bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Imagination as a facet of Openness/Intellect: A new scale differentiating experiential simulation and conceptual innovation
Authors: Sassenberg Tyler , Condon David M , Christensen Alexander P. , DeYoung Colin G.
Published: February 2022

Previous research has investigated the nature of imagination as a construct related to multiple forms of higher-order cognition. Despite the emergence of various conceptualizations of imagination, few attempts have been made to explore the structure of imagination as a trait in the context of existing hierarchically-nested personality dimensions. We present a scale for measuring trait imagination that distinguishes between experiential simulation and conceptual innovation, aligned with the two major subfactors (aspects) of the Big Five dimension Openness/Intellect. Across two large samples, we provide evidence of a consistent factor structure distinguishing experiential, conceptual, and general descriptions of imagination, as well as validity as measures of facets of Openness and Intellect. Our findings provide a measure of major forms of imagination in line with mainstream models of the hierarchical structure of personality.
Anorexia Nervosa as Irreducibly Normative: A Dilemma Posed for Dominic Murphy’s Two- Stage Picture of Psychiatry
Authors: Croce Juliette
Published: February 2022

In Psychiatry in the Scientific Image, philosopher Dominic Murphy proposes a two-stage picture of psychiatry with mental disorders conceptualized as an underlying malfunction of a cognitive mechanism, followed by a judgement of the harmful effects this malfunction can have. Murphy himself raises a dilemma to this mechanistic reductionism, in that there are several mental disorders which seem to be irreducibly normative, and that the disorders must make normative assumptions of rationality in order to be fully understood. In this paper, I take up this obstacle to the two-stage picture by arguing that the three key aspects of anorexia nervosa — its triggers, aims, and the sustaining behaviors — render it irreducibly normative under Murphy’s model. I contend that the first two components of triggers and aims cannot be reduced down to a psychological malfunction of rationality in light of evidence that their causal phenomenology is largely culturally-based and deemed rationally oriented towards human flourishing. I then analyze potential underlying biological and physiological factors of the disorder’s self-starvation behaviors to assess whether this is enough to reduce anorexia down to a mechanistic explanation. I conclude that normativity needs to be assessed for a complete conception of the disorder, such that it cannot be reduced down to a non-normative malfunctioning mechanism of rationality.
Open System Model of Choice and Response Time
Authors: Epping Gunnar Paul , Kvam Peter D. , Pleskac Timothy Joseph , Busemeyer Jerome R
Published: February 2022

Sequential sampling models have provided accurate accounts of people’s choice, response time, and preference strength in value-based decision-making tasks. Conventionally, these models are developed as Markov-type processes (such as random walks or diffusion processes) following the Kolmogorov axioms. Quantum probability theory has been proposed as an alternative framework upon which to develop models of cognition, including quantum random walk models. When modeling people's behavior during decision-making tasks, previous work has demonstrated that both the Markov and quantum models have their respective strengths. Recently, the open system model, which is a hybrid version of the Markov and quantum models, has been shown to provide a more accurate account of preference strength compared to the Markov and quantum models in isolation. In this work, we extend the open system model to make predictions on pairwise choice and response time and compare it to the Markov and quantum random walkmodels.
Observers predict actions from facial emotional expressions during real-time social interactions
Authors: Kroczek Leon O. H. , Lingnau Angelika , Schwind Valentin , Wolff Christian , Mühlberger Andreas
Published: February 2022

In face-to-face social interactions, emotional expressions provide insights into the mental state of an interactive partner. This information can be crucial to infer action intentions and react towards another person’s actions. Here we investigate how facial emotional expressions impact subjective experience and physiological and behavioral responses to social actions during real-time interactions. Thirty-two participants interacted with virtual agents while fully immersed in Virtual Reality. Agents displayed an angry or happy facial expression before they directed an appetitive (fist bump) or aversive (punch) social action towards the participant. Participants responded to these actions, either by reciprocating the fist bump or by defending the punch. For all interactions, subjective experience was measured using ratings. In addition, physiological responses (electrodermal activity, electrocardiogram) and participants’ response times were recorded. Aversive actions were judged to be more arousing and less pleasant relative to appetitive actions. In addition, angry expressions increased heart rate relative to happy expressions. Crucially, interaction effects between facial emotional expression and action were observed. Angry expressions reduced pleasantness stronger for appetitive compared to aversive actions. Furthermore, skin conductance responses to aversive actions were increased for happy compared to angry expressions and reaction times were faster to aversive compared to appetitive actions when agents showed an angry expression. These results indicate that observers used facial emotional expression to generate expectations for particular actions. Consequently, the present study demonstrates that observers integrate information from facial emotional expressions with actions during social interactions.
Optimal well-being after psychopathology: Prevalence and correlates
Authors: Devendorf Andrew , Rum Ruba , Kashdan Todd Barrett , ROTTENBERG JONATHAN
Published: February 2022

Optimal functioning after psychopathology is understudied. We report the prevalence of optimal well-being (OWB) following recovery after depression, suicidal ideation, generalized anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, and substance use disorders. Using a national Canadian sample (N = 23,491), we operationalized OWB as absence of 12-month psychopathology and scoring above the 25th national percentile on psychological well-being and functioning measures. Compared with 24.1% of participants without a history of psychopathology, 9.8% of participants with a lifetime history of psychopathology met OWB. Adults with a history of substance use disorders (10.2%) and depression (7.1%) were the most likely to report OWB. Persons with anxiety (5.7%), suicidal ideation (5.0%), bipolar 1 (3.3%), and bipolar 2 (3.2%) were less likely to report OWB. Having just one lifetime disorder increased the odds of OWB by 4.2 times relative to multiple lifetime disorders. While psychopathology substantially reduces the probability of OWB, many individuals with psychopathology attain OWB.
Tap Harder: Cognitive Inhibition and Induced Emotions Predict Tapping Force in Young and Older Adults.
Authors: Mudarris Mohammed A , Schaefer Rebecca S
Published: February 2022

Research on rhythmic auditory stimulation has generally focused on timing accuracy, largely neglecting applied force. Here, we examined the role of cognition, subjective factors, and musical properties in finger-tapping force. Cognitive inhibition inversely predicted force, whereas music inducing positive emotions predicted greater tapping force. Despite motor and cognitive declines with age, no effects of age on tapping force were observed, suggesting that some kinematic features may be spared in aging. Older adults only differed in rating higher perceived (but not induced) arousal in music. Cognitive inhibition may facilitate motor efficiency, while music that induces positive emotions may increase engagement.
Sartre’s Notion of Human Reality: Why We are Radically Free within Our Social Roles
Authors: Hu Miranda Kexin
Published: February 2022

In a rigid social structure where individuals are assigned specific roles and are expected to behave according to such roles, do we still have the freedom of making meaning that transcends our social roles? Moreover, can we be different from and more than our social roles? This paper examines how Jean-Paul Sartre argues that we have the radical freedom to make meaning transcendent to our given roles despite living in a rigid social structure. According to Sartre, human consciousness has a nihilating structure that makes it non- identical to the things in the world. Such structure prevents us from having a fixed identity that is entirely identical to our social role. The social pressure for individuals to only act as their social roles seems to undermine the very nihilating structure of consciousness since it simply reduces individuals to their social roles. However, such an attempt that treats people as things will always fail. Even though individuals may act according to their social roles due to social pressure, such pressure does not undermine the nihilating structure of consciousness. Thus, we still hold the radical power and freedom to take up our social roles and make different meanings out of them.
Attending multiple languages: the relation between individual multilingual language use and attentional control
Authors: Nijmeijer Saskia , Keijzer Merel , Wucher Anna , Martens Sander , van Tol Marie-José
Published: February 2022

Individuals speaking multiple language have been asserted to have a cognitive advantage, perhaps specifically in the domain of selective attention, although this claim has recently been challenged. The diversity of multilingual experiences and use seems of great importance here, and suggestions have been made that advantages especially emerge for individuals with higher ‘multilingual load’, referring to language experience and use factors including duration of multilingualism, number of languages mastered, and use of multiple languages in daily life. We captured multilingual language diversity using a language entropy measure, which encompasses several language use factors into one metric. We related individual differences in language entropy to selective attention as measured with an attentional blink (AB) task in 53 diverse multilingual individuals. During task performance, brain activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex was measured using fNIRS. We found no support for the claim that language diversity, or other individual factors related to language experience and use, influence AB magnitude. However, relations with T1 identification accuracy were observed and brain activity in the DLPFC during the attentional blink task also related to higher language diversity, jointly suggesting that language diversity may promote alertness and attention. This study is the first to relate simultaneous behavioral and brain attentional blink data to the language entropy measure.
“Gratitude is thanking someone, and happiness is showing it”: A qualitative study of Colombian children’s perspectives on gratitude.
Authors: Ingram Gordon
Published: February 2022

Gratitude as a character strength is linked with positive emotions and can potentially provide many benefits to children and adolescents. Yet little is known about how and why children typically experience gratitude, and how to promote its development. We conducted focus groups and written exercises with 38 Colombian fifth graders to explore different components of their gratitude experiences: namely, the benefactors, benefits, feelings and behaviors associated with gratitude. There were many commonalities in these components, with all main coding categories found in both girls’ and boys’ answers, and in both public and private schools. Particularities in gratitude experiences were more fine-grained and connected with everyday details of children’s family configuration and economic opportunities. One emergent category in the analysis was the degree of effort that children saw benefactors (particularly family members) as investing in them. These findings can be used to help inform educational interventions, making them more relevant to children in urban Colombian and other Latin American contexts.
Do Obligations Follow the Mind or Body?
Authors: Protzko John , Tobia Kevin , Strohminger Nina , Schooler Jonathan
Published: February 2022

Do you persist as the same person over time because you keep the same mind or because you keep the same body? Philosophers have long investigated this question of personal identity with thought experiments. Cognitive scientists have joined this tradition by assessing lay intuitions about those cases. Much of this work has focused on judgments of identity continuity. But identity also has practical significance: obligations are tagged to one’s identity over time. Understanding how someone persists as the same person over time could provide insight into how and why moral and legal obligations persist. In this paper, we investigate judgments of obligations in hypothetical cases where a person’s mind and body diverge (e.g., brain transplant cases). We find a striking pattern of results: In assigning obligations in these identity test cases, people are divided among three groups: “body-followers”, “mind-followers”, and “splitters”—people who say that the obligation is split between the mind and the body. Across studies, responses are predicted by a variety of factors, including mind/body dualism, essentialism, education, and professional training. When we give this task to professional lawyers, accountants, and bankers, we find they are more inclined to rely on bodily continuity in tracking obligations. These findings reveal not only the heterogeneity of intuitions about identity, but how these intuitions relate to the legal standing of an individual’s obligations.
Two Sides of the Same Coin: A Mixed Methods Study of Black Mothers’ Experiences with Violence, Stressors, Parenting, and Coping during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Ayoub Hassoun , Partridge Ty , Gómez Jennifer M.
Published: February 2022

Due to systemic and structural inequities, the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacts the Black community, along with ongoing anti-Black racism and violence. Violence against women in the home, particularly Black women, was prevalent during shelter in place, along with the additional family responsibilities of Black mothers. Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality (1991) provides a foundation for examining Black mothers’ experiences during shelter-in-place mandates. This mixed-methods study aimed to quantitatively assess violence victimization, acknowledged racial inequities, depression and anxiety, while qualitatively examining Black mothers’ experiences in parenting during shelter-in-place orders. Participants (N = 127; Mage = 32.4 years) were mothers who self-identify as Black or African American living in a Midwestern US city. Results showed that Black mothers who perceived greater COVID-19 inequities in the Black community reported increased parental stress, decreased emotional support, greater exposure to physical or sexual violence, and higher symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression. Qualitative results yielded numerous themes, including the integrative theme of two sides of the same coin, highlighting both positive parenting experiences and significant stressors for Black mothers. The implications point to the need for intersectional and feminist approaches to interventions and initiatives that support Black women as humans, mothers, souls, and spirits.
The Polish translation of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire–Fantasizing (ERQ–F): copy of questionnaire and scoring instructions
Authors: Larionow Paweł , Mudło-Głagolska Karolina
Published: February 2022

The Polish translation of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire–Fantasizing (ERQ–F): copy of questionnaire and scoring instructions
The Hurons of Wendake/Lorette: A History of Intercultural Integration
Authors: Gagnon Gabrielle
Published: February 2022

The Hurons of Wendake are one of the rare Indigenous groups that still hold official claims to their territory in North America. Why so many Indigenous tribes failed to do the same has been extensively discussed in literature. However, little attention has been paid to the Hurons of Wendake who have maintained strong political, social, and economic power within the European dominated Saint Lawrence Valley upon their arrival in 1697. The Huron’s capacity to take in the culture of their French allies to their advantage to strengthen their authority over their economy and their lands is what differentiates this group from other Indigenous nations. Their Catholic schooling system, their artwork tailored to the European’s needs and preferences, as well as their sustained role as uncles of the seven fires confederacy allowed the Hurons to gain an intermediary role within North America between the settlers and Indigenous groups. This role gave them sufficient kinship ties with both Europeans and Indigenous groups to navigate through all social and economic systems coexisting at the time, and ultimately, to hold strong political, social, and economic power in the Saint Lawrence Valley.
The Executive Brain Battery (EB)
Authors: Fernández García Laura , Daza González María Teresa , Silver Jessica Phillips
Published: February 2022

The EB Battery has been designed to evaluate the components of the cognitive and socio-emotional executive functions (EFs). Specifically, this battery includes 8 tasks which evaluate: (1) Inhibition of prepotent responses; (2) Suppression of interference; (3) Updating of working memory; (4) Set-shifting ability; (5) Delay of gratification; (6) Decision making in a situation of uncertainty; (7) Affective reversal learning and; (8) Theory of mind. The EB Battery was designed to be used with children between 6 and 12 years of age, and it is characterized by presenting the minimum verbal content during the tasks, so that variables such as difficulties in communication and the use of language that could interfere with the children's performance during the tasks can be controlled. Therefore, this battery has been developed for use in populations with hearing impairments or language disorders.
Associations of arts and cultural engagement with substance use trajectories in adolescence and early adulthood: a latent growth curve analysis of the Add Health cohort
Authors: Fluharty Meg , Bu Feifei , Bone Jessica Katherine , Sonke Jill , Fancourt Daisy , Paul Elise
Published: February 2022

Introduction. Substance use (e.g., alcohol, marijuana, tobacco) is common during adolescence and may lead to a number of long-term negative outcomes (e.g., poor mental health). It is therefore important to explore factors that reduce the risk of engaging in these potentially harmful behaviours. Extracurricular activities (i.e., how people spend their free time) are known to be effective in reducing the risk of engaging in substance use, but the specific effects of arts and cultural engagement are less known. Methods. Data were from the first four waves (1994-2008) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (ages 12-17 years). Arts and cultural engagement were measured at wave 1 (1994) by (i) the number of arts and culture groups engaged in and (ii) the weekly frequency of arts and culture related hobbies. Substance use was measured using three binary indicators of any past month alcohol intoxication, marijuana, and tobacco use measured at waves 1 to 4. Latent growth curve modelling was used to examine associations between arts and cultural engagement (group participation and weekly hobbies) at wave 1 and trajectories of past month alcohol intoxication, marijuana use, and tobacco use over waves 1 to 4. Analyses accounted for sociodemographic covariates.Results. At wave 1, participating in more arts and cultural groups was associated with lower concurrent likelihood of being intoxicated by alcohol and using tobacco. However, longitudinally, differences in likelihoods began to narrow across waves until there was no difference by wave 4. There was no association with marijuana use. Similar results were found for engagement in hobbies; adolescents who participated in more weekly hobbies were less likely to have used any of the three substances concurrently, although over time, the differences between the groups narrowed. However, there was some evidence that the differences persisted across waves when using a less stringent (weekly) alcohol intoxication variable. Conclusions. Overall, this research confirms associations between arts and cultural engagement and substance use at a population level amongst adolescents in the US. Actively engaging in arts and cultural activities is associated with reduced risk of concurrent substance use suggesting a potential protective relationship. However, this protection attenuates over time. As we only examined arts and cultural activities at one time point, whether sustained engagement in these activities differentially influences the risk of substance use requires further investigation.
Types of social media use and digital stress in early adolescence
Authors: Winstone Lizzy , Mars Becky , Haworth CMA , Kidger Judi
Published: February 2022

Evidence on how different types of social media use contribute to digital stress in early adolescence is lacking. In-depth interviews were conducted with twenty-four 13-14-year-olds. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, coded and thematically analysed. Themes were generated based on digital stressors specific to passive social media use (time-wasting and digital guilt, and exposure to harmful content); private social media communication (expectations of availability and unsolicited contact by strangers); and social media broadcasting (expectations of perfection and sexualisation, fear of negative evaluation and risks to privacy). Several digital stressors appeared pervasive in everyday social media use. Bolstering social and emotional resources offline and encouraging effective implementation of privacy settings may improve resilience against several sources of digital stress.
Why the Cross-Lagged Panel Model is Almost Never the Right Choice
Authors: Lucas Richard E.
Published: February 2022

The cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) is a widely used technique for examining reciprocal causal effects using longitudinal data. Critics of the CLPM have noted that by failing to account for certain person-level associations, estimates of these causal effects can be biased. Because of this, models that incorporate stable-trait components (such as the random intercept cross-lagged panel model [RI-CLPM]) have become popular alternatives. Debates about the merits of the CLPM have continued, however, with some researchers arguing that the CLPM is more appropriate than modern alternatives for examining common psychological questions. In this paper, I discuss the ways that these defenses of the CLPM fail to acknowledge well-known limitations of the model. I propose some possible sources of confusion regarding these models, and I provide alternative ways of thinking about the problems with the CLPM. I then show in simulated data that with realistic assumptions, the CLPM is very likely to find spurious cross-lagged effects when they don't exist and can sometimes underestimate these effects when they do exist.
“Abusers are using COVID to enhance abuse”: Domestic abuse helpline workers’ perspectives on the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on those living with domestic abuse
Authors: Brodie Zara , Hawkins Roxanne , MacLean Chloe , McKinlay Jack
Published: February 2022

Purpose: Mobility restrictions enforced by the UK Government in March 2020 as a response to COVID-19 resulted in those vulnerable to domestic abuse being confined in isolation with their abusers, deprived of safe spaces and many of their usual sources of support. Domestic abuse helplines therefore became an increasingly vital avenue for victim support, seeing a substantial increase in service demand during lockdown periods. Method: Through semi-structured interviews with 11 domestic abuse helpline workers across UK services dedicated to a diverse range of populations, this project examined the nature and frequency of calls received since the first COVID-19 lockdown period. Results: Key themes identified through thematic analysis were: 1) Abusers weaponising government guidelines to justify and intensify abuse, and restrictions acting as both a barrier and facilitator to leaving an abusive relationship; 2) A loss of previously accessed support, with users uncertain about what help was available and issues around engaging with new forms of support; and 3) Isolation from social support networks, with callers reporting a loss of respite, lack of emotional and practical support, removal of third-party abuse monitoring opportunities, and subsequent mental health implications. Conclusions: These findings will act as a crucial guide for policy decision-making regarding support needs emerging from the pandemic and beyond, highlighting the importance of multi-agency partnerships, and urging caution in the utility of virtual alternatives to face-to-face support longer-term.
Why We Mimic Emotions Even When No One is Watching: Limited Visual Contact and Emotional Mimicry
Authors: Olszanowski Michal , Wróbel Monika
Published: February 2022

This article explores interpersonal functions of emotional mimicry under the absence versus presence of visual contact between the interacting partners. We review relevant literature and stress that previous studies on the role of emotional mimicry were focused on imitative responses to facial displays. We also show that the rules explaining why people mimic facial expressions may be inapplicable when visual signals are unavailable (e.g., people attending an online meeting have their cameras off). Overall, our review suggests that emotional mimicry functionally adapts to whether the perceiver and the expresser can see each other. We therefore argue that blocking visual contact between them may provide insight into emotional mimicry’s social functions, thereby clarifying its role in fostering affiliation and emotional understanding.
Exploration With a Finite Brain
Authors: Binz Marcel , Schulz Eric
Published: February 2022

Equipping artificial agents with useful exploration mechanisms remains a challenge to this day. Humans, on the other hand, seem to manage the trade-off between exploration and exploitation effortlessly. In the present article, we put forward the hypothesis that they accomplish this by making optimal use of limited computational resources. We study this hypothesis by meta-learning reinforcement learning algorithms that sacrifice performance for a shorter description length. The emerging class of models captures human exploration behavior better than previously considered approaches, such as Boltzmann exploration, upper confidence bound algorithms, and Thompson sampling. We additionally demonstrate that changes in description length produce the intended effects: reducing description length captures the behavior of brain-lesioned patients while increasing it echoes cognitive development during adolescence.
Questioning Inevitability: Investigating the Tragedy of the Commons
Authors: Suvajac Stefan
Published: February 2022

The Tragedy of the Commons is a common way to describe strategic interactions between gain-maximizing rational actors when faced with choices about consuming commonly held public goods. In the absence of a state authority or private property rights, the phrase and its accompanying theory posit that self-interested actors will invariably deplete commonly held resources when allowed to control access to them. This essay will formalize the tragedy of the commons as a prisoner’s dilemma and show how the prisoners dilemma can be used to represent the over-use of commonly-held resources (while also modifying the prisoner's dilemma game to allow for incomplete information and state enforcement). By suggesting alternative analytical representations of the dilemma faced by actors in the commons, and exploring empirical cases of effective commons management systems enacted by the same communities that consume the common resource, this essay will show that that over-use (to the point of depletion) of a commons is not the inevitable outcome of individuals and communities governing the resources they use. Ultimately, the destiny of the commons is not unambiguously tragic.
Don’t Keep It Too Simple: Simplified Items Do Not Improve Measurement Quality
Authors: Rammstedt Beatrice , Roemer Lena , Danner Daniel , Lechner Clemens M.
Published: February 2022

When formulating questionnaire items, generally accepted rules include: Keep the wording as simple as possible and avoid double-barreled items. However, the empirical basis for these principles is sparse. The present study aimed to systematically investigate in an experimental design whether simplifying items of a personality scale and avoiding double-barreled items markedly increases psychometric quality. Specifically, we compared the original items of the Big Five Inventory-2—most of which are either double-barreled or can be regarded as complexly formulated—with simplified versions of the items. We tested the two versions based on a large, heterogeneous sample (N = 2,234). The simplified versions did not possess better psychometric quality than their original counterparts; rather, they showed weaker factorial validity. Regarding item characteristics, reliability, and criterion validity, no substantial differences were identified between the original and simplified versions. These findings were also replicated for the subsample of lower-educated respondents, who are considered more sensitive to complex item formulations. Our study thus indicates that simplifying item wording and avoiding double-barreled items does not improve the quality of a questionnaire; rather, using simpler but less specific item formulations decreases factorial validity.
Everyday perceiver-context influences on impression formation: No evidence of consistent effects
Authors: Xie Sally Y , Thai Sabrina , Hehman Eric
Published: February 2022

Facial impressions (e.g., trustworthy, intelligent) vary considerably across different perceivers and targets. However, nearly all existing research comes from participants evaluating faces on a computer screen in a lab or office environment. We explored whether social perceptions could additionally be influenced by perceivers’ experiential factors that vary in daily life: mood, environment, physiological state, and psychological situations. To that end, we tracked daily changes in participants’ experienced contexts during impression formation using experience sampling. We found limited evidence that perceivers’ contexts are an important factor in impressions. Perceiver context alone does not systematically influence trait impressions in a consistent manner—suggesting that perceiver and target idiosyncrasies are the most powerful drivers of social impressions. Overall, results suggest that perceivers’ experienced contexts may play only a small role in impressions formed from faces.
Dissociating visual perspective taking and belief reasoning using a novel integrated paradigm: A preregistered online study
Authors: Green Rachel , Shaw Daniel , Kessler Klaus
Published: February 2022

There is considerable conceptual overlap between Level-2 Visual Perspective Taking (VPT-2) and Belief Reasoning; both cognitive processes require us to represent another’s viewpoint and experience of reality while inhibiting our own egocentric representations. This study investigated if these facets of mentalising are distinct from one another in the general adult population. To do so, we developed a novel “Seeing-Believing Task” with which to compare VPT-2 and true belief (TB) reasoning directly – one in which both judgement types refer to the same state of reality, requiring identical responses, and where self and other perspectives can be dissociated. Across three preregistered online experiments, this task demonstrated consistent differences between these two cognitive processes; specifically, TB judgements were associated with slower response times than VPT-2. This suggests that VPT-2 and TB reasoning are at least partly distinct psychological processes. Further, the greater cognitive effort required for TB reasoning is unlikely to be explained by differences in mnemonic processing. We suggest, therefore, that VPT-2 and TB reasoning differ in the complexity of social processing involved and we discuss theoretical implications based on minimal vs. full-blown Theory of Mind. Future research must attempt to test these conjectures.
Does emotion dysregulation mediate the association between ADHD symptoms and internalizing problems? A longitudinal within-person analysis in a large population-representative study
Authors: Antony Evelyn Mary-Ann , Pihlajamäki Milla Rosaliina , Speyer Lydia Gabriela , Murray Aja Louise
Published: February 2022

Background: Previous research has suggested that children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms commonly show emotion dysregulation difficulties. These difficulties may partly explain the strong tendency for internalizing problems such as anxiety and depression to co-occur with ADHD symptoms. However, no study has yet provided a longitudinal analysis of the within-person links between ADHD symptoms, emotion dysregulation, and internalizing problems necessary to examine this hypothesis from a developmental perspective. Methods: We used data from the age 3,5, and 7 waves of the large UK population-representative Millennium Cohort Study (n = 9619, 4885 males) and fit gender-stratified autoregressive latent trajectory models with structured residuals (ALT-SR) to disaggregate within- and between-person relations between ADHD, emotion dysregulation, and internalizing problem symptoms.Results: We found that emotion dysregulation significantly mediated the longitudinal within-person association between ADHD symptoms and internalizing problems. Conclusions: Results underline the promise of targeting emotion dysregulation as a means of preventing internalizing problems co-occurring with ADHD symptoms.
Barriers and facilitators to using aspirin for preventive therapy: a qualitative study exploring the views and experiences of people with Lynch syndrome and healthcare providers
Authors: Lloyd Kelly , Foy Robbie , Hall Louise Hazel , Ziegler Lucy , Green Sophie Mary Catherine , Haider Zainab , Taylor David , MacKenzie Mairead , Smith Samuel
Published: February 2022

Background: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NG151) recommends considering daily aspirin for people with Lynch syndrome to reduce colorectal cancer risk. However, patients and their healthcare providers considering preventive therapy need to negotiate complex decisions that weigh up potential benefits and harms.Method: We conducted semi-structured interviews to explore the barriers and facilitators to using aspirin for preventive therapy. We recruited 15 people with Lynch syndrome, and 23 healthcare providers across multiple professions in primary and specialist care in the United Kingdom. Interview schedules were informed by the Theoretical Domains Framework.Results: There were three themes: 1) Considering potential harms and benefits; 2) Healthcare pathway; 3) Patients’ level of interest in aspirin. All healthcare providers, across primary and specialist care, viewed general practitioners (GPs) as being responsible for prescribing and overseeing the use of aspirin. However, GPs were unfamiliar with aspirin for preventive therapy, and concerned about prescribing at higher doses (300-600mg). To support decision-making, GPs wanted clarification from specialist clinicians on the evidence and dose to prescribe. Not all participants with Lynch syndrome received information on aspirin from their healthcare provider, and several were unsure who to discuss aspirin with. GPs were more inclined to prescribe aspirin for patients with expressed preferences for the medication, however several patients were uncertain and wanted further guidance.Conclusions: Coordinated and multilevel strategies are needed, addressing the needs of both GPs and people with Lynch syndrome, to ensure consistent implementation of national guidance on aspirin for preventive therapy.
Stress, Intertemporal Choice, and Mitigation Behavior During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Agrawal Mayank , Peterson Joshua , Cohen Jonathan D. , Griffiths Tom
Published: February 2022

Delayed gratification refers to the willingness to sacrifice smaller, short-term reward for greater, long-term reward. There are suggestions that this proclivity may be impacted by stress and can be predictive of other real-world behaviors. In this article, we outline four large-scale online experiments (total $N = 12,906$) we conducted over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, in which we asked individuals to perform Money Earlier or Later (MEL) decisions (e.g. $5 today versus $10 tomorrow), and to also report stress measures and pandemic mitigation behaviors. We found that behavior in the MEL paradigm correlates with self-reported stress, and that these measures predict the extent of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic despite having opposite effects.
Online Learning and Social Norms: Evidence from a Cross-Cultural Field Experiment in a Course for a Cause
Authors: Cho Jiyong , Li Yue , Kudryavtsev Alex , Kizilcec René F. , Krasny Marianne
Published: February 2022

Online courses are increasingly used to scale up professional learning. However, engaging people throughout a course and encouraging them to take actions afterward is challenging, especially with culturally diverse participants whose response to encouragement may vary. Social norms can serve as a strong encouragement to participants, but they are mostly unobservable in online courses. We therefore tested how communicating three established kinds of social norms impacts behavioral outcomes and how the effects vary across different cultures. Findings from a randomized controlled field experiment in a Massive Open Online Course entitled Nature Education show that both the type of norm message (descriptive; dynamic; injunctive) and the cultural context (China; US) influence how the intervention improves course outcomes: US participants’ completion rate rose 40% following an injunctive norm message stating that participants ought to conduct nature education, while other norm messages were ineffective for both US and Chinese participants. Regardless of the social norm message, nearly all participants engaged in nature education activities within three months after the course ended. Communicating social norms can impact participants’ behavior in the course and beyond, which can offer a strategy for supporting online professional learning and tailoring messages to different cultural contexts.
Editors’ introduction to the special issue “Network psychometrics in action”: Methodological innovations inspired by empirical problems.
Authors: Marsman Maarten , Rhemtulla Mijke
Published: February 2022

Editors’ introduction to the special issue “Network psychometrics in action”: Methodological innovations inspired by empirical problems.
Public perceptions of the effectiveness of income provision on reducing psychological distress
Authors: Bridger Emma , Nettle Daniel
Published: February 2022

Purpose. Socioeconomic determinants such as poverty cause a great deal of mental ill-health. However, it is not clear whether the general public believes this to be true. Lay understandings of health often overemphasize the roles of individual habits and medical treatments and underappreciate the importance of socioeconomic determinants. Understanding public perceptions of how to improve mental health is important, since public perceptions shape political decision making. Design/methodology/approach. UK adults (n=622) rated effectiveness of three interventions for reducing psychological distress: medication, psychotherapy, and providing sufficient income to cover necessities via a basic income. We manipulated whether participants rated effectiveness for an identified individual vs. the population in general. Participants also indicated their support for the introduction of the basic income scheme. Findings. Increasing income was rated highly effective for reducing psychological distress. Effectiveness ratings for income provision were as high as those for psychotherapy, and higher than those for medication. There was also an interaction with framing: in the population framing, income provision was rated more effective than either of the other two interventions. There were high levels of support for introducing a universal basic income scheme in this population. Originality. UK adults anticipate that income provision would be highly effective at reducing psychological distress; as or more effective than increasing access to psychotherapy or medication. Policymakers can assume that the public will be receptive to arguments for mental health interventions that tackle broader socioeconomic determinants, especially when these are framed in population terms.
The Phenomenology of Maintenance: Maintenance Goals are Characterized by Lower Threat and Greater Satisfaction with the Current State
Authors: Ecker Yael , Gilead Michael , Imhoff Roland
Published: February 2022

This research tested the phenomenology of maintenance goals as distinct from goals to reach better outcomes (progress goals) and goals to prevent worse outcomes (prevention goals). In Studies 1 and 2, participants reported personal goals and categorized them as maintenance, progress, or prevention. Maintenance goals played a major role in reported central life goals (Study 1) and the largest role in goals pursued in the previous week (Study 2). We theorized that maintenance centers on existing positive outcomes, while prevention centers on future negative outcomes. We therefore predicted a lesser experience of threat and a greater experience of satisfaction in maintenance compared to prevention. Additionally, we predicted greater satisfaction in maintenance compared to progress goals, wherein motivation comes from the value of future positive outcomes rather than current ones. Confirming our predictions, participants rated personal maintenance goals as lower on threat (Study 1) and higher on satisfaction (Studies 1and 2) compared to prevention goals. Additionally, in Study 3, participants judged another person engaged in maintenance as more satisfied and less threatened than a person engaged in prevention or progress. Taken together, this work informs about the phenomenological nature of maintenance and advances a theory-driven ternary taxonomy of basic goal types.
A Genetically Informed Prediction Model for Suicidal and Aggressive Behaviour in Teens
Authors: Tate Ashley E , Akingbuwa Wonuola , Karlsson Robert , Hottenga Jouke-Jan , Pool René , Boman Magnus , Larsson Henrik , Lundstrom Sebastian , Lichtenstein Paul , Middeldorp Christel , Bartels Meike , Kuja-Halkola Ralf
Published: February 2022

BackgroundSuicidal and aggressive behaviours cause significant personal and societal burden. As risk factors associated with these behaviours frequently overlap, combined approaches in predicting the behaviours may be useful in identifying those at risk for either. The current study aimed to create a prediction model that predicted if individuals will exhibit suicidal behaviour, aggressive behaviour, both, or neither in late adolescence. MethodsA sample of 5,974 twins from the Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden (CATSS) was broken down into a training (80%), tune (10%), and test (10%) set. The Netherlands Twin Register (NTR; N = 2,702) was used for external validation. Our longitudinal data featured genetic, environmental, and psychosocial predictors derived from parental and self-report data. A stacked ensemble model was created which contained a gradient boosted machine, random forest, elastic net and neural network. ResultsModel performance was transferable between CATSS and NTR (macro area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) [95% CI] AUCCATSS(test set) = 0.709 (0.671-0.747); AUCNTR = 0.685 (0.656-0.715), suggesting model generalizability across Northern Europe. However, this did not hold true for the suicidal behaviours class. The 25 highest scoring variable importance scores for the gradient boosted machines and random forest models included self-reported psychiatric symptoms in mid-adolescence, sex, and polygenic scores for psychiatric traits.Conclusions Although the model is not yet suitable for clinical use, its performance is comparable to current prediction models that use clinical interviews. Moreover, genetic variables may have a role to play in predictive models of adolescent psychopathology.
Is Human Behavior Just Elaborate Running and Tumbling?
Authors: Travis Nathaniel
Published: February 2022

Here we present the reward-taxis model of human nature. It’s both a formal model and an intuitive explanation of many aspects of behavior. The model is based on recent work by Karin and Alon demonstrating the equivalence of the dopamine circuit in animals and the chemotaxis circuit in bacteria. The dopamine circuit performs what they call reward-taxis navigation. Here we extend that work, arguing that humans use reward-taxis in a fundamental way and that reward-taxis explains many psychological phenomena.
Humans First: Why people value animals less than humans
Authors: Caviola Lucius , Schubert Stefan , Kahane Guy , Faber Nadira Sophie
Published: February 2022

People routinely give humans moral priority over other animals. Is such moral anthropocentrism based in perceived differences in mental capacity between humans and non-humans or merely because humans favor other members of their own species? We investigated this question in six studies (N = 2,217). We found that most participants prioritized humans over animals even when the animals were described as having equal or more advanced mental capacities than the humans. This applied to both mental capacity at the level of specific individuals (Studies 1a-b) and at the level typical for the respective species (Study 2). The key driver behind moral anthropocentrism was thus mere species-membership (speciesism). However, all else equal, participants still gave more moral weight to individuals with higher mental capacities (individual mental capacity principle), suggesting that the belief that humans have higher mental capacities than animals is part of the reason that they give humans moral priority. Notably, participants found mental capacity more important for animals than for humans—a tendency which can itself be regarded speciesist. We also explored possible sub-factors driving speciesism. We found that many participants judged that all individuals (not only humans) should prioritize members of their own species over members of other species (species-relativism; Studies 3a-b). However, some participants also exhibited a tendency to see humans as having superior value in an absolute sense (pro-human species-absolutism, Studies 3-4). Overall, our work demonstrates that speciesism plays a central role in explaining moral anthropocentrism and may be itself divided in multiple sub-factors.