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Sun HY, Jiang YP, Wang X, Cui LY, Sun HM. The effect of episodic foresight on intertemporal decision-making: the role of future self-continuity and perceived control. Cogn Process 2023; 24:173-186. [PMID: 36708402 DOI: 10.1007/s10339-023-01124-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2022] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
To investigate the mechanism of episodic foresight of different valences on intertemporal decision-making, this study examined the mediating role of future self-continuity in the influence of episodic foresight on intertemporal decision-making and the moderating role of perceived control in two experiments. The results found that (1) future self-continuity mediated the effect of episodic foresight on individuals' intertemporal decision-making; and (2) perceived control moderated the indirect effect of episodic foresight on intertemporal decision-making through future self-continuity. Under low perceived control, individuals with positive episodic foresight had stronger future self-continuity and preferred future options, while individuals with negative episodic foresight had lower future self-continuity. In contrast, under high perceived control, individuals with different episodic foresight potencies did not show significant differences in their future self-continuity levels, but all showed higher levels and tended to choose the delayed option when faced with an intertemporal choice. From the perspective of the self-cognition, this study provided new insights into the relationship between episodic foresight and intertemporal decision-making and the psychological mechanisms of intertemporal decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hong-Yue Sun
- Department of Psychology, College of Education, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China.
| | - Yuan-Ping Jiang
- Department of Psychology, College of Education, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xin Wang
- Department of Psychology, College of Education, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Li-Ying Cui
- Department of Psychology, College of Education, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China.
| | - Hong-Mei Sun
- College of Management, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China.
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2
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Burns P, Atance C, O'Connor AP, McCormack T. The effects of cueing episodic future thinking on delay discounting in children, adolescents, and adults. Cognition 2021; 218:104934. [PMID: 34749044 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2020] [Revised: 10/04/2021] [Accepted: 10/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Discounting the value of delayed rewards such that even a relatively small, immediately available reward is preferred to a larger delayed reward is a commonly observed human trait. Children are particularly steep discounters of delayed rewards as evidenced by delay of gratification studies. In recent years, however, a growing literature indicates that cueing individuals to imagine personal future events attenuates their discounting of delayed rewards. The present studies extend this literature by examining whether cueing future thinking promotes patient choices in children and adolescents. In Experiment 1 we found that cueing future thinking had no effect on 8-11-year-olds' (n = 177) delay discounting of either real or hypothetical rewards. In Experiment 2 we found that cueing adolescents (12-14-year-olds, n = 126) and adults (n = 122) to think about personal future events decreased their discounting of delayed rewards relative to three other conditions: a no cue control, an episodic memory condition and a novel 'future other' condition in which individuals imagine future events that might happen to a significant other person in their life. Cueing adults and adolescents to think about personal future events did not however affect how connected they felt to their future selves or their subjective sense of how close future time points felt to them - two constructs that have previously been shown to be related to delay discounting.
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3
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Soutschek A, Moisa M, Ruff CC, Tobler PN. The right temporoparietal junction enables delay of gratification by allowing decision makers to focus on future events. PLoS Biol 2020; 18:e3000800. [PMID: 32776945 PMCID: PMC7447039 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2020] [Revised: 08/25/2020] [Accepted: 07/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies of neural processes underlying delay of gratification usually focus on prefrontal networks related to curbing affective impulses. Here, we provide evidence for an alternative mechanism that facilitates delaying gratification by mental orientation towards the future. Combining continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) with functional neuroimaging, we tested how the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) facilitates processing of future events and thereby promotes delay of gratification. Participants performed an intertemporal decision task and a mental time-travel task in the MRI scanner before and after receiving cTBS over the rTPJ or the vertex (control site). rTPJ cTBS led to both stronger temporal discounting for longer delays and reduced processing of future relative to past events in the mental time-travel task. This finding suggests that the rTPJ contributes to the ability to delay gratification by facilitating mental representation of outcomes in the future. On the neural level, rTPJ cTBS led to a reduction in the extent to which connectivity of rTPJ with striatum reflected the value of delayed rewards, indicating a role of rTPJ–striatum connectivity in constructing neural representations of future rewards. Together, our findings provide evidence that the rTPJ is an integral part of a brain network that promotes delay of gratification by facilitating mental orientation to future rewards. Studies of neural processes underlying delay of gratification usually focus on prefrontal networks related to curbing affective impulses. This study reveals that the right temporo-parietal junction improves patience by shifting attention to future outcomes, strengthening the representations of future reward values in the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Soutschek
- Department of Psychology, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Munich, Germany
- Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, Department of Economics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- * E-mail:
| | - Marius Moisa
- Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, Department of Economics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Christian C. Ruff
- Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, Department of Economics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Philippe N. Tobler
- Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, Department of Economics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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4
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Bulley A, Miloyan B, Pepper GV, Gullo MJ, Henry JD, Suddendorf T. Cuing both positive and negative episodic foresight reduces delay discounting but does not affect risk-taking. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2019; 72:1998-2017. [DOI: 10.1177/1747021818819777] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Humans frequently create mental models of the future, allowing outcomes to be inferred in advance of their occurrence. Recent evidence suggests that imagining positive future events reduces delay discounting (the devaluation of reward with time until its receipt), while imagining negative future events may increase it. Here, using a sample of 297 participants, we experimentally assess the effects of cued episodic simulation of positive and negative future scenarios on decision-making in the context of both delay discounting (monetary choice questionnaire) and risk-taking (balloon-analogue risk task). Participants discounted the future less when cued to imagine positive and negative future scenarios than they did when cued to engage in control neutral imagery. There were no effects of experimental condition on risk-taking. Thus, although these results replicate previous findings suggesting episodic future simulation can reduce delay discounting, they indicate that this effect is not dependent on the valence of the thoughts, and does not generalise to all other forms of “impulsive” decision-making. We discuss various interpretations of these results, and suggest avenues for further research on the role of prospection in decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Bulley
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Beyon Miloyan
- School of Psychology and Health Sciences, Federation University Australia, Ballarat, VIC, Australia
| | | | - Matthew J Gullo
- Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Julie D Henry
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Thomas Suddendorf
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
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5
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Wundrack R, Prager J, Asselmann E, O'Connell G, Specht J. Does Intraindividual Variability of Personality States Improve Perspective Taking? An Ecological Approach Integrating Personality and Social Cognition. J Intell 2018; 6:E50. [PMID: 31162477 PMCID: PMC6480758 DOI: 10.3390/jintelligence6040050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2018] [Revised: 11/10/2018] [Accepted: 11/22/2018] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Research integrating cognitive abilities and personality has focused on the role of personality traits. We propose a theory on the role of intraindividual variability of personality states (hereafter state variability) on perspective taking, in particular, the ability to infer other peoples' mental states. First, we review the relevant research on personality psychology and social cognition. Second, we propose two complementary routes by which state variability relates to anchoring and adjustment in perspective taking. The first route, termed ego-dispersion, suggests that an increased state variability decreases egocentric bias, which reduces anchoring. The second route, termed perspective-pooling, suggests that an increased state variability facilitates efficient adjustment. We also discuss how our theory can be investigated empirically. The theory is rooted in an ecological interpretation of personality and social cognition, and flags new ways for integrating these fields of research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Wundrack
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10099 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Julia Prager
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10099 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Eva Asselmann
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10099 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Garret O'Connell
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10099 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Jule Specht
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10099 Berlin, Germany.
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Hill PF, Yi R, Spreng RN, Diana RA. Neural congruence between intertemporal and interpersonal self-control: Evidence from delay and social discounting. Neuroimage 2017; 162:186-198. [PMID: 28877515 PMCID: PMC10949520 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.08.071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2017] [Revised: 07/06/2017] [Accepted: 08/24/2017] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Behavioral studies using delay and social discounting as indices of self-control and altruism, respectively, have revealed functional similarities between farsighted and social decisions. However, neural evidence for this functional link is lacking. Twenty-five young adults completed a delay and social discounting task during fMRI scanning. A spatiotemporal partial least squares analysis revealed that both forms of discounting were well characterized by a pattern of brain activity in areas comprising frontoparietal control, default, and mesolimbic reward networks. Both forms of discounting appear to draw on common neurocognitive mechanisms, regardless of whether choices involve intertemporal or interpersonal outcomes. We also observed neural profiles differentiating between high and low discounters. High discounters were well characterized by increased medial temporal lobe and limbic activity. In contrast, low discount rates were associated with activity in the medial prefrontal cortex and right temporoparietal junction. This pattern may reflect biological mechanisms underlying behavioral heterogeneity in discount rates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul F Hill
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
| | - Richard Yi
- Department of Health Education and Behavior, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - R Nathan Spreng
- Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, Montreal Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 2B4, Canada; Human Neuroscience Institute, Department of Human Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Rachel A Diana
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
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7
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Thinking about others and the future: Neural correlates of perspective taking relate to preferences for delayed rewards. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2017; 18:35-42. [PMID: 29134457 PMCID: PMC5823963 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-017-0550-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
We infer the thoughts and feelings of others by taking their perspectives. Similar processes could be used to understand how we will be affected by future events, by allowing us to take the perspective of our future self. In this paper, we test this idea using a previously presented framework for guiding predictions. The framework proposes that a shared neural mechanism is involved in controlling egocentric bias, both while shifting our perspective away from self and towards others, and while shifting our perspective from immediate to future perspectives. To test this framework, 36 adults performed an intertemporal choice task. They were then scanned using 3T functional magnetic resonance imaging while completing a false-belief “localizer” task, which requires egocentric bias control. A positive correlation was observed between the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) response during the false-belief task, and preferences for delayed rewards in intertemporal choices. A subset of participants performed the intertemporal choice task again in the scanner, which revealed that the response of the same rTPJ cluster, individually localized during the false-belief task, was higher during delayed over immediate reward choices. In addition, functional connectivity between the rTPJ and ventromedial prefrontal cortex was found to differ between immediate and delayed choices. The current results indicate an overlap in processes of egocentric bias control and those that determine preferences in intertemporal choices, offering a social cognitive explanation for why rewards are devalued with delay in temporal discounting.
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Takesue H, Miyauchi CM, Sakaiya S, Fan H, Matsuda T, Kato J. Human pursuance of equality hinges on mental processes of projecting oneself into the perspectives of others and into future situations. Sci Rep 2017; 7:5878. [PMID: 28724902 PMCID: PMC5517530 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-05469-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2016] [Accepted: 05/31/2017] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
In the pursuance of equality, behavioural scientists disagree about distinct motivators, that is, consideration of others and prospective calculation for oneself. However, accumulating data suggest that these motivators may share a common process in the brain whereby perspectives and events that did not arise in the immediate environment are conceived. To examine this, we devised a game imitating a real decision-making situation regarding redistribution among income classes in a welfare state. The neural correlates of redistributive decisions were examined under contrasting conditions, with and without uncertainty, which affects support for equality in society. The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and the caudate nucleus were activated by equality decisions with uncertainty but by selfless decisions without uncertainty. Activation was also correlated with subjective values. Activation in both the dACC and the caudate nucleus was associated with the attitude to prefer accordance with others, whereas activation in the caudate nucleus reflected that the expected reward involved the prospective calculation of relative income. The neural correlates suggest that consideration of others and prospective calculation for oneself may underlie the support for equality. Projecting oneself into the perspective of others and into prospective future situations may underpin the pursuance of equality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hirofumi Takesue
- Graduate School of Law and Politics, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Carlos Makoto Miyauchi
- Graduate School of Law and Politics, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan.,Tamagawa University Brain Science Institute, 6-1-1 Tamagawagakuen, Machida, Tokyo, 194-8610, Japan
| | - Shiro Sakaiya
- Graduate School of Social Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Hongwei Fan
- Oracle (China) Software Systems Co., Ltd., 21/F, Unit C, Yuanyang Guanghua Center, No.5, Jinghua (S) St.,C Beijing, Beijing, 100020, China
| | - Tetsuya Matsuda
- Tamagawa University Brain Science Institute, 6-1-1 Tamagawagakuen, Machida, Tokyo, 194-8610, Japan
| | - Junko Kato
- Graduate School of Law and Politics, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. .,Institute for Diversity and Adaptation of Human Mind, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan.
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Jenkins AC, Hsu M. Dissociable Contributions of Imagination and Willpower to the Malleability of Human Patience. Psychol Sci 2017; 28:894-906. [PMID: 28504898 DOI: 10.1177/0956797617698133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to exercise patience is important for human functioning. Although it is known that patience can be promoted by using top-down control, or willpower, to override impatient impulses, patience is also malleable-in particular, susceptible to framing effects-in ways that are difficult to explain using willpower alone. So far, the mechanisms underlying framing effects on patience have been elusive. We investigated the role of imagination in these effects. In a behavioral experiment (Experiment 1), a classic framing manipulation (sequence framing) increased self-reported and independently coded imagination during intertemporal choice. In an investigation of neural responses during decision making (Experiment 2), sequence framing increased the extent to which patience was related to activation in brain regions associated with imagination, relative to activation in regions associated with willpower, and increased functional connectivity of brain regions associated with imagination, but not willpower, relative to regions associated with valuation. Our results suggest that sequence framing can increase the role of imagination in decision making without increasing the exertion of willpower.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrianna C Jenkins
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
| | - Ming Hsu
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
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Solway A, Lohrenz T, Montague PR. Simulating future value in intertemporal choice. Sci Rep 2017; 7:43119. [PMID: 28225034 PMCID: PMC5320483 DOI: 10.1038/srep43119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2016] [Accepted: 01/19/2017] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The laboratory study of how humans and other animals trade-off value and time has a long and storied history, and is the subject of a vast literature. However, despite a long history of study, there is no agreed upon mechanistic explanation of how intertemporal choice preferences arise. Several theorists have recently proposed model-based reinforcement learning as a candidate framework. This framework describes a suite of algorithms by which a model of the environment, in the form of a state transition function and reward function, can be converted on-line into a decision. The state transition function allows the model-based system to make decisions based on projected future states, while the reward function assigns value to each state, together capturing the necessary components for successful intertemporal choice. Empirical work has also pointed to a possible relationship between increased prospection and reduced discounting. In the current paper, we look for direct evidence of a relationship between temporal discounting and model-based control in a large new data set (n = 168). However, testing the relationship under several different modeling formulations revealed no indication that the two quantities are related.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alec Solway
- Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Roanoke, VA, USA
| | - Terry Lohrenz
- Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Roanoke, VA, USA
| | - P Read Montague
- Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Roanoke, VA, USA.,Department of Physics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA.,Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK
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Bulley A, Henry J, Suddendorf T. Prospection and the Present Moment: The Role of Episodic Foresight in Intertemporal Choices between Immediate and Delayed Rewards. REVIEW OF GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 2016. [DOI: 10.1037/gpr0000061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Humans are capable of imagining future rewards and the contexts in which they may be obtained. Functionally, intertemporal choices between smaller but immediate and larger but delayed rewards may be made without such episodic foresight. However, we propose that explicit simulations of this sort enable more flexible and adaptive intertemporal decision-making. Emotions triggered through the simulation of future situations can motivate people to forego immediate pleasures in the pursuit of long-term rewards. However, we stress that the most adaptive option need not always be a larger later reward. When the future is anticipated to be uncertain, for instance, it may make sense for preferences to shift toward more immediate rewards, instead. Imagining potential future scenarios and assessment of their likelihood and affective consequences allows humans to determine when it is more adaptive to delay gratification in pursuit of a larger later reward, and when the better strategy is to indulge in a present temptation. We discuss clinical studies that highlight when and how the effect of episodic foresight on intertemporal decision-making can be altered, and consider the relevance of this perspective to understanding the nature of self-control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Bulley
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland
| | - Julie Henry
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland
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