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Wang X, McGowan AL, Fosco GM, Falk EB, Bassett DS, Lydon-Staley DM. A socioemotional network perspective on momentary experiences of family conflict in young adults. Fam Process 2024. [PMID: 38529525 DOI: 10.1111/famp.12995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2022] [Revised: 01/29/2024] [Accepted: 03/11/2024] [Indexed: 03/27/2024]
Abstract
Family conflict is an established predictor of psychopathology in youth. Traditional approaches focus on between-family differences in conflict. Daily fluctuations in conflict within families might also impact psychopathology, but more research is needed to understand how and why. Using 21 days of daily diary data and 6-times a day experience-sampling data (N = 77 participants; mean age = 21.18, SD = 1.75; 63 women, 14 men), we captured day-to-day and within-day fluctuations in family conflict, anger, anxiety, and sadness. Using multilevel models, we find that days of higher-than-usual anger are also days of higher-than-usual family conflict. Examining associations between family conflict and emotions within days, we find that moments of higher-than-usual anger predict higher-than-usual family conflict later in the day. We observe substantial between-family differences in these patterns with implications for psychopathology; youth showing the substantial interplay between family conflict and emotions across time had a more perseverative family conflict and greater trait anxiety. Overall, findings indicate the importance of increases in youth anger for experiences of family conflict during young adulthood and demonstrate how intensive repeated measures coupled with network analytic approaches can capture long-theorized notions of reciprocal processes in daily family life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinyi Wang
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Amanda L McGowan
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Gregory M Fosco
- Human Development & Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, USA
- The Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Marketing Department, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Dani S Bassett
- Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
| | - David M Lydon-Staley
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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Kang Y, Ahn J, Cosme D, Mwilambwe-Tshilobo L, McGowan A, Zhou D, Boyd ZM, Jovanova M, Stanoi O, Mucha PJ, Ochsner KN, Bassett DS, Lydon-Staley D, Falk EB. Frontoparietal functional connectivity moderates the link between time spent on social media and subsequent negative affect in daily life. Sci Rep 2023; 13:20501. [PMID: 37993522 PMCID: PMC10665348 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-46040-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2023] [Accepted: 10/26/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Evidence on the harms and benefits of social media use is mixed, in part because the effects of social media on well-being depend on a variety of individual difference moderators. Here, we explored potential neural moderators of the link between time spent on social media and subsequent negative affect. We specifically focused on the strength of correlation among brain regions within the frontoparietal system, previously associated with the top-down cognitive control of attention and emotion. Participants (N = 54) underwent a resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. Participants then completed 28 days of ecological momentary assessment and answered questions about social media use and negative affect, twice a day. Participants who spent more than their typical amount of time on social media since the previous time point reported feeling more negative at the present moment. This within-person temporal association between social media use and negative affect was mainly driven by individuals with lower resting state functional connectivity within the frontoparietal system. By contrast, time spent on social media did not predict subsequent affect for individuals with higher frontoparietal functional connectivity. Our results highlight the moderating role of individual functional neural connectivity in the relationship between social media and affect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoona Kang
- Department of Psychology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Camden, NJ, 08102, USA.
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
| | - Jeesung Ahn
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Danielle Cosme
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | | | - Amanda McGowan
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, H4B 1R6, Canada
| | - Dale Zhou
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Zachary M Boyd
- Department of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, 84604, USA
| | - Mia Jovanova
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Ovidia Stanoi
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA
| | - Peter J Mucha
- Department of Mathematics, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA
| | - Kevin N Ochsner
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA
| | - Dani S Bassett
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - David Lydon-Staley
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
- Wharton Marketing Department, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
- Wharton Operations, Information and Decisions Department, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
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Andrews M, Cooper N, Mattan BD, Carreras-Tartak J, Paul AM, Strasser AA, Henriksen L, Falk EB. Causal effects of point-of-sale cigarette promotions and subjective social status on cigarette craving: a randomised within-person experiment. Tob Control 2023:tc-2023-058069. [PMID: 37949653 PMCID: PMC11082063 DOI: 10.1136/tc-2023-058069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cigarette smoking continues to be a leading cause of preventable deaths in the USA, in part because the USA has not adopted the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. One way the tobacco industry counteracts tobacco control policies is by heavily advertising cigarettes at the point of sale in retailers (eg, at the cash register) and by offering discounts on cigarettes. DESIGN A within-subject experimental design with adults who smoke cigarettes daily (n=281) investigated whether: (1) exposure to images of cigarette promotions in an online experiment is associated with greater cigarette craving relative to viewing images of non-smoking cues, and (2) if exposure to images of point-of-sale cigarette promotions with a discount (vs without) increases cigarette craving. The study also examined how participants' subjective social status (compared with others in the USA) relates to cigarette craving after exposure to images of cigarette promotions with and without a discount. RESULTS In an online experiment, exposure to images of smoking cues, including point-of-sale cigarette promotions, elicited greater craving relative to non-smoking cues (all p<0.001). In addition, images of promotions with a discount elicited higher levels of craving compared with those without a discount (b=0.09, p=0.001). Although participants with a higher (vs lower) subjective social status craved cigarettes less overall (b=-0.12, p=0.012), there was no difference in their craving between images of promotions with and without a discount, while craving was higher for images of promotions with a discount than without for participants with higher subjective social status (b=0.06, p=0.021). CONCLUSION Viewing images of point-of-sale cigarette promotions can causally increase cravings to smoke, which may also apply to real-world retail settings that display cigarette promotions. Restricting point-of-sale promotions generally, and discounts specifically, could help reduce cigarette smoking and address tobacco use disparities in the USA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary Andrews
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Nicole Cooper
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Bradley D Mattan
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - José Carreras-Tartak
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Alexandra M Paul
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Andrew A Strasser
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Lisa Henriksen
- Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Wharton Marketing Department, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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4
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Chan HY, Scholz C, Cosme D, Martin RE, Benitez C, Resnick A, Carreras-Tartak J, Cooper N, Paul AM, Falk EB. Neural signals predict information sharing across cultures. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2313175120. [PMID: 37871199 PMCID: PMC10622920 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2313175120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 10/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Information sharing influences which messages spread and shape beliefs, behavior, and culture. In a preregistered neuroimaging study conducted in the United States and the Netherlands, we demonstrate replicability, predictive validity, and generalizability of a brain-based prediction model of information sharing. Replicating findings in Scholz et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 114, 2881-2886 (2017), self-, social-, and value-related neural signals in a group of individuals tracked the population sharing of US news articles. Preregistered brain-based prediction models trained on Scholz et al. (2017) data proved generalizable to the new data, explaining more variance in population sharing than self-report ratings alone. Neural signals (versus self-reports) more reliably predicted sharing cross-culturally, suggesting that they capture more universal psychological mechanisms underlying sharing behavior. These findings highlight key neurocognitive foundations of sharing, suggest potential target mechanisms for interventions to increase message effectiveness, and advance brain-as-predictor research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hang-Yee Chan
- Department of Marketing, King’s Business School, King’s College London, LondonWC2B 4BG, United Kingdom
| | - Christin Scholz
- Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam1018 WV, The Netherlands
| | - Danielle Cosme
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA19104
| | - Rebecca E. Martin
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA19104
| | - Christian Benitez
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA19104
| | - Anthony Resnick
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA19104
| | - José Carreras-Tartak
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA19104
| | - Nicole Cooper
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA19104
| | - Alexandra M. Paul
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA19104
| | - Emily B. Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA19104
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5
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Jovanova M, Cosme D, Doré B, Kang Y, Stanoi O, Cooper N, Helion C, Lomax S, McGowan AL, Boyd ZM, Bassett DS, Mucha PJ, Ochsner KN, Lydon-Staley DM, Falk EB. Psychological distance intervention reminders reduce alcohol consumption frequency in daily life. Sci Rep 2023; 13:12045. [PMID: 37491371 PMCID: PMC10368637 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-38478-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2022] [Accepted: 07/09/2023] [Indexed: 07/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Modifying behaviors, such as alcohol consumption, is difficult. Creating psychological distance between unhealthy triggers and one's present experience can encourage change. Using two multisite, randomized experiments, we examine whether theory-driven strategies to create psychological distance-mindfulness and perspective-taking-can change drinking behaviors among young adults without alcohol dependence via a 28-day smartphone intervention (Study 1, N = 108 participants, 5492 observations; Study 2, N = 218 participants, 9994 observations). Study 2 presents a close replication with a fully remote delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. During weeks when they received twice-a-day intervention reminders, individuals in the distancing interventions reported drinking less frequently than on control weeks-directionally in Study 1, and significantly in Study 2. Intervention reminders reduced drinking frequency but did not impact amount. We find that smartphone-based mindfulness and perspective-taking interventions, aimed to create psychological distance, can change behavior. This approach requires repeated reminders, which can be delivered via smartphones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mia Jovanova
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA.
| | - Danielle Cosme
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
| | - Bruce Doré
- Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Yoona Kang
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
| | - Ovidia Stanoi
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, USA
| | - Nicole Cooper
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
| | - Chelsea Helion
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, USA
| | - Silicia Lomax
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
| | - Amanda L McGowan
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
| | - Zachary M Boyd
- Mathematics Department, Brigham Young University, Provo, USA
| | - Dani S Bassett
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
- Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
- The Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, USA
| | - Peter J Mucha
- Department of Mathematics, Dartmouth College, Hanover, USA
| | - Kevin N Ochsner
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, USA
| | - David M Lydon-Staley
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
- Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA.
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA.
- Wharton Marketing Department, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA.
- Wharton Operations, Information and Decisions Department, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA.
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6
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McGowan AL, Sayed F, Boyd ZM, Jovanova M, Kang Y, Speer ME, Cosme D, Mucha PJ, Ochsner KN, Bassett DS, Falk EB, Lydon-Staley DM. Dense Sampling Approaches for Psychiatry Research: Combining Scanners and Smartphones. Biol Psychiatry 2023; 93:681-689. [PMID: 36797176 PMCID: PMC10038886 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.12.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2022] [Revised: 11/22/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Together, data from brain scanners and smartphones have sufficient coverage of biology, psychology, and environment to articulate between-person differences in the interplay within and across biological, psychological, and environmental systems thought to underlie psychopathology. An important next step is to develop frameworks that combine these two modalities in ways that leverage their coverage across layers of human experience to have maximum impact on our understanding and treatment of psychopathology. We review literature published in the last 3 years highlighting how scanners and smartphones have been combined to date, outline and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of existing approaches, and sketch a network science framework heretofore underrepresented in work combining scanners and smartphones that can push forward our understanding of health and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda L McGowan
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Farah Sayed
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Zachary M Boyd
- Department of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
| | - Mia Jovanova
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Yoona Kang
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Megan E Speer
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York
| | - Danielle Cosme
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Peter J Mucha
- Department of Mathematics, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
| | - Kevin N Ochsner
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York
| | - Dani S Bassett
- Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Department of Physics & Astronomy, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Marketing Department, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Operations, Information and Decisions, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - David M Lydon-Staley
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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7
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Minich M, Falk EB, Cooper N, Cosme D, Chan HY, Pei R, O'Donnell MB, Cascio CN. Neural correlates associated with conformity in adolescent and young adult men. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2023; 60:101215. [PMID: 36841181 PMCID: PMC9982604 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2022] [Revised: 02/02/2023] [Accepted: 02/08/2023] [Indexed: 02/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Social influence affects us throughout our lives, shaping our attitudes, behaviors, and preferences. Thus, the current study aimed to examine whether key age groups (adolescence versus young adulthood) were associated with differences in neural correlates associated with processing social feedback and conformity (i.e., conflict detection, positive valuation, and mentalizing) among young men. We recruited 153 participants across 5 studies, who completed a social influence task during an fMRI scan. Overall, participants were more likely to conform by changing their ratings when misaligned with others, and adolescents were more likely to conform when misaligned (compared to aligned) with others compared to young adults. Further, we found that adolescents showed increased activity in mentalizing (TPJ, dmPFC) and positive valuation regions (VS, vmPFC), compared to young adults, in response to misalignment with others. In contrast, young adults showed increased activity in conflict detection regions (AI, dACC) when exposed to feedback that they were misaligned with others and when conforming to that feedback. Overall, our results offer initial evidence that adolescent and young adult men engage different neural processes when they find out they are misaligned with others and when conforming to the recommendations of others, and this difference appears to track with brain responses in conflict detection, mentalizing and value regions. DATA STATEMENT: Raw data and analysis codes are available upon request.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matt Minich
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States.
| | | | | | | | | | - Rui Pei
- University of Pennsylvania, United States; Stanford University, United States
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8
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Scholz C, Baek EC, Falk EB. Invoking Self-Related and Social Thoughts Impacts Online Information Sharing. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2023; 18:7069077. [PMID: 36869716 PMCID: PMC10088358 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsad013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2022] [Revised: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 03/01/2023] [Indexed: 03/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Online sharing impacts which information is widely available and influential in society. Yet, systematically influencing sharing behavior remains difficult. Past research highlights two factors associated with sharing: the social and self-relevance of the to-be-shared content. Based on this prior neuroimaging work and theory, we developed a manipulation in the form of short prompts that are attached to media content (here health news articles). These prompts encourage readers to think about how sharing the content may help them to fulfill motivations to present themselves positively (self-relevance) or connect positively to others (social relevance). Fifty-three young adults completed this pre-registered experiment while undergoing fMRI scanning. Ninety six health news articles were randomly assigned to three within-subject conditions that encouraged self-related or social thinking, or a control. Invoking self-related or social thoughts about health-related news (vs. control) 1) causally increased brain activity in a priori regions of interest chosen for their roles in processing social and self-relevance and 2) causally impacted self-reported sharing intentions. This study provides evidence corroborating prior reverse inferences regarding the neural correlates of sharing. It further highlights the feasibility and utility of targeting neuropsychological processes to systematically facilitate online information spread.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Scholz
- Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1018WV, The Netherlands
| | - E C Baek
- Department of Psychology, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - E B Falk
- Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.,Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.,Wharton Marketing Department, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.,University of Pennsylvania
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9
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McGowan AL, Boyd ZM, Kang Y, Bennett L, Mucha PJ, Ochsner KN, Bassett DS, Falk EB, Lydon-Staley DM. Within-Person Temporal Associations Among Self-Reported Physical Activity, Sleep, and Well-Being in College Students. Psychosom Med 2023; 85:141-153. [PMID: 36728904 PMCID: PMC9918680 DOI: 10.1097/psy.0000000000001159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE A holistic understanding of the naturalistic dynamics among physical activity, sleep, emotions, and purpose in life as part of a system reflecting wellness is key to promoting well-being. The main aim of this study was to examine the day-to-day dynamics within this wellness system. METHODS Using self-reported emotions (happiness, sadness, anger, anxiousness) and physical activity periods collected twice per day, and daily reports of sleep and purpose in life via smartphone experience sampling, more than 28 days as college students ( n = 226 young adults; mean [standard deviation] = 20.2 [1.7] years) went about their daily lives, we examined day-to-day temporal and contemporaneous dynamics using multilevel vector autoregressive models that consider the network of wellness together. RESULTS Network analyses revealed that higher physical activity on a given day predicted an increase of happiness the next day. Higher sleep quality on a given night predicted a decrease in negative emotions the next day, and higher purpose in life predicted decreased negative emotions up to 2 days later. Nodes with the highest centrality were sadness, anxiety, and happiness in the temporal network and purpose in life, anxiety, and anger in the contemporaneous network. CONCLUSIONS Although the effects of sleep and physical activity on emotions and purpose in life may be shorter term, a sense of purpose in life is a critical component of wellness that can have slightly longer effects, bleeding into the next few days. High-arousal emotions and purpose in life are central to motivating people into action, which can lead to behavior change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda L. McGowan
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Zachary M. Boyd
- Department of Mathematics, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA
| | - Yoona Kang
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Logan Bennett
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Peter J. Mucha
- Department of Mathematics, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
| | - Kevin N. Ochsner
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York City, NY, USA
| | - Dani S. Bassett
- Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, USA
| | - Emily B. Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Marketing Department, and Operations, Information and Decision Department, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
| | - David M. Lydon-Staley
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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10
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Cosme D, Scholz C, Chan HY, Doré BP, Pandey P, Carreras-Tartak J, Cooper N, Paul A, Burns SM, Falk EB. Message self and social relevance increases intentions to share content: Correlational and causal evidence from six studies. J Exp Psychol Gen 2023; 152:253-267. [PMID: 35951378 DOI: 10.1037/xge0001270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Information sharing within social networks can catalyze widespread attitudinal and behavioral change and the chance to share information with others has been characterized as inherently valuable to people. But what are the sources of value and how might they be leveraged to promote sharing? We test ideas from the value-based virality model that the value of sharing increases when people perceive messages as more relevant to themselves and to people they know, resulting in stronger intentions to share. We extend this work by considering how sharing context-broadcasting to a wide audience or narrowcasting directly to someone-may alter these relationships. Six online studies with adults in the United States (N participants = 3,727; messages = 362; message ratings = 30,954) showed robust evidence that self and social relevance are positively and uniquely related to sharing intentions within- and between-person. Specification curve analysis showed these relationships were consistent across message content (COVID-19, voting, general health, climate change), medium (social media post and news articles), and sharing context (broad- and narrowcasting). A preregistered experiment showed that manipulating the self and social relevance of messages through a framing manipulation causally increased sharing intentions. These causal effects were mediated by changes in both self and social relevance, but the relative strength of the causal pathways differed depending on sharing context. These findings extend existing models of information sharing, and highlight self and social relevance as psychological mechanisms that motivate information sharing that can be targeted to promote sharing across contexts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
- Danielle Cosme
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania
| | - Christin Scholz
- Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam
| | - Hang-Yee Chan
- Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam
| | - Bruce P Doré
- Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University
| | | | | | - Nicole Cooper
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania
| | - Alexandra Paul
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania
| | - Shannon M Burns
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania
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11
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Kang Y, Cosme D, Lydon-Staley D, Ahn J, Jovanova M, Corbani F, Lomax S, Stanoi O, Strecher V, Mucha PJ, Ochsner K, Bassett DS, Falk EB. Purpose in life, neural alcohol cue reactivity and daily alcohol use in social drinkers. Addiction 2022; 117:3049-3057. [PMID: 35915548 DOI: 10.1111/add.16012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2022] [Accepted: 07/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIM Alcohol craving is an urge to consume alcohol that commonly precedes drinking; however, craving does not lead to drinking for all people under all circumstances. The current study measured the correlation between neural reactivity and alcohol cues as a risk, and purpose in daily life as a protective factor that may influence the link between alcohol craving and the subsequent amount of consumption. DESIGN Observational study that correlated functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data on neural cue reactivity and ecological momentary assessments (EMA) on purpose in life and alcohol use. SETTING Two college campuses in the United States. PARTICIPANTS A total of 54 college students (37 women, 16 men, and 1 other) recruited via campus-based groups from January 2019 to October 2020. MEASUREMENTS Participants underwent fMRI while viewing images of alcohol; we examined activity within the ventral striatum, a key region of interest implicated in reward and craving. Participants then completed 28 days of EMA and answered questions about daily levels of purpose in life and alcohol use, including how much they craved and consumed alcohol. FINDINGS A significant three-way interaction indicated that greater alcohol cue reactivity within the ventral striatum was associated with heavier alcohol use following craving in daily life only when people were previously feeling a lower than usual sense of purpose. By contrast, individuals with heightened neural alcohol cue reactivity drank less in response to craving if they were feeling a stronger than their usual sense of purpose in the preceding moments (binteraction = -0.086, P < 0.001, 95% CI = -0.137, -0.035). CONCLUSIONS Neural sensitivity to alcohol cues within the ventral striatum appears to be a potential risk for increased alcohol use in social drinkers, when people feel less purposeful. Enhancing daily levels of purpose in life may promote alcohol moderation among social drinkers who show relatively higher reactivity to alcohol cues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoona Kang
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Danielle Cosme
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - David Lydon-Staley
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Jeesung Ahn
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Mia Jovanova
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Faustine Corbani
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States
| | - Silicia Lomax
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Ovidia Stanoi
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States
| | - Victor Strecher
- School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
| | - Peter J Mucha
- Department of Mathematics, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, United States
| | - Kevin Ochsner
- Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York, United States
| | - Dani S Bassett
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.,Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.,Wharton Marketing Department, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104, United States.,Wharton Operations, Information and Decisions Department, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
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12
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Tsoi L, Burns SM, Falk EB, Tamir DI. The promises and pitfalls of functional magnetic resonance imaging hyperscanning for social interaction research. Soc Personal Psychol Compass 2022; 16:e12707. [PMID: 36407123 PMCID: PMC9667901 DOI: 10.1111/spc3.12707] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2022] [Revised: 08/23/2022] [Accepted: 08/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Social neuroscience combines tools and perspectives from social psychology and neuroscience to understand how people interact with their social world. Here we discuss a relatively new method-hyperscanning-to study real-time, interactive social interactions using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We highlight three contributions that fMRI hyperscanning makes to the study of the social mind: (1) Naturalism: it shifts the focus from tightly-controlled stimuli to more naturalistic social interactions; (2) Multi-person Dynamics: it shifts the focus from individuals as the unit of analysis to dyads and groups; and (3) Neural Resolution: fMRI hyperscanning captures high-resolution neural patterns and dynamics across the whole brain, unlike other neuroimaging hyperscanning methods (e.g., electroencephalogram, functional near-infrared spectroscopy). Finally, we describe the practical considerations and challenges that fMRI hyperscanning researchers must navigate. We hope researchers will harness this powerful new paradigm to address pressing questions in today's society.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lily Tsoi
- School of Psychology and CounselingCaldwell UniversityCaldwellNew JerseyUSA
| | - Shannon M. Burns
- Department of Psychological SciencePomona CollegeClaremontCaliforniaUSA,Department of NeurosciencePomona CollegeClaremontCaliforniaUSA
| | - Emily B. Falk
- Annenberg School for CommunicationUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA,Department of PsychologyUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA,Wharton Marketing DepartmentUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA,Operations, Information, and Decisions DepartmentUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaUSA
| | - Diana I. Tamir
- Department of PsychologyPrinceton UniversityPrincetonNew JerseyUSA,Princeton Neuroscience InstitutePrinceton UniversityPrincetonNew JerseyUSA
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13
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Jovanova M, Falk EB, Parelman JM, Pandey P, O’Donnell MB, Kang Y, Bassett DS, Lydon-Staley DM. Brain system integration and message consistent health behavior change. Health Psychol 2022; 41:611-620. [PMID: 36006700 PMCID: PMC10152515 DOI: 10.1037/hea0001201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Modifiable behaviors, including physical activity and sedentary behavior, are important determinants of health, and messages are important tools for influencing these behaviors. Functional neuroimaging research suggests that activity in regions of the brain's default mode and salience systems are independently associated with attending to health promoting messages. However, it remains unclear how these brain systems interact during exposure to persuasive messages and how this interaction relates to subsequent behavior change. Here, we examine how between-person differences in the relative integration between default mode and salience systems while viewing health messages relates to changes in health behavior. METHOD Using wrist-worn accelerometers, we logged physical activity in 150 participants (mean age = 33.17 years, 64% women; 43% Black, 37% white, 7% Asian, 5% Hispanic, and 8% other) continuously for an average of 10 days. Participants then viewed health messages encouraging physical activity while undergoing functional MRI (fMRI) and completed an additional month where physical activity was logged and the health messages were reinforced with daily text reminders. RESULTS Individuals with higher default mode and salience system integration during health message exposure were more likely to decrease their sedentary behavior and increase light physical activity in the month following fMRI than participants with lower brain integration. CONCLUSIONS Interactions between the salience and default mode systems are associated with message receptivity and subsequent behavior change, highlighting the value of expanding the focus from the role of single brain regions in studying health behavior change to larger-scale connectivity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
- Mia Jovanova
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Emily B. Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, USA
- Wharton Marketing Department, University of Pennsylvania, USA
| | | | | | | | - Yoona Kang
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Dani S. Bassett
- Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, School of Engineering & Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, College of Arts & Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, USA
- The Santa Fe Institute, USA
| | - David M. Lydon-Staley
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, USA
- Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, USA
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14
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McGowan AL, Falk EB, Zurn P, Bassett DS, Lydon-Staley DM. Daily sensation-seeking and urgency in young adults: Examining associations with alcohol use and self-defined risky behaviors. Addict Behav 2022; 127:107219. [PMID: 34999519 PMCID: PMC9039909 DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.107219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2021] [Revised: 11/16/2021] [Accepted: 12/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE To examine the dynamic expression of sensation-seeking and urgency in daily life and the implications for alcohol use and risk-taking during young adulthood. METHODS Daily diary surveys were administered to young adults (n = 77) aged 18-25 years every evening for 21 days to assess day's sensation-seeking, urgency, risk-taking, and alcohol use. RESULTS Days of higher than usual sensation-seeking are also days of higher than usual risk-taking and are more likely to be alcohol use days than days of lower than usual sensation-seeking. Day's urgency was not associated with day's alcohol use or risk-taking. We extracted 10 themes from self-reports of the day's riskiest behavior: transportation (29.9%), social (22.8%), recreation (17.4%), work (14.8%), school (13.5%), food (9.5%), sleep (9.2%), substance use (5.8%), other (5.2%), and jaywalking (1.5%), and 14.6% of self-reported risky behaviors were considered threatening to safety, health, or wellbeing. CONCLUSIONS Risks taken during daily life have mostly positive outcomes and a minority represent threats to safety, health, and wellbeing. Risk-taking and alcohol use in young adult's daily lives is more likely to be driven by the desire to experience novel and exciting experiences than by rash action.
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Affiliation(s)
- A L McGowan
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - E B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Marketing Department, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
| | - P Zurn
- Department of Philosophy and Religion, American University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - D S Bassett
- Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Department of Physics & Astronomy, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, USA
| | - D M Lydon-Staley
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Department of Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
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15
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Cascio CN, Lauharatanahirun N, Lawson GM, Farah MJ, Falk EB. Parental education is associated with differential engagement of neural pathways during inhibitory control. Sci Rep 2022; 12:260. [PMID: 34997113 PMCID: PMC8741989 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-04152-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2021] [Accepted: 12/10/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Response inhibition and socioeconomic status (SES) are critical predictors of many important outcomes, including educational attainment and health. The current study extends our understanding of SES and cognition by examining brain activity associated with response inhibition, during the key developmental period of adolescence. Adolescent males (N = 81), aged 16–17, completed a response inhibition task while undergoing fMRI brain imaging and reported on their parents’ education, one component of socioeconomic status. A region of interest analysis showed that parental education was associated with brain activation differences in the classic response inhibition network (right inferior frontal gyrus + subthalamic nucleus + globus pallidus) despite the absence of consistent parental education-performance effects. Further, although activity in our main regions of interest was not associated with performance differences, several regions that were associated with better inhibitory performance (ventromedial prefrontal cortex, middle frontal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, amygdala/hippocampus) also differed in their levels of activation according to parental education. Taken together, these results suggest that individuals from households with higher versus lower parental education engage key brain regions involved in response inhibition to differing degrees, though these differences may not translate into performance differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher N Cascio
- School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 5115 Vilas Hall, 821 University Ave., Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
| | - Nina Lauharatanahirun
- Biobehavioral Health, Pennsylvania State University, 531 Chemical & Biomedical Engineering building, University Park, PA, 16803, USA
| | - Gwendolyn M Lawson
- Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Civic Center Blvd., Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Martha J Farah
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, 3710 Hamilton Walk, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
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16
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Johnson DG, Mattan BD, Flores N, Lauharatanahirun N, Falk EB. Social-Cognitive and Affective Antecedents of Code Switching and the Consequences of Linguistic Racism for Black People and People of Color. Affect Sci 2021; 3:5-13. [PMID: 36046097 PMCID: PMC9382929 DOI: 10.1007/s42761-021-00072-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2020] [Accepted: 08/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Linguistic racism shapes the psychological antecedents of code switching and its consequences for Black people and other people of color. We highlight mentalizing as an antecedent of code switching. We posit that stereotype threat arises in contexts where racism is salient, prompting scrutiny of others' mental states (i.e., mentalizing) when making choices about linguistic self-presentation. Additionally, we posit that sustained appraisals of stereotype threat add cognitive load and reinforce self-protective code switching. We highlight potential consequences of linguistic racism for Black people and other people of color, including reduced opportunities for authentic self-presentation, increased emotional effort, and stress. Finally, we outline paths forward for research and practice: (1) recognizing the heterogeneity of language and thereby reducing linguistic racism, (2) implementing changes that promote racially affirming environments that reduce demands for self-protective code switching, and (3) adapting and creating scalable psychometric tools to measure linguistic choices and linguistic racism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Darin G. Johnson
- grid.25879.310000 0004 1936 8972Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA
| | - Bradley D. Mattan
- grid.25879.310000 0004 1936 8972Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA
| | - Nelson Flores
- grid.25879.310000 0004 1936 8972Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA USA
| | - Nina Lauharatanahirun
- grid.29857.310000 0001 2097 4281Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA USA ,grid.29857.310000 0001 2097 4281Department of Biobehavioral Health, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA USA
| | - Emily B. Falk
- grid.25879.310000 0004 1936 8972Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA ,grid.25879.310000 0004 1936 8972Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA USA ,grid.25879.310000 0004 1936 8972Wharton Marketing Department, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA USA
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17
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Kang Y, Cosme D, Pei R, Pandey P, Carreras-Tartak J, Falk EB. Purpose in Life, Loneliness, and Protective Health Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Gerontologist 2021; 61:878-887. [PMID: 34125195 PMCID: PMC8344583 DOI: 10.1093/geront/gnab081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Background and Objectives Social distancing, while effective in slowing the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), can increase social isolation. The current preregistered study examined purpose in life as a psychological resource that may buffer against loneliness and increase intentions to engage in health-protective behaviors. Research Design and Methods During the COVID-19 pandemic, 517 adults (mean = 37.71, SD = 11.30; range = 19–73) reported their levels of purpose in life, current and prepandemic levels of loneliness, and degrees to which they intended to engage in behaviors known to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Results Across age, having a stronger sense of purpose in life was associated with lower loneliness, as well as greater intentions to engage in COVID-protective behaviors. Higher loneliness was associated with lower intentions to maintain social distance and engage in additional health promotion behaviors such as handwashing. However, this link was not present at higher levels of purpose in life. Older age was also associated with less loneliness, but not for individuals with lower levels of purpose in life. Discussion and Implications Results suggest that psychological resources such as purpose in life are associated with increased protective health behaviors. Furthermore, purpose in life may reduce loneliness and counteract the negative effects of stressors that diminish the willingness to engage in health-protective behaviors. Our data also highlight resilience among older individuals in times of isolation during a global pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoona Kang
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Danielle Cosme
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Rui Pei
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Prateekshit Pandey
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - José Carreras-Tartak
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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18
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Parelman JM, Doré BP, Cooper N, O'Donnell MB, Chan HY, Falk EB. Overlapping Functional Representations of Self- and Other-Related Thought are Separable Through Multivoxel Pattern Classification. Cereb Cortex 2021; 32:1131-1141. [PMID: 34398230 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2021] [Revised: 07/14/2021] [Accepted: 07/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Self-reflection and thinking about the thoughts and behaviors of others are important skills for humans to function in the social world. These two processes overlap in terms of the component processes involved, and share overlapping functional organizations within the human brain, in particular within the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC). Several functional models have been proposed to explain these two processes, but none has directly explored the extent to which they are distinctly represented within different parts of the brain. This study used multivoxel pattern classification to quantify the separability of self- and other-related thought in the MPFC and expanded this question to the entire brain. Using a large-scale mega-analytic dataset, spanning three separate studies (n = 142), we find that self- and other-related thought can be reliably distinguished above chance within the MPFC, posterior cingulate cortex and temporal lobes. We highlight subcomponents of the ventral MPFC that are particularly important in representing self-related thought, and subcomponents of the orbitofrontal cortex robustly involved in representing other-related thought. Our findings indicate that representations of self- and other-related thought in the human brain are described best by a distributed pattern rather than stark localization or a purely ventral to dorsal linear gradient in the MPFC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob M Parelman
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Bruce P Doré
- Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University, H3A 1G5, Montreal, Canada
| | - Nicole Cooper
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | | | - Hang-Yee Chan
- Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, 1018 WV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
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19
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Chan HY, Scholz C, Baek EC, O'Donnell MB, Falk EB. Being the Gatekeeper: How Thinking about Sharing Affects Neural Encoding of Information. Cereb Cortex 2021; 31:3939-3949. [PMID: 33792682 PMCID: PMC8258440 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2020] [Revised: 02/05/2021] [Accepted: 02/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Information transmission in a society depends on individuals' intention to share or not. Yet, little is known about whether being the gatekeeper shapes the brain's processing of incoming information. Here, we examine how thinking about sharing affects neural encoding of information, and whether this effect is moderated by the person's real-life social network position. In an functional magnetic resonance imaging study, participants rated abstracts of news articles on how much they wanted to read for themselves (read) or-as information gatekeepers-to share with a specific other (narrowcast) or to post on their social media feed (broadcast). In all conditions, consistent spatial blood oxygen level-dependent patterns associated with news articles were observed across participants in brain regions involved in perceptual and language processing as well as higher-order processes. However, when thinking about sharing, encoding consistency decreased in higher-order processing areas (e.g., default mode network), suggesting that the gatekeeper role involves more individualized processing in the brain, that is, person- and context-specific. Moreover, participants whose social networks had high ego-betweenness centrality (i.e., more likely to be information gatekeeper in real life) showed more individualized encoding when thinking about broadcasting. This study reveals how gatekeeping shapes our brain's processing of incoming information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hang-Yee Chan
- Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WV Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Christin Scholz
- Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WV Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Elisa C Baek
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Matthew B O'Donnell
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
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20
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Tompson SH, Falk EB, O'Donnell MB, Cascio CN, Bayer JB, Vettel JM, Bassett DS. Response inhibition in adolescents is moderated by brain connectivity and social network structure. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2021; 15:827-837. [PMID: 32761131 PMCID: PMC7543938 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsaa109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2020] [Revised: 04/28/2020] [Accepted: 07/15/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The social environment an individual is embedded in influences their ability and motivation to engage self-control processes, but little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying this effect. Many individuals successfully regulate their behavior even when they do not show strong activation in canonical self-control brain regions. Thus, individuals may rely on other resources to compensate, including daily experiences navigating and managing complex social relationships that likely bolster self-control processes. Here, we employed a network neuroscience approach to investigate the role of social context and social brain systems in facilitating self-control in adolescents. We measured brain activation using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) as 62 adolescents completed a Go/No-Go response inhibition task. We found that self-referential brain systems compensate for weaker activation in executive function brain systems, especially for adolescents with more friends and more communities in their social networks. Collectively, our results indicate a critical role for self-referential brain systems during the developmental trajectory of self-control throughout adolescence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven H Tompson
- US Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005, USA
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.,Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.,Wharton Marketing Department, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | | | - Christopher N Cascio
- School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Joseph B Bayer
- School of Communication, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.,Translational Data Analytics Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Jean M Vettel
- US Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005, USA.,Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.,Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Danielle S Bassett
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.,Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.,Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.,Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.,Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
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21
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Liu J, O’Donnell MB, Falk EB. Deliberation and Valence as Dissociable Components of Counterarguing among Smokers: Evidence from Neuroimaging and Quantitative Linguistic Analysis. Health Commun 2021; 36:752-763. [PMID: 31931605 PMCID: PMC7354887 DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2020.1712521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Counterarguing is a key obstacle to successful persuasion. However, the difficulty of directly measuring counterarguing during message exposure limits knowledge of the underlying mechanisms. The current study combines neuroimaging and linguistic measures to unpack neurocognitive and psychological mechanisms associated with counterarguing among a sample of established smokers in response to anti-smoking messaging. We capture participants' neural activity in brain regions associated with effortful deliberation and negative argumentation during message exposure, and link it with their subsequent language patterns to further understanding of counterarguing in the brain. Greater brain activity within key regions of interest associated with deliberation and negative argumentation is associated with greater cognitive depth and less positivity in the post-scan message descriptions, respectively, among those who have lower intention to change their smoking behavior. We connect these neural representations of counterarguing with psychological theories and discuss implications that may increase the impact of persuasive communications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiaying Liu
- Department of Communication Studies, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602
| | - Matthew B. O’Donnell
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104
| | - Emily B. Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104
- Marketing Department, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104
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22
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Pandey P, Kang Y, Cooper N, O'Donnell MB, Falk EB. Social networks and neural receptivity to persuasive health messages. Health Psychol 2021; 40:285-294. [PMID: 33856834 DOI: 10.1037/hea0001059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Health-related norms in social networks can influence whether people are open to health behavior change. Yet, little is known about how social networks relate to the ways individual brains respond to persuasive health messaging. The current study focuses on ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) activity as an index of neural receptivity to health messages that may be related to behavior change. The study tested whether health-related norms and perceived physical activity levels within participants' social networks are associated with neural receptivity to health messages. METHOD Adults who initially reported under 200 minutes/week of physical activity (N = 146) rated the perceived physical activity levels of, and closeness to, each person in their core social network. VMPFC activity was monitored using fMRI while participants viewed persuasive health messages promoting physical activity. Longitudinal changes in sedentary behavior were objectively logged using wrist-worn accelerometers throughout a 2-week baseline and the month following the fMRI scan. RESULTS Higher levels of perceived physical activity in participants' social networks were associated with greater VMPFC activity during message exposure, which in turn were associated with greater decreases in sedentary minutes. By contrast, greater closeness to physically inactive social ties was associated with lower VMPFC activity. CONCLUSIONS Perceived norms in social networks relate to neural receptivity to health messaging. In particular, closeness to physically inactive ties is associated with lower neural receptivity to health messages encouraging physical activity, which may undermine the effectiveness of health messages. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
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23
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Dieffenbach MC, Gillespie GSR, Burns SM, McCulloh IA, Ames DL, Dagher MM, Falk EB, Lieberman MD. Neural reference groups: a synchrony-based classification approach for predicting attitudes using fNIRS. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2021; 16:117-128. [PMID: 33025001 PMCID: PMC7812626 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsaa115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2020] [Revised: 06/19/2020] [Accepted: 09/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Social neuroscience research has demonstrated that those who are like-minded are also 'like-brained.' Studies have shown that people who share similar viewpoints have greater neural synchrony with one another, and less synchrony with people who 'see things differently.' Although these effects have been demonstrated at the 'group level,' little work has been done to predict the viewpoints of specific 'individuals' using neural synchrony measures. Furthermore, the studies that have made predictions using synchrony-based classification at the individual level used expensive and immobile neuroimaging equipment (e.g. functional magnetic resonance imaging) in highly controlled laboratory settings, which may not generalize to real-world contexts. Thus, this study uses a simple synchrony-based classification method, which we refer to as the 'neural reference groups' approach, to predict individuals' dispositional attitudes from data collected in a mobile 'pop-up neuroscience' lab. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy data, we predicted individuals' partisan stances on a sociopolitical issue by comparing their neural timecourses to data from two partisan neural reference groups. We found that partisan stance could be identified at above-chance levels using data from dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. These results indicate that the neural reference groups approach can be used to investigate naturally occurring, dispositional differences anywhere in the world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Macrina C Dieffenbach
- Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Grace S R Gillespie
- Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Shannon M Burns
- Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Ian A McCulloh
- Accenture Federal Services, 800 N Glebe Rd, Arlington, VA 22203
| | - Daniel L Ames
- Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Munqith M Dagher
- Independent Institute & Administration Civil Society Studies (IIACSS) Research Group, Al Hussam Center 2 270 Arar Mustafa Wahbii Al Tal, Amman, Jordan
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA, Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA, Wharton Marketing Department, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA, University of Pennsylvania
| | - Matthew D Lieberman
- Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
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24
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Doré BP, Scholz C, Baek EC, Falk EB. Health news sharing is reflected in distributed reward-related brain activity. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2020; 15:1111-1119. [PMID: 33064817 PMCID: PMC7657450 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsaa129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2019] [Revised: 09/04/2020] [Accepted: 10/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuroimaging has identified individual brain regions, but not yet whole-brain patterns, that correlate with the population impact of health messaging. We used neuroimaging to measure whole-brain responses to health news articles across two studies. Beyond activity in core reward value-related regions (ventral striatum, ventromedial prefrontal cortex), our approach leveraged whole-brain responses to each article, quantifying expression of a distributed pattern meta-analytically associated with reward valuation. The results indicated that expression of this whole-brain pattern was associated with population-level sharing of these articles beyond previously identified brain regions and self-report variables. Further, the efficacy of the meta-analytic pattern was not reducible to patterns within core reward value-related regions but rather depended on larger-scale patterns. Overall, this work shows that a reward-related pattern of whole-brain activity is related to health information sharing, advancing neuroscience models of the mechanisms underlying the spread of health information through a population.
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Affiliation(s)
- B P Doré
- Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University, H3A 1G5, Montreal, Canada
| | - C Scholz
- Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam, 1001 NG, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - E C Baek
- Department of Psychology, UCLA, 90095, Los Angeles, USA
| | - E B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 19104, Philadelphia, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, 19104, Philadelphia, USA
- Marketing Department, University of Pennsylvania, 19104, Philadelphia, USA
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25
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Doré BP, Scholz C, Baek EC, Garcia JO, O'Donnell MB, Bassett DS, Vettel JM, Falk EB. Brain Activity Tracks Population Information Sharing by Capturing Consensus Judgments of Value. Cereb Cortex 2020; 29:3102-3110. [PMID: 30169552 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhy176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2017] [Revised: 05/21/2018] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Information that is shared widely can profoundly shape society. Evidence from neuroimaging suggests that activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), a core region of the brain's valuation system tracks with this sharing. However, the mechanisms linking vmPFC responses in individuals to population behavior are still unclear. We used a multilevel brain-as-predictor approach to address this gap, finding that individual differences in how closely vmPFC activity corresponded with population news article sharing related to how closely its activity tracked with social consensus about article value. Moreover, how closely vmPFC activity corresponded with population behavior was linked to daily life news experience: frequent news readers tended to show high vmPFC across all articles, whereas infrequent readers showed high vmPFC only to articles that were more broadly valued and heavily shared. Using functional connectivity analyses, we found that superior tracking of consensus value was related to decreased connectivity of vmPFC with a dorsolateral PFC region associated with controlled processing. Taken together, our results demonstrate variability in the brain's capacity to track crowd wisdom about information value, and suggest (lower levels of) stimulus experience and vmPFC-dlPFC connectivity as psychological and neural sources of this variability.
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Affiliation(s)
- B P Doré
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
| | - C Scholz
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
| | - E C Baek
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
| | - J O Garcia
- US Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD, USA.,Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
| | - M B O'Donnell
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
| | - D S Bassett
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA.,Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA.,Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA.,Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
| | - J M Vettel
- US Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD, USA.,Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA.,Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA.,Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - E B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
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26
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Schmälzle R, Cooper N, O’Donnell MB, Tompson S, Lee S, Cantrell J, Vettel JM, Falk EB. The Effectiveness of Online Messages for Promoting Smoking Cessation Resources: Predicting Nationwide Campaign Effects From Neural Responses in the EX Campaign. Front Hum Neurosci 2020; 14:565772. [PMID: 33100997 PMCID: PMC7546826 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.565772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2020] [Accepted: 08/20/2020] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
What are the key ingredients that make some persuasive messages resonate with audiences and elicit action, while others fail? Billions of dollars per year are put towards changing human behavior, but it is difficult to know which messages will be the most persuasive in the field. By combining novel neuroimaging techniques and large-scale online data, we examine the role of key health communication variables relevant to motivating action at scale. We exposed a sample of smokers to anti-smoking web-banner messages from a real-world campaign while measuring message-evoked brain response patterns via fMRI, and we also obtained subjective evaluations of each banner. Neural indices were derived based on: (i) message-evoked activity in specific brain regions; and (ii) spatially distributed response patterns, both selected based on prior research and theoretical considerations. Next, we connected the neural and subjective data with an independent, objective outcome of message success, which is the per-banner click-through rate in the real-world campaign. Results show that messages evoking brain responses more similar to signatures of negative emotion and vividness had lower online click-through-rates. This strategy helps to connect and integrate the rapidly growing body of knowledge about brain function with formative research and outcome evaluation of health campaigns, and could ultimately further disease prevention efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ralf Schmälzle
- Department of Communication, College of Communication Arts and Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States
| | - Nicole Cooper
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
- U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Adelphi, MD, United States
| | - Matthew Brook O’Donnell
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Steven Tompson
- U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Adelphi, MD, United States
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Sangil Lee
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Jennifer Cantrell
- New York University School of Global Public Health, New York, NY, United States
| | - Jean M. Vettel
- U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Adelphi, MD, United States
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
| | - Emily B. Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
- Wharton Marketing Department, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
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27
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Pei R, Lauharatanahirun N, Cascio CN, O'Donnell MB, Shope JT, Simons-Morton BG, Vettel JM, Falk EB. Neural processes during adolescent risky decision making are associated with conformity to peer influence. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2020; 44:100794. [PMID: 32716849 PMCID: PMC7281781 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2020.100794] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2019] [Revised: 03/12/2020] [Accepted: 05/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Adolescents’ neural responses to risky decisions may modulate their conformity to different types of peer influence. Neural activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) predicted conformity to risky peers while driving. Connectivity between VS and risk processing regions (including insula and ACC) predicted safer driving under risky influence.
Adolescents demonstrate both heightened sensitivity to peer influence and increased risk-taking. The current study provides a novel test of how these two phenomena are related at behavioral and neural levels. Adolescent males (N = 83, 16–17 years) completed the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) in an fMRI scanner. One week later, participants completed a driving task in which they drove alone and with a safety- or risk-promoting peer passenger. Results showed that neural responses during BART were associated with participants’ behavioral conformity to safe vs. risky peer influence while later driving. First, the extent that neural activation in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) scaled with decision stakes in BART was associated with conformity to risky peer influence. Additionally, stake-modulated functional connectivity between ventral striatum (VS) and risk processing regions (including ACC and insula) was associated with safer driving under risky peer influence (i.e. resistance to risky peer influence), suggesting that connectivity between VS and ACC as well as insula may serve a protective role under risky peer influence. Together, these results suggest that adolescents’ neural responses to risky decision making may modulate their behavioral conformity to different types of peer influence on risk taking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rui Pei
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
| | - Nina Lauharatanahirun
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, USA
| | - Christopher N Cascio
- School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Matthew B O'Donnell
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Jean T Shope
- Transportation Research Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Bruce G Simons-Morton
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Jean M Vettel
- U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, USA
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
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28
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Tompson SH, Kahn AE, Falk EB, Vettel JM, Bassett DS. Functional brain network architecture supporting the learning of social networks in humans. Neuroimage 2020; 210:116498. [PMID: 31917325 PMCID: PMC8740914 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2019] [Revised: 12/23/2019] [Accepted: 12/24/2019] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Most humans have the good fortune to live their lives embedded in richly structured social groups. Yet, it remains unclear how humans acquire knowledge about these social structures to successfully navigate social relationships. Here we address this knowledge gap with an interdisciplinary neuroimaging study drawing on recent advances in network science and statistical learning. Specifically, we collected BOLD MRI data while participants learned the community structure of both social and non-social networks, in order to examine whether the learning of these two types of networks was differentially associated with functional brain network topology. We found that participants learned the community structure of the networks, as evidenced by a slower reaction time when a trial moved between communities than when a trial moved within a community. Learning the community structure of social networks was also characterized by significantly greater functional connectivity of the hippocampus and temporoparietal junction when transitioning between communities than when transitioning within a community. Furthermore, temporoparietal regions of the default mode were more strongly connected to hippocampus, somatomotor, and visual regions for social networks than for non-social networks. Collectively, our results identify neurophysiological underpinnings of social versus non-social network learning, extending our knowledge about the impact of social context on learning processes. More broadly, this work offers an empirical approach to study the learning of social network structures, which could be fruitfully extended to other participant populations, various graph architectures, and a diversity of social contexts in future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven H Tompson
- Human Sciences Campaign, U.S. Combat Capabilities Development Center Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen, MD, 21005, USA; Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Ari E Kahn
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA; Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA; Marketing Department, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Jean M Vettel
- Human Sciences Campaign, U.S. Combat Capabilities Development Center Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen, MD, 21005, USA; Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA; Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Danielle S Bassett
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA; Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA; Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA; Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA; Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, 87501, USA.
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29
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Lydon-Staley DM, Falk EB, Bassett DS. Within-person variability in sensation-seeking during daily life: Positive associations with alcohol use and self-defined risky behaviors. Psychol Addict Behav 2019; 34:257-268. [PMID: 31815502 DOI: 10.1037/adb0000535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Sensation-seeking is the seeking of varied, novel, and intense experiences and the willingness to take risks to engage in these experiences. Sensation-seeking is associated with engagement in risky behaviors but questions remain concerning the role of within-person variability in sensation-seeking. We use data from a 21-day daily diary from 167 participants (mean age = 25.37, SD = 7.34) to test within-person associations between sensation-seeking and both alcohol use and self-reported risk-taking. Participants also reported the riskiest behavior they engaged in each day, allowing insight into the perceived risky behaviors that participants take during daily life. Results indicate those days of higher than usual sensation-seeking are more likely to be days on which alcohol is consumed relative to days of no alcohol use. The association between day's sensation-seeking and alcohol use does not extend to the quantity of alcohol consumed. Risk-taking is higher than usual on days of higher than usual sensation-seeking. Using network science tools, we reduce 2,490 self-reports of the day's riskiest behavior to 20 communities reflecting a wide range of risk domains, including social, school, work, and drug use risks. Creating a risk-taking diversity score based on the identified domains of risk behaviors, we find that trait sensation-seeking is positively associated with greater diversity in the types of risks reported. In summary, we observe that sensation-seeking and both alcohol use and other risky behaviors are associated at the within-person level, and provide insight into the types of risks taken during the course of daily life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
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30
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Kranzler EC, Schmälzle R, Pei R, Hornik RC, Falk EB. Message-Elicited Brain Response Moderates the Relationship Between Opportunities for Exposure to Anti-Smoking Messages and Message Recall. J Commun 2019; 69:589-611. [PMID: 32009669 PMCID: PMC6977712 DOI: 10.1093/joc/jqz035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2018] [Revised: 08/09/2019] [Accepted: 08/10/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Campaign success is contingent on adequate exposure; however, exposure opportunities (e.g., ad reach/frequency) are imperfect predictors of message recall. We hypothesized that the exposure-recall relationship would be contingent on message processing. We tested moderation hypotheses using 3 data sets pertinent to "The Real Cost" anti-smoking campaign: past 30-day ad recall from a rolling national survey of adolescents aged 13-17 (n = 5,110); ad-specific target rating points (TRPs), measuring ad reach and frequency; and ad-elicited response in brain regions implicated in social processing and memory encoding, from a separate adolescent sample aged 14-17 (n = 40). Average ad-level brain activation in these regions moderates the relationship between national TRPs and large-scale recall (p < .001), such that the positive exposure-recall relationship is more strongly observed for ads that elicit high levels of social processing and memory encoding in the brain. Findings advance communication theory by demonstrating conditional exposure effects, contingent on social and memory processes in the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elissa C Kranzler
- Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Ralf Schmälzle
- College of Communication Arts and Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
| | - Rui Pei
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Robert C Hornik
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Wharton Marketing Department, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
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31
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Scholz C, Jovanova M, Baek EC, Falk EB. Media content sharing as a value-based decision. Curr Opin Psychol 2019; 31:83-88. [PMID: 31542712 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2019] [Revised: 07/30/2019] [Accepted: 08/02/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Exposure to media content (e.g. persuasive campaigns) affects daily behaviors, but these effects are partially determined by whether and how people who are exposed to the content share it with their peers. To decide whether to share, potential sharers need to compare and integrate diverse sources of information including characteristics of the media content and various social influences. What are the mechanisms that enable sharers to make such complex decisions quickly and effortlessly? We review evidence that sharing is preceded by a value-based decision-making process supported by three key characteristics of the so-called neural valuation system (domain-generality, value integration, and context-dependence). Finally, we describe theoretical and methodological advances that can be gained from conceptualizing sharing as a value-based decision-making process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christin Scholz
- Amsterdam School of Communication, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, 1018WV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Mia Jovanova
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut Street, Philadelphia 19104, PA, USA
| | - Elisa C Baek
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut Street, Philadelphia 19104, PA, USA; Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA; Department of Mathematics, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut Street, Philadelphia 19104, PA, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, 425 S. University Avenue, Philadelphia 19104, PA, USA; Marketing Department, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 3733 Spruce Street, Philadelphia 19104, PA, USA.
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Abstract
Social exclusion has the potential to alter subsequent social interactions with the members of personal networks, especially given their online availability in contemporary life. Nonetheless, there is minimal research examining how social challenges such as exclusion alter ensuing interactions with personal ties. Here, we tested whether being excluded during a social interaction changed which relationships are most salient in an ostensibly unrelated, online news sharing task. Across three operationalizations of tie strength, exclusion (vs. inclusion) increased sharing to close friends, but (unexpectedly) decreased sharing to close family members. The findings provide preliminary evidence that negative encounters may shift attention toward certain types of network ties and away from others. Future work is needed to examine how social experiences influence personal network scope – i.e., who comes to mind – in the background of daily life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph B Bayer
- School of Communication, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States.,Communication Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - David J Hauser
- Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.,Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Kinari M Shah
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Matthew Brook O'Donnell
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
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33
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Simons-Morton BG, Bingham CR, Li K, Zhu C, Buckley L, Falk EB, Shope JT. The Effect of Teenage Passengers on Simulated Risky Driving Among Teenagers: A Randomized Trial. Front Psychol 2019; 10:923. [PMID: 31133918 PMCID: PMC6524721 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2018] [Accepted: 04/05/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Teenage passengers might influence risky driving, particularly in certain mental states. Notably, social exclusion could increase social conformity. Two studies examined simulated intersection management among young drivers after a social exclusion activity (Cyberball). In Study 1 [112 males (mean = 17.3 years)], risky driving was significantly greater among excluded males driving with a risk-accepting vs. passive passenger; no effect of social exclusion. In Study 2 [115 females (mean = 17.1 years)], risky driving was significantly greater among excluded females driving with a risk-accepting vs. a passive passenger, and greater among those included (fair play) vs. excluded when driving with a risk-accepting passenger. Risky driving behavior among male and female teenagers may be influenced uniquely by passenger norms and social exclusion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruce G Simons-Morton
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - C Raymond Bingham
- Transportation Research Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Kaigang Li
- Health and Exercise Science, College of Health and Human Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States
| | - Chunming Zhu
- The Professional Group, Glotech Team, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Lisa Buckley
- Transport and Road Safety Research, School of Aviation, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, Wharton Marketing Department, and Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Jean Thatcher Shope
- Transportation Research Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
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34
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE Health behavior is affected by competing sources of influence like media messages and peers. In the context of alcohol consumption, college students are targeted by antidrinking media messages, but tend to have proalcohol conversations with peers. How do humans integrate competing sources of influence on daily behavior? We observed individuals under exposure to antialcohol media messages and proalcohol conversations and tested a "common neural value" account of how contradictory influences are integrated to affect behavior. METHODS Participants were instructed to cognitively regulate responses to antidrinking media messages while undergoing fMRI at baseline. Individual differences in success in message-consistent or -derogating regulation were indexed by changes in activity within the neural valuation system (ventral striatum/VS, ventromedial prefrontal cortex/VMPFC), providing a proxy for success in finding value in message-consistent/-derogating engagement. To measure peer influence, we tracked daily drinking-related conversations and drinking behavior for 30 days using mobile electronic diaries. RESULTS Peer conversations, on average, were positive toward drinking. More positive conversations led to more future drinking, particularly for participants who showed greater neural value signals when derogating antidrinking media. Susceptibility to risky peer influence decreased with increasing success in up-regulating message-consistent neural valuation responses to antidrinking media. Neural effects were driven by VS-activity. CONCLUSIONS Results are consistent with a dynamic value integration process where contradictory influences inform a common neural value signal. Reductions in the value of a behavior (through antidrinking campaigns) may buffer against future value increases after exposure to competing influences (proalcohol peers) with important real-world consequences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Bruce P Doré
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania
| | - Nicole Cooper
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, Marketing Department, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE Having a strong sense of purpose in life is associated with positive health behaviors. However, the processes through which purpose leads to health are unclear. The current study compared neural activity among individuals with higher versus lower purpose while they made health-related decisions in response to messages promoting health behavior change. METHOD A total of 220 adults with a sedentary lifestyle who were likely to feel conflicted in response to health messages underwent functional MRI while viewing messages encouraging physical activity and indicated the self-relevance of the messages. We focused on activity within dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), anterior insula (AI), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) as identified by meta-analytically defined maps of regions previously implicated in conflict-related processing, while participants considered the self-relevance of the messages. RESULTS Individuals with higher (vs. lower) purpose showed less activity in dACC, AI, DLPFC, and VLPFC while making health-decisions. Lower brain response in these regions mediated the effect of higher purpose on greater endorsement of the messages. CONCLUSIONS Individuals with strong purpose may be less likely to experience conflict-related regulatory burden during health decision-making, which may in turn allow them to accept conflicting yet beneficial health messages. Reduced brain reactivity in dACC, AI, DLPFC, and VLPFC may reflect reduced conflict-related processing during health decision-making relevant to longer term lifestyle goals. This adds to mounting evidence linking purpose and a range of positive health-related outcomes, as well as evidence suggesting that dACC, AI, DLPFC, and VLPFC track conflict-related processes relevant to longer term goals and values. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoona Kang
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania
| | | | - Eric Kim
- T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania
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Doré BP, Cooper N, Scholz C, O'Donnell MB, Falk EB. Cognitive regulation of ventromedial prefrontal activity evokes lasting change in the perceived self-relevance of persuasive messaging. Hum Brain Mapp 2019; 40:2571-2580. [PMID: 30773729 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2018] [Revised: 12/18/2018] [Accepted: 01/14/2019] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Persuasive messages can change people's thoughts, feelings, and actions, but these effects depend on how people think about and appraise the meaning of these messages. Drawing from research on the cognitive control of emotion, we used neuroimaging to investigate neural mechanisms underlying cognitive regulation of the affective and persuasive impact of advertisements communicating the risks of binge drinking, a significant public health problem. Using cognitive control to up-regulate (vs. down-regulate) responses to the ads increased: negative affect related to consequences of excessive drinking, perceived ad effectiveness, and ratings of ad self-relevance made after a one-hour delay. Neurally, these effects of cognitive control were mediated by goal-congruent modulation of ventromedial prefrontal cortex and distributed brain patterns associated with negative emotion and subjective valuation. These findings suggest that people can leverage cognitive control resources to deliberately shape responses to persuasive appeals, and identify mechanisms of emotional reactivity and integrative valuation that underlie this ability. Specifically, brain valuation pattern expression mediated the effect of cognitive goals on perceived message self-relevance, suggesting a role for the brain's valuation system in shaping responses to persuasive appeals in a manner that persists over time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruce P Doré
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - N Cooper
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - C Scholz
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Matthew B O'Donnell
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Doré BP, Tompson SH, O'Donnell MB, An LC, Strecher V, Falk EB. Neural Mechanisms of Emotion Regulation Moderate the Predictive Value of Affective and Value-Related Brain Responses to Persuasive Messages. J Neurosci 2019; 39:1293-1300. [PMID: 30617213 PMCID: PMC6381231 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1651-18.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2018] [Revised: 09/17/2018] [Accepted: 11/04/2018] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Emotionally evocative messages can be an effective way to change behavior, but the neural pathways that translate messages into effects on individuals and populations are not fully understood. We used a human functional neuroimaging approach to ask how affect-, value-, and regulation-related brain systems interact to predict effects of graphic anti-smoking messages for individual smokers (both males and females) and within a population-level messaging campaign. Results indicated that increased activity in the amygdala, a region involved in affective reactivity, predicted both personal quit intentions and population-level information-seeking and this was mediated by activity in ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), a region involved in computing an integrative value signal. Further, the predictive value of these regions was moderated by expression of a meta-analytically defined brain pattern indexing emotion regulation. That is, amygdala and vmPFC activity strongly tracked with population behavior only when participants showed low recruitment of this brain pattern, which consists of regions involved in goal-driven regulation of affective responses. Overall, these findings suggest that affective and value-related brain responses can predict the success of persuasive messages and that neural mechanisms of emotion regulation can shape these responses, moderating the extent to which they track with population-level message impact.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT People and organizations often appeal to our emotions to persuade us, but how these appeals engage the brain to drive behavior is not fully understood. We present an fMRI-based model that integrates affect-, control-, and value-related brain responses to predict the impact of graphic anti-smoking stimuli within a small group of smokers and a larger-scale public messaging campaign. This model indicated that amygdala activity predicted the impact of the anti-smoking messages, but that this relationship was mediated by ventromedial prefrontal cortex and moderated by expression of a distributed brain pattern associated with regulating emotion. These results suggest that neural mechanisms of emotion regulation can shape the extent to which affect and value-related brain responses track with population behavioral effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruce P Doré
- University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103,
| | | | | | | | | | - Emily B Falk
- University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103,
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38
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Pei R, Schmälzle R, Kranzler EC, O'Donnell MB, Falk EB. Adolescents' Neural Response to Tobacco Prevention Messages and Sharing Engagement. Am J Prev Med 2019; 56:S40-S48. [PMID: 30661524 DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2018.07.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2018] [Revised: 05/24/2018] [Accepted: 07/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Interpersonal communication can reinforce media effects on health behavior. Recent studies have shown that brain activity in the medial prefrontal cortex during message exposure can predict message-consistent behavior change. Key next steps include examining the relationship between neural responses to ads and measures of interpersonal message retransmission that can be collected at scale. METHODS Neuroimaging, self-report, and automated linguistic measures were utilized to investigate the relationships between neural responses to tobacco prevention messages, sharing engagement, and smoking-relevant belief changes. Thirty-seven adolescent nonsmokers viewed 12 ads from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's "The Real Cost" campaign during a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan session (2015-2016). Data were analyzed between 2016 and 2017. The extent that participants talked in detail about the main message of the ads, or sharing engagement, was measured through transcripts of participants' subsequent verbal descriptions using automated linguistic coding. Beliefs about the consequences of smoking were measured before and after the main experiment using surveys. RESULTS Increased brain activation in self- and value-related subregions of the medial prefrontal cortex during message exposure was associated with subsequent sharing engagement when participants verbally talked about the ads. In addition, sharing engagement was significantly associated with changes in participants' beliefs about the social consequences of smoking. CONCLUSIONS Neural activity in self- and value-related subregions of the medial prefrontal cortex during exposure to "The Real Cost" campaign was associated with subsequent sharing engagement, which in turn was related to social belief change. These results provide new insights into the link between neurocognitive responses to ads, the content of interpersonal sharing, and downstream health-relevant outcomes. SUPPLEMENT INFORMATION This article is part of a supplement entitled Fifth Anniversary Retrospective of "The Real Cost," the Food and Drug Administration's Historic Youth Smoking Prevention Media Campaign, which is sponsored by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rui Pei
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
| | - Ralf Schmälzle
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; College of Communication Arts and Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
| | - Elissa C Kranzler
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Matthew B O'Donnell
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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Burns SM, Barnes LN, Katzman PL, Ames DL, Falk EB, Lieberman MD. A functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) replication of the sunscreen persuasion paradigm. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2019; 13:628-636. [PMID: 29733408 PMCID: PMC6022533 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsy030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2017] [Accepted: 04/23/2018] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Activity in medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) during persuasive messages predicts future message-consistent behavior change, but there are significant limitations to the types of persuasion processes that can be invoked inside an MRI scanner. For instance, real world persuasion often involves multiple people in conversation. Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) allows us to move out of the scanner and into more ecologically valid contexts. As a first step, the current study used fNIRS to replicate an existing fMRI persuasion paradigm (i.e. the sunscreen paradigm) to determine if mPFC shows similar predictive value with this technology. Consistent with prior fMRI work, activity in mPFC was significantly associated with message-consistent behavior change, above and beyond self-reported intentions. There was also a difference in this association between previous users and non-users of sunscreen. Activity differences based on messages characteristics were not observed. Finally, activity in a region of right dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC), which has been observed with counterarguing against persuasive messages, correlated negatively with future behavior. The current results suggest it is reasonable to use fNIRS to examine persuasion paradigms that go beyond what is possible in the MRI scanner environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shannon M Burns
- University of California Los Angeles Psychology Department, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA
- Correspondence should be addressed to Shannon M. Burns, UCLA Psychology Department, 1285 Franz Hall, Box 951563, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA. E-mail:
| | - Lianne N Barnes
- University of California Los Angeles Psychology Department, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA
| | - Perri L Katzman
- New York University Psychology Department, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Daniel L Ames
- University of California Los Angeles Psychology Department, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA
| | - Emily B Falk
- University of Pennsylvania Annenberg School for Communication, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Matthew D Lieberman
- University of California Los Angeles Psychology Department, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA
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40
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Burns SM, Barnes LN, McCulloh IA, Dagher MM, Falk EB, Storey JD, Lieberman MD. Making social neuroscience less WEIRD: Using fNIRS to measure neural signatures of persuasive influence in a Middle East participant sample. J Pers Soc Psychol 2019; 116:e1-e11. [PMID: 30614726 DOI: 10.1037/pspa0000144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The large majority of social neuroscience research uses WEIRD populations-participants from Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic locations. This makes it difficult to claim whether neuropsychological functions are universal or culture specific. In this study, we demonstrate one approach to addressing the imbalance by using portable neuroscience equipment in a study of persuasion conducted in Jordan with an Arabic-speaking sample. Participants were shown persuasive videos on various health and safety topics while their brain activity was measured using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Self-reported persuasiveness ratings for each video were then recorded. Consistent with previous research conducted with American subjects, this work found that activity in the dorsomedial and ventromedial prefrontal cortex predicted how persuasive participants found the videos and how much they intended to engage in the messages' endorsed behaviors. Further, activity in the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex was associated with persuasiveness ratings, but only in participants for whom the message was personally relevant. Implications for these results on the understanding of the brain basis of persuasion and on future directions for neuroimaging in diverse populations are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
- Shannon M Burns
- Department of Psychology, University of California - Los Angeles
| | - Lianne N Barnes
- Department of Psychology, University of California - Los Angeles
| | | | - Munqith M Dagher
- Independent Institute & Administration Civil Society Studies (IIACSS) Research Group
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania
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41
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Kranzler EC, Schmälzle R, O’Donnell MB, Pei R, Falk EB. Adolescent neural responses to antismoking messages, perceived effectiveness, and sharing intention. Media Psychol 2019; 22:323-349. [PMID: 30886543 PMCID: PMC6419746 DOI: 10.1080/15213269.2018.1476158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
Health communication delivered via media channels can substantially influence adolescents' choices, and the effects of messages are amplified through interpersonal sharing. However, the underlying psychological and neurocognitive mechanisms that influence message effectiveness and likelihood of sharing are not well understood, especially among adolescents. Based on research in adults, we hypothesized and preregistered that message-induced neural activation in regions associated with self-reflection, social processing, and positive valuation would be related to greater perceived ad effectiveness and intentions to share messages. We focused on brain activity in meta-analytically defined regions associated with these three processes as 40 adolescent nonsmokers viewed advertisements from "The Real Cost" antismoking campaign. Perceived message effectiveness was positively associated with brain activity in the hypothesized social processing regions and marginally associated with brain activity in self-relevance regions, but not associated with brain activity in valuation regions. By contrast, intentions to share the messages were not associated with neural response in these 3 systems. In contrast to previous neuroimaging studies with adult subjects, our findings highlight the role of social cognition in adolescent processing of persuasive messages. We discuss the possibility that the mental processes responsive to effective and shareworthy messages may reflect developmental processes pertinent to media effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elissa C. Kranzler
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Ralf Schmälzle
- College of Communication Arts and Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | | | - Rui Pei
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Emily B. Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Wasylyshyn N, Hemenway Falk B, Garcia JO, Cascio CN, O'Donnell MB, Bingham CR, Simons-Morton B, Vettel JM, Falk EB. Global brain dynamics during social exclusion predict subsequent behavioral conformity. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2018. [PMID: 29529310 PMCID: PMC5827351 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsy007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals react differently to social experiences; for example, people who are more sensitive to negative social experiences, such as being excluded, may be more likely to adapt their behavior to fit in with others. We examined whether functional brain connectivity during social exclusion in the fMRI scanner can be used to predict subsequent conformity to peer norms. Adolescent males (n = 57) completed a two-part study on teen driving risk: a social exclusion task (Cyberball) during an fMRI session and a subsequent driving simulator session in which they drove alone and in the presence of a peer who expressed risk-averse or risk-accepting driving norms. We computed the difference in functional connectivity between social exclusion and social inclusion from each node in the brain to nodes in two brain networks, one previously associated with mentalizing (medial prefrontal cortex, temporoparietal junction, precuneus, temporal poles) and another with social pain (dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula). Using predictive modeling, this measure of global connectivity during exclusion predicted the extent of conformity to peer pressure during driving in the subsequent experimental session. These findings extend our understanding of how global neural dynamics guide social behavior, revealing functional network activity that captures individual differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nick Wasylyshyn
- Human Research and Engineering Directorate, U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005, USA.,Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Brett Hemenway Falk
- Department of Computer and Information Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Javier O Garcia
- Human Research and Engineering Directorate, U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005, USA.,Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Christopher N Cascio
- School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | | | - C Raymond Bingham
- University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Bruce Simons-Morton
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute on Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Jean M Vettel
- Human Research and Engineering Directorate, U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21005, USA.,Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.,Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.,Marketing Department, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.,Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
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Cooper N, Garcia JO, Tompson SH, O’Donnell MB, Falk EB, Vettel JM. Time-evolving dynamics in brain networks forecast responses to health messaging. Netw Neurosci 2018; 3:138-156. [PMID: 30793078 PMCID: PMC6372021 DOI: 10.1162/netn_a_00058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2017] [Accepted: 05/09/2018] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Neuroimaging measures have been used to forecast complex behaviors, including how individuals change decisions about their health in response to persuasive communications, but have rarely incorporated metrics of brain network dynamics. How do functional dynamics within and between brain networks relate to the processes of persuasion and behavior change? To address this question, we scanned 45 adult smokers by using functional magnetic resonance imaging while they viewed anti-smoking images. Participants reported their smoking behavior and intentions to quit smoking before the scan and 1 month later. We focused on regions within four atlas-defined networks and examined whether they formed consistent network communities during this task (measured as allegiance). Smokers who showed reduced allegiance among regions within the default mode and fronto-parietal networks also demonstrated larger increases in their intentions to quit smoking 1 month later. We further examined dynamics of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), as activation in this region has been frequently related to behavior change. The degree to which vmPFC changed its community assignment over time (measured as flexibility) was positively associated with smoking reduction. These data highlight the value in considering brain network dynamics for understanding message effectiveness and social processes more broadly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole Cooper
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Aberdeen, MD, USA
| | - Javier O. Garcia
- U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Aberdeen, MD, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Steven H. Tompson
- U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Aberdeen, MD, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Matthew B. O’Donnell
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Emily B. Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Jean M. Vettel
- U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Aberdeen, MD, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
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Abstract
Humans are driven to pursue and preserve social relationships, and these motivations are reinforced through biological systems. In particular, individual differences in the tuning of biological systems that respond to social threats may motivate individuals to seek out differently structured social environments. Drawing on a sample of adolescent males who underwent fMRI brain imaging (n = 74) and contributed Facebook data, we examined whether biological responses to a common scenario - being excluded from an activity with peers - was associated with their social network structure. We find that neural responses during social exclusion in a priori hypothesized "social pain" regions of the brain (dACC, AI, subACC) are associated with the density and transitivity of core friendship networks. These findings suggest that neural reactivity to exclusion may be one factor that underlies network "safety". More broadly, the study shows the potential of linking social cognitive tendencies to social structural properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph B Bayer
- School of Communication, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
| | | | - Christopher N Cascio
- School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
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45
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Tompson SH, Kahn AE, Falk EB, Vettel JM, Bassett DS. Individual differences in learning social and nonsocial network structures. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 2018; 45:253-271. [PMID: 30024255 DOI: 10.1037/xlm0000580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
How do people acquire knowledge about which individuals belong to different cliques or communities? And to what extent does this learning process differ from the process of learning higher-order information about complex associations between nonsocial bits of information? Here, the authors use a paradigm in which the order of stimulus presentation forms temporal associations between the stimuli, collectively constituting a complex network. They examined individual differences in the ability to learn community structure of networks composed of social versus nonsocial stimuli. Although participants were able to learn community structure of both social and nonsocial networks, their performance in social network learning was uncorrelated with their performance in nonsocial network learning. In addition, social traits, including social orientation and perspective-taking, uniquely predicted the learning of social community structure but not the learning of nonsocial community structure. Taken together, the results suggest that the process of learning higher-order community structure in social networks is partially distinct from the process of learning higher-order community structure in nonsocial networks. The study design provides a promising approach to identify neurophysiological drivers of social network versus nonsocial network learning, extending knowledge about the impact of individual differences on these learning processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
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Baek EC, Falk EB. Persuasion and influence: what makes a successful persuader? Curr Opin Psychol 2018; 24:53-57. [PMID: 29803961 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.05.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2018] [Revised: 04/26/2018] [Accepted: 05/02/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
What makes people successful at influencing others? In this review, we focus on the role of the persuader (i.e., person who attempts to influence a recipient), drawing from findings in neuroscience to highlight key drivers that contribute to persuaders' decisions to share information, and variables that distinguish successful persuaders from those who are less successful. We review evidence that people's motivations to share are guided in the brain by value-based decision making, with self-relevance and social-relevance as two key motivational inputs to the value computation. We then argue that persuaders who exhibit higher awareness of social considerations and increased recruitment of the brain's mentalizing system are more successful. We conclude by suggesting that approaches integrating social and neural networks can productively advance knowledge in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa C Baek
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Marketing Department, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
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47
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Cooper N, Tompson S, O’Donnell MB, Vettel JM, Bassett DS, Falk EB. Associations between coherent neural activity in the brain's value system during antismoking messages and reductions in smoking. Health Psychol 2018; 37:375-384. [PMID: 29446965 PMCID: PMC5880700 DOI: 10.1037/hea0000574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Worldwide, tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and illness. One common strategy for reducing the prevalence of cigarette smoking and other health risk behaviors is the use of graphic warning labels (GWLs). This has led to widespread interest from the perspective of health psychology in understanding the mechanisms of GWL effectiveness. Here we investigated differences in how the brain responds to negative, graphic warning label-inspired antismoking ads and neutral control ads, and we probed how this response related to future behavior. METHOD A group of smokers (N = 45) viewed GWL-inspired and control antismoking ads while undergoing fMRI, and their smoking behavior was assessed before and one month after the scan. We examined neural coherence between two regions in the brain's valuation network, the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and ventral striatum (VS). RESULTS We found that greater neural coherence in the brain's valuation network during GWL ads (relative to control ads) preceded later smoking reduction. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that the integration of information about message value may be key for message influence. Understanding how the brain responds to health messaging and relates to future behavior could ultimately contribute to the design of effective messaging campaigns, as well as more broadly to theories of message effects and persuasion across domains. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole Cooper
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, USA
| | - Steven Tompson
- U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Matthew B. O’Donnell
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Jean M. Vettel
- U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Danielle S. Bassett
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Emily B. Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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O'Donnell MB, Bayer JB, Cascio CN, Falk EB. Neural bases of recommendations differ according to social network structure. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2017; 12:61-69. [PMID: 28100830 PMCID: PMC5390723 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsw158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2016] [Accepted: 10/17/2016] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Ideas spread across social networks, but not everyone is equally positioned to be a successful recommender. Do individuals with more opportunities to connect otherwise unconnected others—high information brokers—use their brains differently than low information brokers when making recommendations? We test the hypothesis that those with more opportunities for information brokerage may use brain systems implicated in considering the thoughts, perspectives, and mental states of others (i.e. ‘mentalizing’) more when spreading ideas. We used social network analysis to quantify individuals’ opportunities for information brokerage. This served as a predictor of activity within meta-analytically defined neural regions associated with mentalizing (dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, temporal parietal junction, medial prefrontal cortex, /posterior cingulate cortex, middle temporal gyrus) as participants received feedback about peer opinions of mobile game apps. Higher information brokers exhibited more activity in this mentalizing network when receiving divergent peer feedback and updating their recommendation. These data support the idea that those in different network positions may use their brains differently to perform social tasks. Different social network positions might provide more opportunities to engage specific psychological processes. Or those who tend to engage such processes more may place themselves in systematically different network positions. These data highlight the value of integrating levels of analysis, from brain networks to social networks.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Joseph B Bayer
- School of Communication, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Christopher N Cascio
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
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Falk EB, Bassett DS. Brain and Social Networks: Fundamental Building Blocks of Human Experience. Trends Cogn Sci 2017; 21:674-690. [PMID: 28735708 PMCID: PMC8590886 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2017.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2017] [Revised: 06/16/2017] [Accepted: 06/20/2017] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
How do brains shape social networks, and how do social ties shape the brain? Social networks are complex webs by which ideas spread among people. Brains comprise webs by which information is processed and transmitted among neural units. While brain activity and structure offer biological mechanisms for human behaviors, social networks offer external inducers or modulators of those behaviors. Together, these two axes represent fundamental contributors to human experience. Integrating foundational knowledge from social and developmental psychology and sociology on how individuals function within dyads, groups, and societies with recent advances in network neuroscience can offer new insights into both domains. Here, we use the example of how ideas and behaviors spread to illustrate the potential of multilayer network models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Marketing, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
| | - Danielle S Bassett
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
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Pegors TK, Tompson S, O'Donnell MB, Falk EB. Predicting behavior change from persuasive messages using neural representational similarity and social network analyses. Neuroimage 2017; 157:118-128. [PMID: 28578131 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.05.063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2017] [Revised: 04/22/2017] [Accepted: 05/30/2017] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Neural activity in medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), identified as engaging in self-related processing, predicts later health behavior change. However, it is unknown to what extent individual differences in neural representation of content and lived experience influence this brain-behavior relationship. We examined whether the strength of content-specific representations during persuasive messaging relates to later behavior change, and whether these relationships change as a function of individuals' social network composition. In our study, smokers viewed anti-smoking messages while undergoing fMRI and we measured changes in their smoking behavior one month later. Using representational similarity analyses, we found that the degree to which message content (i.e. health, social, or valence information) was represented in a self-related processing MPFC region was associated with later smoking behavior, with increased representations of negatively valenced (risk) information corresponding to greater message-consistent behavior change. Furthermore, the relationship between representations and behavior change depended on social network composition: smokers who had proportionally fewer smokers in their network showed increases in smoking behavior when social or health content was strongly represented in MPFC, whereas message-consistent behavior (i.e., less smoking) was more likely for those with proportionally more smokers in their social network who represented social or health consequences more strongly. These results highlight the dynamic relationship between representations in MPFC and key outcomes such as health behavior change; a complete understanding of the role of MPFC in motivation and action should take into account individual differences in neural representation of stimulus attributes and social context variables such as social network composition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teresa K Pegors
- Department of Psychology Azusa Pacific University, 901 E Alosta Ave., Azusa, CA 91702, USA.
| | - Steven Tompson
- Department of Bioengineering University of Pennsylvania, 210 South 33rd St Suit 240 Skirkanich Hall, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
| | - Matthew Brook O'Donnell
- Annenberg School for Communication University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
| | - Emily B Falk
- Annenberg School for Communication University of Pennsylvania, 3620 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
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