. They consist of 82 males and 68 females selected from all faculties in the institution. 3 questionnaires were administered to respondent to measure the factors influencing substance abuse and the level at which they are abused. Independent T-test, multiple regression and Pearson Correlation method were used to analyze the data collected. Five hypotheses were tested: hypothesis 1, 2, 3 and 4 were significant while hypothesis 5 was insignificant. It was observed that there was significant influence of religiosity on substance abuse among undergraduates, the result also revealed that there was a significant influence of self-esteem on substance abuse among undergraduates, it also revealed that religiosity and self-esteem jointly predicted substance abuse among undergraduates, likewise the result also show that there was significant influence of sex on substance abuse among undergraduates and finally the result revealed there was no significant relationship between religiosity and self-esteem among undergraduates. The results were discussed in line with relevant empirical literatures, while conclusion and recommendations subsequently followed.
Moral cognition about harm in anxiety disorders
Authors: Patil Indrajeet , Larsen Emmett , Kichic Rafael , Gleichgerrcht Ezequiel
Published: July 2018

Emotion has long been understood to play an important role in motivating moral beliefs and behavior. Recent work has shown that level of emotional arousal exerts a strong influence on decision-making in sacrificial moral dilemmas, with heightened levels of arousal associated with increased aversion to committing moral transgressions to maximize utilitarian outcomes. Patients with anxiety disorders share the common experience of pathologically heightened states of arousal, which generates the hypothesis that anxious patients would exhibit reduced proclivities to endorse utilitarian responses on such dilemmas. Limited extant work has shown mixed evidence, however, and most investigations have focused on only specific diagnostic groups, such as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. We investigated a cohort of 95 patients from across the spectrum of anxiety disorders to test this hypothesis. Results showed no group differences between patients and controls on endorsement of utilitarian sacrificial action or on reported experience of emotionality during the experiment. Potential explanations for these null findings are explored.
Links between adolescent bullying and neural activation to viewing social exclusion
Authors: Perino Michael T. , Guassi Moreira Joao F , Telzer Eva
Published: July 2018

Neuroscientists studying bullying have primarily focused on the psychopathology of diagnosable offenders or the resulting symptomatology of victimization, with less attention paid to theories suggesting bullying may be an interpersonal strategy. In an exploratory study, we recruited a sample of adolescents (N=24) engaging in high rates of delinquent behavior and collected self-report ratings of bullying behaviors. During an fMRI scan, adolescents observed instances of social exclusion and social inclusion. Adolescents’ self-reported bullying was associated with greater ventral striatum, amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, and insula activation when viewing social exclusion > social inclusion. Activation in these regions is commonly associated with reward-learning, salience monitoring, and motivational processes, suggesting that bullies show altered processing of interpersonal cues and social dynamic experiences in their environment. Our findings highlight the need for developmental neuroscientists to further explore the role of social motivation in processing socio-affective information, with a particular focus on goal-directed antisocial behavior.
Do p Values Lose Their Meaning in Exploratory Analyses? It Depends How You Define the Familywise Error Rate
Authors: Rubin Mark
Published: July 2018

Several researchers have recently argued that p values lose their meaning in exploratory analyses due to an unknown inflation of the alpha level (e.g., Nosek & Lakens, 2014; Wagenmakers, 2016). For this argument to be tenable, the familywise error rate must be defined in relation to the number of hypotheses that are tested in the same study or article. Under this conceptualization, the familywise error rate is usually unknowable in exploratory analyses because it is usually unclear how many hypotheses have been tested on a spontaneous basis and then omitted from the final research report. In the present article, I argue that it is inappropriate to conceptualize the familywise error rate in relation to the number of hypotheses that are tested. Instead, it is more appropriate to conceptualize familywise error in relation to the number of different tests that are conducted on the same null hypothesis in the same study. Under this conceptualization, alpha level adjustments in exploratory analyses are (a) less necessary and (b) objectively verifiable. As a result, p values do not lose their meaning in exploratory analyses.
Explaining the Longitudinal Interplay of Personality and Social Relationships in the Laboratory and in the Field: The PILS and the CONNECT Study
Authors: Geukes Katharina , Breil Simon Mats , Hutteman Roos , Nestler Steffen , Küfner Albrecht , Back Mitja
Published: July 2018

Here, we provide you with the preprint and with supplemental material (R-Codes) to the manuscript "Explaining the Longitudinal Interplay of Personality and Social Relationships in the Laboratory and in the Field: The PILS and the CONNECT Study" by Geukes, Breil, Küfner, Hutteman, Nestler, & Back (under Review). If you like to get in contact with us, please write an email to katharina.geukes@wwu.deAbstract:Our personalities (who we are) influence our social relationships (how we relate to the people around us), and our social relationships influence our personalities. However, little is known about the specific processes underlying the complex interplay of personality and social relationships. According to the PERSOC framework, the identification of underlying social interaction processes promotes the understanding of how personality and social relationships (a) are expressed, (b) develop, and (c) influence each other over time. The aim of the present paper is twofold: First, we outline four methodological challenges that arise when we empirically realize a process approach to the personality-relationship interplay. Second, we describe two empirical studies, that is, a laboratory-based process approach (Personality Interaction Laboratory Study; PILS) and a field-based process approach (CONNECT), both designed to meet these challenges. We provide detailed information about the samples (two student samples; PILS: N = 311; CONNECT: N = 131), procedures (longitudinal and multimethodological), and measures (personality and social relationships, appearance and behavior, interpersonal perceptions). For all these measures, we present descriptive information, reliabilities, and intercorrelations. In addition, we illustrate how these unique data sets can be applied to provide detailed process insights to answer topical research questions at the levels of the individual, dyad, and social network. We summarize how these studies meet the introduced methodological challenges, discuss the advantages and limitations of laboratory- and field-based process approaches, and call for their combination. We close by outlining an open research policy, aimed at collaborative and accelerated efforts to further open the process black box and ultimately leading to a better understanding of the expression, development, and complex interplay of personality and social relationships.
Understanding jokes draws most heavily on the Theory of Mind brain network
Authors: Kline Struhl Melissa , Gallée Jeanne , Balewski Zuzanna , Fedorenko Evelina
Published: July 2018

To communicate successfully, we often go beyond literal meaning: we make sarcastic remarks, ask for favors, and engage in face-saving acts. Do these abilities recruit the same mechanisms as literal interpretation? Or does pragmatic reasoning draw on general social-cognitive abilities? In two fMRI studies (an initial study, and a preregistered self-replication), we examined activity in the language and Theory-of-Mind (ToM) networks while participants processed one-liner jokes. We additionally examined activity in the domain-general “multiple demand” network, which supports executive functions and has also been linked to pragmatic processing. Across both studies, the ToM network responded more strongly to jokes than non-joke controls. The language and multiple demand networks showed weaker responses to the Joke > Non-Joke contrast, evidenced by reliable network-by-condition interactions. Thus ‘getting’ jokes – and perhaps pragmatic processing more broadly – appears to draw most heavily on the same abilities that allow us to imagine what others are thinking.
Asking the Right Questions About the Psychology of Human Inquiry: Nine Open Challenges
Authors: Coenen Anna , Nelson Jonathan D. , Gureckis Todd Matthew
Published: July 2018

The ability to act on the world with the goal of gaining information is what makes humans such an adaptable and intelligent species. Perhaps the most successful and influential account of such abilities is the Optimal Experiment Design (OED) hypothesis, which argues that humans intuitively perform experiments on the world similar to the way an effective scientist plans an experiment. The widespread application of this theory within many areas of psychology calls for a critical evaluation of the theory’s core claims. Despite many successes, we argue that the OED hypothesis remains lacking as a theory of human inquiry and that research in the area often fails to confront some of the most interesting and important questions. In this critical review, we raise and discuss nine open questions about the psychology of human inquiry.
Executive Functions in Motor Imagery: Support for the Motor-Cognitive Model over the Functional Equivalence Model
Authors: Glover Scott , Bibby Elys , Tuomi Elsa
Published: July 2018

The Motor-Cognitive Model holds that motor imagery relies on executive resources to a much greater extent than do overt actions. According to this view, engaging executive resources with an interference task during motor imagery or overt actions will lead to a greater lengthening of the time required to imagine a movement than to execute it physically. This model is in contrast to a currently popular view, the Functional Equivalence Model, which holds that motor imagery and overt action use identical mental processes, and thus should be equally affected by task manipulations. The two competing frameworks were tested in three experiments that varied the amount and type of executive resources needed to perform an interference task concurrent with either an overt or imagined version of a grasping and placing action. In Experiment 1, performing a concurrent calculation task led to a greater lengthening of the time required to execute motor imagery than overt action relative to a control condition involving no interference task. Further, an increase in the number of responses used to index performance affected the timing of motor imagery but not overt actions. In Experiment 2, a low load repetition task interfered with the timing of motor imagery, but less so than a high load calculation task; both tasks had much smaller effects on overt actions. In Experiment 3, a word generation task also interfered with motor imagery much more than with overt actions. The results of these experiments provide broad support for the Motor-Cognitive Model over the Functional Equivalence Model in showing that interfering with executive functions had a much greater impact on the timing of motor imagery than on overt actions. The possible roles of different executive processes in motor imagery are discussed.
Toddlers show sensorimotor activity during auditory verb processing
Authors: Antognini Katharina , Daum Moritz M.
Published: July 2018

Language that describes actions, for instance verbs, can help to predict future actions of conspecifics in social interactions. Language and action are therefore interrelated. This interrelation has been described on a behavioral level for adults and toddlers. Furthermore, in adults, the sensorimotor system is involved in this interrelation. However, little is known about the early interrelation on the neural level at the onset of verb acquisition. In the present study, we examined the role of the sensorimotor system during the processing of acoustically presented verbs that describe dynamic actions and visually presented actions in toddlers, who are in the earliest stage of expressive language development. The activity of the sensorimotor system, in particular the suppression of the mu rhythm, was measured by means of electroencephalography (EEG). Results showed a significant suppression of the mu rhythm during both the processing of action verbs and observed actions, but not during the processing of pseudoverbs. This suggests that the sensorimotor system is already involved in the processing of action and language early in life.
Black + White = Not White: A Minority Bias in Categorizations of Black-White Multiracials
Authors: Chen Jacqueline , Pauker Kristin , Gaither Sarah , Hamilton David L. , Sherman Jeff
Published: July 2018

The present research sought to provide new insights on the principles guiding the categorization of Black-White multiracial faces at a first encounter. Previous studies have typically measured categorization of multiracial faces using close-ended tasks that constrain available categorizations, finding evidence that perceivers tend to categorize multiracials as Black more often than as White. Two studies used less constrained implicit (Experiment 1) and explicit categorization (Experiment 2) tasks and found that multiracial faces were most frequently categorized into racial minority groups but not necessarily as Black. These studies suggested a minority bias in multiracial categorizations, whereby multiracials are more frequently categorized as non-White than as White. Experiment 3 provided additional support for the minority bias, showing that participants categorized multiracials as “Not White” more often than as any other category. Participants were also faster to exclude multiracial faces from the White category than from any other racial categories. Together, these findings are the first to document the minority bias as a guiding principle in multiracial categorization.
Deep neural networks are more accurate than humans at detecting sexual orientation from facial images.
Authors: Wang Yilun , Kosinski Michal
Published: July 2018

We show that faces contain much more information about sexual orientation than can be perceived and interpreted by the human brain. We used deep neural networks to extract features from 35,326 facial images. These features were entered into a logistic regression aimed at classifying sexual orientation. Given a single facial image, a classifier could correctly distinguish between gay and heterosexual men in 81% of cases, and in 74% of cases for women. Human judges achieved much lower accuracy: 61% for men and 54% for women. The accuracy of the algorithm increased to 91% and 83%, respectively, given five facial images per person. Facial features employed by the classifier included both fixed (e.g., nose shape) and transient facial features (e.g., grooming style). Consistent with the prenatal hormone theory of sexual orientation, gay men and women tended to have gender-atypical facial morphology, expression, and grooming styles. Prediction models aimed at gender alone allowed for detecting gay males with 57% accuracy and gay females with 58% accuracy. Those findings advance our understanding of the origins of sexual orientation and the limits of human perception. Additionally, given that companies and governments are increasingly using computer vision algorithms to detect people’s intimate traits, our findings expose a threat to the privacy and safety of gay men and women.
Quantity judgment and the mass-count distinction across languages: Advances, problems, and future directions for research
Authors: Barner David , Bale Alan
Published: July 2018

We review advances in the experimental study of the mass-count distinction and highlight problems that have emerged. First, we lay out what we see to be the scientific enterprise of studying the syntax and semantics of mass-count distinction, and the assumptions we believe must be made if additional progress is to occur, especially as the empirical facts continue to grow in number and complexity. Second, we discuss the new landscape of cross-linguistic results that has been created by widespread use of the quantity judgment task, and what these results tell us about the nature of the mass-count distinction. Finally, we discuss the relationship between the mass-count distinction and non-linguistic cognition, and in particular the object-substance distinction.
The Effect of Co-occurrence and Relational Information on Speeded Evaluation
Authors: Moran Tal , Bar-Anan Yoav
Published: July 2018

After co-occurrence of a neutral conditioned stimulus (CS) with an affective unconditioned stimulus (US), the evaluation of the CS acquires the US valence. This effect disappears when information about the CS-US relation indicates that they are opposite in valence. In that case, people often show a contrastive effect, evaluating the CS with valence opposite of the US. We investigated whether the assimilative effect of co-occurrence persists and is only obscured by a stronger counteracting contrast effect of the inference from the CS-US opposition relation. Participants evaluated CSs that had opposite relations with the USs under time pressure, a condition that restricts inference processes more than it restricts the associative processes that might underlie the assimilative effect of co-occurrence. Evidence supporting the persistence of the assimilative effect emerged only in Experiment 2 (N = 79): Under time pressure, people evaluated creatures that ended positive sounds more favorably than creatures that ended negative sounds. However, no difference between the creatures’ evaluations occurred under time pressure in Experiments 1 and 3 (Ns = 78, 460). These results are inconclusive because they might reflect equal contrastive and assimilative effects or no effects at all. We discuss further research directions to test our question.
I must although I can't!? Suggestions for a two-level theory of ‘ought implies can’
Authors: Willemsen Pascale , Wiegmann Alex
Published: July 2018

The ‘Ought implies can’ principle (OIC) states that if you lack the ability to do X, then you are not morally obligated to do X. While philosophers believed it to be both normatively adequate and intuitively compelling, recent empirical findings suggest that laypeople reject OIC. In this paper, we suggest a pragmatically grounded model of the relationship between ought- and can-judgments to account for such findings. More specifically we argue that ‘ought’ is pragmatically used in two ways: namely as either expressing an obligation or recommending an action. We further argue that also ‘can’ is understood in two different ways: it can either describe a person’s general physical and mental faculties, or refer to a situation-specific ability. In two experiments, we show that moral obligations imply general abilities, and that moral imperatives imply situation-specific abilities. Once these two levels are carefully discriminated in empirical research, participants give responses that support OIC.