The influence of affect on higher level cognition: A review of research on interpretation, judgement, decision making and reasoning

The dark and bright side of the numbers: how emotions influence mental number line accuracy and bias

The traditional view of cognition as detached from emotions is recently being questioned. This study aimed to investigate the influence of emotional valence on the accuracy and bias in the representation of numbers on the mental number line (MNL). The study included 164 participants who were randomly assigned into two groups with induced positive and negative emotional valence using matched arousal film clips. Participants performed a computerised number-to-position (CNP) task to estimate the position of numbers on a horizontal line. The results showed that participants in the positive valence group exhibited a rightward bias, while those in the negative valence group showed an opposite pattern. The analysis of mean absolute error revealed that the negative valence group had higher error rates compared to the positive valence group. Furthermore, the MNL estimation pattern analysis indicated that a two-cycle cyclic power model (CPM) best explained the data for both groups. These findings suggest that emotional valence influences the spatial representation of numbers on the MNL and affects accuracy in numerical estimations. Our findings are finally discussed in terms of body-specificity and the Brain's Asymmetric Frequency Tuning (BAFT) theories. The study provides new insights into the interplay between emotions and numerical cognition.

Normatively irrelevant disgust interferes with decision under uncertainty: Insights from the Iowa gambling task

This study investigates whether a not informative, irrelevant emotional reaction of disgust interferes with decision-making under uncertainty. We manipulate the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) by associating a disgust-eliciting image with selections from Disadvantageous/Bad decks (Congruent condition) or Advantageous/Good decks (Incongruent condition). A Control condition without manipulations is also included. Results indicate an increased probability of selecting from a Good deck as the task unfolds in all conditions. However, this effect is modulated by the experimental manipulation. Specifically, we detect a detrimental effect (i.e., a significant decrease in the intercept) of the disgust-eliciting image in Incongruent condition (vs. Control), but this effect is limited to the early stages of the task (i.e., first twenty trials). No differences in performance trends are detected between Congruent and Control conditions. Anticipatory Skin Conductance Response, heart rate, and pupil dilation are also assessed as indexes of anticipatory autonomic activation following the Somatic Marker Hypothesis, but no effects are shown for the first two indexes in any of the conditions. Only a decreasing trend is detected for pupil dilation as the task unfolds in Control and Incongruent conditions. Results are discussed in line with the "risk as feelings" framework, the Somatic Marker Hypothesis, and IGT literature.

Writing about a stressful experience can impair visual working memory

Acute stress has been well-established to impair working memory. However, less is known about how writing about an unresolved stressor may influence working memory or working memory processes. We addressed these issues in the present study (N = 282) by randomly assigning participants to write about an unresolved stressful experience (stressful writing condition or the events of the previous day). We then both measured performance on a change detection task and used computational modeling to estimate the processes underlying performance: attention, capacity, and guessing bias. We found that, relative to the control condition, writing about a stressful experience impaired change detection task performance and significantly impaired task attention. These results show that the effects of writing about an unresolved stressor may mimic the effects of acute stress on working memory, rather than conforming to expectations from mood-as-information theory.

The effect of mood on shaping belief and recollection following false feedback

The current study examined how mood affects the impact of false feedback on belief and recollection. In a three-session experiment, participants first watched 40 neutral mini videos, which were accompanied by music to induce either a positive or negative mood, or no music. Following a recognition test, they received false feedback to reduce belief in the occurrence of the events displayed in some of the videos (Session 2). This was followed by an immediate memory test and a delayed memory assessment one week later (Session 3). The results revealed that participants in negative mood reported higher belief scores compared to those in positive moods, despite an overall decline in belief scores for all groups following the false feedback. Notably, individuals in negative moods exhibited less reduction in their belief scores after encountering challenges, thereby maintaining a higher accuracy in their testimonies. Over time, a reduction in the clarity of participants' memory recall was observed, which correspondingly reduced their testimony accuracy. This study thus indicates that mood states play a role in shaping belief and memory recall under the influence of false feedback.

Effects of Induced Mood on Attention and Decision Strategies in Risky Choice

The effects of induced incidental moods on patterns of information search and decision outcomes were investigated in a risky choice task with mixed-domain problems. Viewing of short videos was used to induce either happy or sad mood in participants, who then made choices between pairs of options consisting of a probabilistic gain coupled with a probabilistic loss. Eyetracking measures of information search, specifically frequencies of transitions between key aspects of the decision alternatives, were analyzed and related to use of heuristic or analytic compensatory strategies. Data were also gathered in a control condition, where participants were instructed to use an EV-calculation strategy, a prototypical integrative compensatory strategy. Results showed significant differences in choices and attention transitions between the EV-instruction and the induced mood conditions, but minimal differences between the happy and sad induced mood conditions. Participants in the induced mood conditions showed relatively more evidence of heuristic strategy use, but analytic strategies remained the modal strategy in all conditions. Importantly, key types of attention transitions were shown to reliably predict the frequency of observed choices consistent with optimal (EV- maximizing) and certain heuristic strategies.

Evidence for Shifting Cognitive Strategies when Icons Appear in Unexpected Locations

OBJECTIVE

The present study examines the cognitive effects of placing icons in unexpected spatial locations within websites.

BACKGROUND

Prior research has revealed evidence for cognitive conflict when web icons occur in unexpected locations (e.g., cart, top left), generally consistent with a dynamical systems models. Here, we compare the relative strength of evidence for both dual and dynamical systems models.

METHODS

Participants clicked on icons located in either expected (e.g., cart, top right) or unexpected (e.g., cart, top left) locations while mouse trajectories were continuously recorded. Trajectories were classified according to prototypes associated with each cognitive model. The dynamical systems model predicts curved trajectories, while the dual-systems model predicts straight and change of mind trajectories.

RESULTS

Trajectory classification revealed that curved trajectories increased (+11%), while straight and change of mind trajectories decreased (-12%) when target icons occurred in unexpected locations (p < .001).

CONCLUSION

Rather than employing a single cognitive strategy, users shift from a primarily dual-systems to dynamical systems strategy when icons occur in unexpected locations.

APPLICATION

Potential applications of this work include the assessment of cognitive impacts such as mental workload and cognitive conflict during real-time interaction with websites and other screen-based interfaces, personalization and adaptive interfaces based on an individual's cognitive strategy, and data-driven A/B testing of alternative interface designs.

Verbal Aggressions Against Major League Baseball Umpires Affect Their Decision Making

Excessively criticizing a perceived unfair decision is considered to be common behavior among people seeking to restore fairness. However, the effectiveness of this strategy remains unclear. Using an ecological environment where excessive criticism is rampant-Major League Baseball-we assess the impact of verbal aggression on subsequent home-plate umpire decision making during the 2010 to 2019 seasons (N = 153,255 pitches). Results suggest a two-sided benefit of resorting to verbal abuse. After being excessively criticized, home-plate umpires (N = 110 adults, employed in the United States) were less likely to call strikes to batters from the complaining team and more prone to call strikes to batters on the opposing team. A series of additional analyses lead us to reject an alternative hypothesis, namely that umpires, after ejecting the aggressor, seek to compensate for the negative consequences brought on by the loss of a teammate. Rather, our findings support the hypothesis that, under certain conditions, verbal aggression may offer an advantage to complainants.

Trait sensitivity to stress and cognitive bias processes in fish: A brief overview

Like other animals, fish have unique personalities that can affect their cognition and responses to environmental stressors. These individual personality differences are often referred to as "behavioural syndromes" or "stress coping styles" and can include personality traits such as boldness, shyness, aggression, exploration, locomotor activity, and sociability. For example, bolder or proactive fish may be more likely to take risks and present lower hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal/interrenal axis reactivity as compared to shy or reactive individuals. Likewise, learning and memory differ between fish personalities. Reactive or shy individuals tend to have faster learning and better association recall with aversive stimuli, while proactive or bold individuals tend to learn more quickly when presented with appetitive incentives. However, the influence of personality on cognitive processes other than cognitive achievement in fish has been scarcely explored. Cognitive bias tests have been employed to investigate the interplay between emotion and cognition in both humans and animals. Fish present cognitive bias processes (CBP) in which fish's interpretation of stimuli could be influenced by its current emotional state and open to environmental modulation. However, no study in fish has explored whether CBP, like in other species, can be interpreted as long-lasting traits and whether other individual characteristics may explain its variation. We hold the perspective that CBP could serve as a vulnerability factor for the onset, persistence, and recurrence of stress-related disorders. Therefore, studying fish's CBP as a state or trait and its interactions with individual variations may be valuable in future efforts to enhance our understanding of anxiety and stress neurobiology in animal models and humans.

The Relationship Between Physical Exercise and Aggressive Behavior Among College Students: The Mediating Roles of Life Satisfaction, Meaning in Life, and Depression

Purpose

The deleterious impact of aggressive behavior on college students necessitates urgent mitigation. To explore the influencing factors and underlying mechanisms of aggressive behaviors among college students, this study aims to validate the mediating roles of life satisfaction, meaning in life, and depression by examining the relationship between physical exercise and aggressive behaviors among college students.

Methods

The Physical Activity Rating Scale-3 (PARS-3), Satisfaction with Life Scale, Meaning in Life Questionnaire, Chinese Version DASS-21 and 12-item Perception of Aggression Scale (POAS) were tested on 1596 college students from three universities in western China, and SPSS 26.0 and Mplus 8.3 were used for analysis.

Results

Physical exercise exhibited a significant negative correlation with both aggressive behaviors and depression among college students (r = -0.57, P < 0.001; r = -0.36, P < 0.001), as well as a significant positive correlation with life satisfaction and meaning in life (r = 0.45, P < 0.001; r = 0.27, P < 0.001). Regarding the impact of physical exercise on aggressive behaviors among college students, the mediating effects of life satisfaction, meaning in life, and depression were significant. The respective effect sizes were -0.11, -0.08, and -0.03. The chain mediation effect of life satisfaction through depression was also found to be significant, with an effect size of -0.02.

Conclusion

This study elucidates the mechanistic pathways through which physical exercise influences aggressive behavior among college students. The relationship between physical exercise and aggressive behavior is influenced by the individual mediating effects of life satisfaction, meaning in life, and depression, as well as the chain mediation effect of life satisfaction through depression. These findings provide a novel perspective on the prevention and intervention of aggressive behaviors among college students in China and potentially worldwide. This suggests that more attention should be paid to the organic combination of students' physical activity and mental health education.

What do women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) understand about their chance of IVF success?

STUDY QUESTION

How well informed are Australian women who undergo IVF about their chances of having a baby?

SUMMARY ANSWER

Only one in four women estimated their individual chance of success with IVF accurately, with most women overestimating their chance.

WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY

Limited knowledge about infertility and infertility treatment in the general population is well-documented. The few studies that have investigated patients' knowledge about the chance of IVF success suggest that while IVF patients are aware of average success rates, they tend to be unrealistic about their own chance of success.

STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION

We conducted an anonymous online survey of 217 women who had started IVF since 2018 in Australia. The survey was advertised on social media, enabling women from across Australia to participate. Responses were collected in June 2021.

PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS

The survey included questions on demographic characteristics and IVF history. It asked what participants thought their chance of having a baby from one IVF treatment cycle was, how they rated their knowledge about chance of success, and about their experience of receiving IVF-related information. Participants' estimations of their chance of success were compared with their chance as calculated by the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology's (SART) online calculator. Responses to a free-text question about what information women wished they had been given when they started treatment were analysed thematically.

MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE

Only about a quarter (58/217, 27%) of participants accurately estimated their chance of having a baby within 20% relative to their SART calculated chance, with more than half (118/217, 54%) overestimating their chance. Ninety percent of women indicated that their preferred source of treatment information was a consultation with their doctor, despite less than half (44%) reporting that doctors explained the probability of having a baby with IVF well (mean 5.9/10). In free-text responses, many women also reported that they wished they had been given more realistic information about IVF and their chance of success.

LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION

The dissemination method precludes calculation of response rate, and it is not possible to know if participants are representative of all women undergoing IVF. Additionally, we only surveyed women undergoing IVF, while those who decided not to have IVF were not included. Therefore, women who overestimated their chance may have been overrepresented. There is also inherent imprecision in the way understanding of chance of success was estimated. The potential impact of recall bias could neither be quantified nor excluded. It is difficult to determine to what extent women's lack of understanding of what is possible with IVF is due to poor information-provision by clinicians and the clinic, and how much can be explained by optimism bias.

WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS

The finding of poor understanding of personal chance of success amongst women undergoing IVF in Australia requires further investigation to determine potential reasons for this. The findings can be used by clinics to develop strategies for improvement in the information-provision process to ensure that women can make informed decisions about their fertility treatment.

STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S)

This study received no external funding. S.L. is supported by a NHMRC Investigator Grant (APP1195189). R.W. is supported by a NHMRC Investigator Grant (APP2009767). B.W.M. is supported by a NHMRC Investigator Grant (GNT1176437). B.W.M. reports consultancy for Merck and ObsEva and has received research funding and travel funding from Merck. The other authors have no conflicts of interest.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

N/A.

Social interpretation inflexibility moderates emotional reactions to social situations in children and adolescents

Interpretation biases and inflexibility (i.e., difficulties revising interpretations) have been linked to increased internalizing symptoms. Although adolescence is a developmental period characterized by novel social situations and increased vulnerability to internalizing disorders, no studies have examined interpretation inflexibility in adolescents. Additionally, no studies (on adolescents or adults) have examined interpretation flexibility as a protective factor against adverse outcomes of interpersonal events. Using a novel task and a 28-day diary we examined relations among interpretation bias and inflexibility, internalizing symptoms, and negative interpersonal events in a sample of children and adolescents (N = 159, ages 9-18). At baseline, negative interpretation bias was positively correlated with social anxiety symptoms, and positive interpretation bias negatively correlated with social anxiety and depressive symptoms. Inflexible positive interpretations were correlated with higher social anxiety and depressive symptoms, while inflexible negative interpretations were correlated with higher social anxiety. Finally, interpretation inflexibility moderated daily associations between negative interpersonal events and depressive symptoms in daily life, such that higher inflexibility was associated with stronger associations between interpersonal events and subsequent depressive symptoms, potentially increasing depressive symptom instability. These results suggest that interpretation biases and inflexibility may act as both risk and protective factors for adolescent anxiety and depression.

The Influence of Ambient Weather Conditions on Stated Preferences for Ecosystem Services Management

One of the assumptions in stated preference studies is the stability of respondents' preferences. This assumption might be violated in situations of context dependence, i.e., when the contingent situation influences respondents' choices. Ambient weather conditions (AWCs) are one element of the context that may influence stated preferences. The literature suggests that AWCs affect people's emotions, behaviors, and decision-making processes; however, the potential AWCs impact in environmental preference studies has not yet been investigated. This aspect is of high importance because context-dependent choices return biased willingness to pay estimates and affect the subsequent welfare analysis that informs public policy. To shed light on this important aspect of non-market valuation studies, we explore the effect of AWCs on preferences elicited with a Discrete Choice Experiment for ecosystem services management of a Nature Park. Results of a generalized mixed logit model evidenced a significant effect of AWCs on respondents' choices, with good weather conditions leading to higher preferences and willingness to pay for ecosystem services management. This result, which is consistent with previous psychological studies, raises the issue of sampling design and reveals the importance of a sensitivity analysis of WTP. As this issue is still unexplored in stated preference studies, we also encourage undertaking similar studies to add a priori knowledge for more accurate ex-post calibration of WTP estimates.

Accuracy and Response Time for Modus Ponens Syllogisms Vary by Controversial Topic and Categorical Emotion

Researchers have documented differential effects of emotion on cognitive processes, debating whether emotion may increase or decrease the response time and accuracy of logical thinking. The current study proposed that differences may be due to variability occurring across topic and categorical emotions, such that assessment of several basic emotional responses in the context of performing logical reasoning tasks may provide an initial indication of these differences. Utilizing modus ponens syllogisms composed of controversial statements, the current study evoked a variety of emotional responses and tested the accuracy of participants' basic logical thinking. Results indicated that logical skills were largely preserved despite the topic and emotion, nonetheless, accuracy varied across syllogism type (controversial vs. control), with increased accuracy on controversial syllogisms. Syllogisms rated as evoking no emotion were answered more accurately than those that evoked any emotion, with disgust and anger associated with less accuracy than no emotion and gladness associated with increased accuracy. Response times also differed across syllogism type, emotion, and emotion intensity.

Effectiveness of internet-delivered dialectical behavior therapy skills training on executive functions among college students with borderline personality traits: a non-randomized controlled trial

Given the enormous influence of emotions on cognitive processes, individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) suffer from marked deficits in higher-order thinking abilities. Considering the prevalence of BPD among college students, this study aimed to investigate the changes in perceived executive functioning among college students with traits/presence of BPD undergoing internet-delivered dialectical behavior therapy skills training (DBT-ST) that included the mindfulness and emotion regulation modules. An internet-delivered version of DBT-ST was opted for, as technological advancements in the present era promote the use of online platforms for psychotherapy. This non-randomized controlled trial consisted of 36 college students with traits/presence of BPD. The intervention group attended 13 sessions of DBT-ST, and the control group attended 13 sessions of behavioral activation. Perceived executive functioning was assessed using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions for Adults. A 2-way repeated measures analysis of variance was used to evaluate the treatment impact on the outcome variable. Results showed that the DBT-ST group had larger improvements in their abilities to initiate, plan, and organize current and future-oriented task demands and to organize their everyday environment, compared to the control group. Both, the DBT-ST group and the control group demonstrated improvements in emotional control, working memory, and their abilities to shift and task monitor. Findings suggest that the internet-delivered version of DBT-ST, consisting of the mindfulness and emotion regulation modules, can foster notable improvements in executive functions among college students with traits/presence of BPD. Improved executive functioning is one of the several multifaceted outcomes of dialectical behavior therapy.

Effectiveness of dialectical behavior therapy as a transdiagnostic treatment for improving cognitive functions: a systematic review

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) has been found to be an efficacious treatment for disorders characterized by high levels of emotional instability. In view of the multifaceted applications of DBT and the extent to which mental disorders can incapacitate cognitive functions, the current systematic review aimed to investigate the effect of DBT in strengthening cognitive functions across various mental health conditions. Original research studies employing both experimental and quasi-experimental designs were included in the review. The literature search was done using different electronic databases, from the first available literature until June 2022, that covered an approximate period of ten years. Joanna Briggs Institute checklist was used to assess the methodological rigor of the studies. Twelve studies conducted on adolescents with emotional dysregulation, and adults with borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and multiple sclerosis were selected. Results indicate that DBT has the potential to improve key cognitive functions such as attention, memory, fluency, response inhibition, planning, set shifting, tolerance for delayed rewards and time perception, as assessed by neuropsychological tests, self-report of cognitive functions, and neuroimaging techniques. Considering the review's findings that showcase the effectiveness of DBT in fostering improvements in cognitive functions, DBT may possibly be chosen as a preferred treatment to ensure that patients reach optimal levels of cognitive functioning. Limitations include lack of sufficient studies encompassing all the common mental health conditions, usage of neuroimaging techniques as only an indirect measure of cognitive functioning and nuances related to the quality of individual studies.

Emotional responses in archival work

Building on previous work investigating the impact of exposure to (a) records with traumatic potentialities and (b) interactions with donors and community researchers whose suffering is documented in the archives, this study sought to better understand emotional aspects of archival work. Using a diary research methodology, 15 archivists engaged in diary keeping for approximately four months. What emerged was a broad set of events and experiences that triggered a wide range of emotional responses arising from archival work. This included: pre-existing emotional states and characterological traits; emotional exchanges in the workplace with colleagues and others; emotional demands of the work (including emotion work and emotional labour); team and leader interactions arising from group tasks and leader behaviour; and organizational policies, climate, resources and demands. This broader set of interactional factors forms the foundation on which traumatic and other troubling events are encountered. Future research must consider the nature of archival organizations and interactions within them that contribute to the overall working experience. In addition, archival organizations need to take responsibility for creating a culture that demonstrates respect and appreciation for workers, acknowledges the interpersonal challenges of the work, and provides supports for archivists who are shouldering the challenges.

Do malpractice claim clinical case vignettes enhance diagnostic accuracy and acceptance in clinical reasoning education during GP training?

BACKGROUND

Using malpractice claims cases as vignettes is a promising approach for improving clinical reasoning education (CRE), as malpractice claims can provide a variety of content- and context-rich examples. However, the effect on learning of adding information about a malpractice claim, which may evoke a deeper emotional response, is not yet clear. This study examined whether knowing that a diagnostic error resulted in a malpractice claim affects diagnostic accuracy and self-reported confidence in the diagnosis of future cases. Moreover, suitability of using erroneous cases with and without a malpractice claim for CRE, as judged by participants, was evaluated.

METHODS

In the first session of this two-phased, within-subjects experiment, 81 first-year residents of general practice (GP) were exposed to both erroneous cases with (M) and erroneous cases without (NM) malpractice claim information, derived from a malpractice claims database. Participants rated suitability of the cases for CRE on a five-point Likert scale. In the second session, one week later, participants solved four different cases with the same diagnoses. Diagnostic accuracy was measured with three questions, scored on a 0-1 scale: (1) What is your next step? (2) What is your differential diagnosis? (3) What is your most probable diagnosis and what is your level of certainty on this? Both subjective suitability and diagnostic accuracy scores were compared between the versions (M and NM) using repeated measures ANOVA.

RESULTS

There were no differences in diagnostic accuracy parameters (M vs. NM next step: 0.79 vs. 0.77, p = 0.505; differential diagnosis 0.68 vs. 0.75, p = 0.072; most probable diagnosis 0.52 vs. 0.57, p = 0.216) and self-reported confidence (53.7% vs. 55.8% p = 0.390) of diagnoses previously seen with or without malpractice claim information. Subjective suitability- and complexity scores for the two versions were similar (suitability: 3.68 vs. 3.84, p = 0.568; complexity 3.71 vs. 3.88, p = 0.218) and significantly increased for higher education levels for both versions.

CONCLUSION

The similar diagnostic accuracy rates between cases studied with or without malpractice claim information suggests both versions are equally effective for CRE in GP training. Residents judged both case versions to be similarly suitable for CRE; both were considered more suitable for advanced than for novice learners.

Avoidance-motivational intensity modulated the effect of negative emotion on working memory

Although many studies have explored the association between negative emotion and working memory, the findings remain controversial. The present study investigated the role of avoidance-motivational intensity in modulating the effect of negative emotion on different processes (maintenance versus manipulation) of verbal and spatial working memory. Two experiments employed the modified delayed match-to-sample paradigms to separate the two processes of verbal and spatial working memory under different emotional states, respectively. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to perform the delayed match-to-sample task with or without reordering the characters (manipulation process of verbal working memory). In Experiment 2, mental rotation was used as the manipulation process of spatial working memory. The results showed that negative emotion only affected the manipulation process, but not the maintenance process. Relative to neutral and low avoidance-motivated negative conditions, the manipulation processes of both types of working memory were impaired under the high avoidance-motivated negative condition. No significant difference was observed between low avoidance-motivated negative condition and neutral condition. Our results are discussed in relation to efficiency processing theory and motivational dimensional model of affect. We conclude that negative emotional states with high avoidance-motivational intensity impair the manipulation process of verbal and spatial working memory.

Emotional responding to overt and subtle social exclusion among young women who engage in non-suicidal self-injury

People who engage in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) consistently report greater emotion reactivity and dysregulation than their peers. However, evidence that these self-reports reflect an amplified emotional response under controlled conditions is limited. Here we test the effects of both subtle and overt social exclusion, to determine whether self-reported emotion dysregulation reflects responses to real-time emotional challenge for people who self-injure. We recruited 100 young women with past-year NSSI and 100 without NSSI to an online experiment. Participants took part in a baseline social inclusion ball-tossing game, followed by either an overt or subtle social exclusion ball-tossing game, while we measured negative mood and belongingness. Despite reporting greater emotion reactivity (d = 1.40) and dysregulation (d = 1.63) than controls, women with past-year NSSI showed no differences in negative mood or belongingness ratings in response to either overt or subtle social exclusion. Within the NSSI group, exploratory analyses found greater endorsement of intrapersonal functions predicted greater negative mood following social exclusion (β = 0.19). Given that amplified emotional responding is central to prominent theoretical models of NSSI, findings highlight the need to better understand the divergence in findings between self-reported emotion dysregulation and real-time emotional responding among people who self-injure.

Social Interpretation Inflexibility and Functioning: Associations with Symptoms and Stress

Introduction: Interpretation inflexibility has been implicated in a range of mental health problems, including depression, social anxiety, and paranoia. Inflexible interpretation of social situations may be particularly important as it can set the stage for problems in social functioning, a symptom cutting across all three groups of disorders. Methods: This study aimed to examine the interrelations among interpretation inflexibility, social functioning impairment, and affective and psychotic symptoms. The study also explored the potential moderating effects of COVID-related preoccupation, as an example of a major stressor, on these relationships. Results: Based on a sample recruited from the general population (N = 247), interpretation inflexibility was found to be associated with social functioning impairment, with affective symptoms and paranoia as statistical mediators of the association. These relationships were magnified by ambient stress during the COVID-19 pandemic—a moderated mediation that was found only in relation to affective symptoms but not paranoia. A parallel network analysis further confirmed the moderating effects of COVID-related preoccupation on the relation between interpretation inflexibility and depression. Limitations: Measuring ambient stress with a self-report question on COVID-related preoccupation may not be representative of the amount of distress an individual experienced during the pandemic. Also, our mediation models were performed on cross-sectional data, thus not necessarily implying a feed-forward causal mediational relationship. Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of examining social functioning as a crucial outcome, as well as the differential role of stress in modulating social interpretation flexibility with respect to affective vs. psychotic symptoms.

Understanding performance measurement and management as a social system: towards a theoretical framework

Purpose

The conceptual foundations of performance measurement and management (PMM) are predominantly rooted in control systems research. However, the appropriateness of this paradigm for volatile and uncertain environments has been questioned. This paper explores whether grounding PMM in social systems theory and viewing uncertainty from an organisational behaviour perspective provides new insights into the PMM theory–practice gap.

Design/methodology/approach

A framework, rooted in social systems theory and practice theory, is created that describes how organisational behaviour shapes the social processes associated with organisational change. Semi-structured interviews of 35 people from 16 organisations coupled with thematic analysis are employed to identify the organisational behavioural characteristics that influence how PMM is executed in practice. PMM is then reconceptualised from the perspective of this social systems-based framework.

Findings

This investigation proposes (1) performance management is concerned with elements of PMM-related practices open to flexible interpretation by human agents that change the effectiveness of organisational practices, whereas performance measurement is concerned with elements of PMM-related practices not open to interpretation but deliberately reproduced to provide a consistent comparison with the past; (2) the purpose of PMM should be to achieve organisational effectiveness (OE) and (3) the mechanisms underlying performance management and performance measurement are social intervention and embeddedness, respectively.

Originality/value

This first social systems perspective of PMM advances the development of PMM's theoretical foundations by providing a behaviour-based interpretation of, and framework for, PMM-mediated organisational change. This competing approach has strong links to practice.

Reducing decision-making deficits in patients with brain injury: effect of slow-paced breathing

Impairments in decision-making have been reported in brain-damaged (stroke/traumatic brain injury) patients with a wide range of lesion sites. Here, we propose that the performances of patients in complex sequential decision-making (DM) tasks can be explained by their negative affectivity, leading to deliberative processing associated with poor DM performances. We assumed that a slow-paced breathing (SPB) training, by reducing negative affectivity would improve performances in a complex DM task. For 24 days, 34 brain-damaged patients (16 males and 18 females; 12 had a hemorrhagic stroke, 17 with an ischemic stroke and 5 with a TBI), practiced either daily SPB or sham trainings for five min, three times a day. Before and after training, we assessed their vagal tone (electrocardiogram-ECG), affectivity (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-PANAS) and certainty level (Dimensional Ratings Questionnaire-DRQ) and their performance on the Iowa Gambling Task. All participants showed initial weak performance, which improved only for patients in the SPB training condition. These results suggest that DM disorders in brain-damaged patients can be the consequence of their poor information processing strategy rather than an impairment in their DM abilities. Second, we showed that SPB could be efficient to normalize DM processes in brain injury patients.

Driving anger dimensions and their relationship with aberrant driver behavior in Lebanon: Results from a national self-reported survey

Driving anger may vary across countries due to culture. This might affect driver behavior, which, in turn, impacts the driving outcomes. This study aims to investigate the relationship between socio-demographic variables, driving anger, and the self-reported aberrant behavior among Lebanese drivers and to determine which anger dimension is linked to driving behavior. A cross-sectional study was conducted among eligible Lebanese drivers from all Lebanese governorates. Data were collected using an anonymous Arabic self-reported questionnaire that included demographic information, driving-related variables, and two scales: the Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) and the Driver Anger Scale (DAS). Four hierarchical regressions were performed taking the DBQ subscales as the dependent variable and the DAS subscales as independent variables. Out of 1102 surveyed drivers, 68.4% were males, having a mean age of 34.6 ± 12.3 years and an average driving experience of 13.5 ± 10.8 years. DBQ, DAS, and their subscales showed good reliability. Older age and female gender were negatively associated with the tendency of committing aggressive violations. However, being a professional driver and increasing annual mileage were positively associated with a higher tendency to commit aggressive violations. In addition to these factors, a higher educational level was found associated with a lower risk of driver's involvement in traffic violations. However, increased driving experience was associated with a higher tendency to commit aggressive violations. Reported driving errors were also found positively associated with older age, increasing mileage, and being a professional driver. However, larger driving experience and higher education were found protectors from erroneous behavior. Hierarchical regression showed that anger prompted by hostile gesture, discourtesy, police presence, traffic obstruction, and slow driving were positively associated with aggressive violations. All the DAS subscales were found to be positively associated with ordinary violations. traffic obstruction was also found associated with a higher tendency of drivers to commit lapses, as well as anger, which originated from police presence and slow driving which were found also positively associated with errors. Driver anger dimensions were found positively associated with aberrant driver behavior. To overcome road anger, there is a need to train drivers on coping strategies to restrain aberrant driving behavior.

The influence of incidental emotions on decision-making under risk and uncertainty: a systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental evidence

Emotions influence human decisions under risk and uncertainty, even when they are unrelated to the decisions, i.e. incidental to them. Empirical findings are mixed regarding the directions and sizes of the effects of discrete emotions such as fear, anger, or happiness. According to the Appraisal-Tendency Framework (ATF), appraisals of certainty and control determine why same-valence emotions can differentially alter preferences for risky and uncertain options. Building upon this framework of emotion-specific appraisals, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 28 experimental studies on the effects of discrete incidental emotions on decision-making under risk and uncertainty. We evaluated potential moderators at the task and study levels. We find emotion-specific, moderately heterogeneous effects partially in line with the expectations of the ATF. The framing and financial consequences of choices, the type of choices, and the presence of other participants during the task do not moderate the effect. Our meta-analytic results support the differential influence of discrete, incidental emotions on decision-making under risk and uncertainty depending on appraisals other than valence. We discuss limited sample sizes and heterogeneity as reasons for the absence of significant moderators and encourage experimental investigations of individual differences in the susceptibility to incidental affective influences.

Understanding preservice teachers' affective responses to VR-enabled scientific experiments

Preservice teachers' preparedness, perception, and affect toward certain technology systems influence the student acquisition of science knowledge, process skills, teaching innovation, and willingness to use technology in their classroom. The purpose of this study was to explore teachers' affective responses to a virtual reality-enabled scientific experiment (VaSE) system. Fifty-one preservice teachers majoring in educational technology participated in the study. They were divided into two groups, and their reactions were measured separately on two occasions. The first occasion used a standard system following the principle of Donald Norman's affective design model (ADM). The VaSE system was then revised with a strict version of ADM before the participants' reactions were measured for a second time. The positive and negative affect scale (PANAS) was utilized for affective state evaluation. Semi-structured interviews that focused on affective experiences were organized using an ADM framework and conducted immediately after the participants used VaSE. The results indicated that the positive affect experienced by the preservice teachers was significantly enhanced, and the negative affect was significantly weakened. Academic level, gender, and prior experience were important random effect factors that impacted the affective experience. It was also revealed that participants were more likely to be affected by immersion and interactivity in terms of enhancing positive affect and were more likely to be affected by behavioral layer elements in terms of weakening negative affect. A conclusion has been drawn to provide theoretical and practical suggestions for training preservice teachers in ways that improve their ability to integrate technology into the classroom.

The combined cognitive bias hypothesis in anxiety: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Cognitive theories have postulated the relational nature of different cognitive biases in the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders. To test this combined cognitive bias hypothesis, this review addressed the following questions: (i) whether different cognitive biases are associated with each other and (ii) whether one bias influences another bias. We identified 36 articles that studied the relationship between cognitive biases (attention, interpretation and memory bias). Of these, 31 studies were entered into two meta-analyses. Sixteen studies were included in the first meta-analysis of the correlation between cognitive bias indices. A further 15 studies were included in another meta-analysis to examine the transfer effects of cognitive bias modification (CBM) to another bias. Both meta-analyses yielded small but significant overall pooled effect sizes after the removal of outliers (r = 0.11 and g = 0.19 respectively). Moderator analyses revealed that the relationship between interpretation and memory bias was significantly stronger than other types of cognitive bias correlations and CBM is more potent in modifying biases when it was delivered in the laboratory compared with online. Our review quantifies the strength of the relationships between biases and transfer effects following CBM, which serves as a basis to further understand the mechanisms underlying biased information processing.

Trust in the Danger Zone: Individual Differences in Confidence in Robot Threat Assessments

Effective human–robot teaming (HRT) increasingly requires humans to work with intelligent, autonomous machines. However, novel features of intelligent autonomous systems such as social agency and incomprehensibility may influence the human’s trust in the machine. The human operator’s mental model for machine functioning is critical for trust. People may consider an intelligent machine partner as either an advanced tool or as a human-like teammate. This article reports a study that explored the role of individual differences in the mental model in a simulated environment. Multiple dispositional factors that may influence the dominant mental model were assessed. These included the Robot Threat Assessment (RoTA), which measures the person’s propensity to apply tool and teammate models in security contexts. Participants (N = 118) were paired with an intelligent robot tasked with making threat assessments in an urban setting. A transparency manipulation was used to influence the dominant mental model. For half of the participants, threat assessment was described as physics-based (e.g., weapons sensed by sensors); the remainder received transparency information that described psychological cues (e.g., facial expression). We expected that the physics-based transparency messages would guide the participant toward treating the robot as an advanced machine (advanced tool mental model activation), while psychological messaging would encourage perceptions of the robot as acting like a human partner (teammate mental model). We also manipulated situational danger cues present in the simulated environment. Participants rated their trust in the robot’s decision as well as threat and anxiety, for each of 24 urban scenes. They also completed the RoTA and additional individual-difference measures. Findings showed that trust assessments reflected the degree of congruence between the robot’s decision and situational danger cues, consistent with participants acting as Bayesian decision makers. Several scales, including the RoTA, were more predictive of trust when the robot was making psychology-based decisions, implying that trust reflected individual differences in the mental model of the robot as a teammate. These findings suggest scope for designing training that uncovers and mitigates the individual’s biases toward intelligent machines.

A New Social Picture Task to Assess Interpretation Bias related to social fears in adolescents

This pre-registered study focused on developing a new social picture task to assess interpretation bias related to social fears in adolescents. Using such a pictorial task may increase ecological validity and readily trigger emotional processes compared to more traditional verbal tasks that are often used. In the picture task, ambiguous social pictures were presented, followed by a positive and negative interpretation. In this study, we examined how the new task relates to an already existing interpretation bias task and how the new pictorial task relates to social fears in adolescents. The sample consisted of 329 adolescents aged 12 to 18 years. Interpretation bias was assessed with the newly developed pictorial task and with more traditional verbal vignettes. Social fears were measured with self-report questionnaires. The results suggest that the pictorial task was able to assess interpretation bias comparable to the verbal vignettes, suggesting appropriate convergent validity. Interpretation bias assessed with the picture task was linked to higher levels of fear of negative evaluation, the core symptom of social anxiety, but not to social anxiety symptoms in general. The verbal task was linked to both social fears and thus still seems the preferred method to investigate interpretation bias related to social fears in adolescents. However, we do believe that with further improvement of the pictorial task, it could be a useful addition to the research field.

Affect and Cognition in Managerial Decision Making: A Systematic Literature Review of Neuroscience Evidence

How do affect and cognition interact in managerial decision making? Over the last decades, scholars have investigated how managers make decisions. However, what remains largely unknown is the interplay of affective states and cognition during the decision-making process. We offer a systematization of the contributions produced on the role of affect and cognition in managerial decision making by considering the recent cross-fertilization of management studies with the neuroscience domain. We implement a Systematic Literature Review of 23 selected contributions dealing with the role of affect and cognition in managerial decisions that adopted neuroscience techniques/points of view. Collected papers have been analyzed by considering the so-called reflexive (X-) and reflective (C-) systems in social cognitive neuroscience and the type of decisions investigated in the literature. Results obtained help to support an emerging "unified" mind processing theory for which the two systems of our mind are not in conflict and for which affective states have a driving role toward cognition. A research agenda for future studies is provided to scholars who are interested in advancing the investigation of affect and cognition in managerial decision making, also through neuroscience techniques - with the consideration that these works should be at the service of the behavioral strategy field.

A novel computer task to assess outcome probability bias

This research describes the development of a novel computer task to assess outcome probability bias for social anxiety - the tendency to make unrealistically high evaluations of the probability of experiencing a negative outcome when anticipating a social encounter - that improves upon existing measures by using images and by assessing the construct at automatic and controlled levels of processing. The first study evaluated the images selected for the task and the extent to which the task elicited automatic responding, and the second study evaluated the task's reliability and validity. Across both studies, 203 college students completed the outcome probability bias computer task, standardized self-report questionnaires of outcome probability bias, outcome cost bias, depression and stress, and safety behaviors, and completed a behavioral avoidance task. The task demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency (α = 0.82 - 0.96) and significant positive correlations with a standardized measure of outcome probability bias (r = 0.33 - 0.48). With one exception, all hypotheses regarding the convergent, discriminant, construct, and criterion validity of the task were supported. Pending replication and additional evaluation, the outcome probability bias computer task may advance research on social anxiety disorder and may be adapted for use with other related disorders.

Developing a feasible and sensitive judgement bias task in dairy cows

Judgement bias tasks (JBTs) are used to assess the influence of farm practices on livestock affective states. The tasks must be adjusted to the species and age group of focus. In cattle, most JBTs were designed for calves instead of adult cows. This study aimed to develop a JBT suitable for adult dairy cows, combining feasibility, validity, sensitivity and repeatability. Three JBTs were developed in which cows were trained to reach or avoid reaching a feeder, the location of which signalled a reward or punisher. The tasks differed in terms of punisher-cows being allocated either to "no-reward", an air puff or an electric shock. Cows were then exposed twice to three ambiguous positions of the feeder, on two separate occasions. Speed of learning and proportions of correct responses to the conditioned locations were used to assess the feasibility of the task. Adjusted latencies to reach the ambiguous feeder positions were used to examine whether response patterns matched the linear and monotonic graded pattern expected in a valid and sensitive JBT at baseline. Latencies to reach the feeders in the two repeated testing sessions were compared to assess ambiguity loss over tasks' repetitions. The validity of using spatial JBTs for dairy cows was demonstrated. While the effect on JBT feasibility was nuanced, the punisher did influence JBT sensitivity. None of the JBTs' repeatability could be supported. We conclude that using an air puf as punisher led to the most sensitive, yet non-repeatable, JBT for dairy cows.

Reinforcement Learning in Patients With Mood and Anxiety Disorders vs Control Individuals: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

IMPORTANCE

Computational psychiatry studies have investigated how reinforcement learning may be different in individuals with mood and anxiety disorders compared with control individuals, but results are inconsistent.

OBJECTIVE

To assess whether there are consistent differences in reinforcement-learning parameters between patients with depression or anxiety and control individuals.

DATA SOURCES

Web of Knowledge, PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar searches were performed between November 15, 2019, and December 6, 2019, and repeated on December 3, 2020, and February 23, 2021, with keywords (reinforcement learning) AND (computational OR model) AND (depression OR anxiety OR mood).

STUDY SELECTION

Studies were included if they fit reinforcement-learning models to human choice data from a cognitive task with rewards or punishments, had a case-control design including participants with mood and/or anxiety disorders and healthy control individuals, and included sufficient information about all parameters in the models.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS

Articles were assessed for inclusion according to MOOSE guidelines. Participant-level parameters were extracted from included articles, and a conventional meta-analysis was performed using a random-effects model. Subsequently, these parameters were used to simulate choice performance for each participant on benchmarking tasks in a simulation meta-analysis. Models were fitted, parameters were extracted using bayesian model averaging, and differences between patients and control individuals were examined. Overall effect sizes across analytic strategies were inspected.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

The primary outcomes were estimated reinforcement-learning parameters (learning rate, inverse temperature, reward learning rate, and punishment learning rate).

RESULTS

A total of 27 articles were included (3085 participants, 1242 of whom had depression and/or anxiety). In the conventional meta-analysis, patients showed lower inverse temperature than control individuals (standardized mean difference [SMD], -0.215; 95% CI, -0.354 to -0.077), although no parameters were common across all studies, limiting the ability to infer differences. In the simulation meta-analysis, patients showed greater punishment learning rates (SMD, 0.107; 95% CI, 0.107 to 0.108) and slightly lower reward learning rates (SMD, -0.021; 95% CI, -0.022 to -0.020) relative to control individuals. The simulation meta-analysis showed no meaningful difference in inverse temperature between patients and control individuals (SMD, 0.003; 95% CI, 0.002 to 0.004).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

The simulation meta-analytic approach introduced in this article for inferring meta-group differences from heterogeneous computational psychiatry studies indicated elevated punishment learning rates in patients compared with control individuals. This difference may promote and uphold negative affective bias symptoms and hence constitute a potential mechanistic treatment target for mood and anxiety disorders.

How much Fear? Exploring the Role of Integral Emotions on Stated Preferences for Wildlife Conservation

Scientific evidence suggests that emotions affect actual human decision-making, particularly in highly emotionally situations such as human-wildlife interactions. In this study we assess the role of fear on preferences for wildlife conservation, using a discrete choice experiment. The sample was split into two treatment groups and a control. In the treatment groups the emotion of fear towards wildlife was manipulated using two different pictures of a wolf, one fearful and one reassuring, which were presented to respondents during the experiment. Results were different for the two treatments. The assurance treatment lead to higher preferences and willingness to pay for the wolf, compared to the fear treatment and the control, for several population sizes. On the other hand, the impact of the fear treatment was lower than expected and only significant for large populations of wolves, in excess of 50 specimen. Overall, the study suggests that emotional choices may represent a source of concern for the assessment of stable preferences. The impact of emotional choices is likely to be greater in situations where a wildlife-related topic is highly emphasized, positively or negatively, by social networks, mass media, and opinion leaders. When stated preferences towards wildlife are affected by the emotional state of fear due to contextual external stimuli, welfare analysis does not reflect stable individual preferences and may lead to sub-optimal conservation policies. Therefore, while more research is recommended for a more accurate assessment, it is advised to control the decision context during surveys for potential emotional choices.

The effects of personality and attitude on risky driving behaviour among public van drivers: hierarchical modelling

Background

Traffic injuries have become a significant public health problem in low- and middle-income countries. Several studies have examined the role of personality and attitude toward traffic safety in predicting driving behaviors in diverse types of drivers. Few studies have investigated risky behavior among public passenger van drivers. This study aims to identify the predictors of self-reported risky driving behavior among public van drivers.

Method

A total of 410 public van drivers were interviewed at terminal stations in Bangkok. Hierarchical regression models were applied to determine the effects of demographics, personality traits, and attitude on self-reported risky driving behaviors.

Results

The results indicated that drivers with a high education level, more working days, and high scores for normlessness and anger were more likely to report risky driving behaviors (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

The personality traits and attitude toward speeding account for aberrant self-reported risky driving behavior in passenger van drivers. This could be another empirical basis for evidence-based road safety interventions in the context of public transport.

Lack of an Attention Bias Away From Relatively Negative Faces in Dysphoria Is Not Related to Biased Emotion Identification

Eye-tracking-based attention research has consistently shown a lack of a normative attentional bias away from dysphoric face stimuli in depression, characterizing the attention system of non-depressed individuals. However, this more equal attention allocation pattern could also be related to biased emotion identification, namely, an inclination of depressed individuals to attribute negative emotions to non-negative stimuli when processing mood-congruent stimuli. Here, we examined emotion identification as a possible mechanism associated with attention allocation when processing emotional faces in depression. Attention allocation and emotion identification of participants with high (HD; n = 30) and low (LD; n = 30) levels of depression symptoms were assessed using two corresponding tasks previously shown to yield significant findings in depression, using the same face stimuli (sad, happy, and neutral faces) across both tasks. We examined group differences on each task and possible between-task associations. Results showed that while LD participants dwelled longer on relatively positive faces compared with relatively negative faces on the attention allocation task, HD participants showed no such bias, dwelling equally on both. Trait anxiety did not affect these results. No group differences were noted for emotion identification, and no between-task associations emerged. Present results suggest that depression is characterized by a lack of a general attention bias toward relatively positive faces over relatively negative faces, which is not related to a corresponding bias in emotion identification.

How cognitive and emotional empathy relate to rational thinking: empirical evidence and meta-analysis

Empathy is frequently described in opposition to rationality. Yet in two studies, we demonstrate that the relationship between rationality and empathy is nuanced and likely context dependent. Study 1 reports correlational data from two American samples and Study 2 presents a meta-analysis of existing literature (k = 22). We demonstrate that various types of cognitive empathy (perspective-taking, emotion recognition, and fantasy) are positively correlated with self-reported rationality, but unrelated to rational performance. In contrast, types of emotional empathy (empathic concern, personal distress, and emotion contagion) are generally negatively correlated with performance measures of rationality, but their relationships with self-reported rationality are divergent. Although these results do not settle the debate on empathy and rationality, they challenge the opposing domains hypothesis and provide tentative support for a dual-process model of empathy. Overall, these results indicate that the relationship between rationality and empathy differs depending upon how rationality and empathy are measured.

Research Before Policy: Identifying Gaps in Salmonid Welfare Research That Require Further Study to Inform Evidence-Based Aquaculture Guidelines in Canada

Aquaculture is a growing industry worldwide and Canadian finfish culture is dominated by marine salmonid farming. In part due to increasing public and stakeholder concerns around fish welfare protection, the first-ever Canadian Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Farmed Salmonids was recently completed, following the National Farm Animal Care Council's (NFACC) rigorous Code development process. During this process, both the Scientific (responsible for reviewing existing literature and producing a peer-reviewed report that informs the Code) and Code Development (a diverse group of stakeholders including aquaculture producers, fish transporters, aquaculture veterinarians, animal welfare advocates, food retailers, government, and researchers) Committees identified research gaps in tandem, as they worked through the literature on salmonid physiology, health, husbandry, and welfare. When those lists are combined with the results of a public "top-of-mind" survey conducted by NFACC, they reveal several overlapping areas of scientific, stakeholder, and public concern where scientific evidence is currently lacking: (1) biodensity; (2) health monitoring and management, with a focus on sea lice infection prevention and management; (3) feed quality and management, particularly whether feed restriction or deprivation has consequences for welfare; (4) enclosure design, especially focused on environmental enrichment provision and lighting design; and (5) slaughter and euthanasia. For each of these five research areas, we provide a brief overview of current research on the topic and outline the specific research gaps present. The final section of this review identifies future research avenues that will help address these research gaps, including using existing paradigms developed by terrestrial animal welfare researchers, developing novel methods for assessing fish welfare, and the validation of new salmonid welfare indices. We conclude that there is no dearth of relevant research to be done in the realm of farmed salmonid welfare that can support crucial evidence-based fish welfare policy development.

The role of ventromedial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in attention and interpretation biases in individuals with general anxiety disorder (GAD): A tDCS study

BACKGROUND

and purpose of the study: Individuals with general anxiety disorder (GAD) have deficits in emotional and cognitive processing, including cognitive bias, which plays a causal role in anxiety. Hyperactivity of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) is assumed to be involved in cognitive bias. We aimed to explore the causal contribution of the dorsolateral and ventromedial prefrontal cortices (dlPFC, vmPFC) on cognitive bias via non-invasive brain stimulation, and expected a bias-reducing effect of cortical activity enhancement over these areas in GAD, with a larger contribution of the vmPFC to perceptual, and of the dlPFC to interpretation bias.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The study was conducted in a randomized, single-blinded, and complete crossover design. Thirty-four adults with GAD, received transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in 5 separate sessions (1.5 mA, 20 min) with the following electrode montages: anodal dlPFC/cathodal vmPFC, anodal vmPFC/cathodal dlPFC, anodal dlPFC/cathodal right shoulder, anodal vmPFC/cathodal left shoulder, and sham stimulation. During stimulation, in each session, participants performed the Dot-Probe and Reading Mind from Eyes tests to measure attention and interpretation biases.

RESULTS

A significant effect of stimulation condition on attention and interpretation biases was observed. Anodal vmPFC and dlPFC stimulation coupled with an extracranial cathodal electrode reduced attention bias to threat-related stimuli in the dot-probe test. Furthermore, anodal dlPFC/cathodal vmPFC stimulation reduced negative interpretation bias in reading from eyes test.

CONCLUSION

As suggested by the results of this study, both dlPFC and vmPFC are involved in cognitive bias in GAD, but with partially different roles. Anodal stimulation over the right vmPFC and the left dlPFC reduced attention bias, supporting the relevance of these areas for attention bias. For interpretation bias, the significant effect of anodal dlPFC/cathodal vmPFC stimulation, but only trendwise effect of anodal tDCS over the dlPFC combined with an extracephalic return electrode is in accordance with a predominant effect of the dlPFC on interpretation bias, but does not rule out an additional minor involvement of the vmPFC. Based on these results, a new model is suggested for the neural underpinnings of anxiety symptoms.

User-Operated Audiometry Project (UAud) - Introducing an Automated User-Operated System for Audiometric Testing Into Everyday Clinic Practice

Hearing loss is the third leading cause of years lived with disability. It is estimated that 430 million people worldwide are affected, and the number of cases is expected to increase in the future. There is therefore increased pressure on hearing health systems around the world to improve efficiency and reduce costs to ensure increased access to quality hearing health care. Here, we describe the User-Operated Audiometry project, the goal of which is to introduce an automated system for user-operated audiometric testing into everyday clinic practice as a means to relieve part of this pressure. The alternative to the existing referral route is presented in which examination is executed via the user-operated system. This route is conceptualized as an interaction between the patient, the system, and the hearing care professional (HCP). Technological requirements of the system and challenges that are related to the interaction between patients, the user-operated system, and the HCPs within the specific medical setting are discussed. Lastly, a strategy for the development and implementation of user-operated audiometry is presented, which includes initial investigations, a validation study, and implementation in a real-life clinical situation.

Effects of Depressed Mood on Syllogistic Reasoning: The Buffering Role of High Working Memory Span

Previous research provided consistent evidence for the existence of the unique cognitive limitation in depressed mood: the impairment of the construction of mental models. In the current research, we applied the classical paradigm using categorical syllogisms to examine the relationship between depressed mood and integrative reasoning, aiming at gathering research evidence on the moderating role of the operation span of working memory. Specifically, we examine the hypothesis that high working memory capacity is a buffering variable and acts as a protective factor preventing the negative impact of depressed mood on syllogistic reasoning. A categorical syllogism, in the simpler evaluative form, consists of two premises (that are assumed to be true) and a conclusion that is to be evaluated as valid (when it follows logically from the premises) or invalid (when it does not follow from the premises). In the cover story, we informed participants that they would read about some observations carried out in a normal garden (believable conclusions) versus in a garden with radical genetic transformations (unbelievable conclusions) in order to stimulate the emergence of belief bias. The participants were 115 high school students who filled out the BDI scale and completed the OSPAN task. In line with predictions, there were main effects of depressed mood and operation span on the accuracy of performance (worse performance in the group with a high in comparison to a low level of depressed mood and much worse performance in low compared to high OSPAN participants). The analyses yielded a strong interaction effect of Depressed mood × OSPAN × Conflict. For participants with high levels of working memory capacity, there were no limitations related to a high level of depressed mood in syllogistic reasoning. On the other hand, a different pattern emerged for participants with low working memory span. In this group, participants with a high level of depressed mood in comparison to those with a low level of depressed mood showed much higher limitations in syllogistic reasoning, especially in reasoning concerning conflict syllogisms. We discuss the implications of this research for recent therapeutic programs using computerized cognitive tasks aimed at individuals with a high level of depressed mood.

The Influence of Academic Emotions on Learning Effects: A Systematic Review

Academic emotions can have different influences on learning effects, but these have not been systematically studied. In this paper, we objectively evaluate the influence of various academic emotions on learning effects and studied the relationship between positive and negative academic emotions and learning effects by using five electronic databases, including WOS, EMBASE, PubMed, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar. According to established standards, a total of 14 articles from 506 articles were included in the analysis. We divided the 14 studies into nine intervention studies and five observational studies; five of the nine intervention studies found that students who used active learning materials performed better and had higher mental loads than those who used neutral learning materials. Positive academic emotions promoted the learning effect. Four of the five observational studies with high school, college, and postgraduate participants reported that regulating academic emotions can improve learning effects. In conclusion, this paper holds that positive academic emotions are better than negative academic emotions at improving academic performance. In future research, a new method combining multichannel video observation, physiological data, and facial expression data is proposed to capture learners’ learning behavior in various learning environments.

Uncertainty and Demand for Insurance: A Theoretical Model of How Self-Control Manages the Optimal Decision-Making

With the present work, we aim to mark a beginning line on the study of decision-making of potential consumers in the insurance sector, with the long-term purpose of defining the optimal cognitive processes to be undertaken when deciding whether to purchase insurance or not. Decision-making in conditions of uncertainty is influenced by the dual-self model doers/planner integrated with the hot–cold states and prospect utility function. Thus, we present a theoretical model of choice-making to evaluate the level of optimal self-control necessary to be exerted if the individual is either in the hot or in the cold state depending on the arousal. This theoretical choice-making model lays the ground for the decision journey by following the long-term utility and avoiding gross mistakes that could lead the consumer not to insure, when the odds suggest doing it, or vice versa, in situations when it would not be necessary.

Like parent, like child: Is parent interpretation bias associated with their child's interpretation bias and anxiety? A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent psychiatric problem across the lifespan, with typical onset during the pediatric period. Prior literature has examined cognitive mechanisms associated with youth anxiety and identified interpretation bias, the threatening appraisal of ambiguity, as a ubiquitous correlate and likely mechanism. A small set of studies have examined interpretation bias and anxiety in parent-child dyads, although results about this potential relationship are conflicted. This systematic review and meta-analysis investigates the association between parent interpretation bias with child interpretation bias and child anxiety.

METHODS

Eight studies met the rigorous inclusion criteria, which required direct assessment of interpretation bias in both youth and parent.

RESULTS

Meta-analysis with a random effects model indicated a small and significant correlation between parent and child interpretation biases (r = 0.14, p < .01), as well as a small and significant correlation between parent interpretation bias and child anxiety (r =  = 0.20, p = .01).

LIMITATIONS

As only eight studies were included in this meta-analysis, reflecting the state of the extant literature, it is possible that, as data accumulate and this work continues in the future, results may or may not be replicated.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite variability in findings across the included empirical studies, the current meta-analysis suggests that a correlational relationship between parent interpretation bias and child bias/anxiety exists. This work has implications for conceptualizing parent interpretation bias as a possible explanatory mechanism underlying youth interpretation bias and anxiety.

The Double Framing Effect of Emotive Metaphors in Argumentation

In argumentation, metaphors are often considered as ambiguous or deceptive uses of language leading to fallacies of reasoning. However, they can also provide useful insights into creative argumentation, leading to genuinely new knowledge. Metaphors entail a framing effect that implicitly provides a specific perspective to interpret the world, guiding reasoning and evaluation of arguments. In the same vein, emotions could be in sharp contrast with proper reasoning, but they can also be cognitive processes of affective framing, influencing our reasoning and behavior in different meaningful ways. Thus, a double (metaphorical and affective) framing effect might influence argumentation in the case of emotive metaphors, such as “Poverty is a disease” or “Your boss is a dictator,” where specific “emotive words” (disease, dictator) are used as vehicles. We present and discuss the results of two experimental studies designed to explore the role of emotive metaphors in argumentation. The studies investigated whether and to what extent the detection of a fallacious argument is influenced by the presence of a conventional vs. novel emotive metaphor. Participants evaluated a series of verbal arguments containing either “non-emotive” or “emotive” (positive or negative) metaphors as middle terms that “bridge” the premises of the argument. The results show that the affective coherence of the metaphor's vehicle and topic plays a crucial role in participants' reasoning style, leading to global heuristic vs. local analytical interpretive processes in the interplay of the metaphorical and the affective framing effects.

The Automatic but Flexible and Content-Dependent Nature of Syntax

Syntactic processing has often been considered an utmost example of unconscious automatic processing. In this line, it has been demonstrated that masked words containing syntactic anomalies are processed by our brain triggering event related potential (ERP) components similar to the ones triggered by conscious syntactic anomalies, thus supporting the automatic nature of the syntactic processing. Conversely, recent evidence also points out that regardless of the level of awareness, emotional information and other relevant extralinguistic information modulate conscious syntactic processing too. These results are also in line with suggestions that, under certain circumstances, syntactic processing could also be flexible and context-dependent. However, the study of the concomitant automatic but flexible conception of syntactic parsing is very scarce. Hence, to this aim, we examined whether and how masked emotional words (positive, negative, and neutral masked adjectives) containing morphosyntactic anomalies (half of the cases) affect linguistic comprehension of an ongoing unmasked sentence that also can contain a number agreement anomaly between the noun and the verb. ERP components were observed to emotional information (EPN), masked anomalies (LAN and a weak P600), and unmasked ones (LAN/N400 and P600). Furthermore, interactions in the processing of conscious and unconscious morphosyntactic anomalies and between unconscious emotional information and conscious anomalies were detected. The findings support, on the one hand, the automatic nature of syntax, given that syntactic components LAN and P600 were observed to unconscious anomalies. On the other hand, the flexible, permeable, and context-dependent nature of the syntactic processing is also supported, since unconscious information modulated conscious syntactic components. This double nature of syntactic processing is in line with theories of automaticity, suggesting that even unconscious/automatic, syntactic processing is flexible, adaptable, and context-dependent.

Interpreting ambiguous emotional information: Convergence among interpretation bias measures and unique relations with depression severity

This study aimed to examine the convergence among interpretation bias measures and their associations with depressive symptom severity. Research into interpretation biases employs measures of interpretation bias interchangeably, however, little is known about the relationship between these measures. Participants (N = 82 unselected undergraduate students; 59 female) completed four computer-based interpretation bias tasks in a cross-sectional design study. Indirect measures, based on participants' reaction times, were not correlated with each other and had poor split-half reliability. Direct measures were more strongly correlated with depressive symptoms than indirect measures, but only the Scrambled Sentences Task explained a reliable unique portion of the variance in depressive symptoms. Interpretation bias tasks may not measure the same cognitive process and may differ in the extent to which they are a cognitive marker of depression-linked interpretation bias. These findings help to improve the measurement of and theory underlying interpretation bias and depressive symptoms.