High intelligence: A risk factor for psychological and physiological overexcitabilities

High intelligence: A risk factor for psychological and physiological overexcitabilities. Ruth I. Karpinski et al. Intelligence, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2017.09.001

Highlights
•    A potential association between a hyperbrain (high IQ) and a hyperbody was examined.
•    Those with high IQ had higher risk for psychological disorders (RR 1.20 - 223.08).
•    High IQ was associated with higher risk for physiological diseases (RR 1.84 - 4.33).
•    Findings lend substantial support to a hyper brain/hyper body theory.

Abstract: High intelligence is touted as being predictive of positive outcomes including educational success and income level. However, little is known about the difficulties experienced among this population. Specifically, those with a high intellectual capacity (hyper brain) possess overexcitabilities in various domains that may predispose them to certain psychological disorders as well as physiological conditions involving elevated sensory, and altered immune and inflammatory responses (hyper body). The present study surveyed members of American Mensa, Ltd. (n = 3715) in order to explore psychoneuroimmunological (PNI) processes among those at or above the 98th percentile of intelligence. Participants were asked to self-report prevalence of both diagnosed and/or suspected mood and anxiety disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and physiological diseases that include environmental and food allergies, asthma, and autoimmune disease. High statistical significance and a remarkably high relative risk ratio of diagnoses for all examined conditions were confirmed among the Mensa group 2015 data when compared to the national average statistics. This implicates high IQ as being a potential risk factor for affective disorders, ADHD, ASD, and for increased incidence of disease related to immune dysregulation. Preliminary findings strongly support a hyper brain/hyper body association which may have substantial individual and societal implications and warrants further investigation to best identify and serve this at-risk population.

The Impact of Physical Dominance on Male Customers’ Status-Signaling Consumption

The Abercrombie & Fitch Effect: The Impact of Physical Dominance on Male Customers’ Status-Signaling Consumption. Tobias Otterbring et al. Journal of Marketing Research. In-Press, https://doi.org/10.1509/jmr.15.0247

Abstract: Consumer lay theory suggests that women will spend more money than men in the presence of a physically dominant male employee, while theories of intrasexual competition from evolutionary psychology predict the opposite outcome. A retail field study demonstrates that male customers spend more money and purchase more expensive products than their female counterparts in the presence (vs. absence) of a physically dominant male employee. This effect has a more powerful impact on male customers who lack bodily markers of dominance (shorter stature or measures linked to lower levels of testosterone). When confronted with other physically dominant (vs. non-dominant) men, these male customers are particularly prone to signal status through price or logo size. Their elevated feelings of intrasexual (male-to-male) competitiveness drive them to spend more money on status-signaling, but not functional products, and to prefer and draw larger brand logos. As pictorial exposure is sufficient for the effect to occur, these findings are not limited to in-store interactions with dominant male employees, but have broad implications for marketing and advertising.

Origins of sinister rumors: A preference for threat-related material in the supply and demand of information

Origins of sinister rumors: A preference for threat-related material in the supply and demand of information. Timothy Blaine, Pascal Boyer. Evolution and Human Behavior, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2017.10.001

Highlights
•    Risk-related rumors are more common than benefit-related rumors.
•    Threat information is more often transmitted than non-threatening negative information.
•    Also, people seek additional information about threats more than about other topics.
•    This could explain why so many rumors are about potential danger.

Abstract: Many rumors convey information about potential danger, even when these dangers are very unlikely. In four studies, we examine whether micro-processes of cultural transmission explain the spread of threat-related information. Three studies using transmission chain protocols suggest a) that there is indeed a preference for the deliberate transmission of threat-related information over other material, b) that it is not caused by a general negativity or emotionality bias, and c) that it is not eliminated when threats are presented as very unlikely. A forced-choice study on similar material shows the same preference when participants have to select information to acquire rather than transmit. So the cultural success of threat-related material may be explained by transmission biases, rooted in evolved threat-detection and error-management systems, that affect both supply and demand of information.

Keywords: Cultural transmission; Rumors; Threat detection; Error management; Cultural beliefs; Negativity bias

Death as a metaphor for ostracism: social invincibility, autopsy, necromancy, and resurrection

Death as a metaphor for ostracism: social invincibility, autopsy, necromancy, and resurrection. Andrew Hales. Mortality, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13576275.2017.1382462

Abstract: Metaphors can be powerful tools for theory building in psychological sciences. I entertain death as a theoretical metaphor for ostracism and explore the degree to which they share key properties. Death is universal (we all die), caused (by some things and not others), totally non-functional (the dead cannot do or experience anything) and irreversible (death is permanent). Ostracism, in some of its forms, shares these key properties. If ostracism is social death then it follows that: (1) never being ostracised constitutes social invincibility, (2) pondering the reasons why one was ostracised constitutes a social autopsy, (3) receiving even trace amounts of acknowledgement, while being otherwise totally ostracised constitutes social necromancy and (4) being reincluded constitutes social resurrection. These four constructs are discussed along with new research questions and predictions that arise from them.

Keywords: Death, ostracism, metaphor, social invincibility, reinclusion

Region-Specific Association of Subjective Cognitive Decline With Tauopathy Independent of Global β-Amyloid Burden

Region-Specific Association of Subjective Cognitive Decline With Tauopathy Independent of Global β-Amyloid Burden. Rachel F. Buckley et al. JAMA Neurol. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2017.2216

IMPORTANCE The ability to explore associations between reports of subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and biomarkers of early Alzheimer disease (AD) pathophysiologic processes (accumulation of neocortical β-amyloid [Aβ] and tau) provides an important opportunity to understand the basis of SCD and AD risk.

OBJECTIVE To examine associations between SCD and global Aβ and tau burdens in regions of interest in clinically healthy older adults.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This imaging substudy of the Harvard Aging Brain Study included 133 clinically healthy older participants (Clinical Dementia Rating Scale global scores of 0) participating in the Harvard Aging Brain Study who underwent cross-sectional flortaucipir F 18 (previously known as AV 1451, T807) positron emission tomography (FTP-PET) imaging for tau and Pittsburgh compound B carbon 11–labeled PET (PiB-PET) imaging for Aβ. The following 2 regions for tau burden were identified: the entorhinal cortex, which exhibits early signs of tauopathy, and the inferior temporal region, which is more closely associated with AD-related pathologic mechanisms. Data were collected from June 11, 2012, through April 7, 2016.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Subjective cognitive declinewas measured using a previously published method of z-transforming subscales from the Memory Functioning Questionnaire, the Everyday Cognition battery, and a 7-item questionnaire. The Aβ level was measured according to a summary distribution volume ratio of frontal, lateral temporal and parietal, and retrosplenial PiB-PET tracer uptake. The FTP-PET measures were computed as standardized uptake value ratios. Linear regression models focused on main and interactive effects of Aβ, entorhinal cortical, and inferior temporal tau on SCD, controlling for age, sex, educational attainment, and Geriatric Depression Scale score.

RESULTS Of the 133 participants, 75 (56.3%) were women and 58 (43.6%) were men; mean (SD) age was 76 (6.9) years (range, 55-90 years). Thirty-nine participants (29.3%) exhibited a high Aβ burden. Greater SCD was associated with increasing entorhinal cortical tau burden (β = 0.35; 95%CI, 0.19-.52; P < .001) and Aβ burden (β = 0.24; 95%CI, 0.08-.40; P = .005), but not inferior temporal tau burden (β = 0.10; 95%CI, −0.08 to 0.28; P = .27). This association between entorhinal cortical tau burden and SCD was largely unchanged after accounting for Aβ burden (β = 0.36; 95%CI, 0.15-.58; P = .001), and no interaction influenced SCD (β = −0.36; 95%CI, −0.34 to 0.09; P = .25). An exploratory post hoc whole-brain analysis also indicated that SCD was predominantly associated with greater tau burden in the entorhinal cortex.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Subjective cognitive decline is indicative of accumulation of early tauopathy in the medial temporal lobe, specifically in the entorhinal cortex, and to a lesser extent, elevated global levels of Aβ. Our findings suggest multiple underlying pathways that motivate SCD that do not necessarily interact to influence SCD endorsement. As such, multiple biological factors must be considered when assessing SCD in clinically healthy older adults.

Consumption of fake news is a consequence, not a cause of their readers’ voting preferences

Kahan, Dan M., Misinformation and Identity-Protective Cognition (October 2, 2017). SSRN, https://ssrn.com/abstract=3046603

Abstract: This paper synthesizes existing work on misinformation relating to policy-relevant facts. It argues that misinformation has the greatest power to mislead when it interacts with identity-protective cognition.

Keywords: Identity Protective Reading, Misinform

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Reasoning axiomatically from general dynamics of belief formation, commentators have tended to identify public consumption of “fake news” as an important part of Donald Trump’s victory [...] Allcott and Gentzkow (2017) report that individuals were much more likely to represent that they had read, agreed with, and shared articles that were favorable toward their preferred political candidate or unfavorable toward that candidate’s opponent. This is evidence, then, that consumption of the stories (or story: the average number of fake news articles read by a voter, A&G calculated, was 1) were a consequence, not a cause of their readers’ voting preferences.

Check also: Polarized Mass or Polarized Few? Assessing the Parallel Rise of Survey Nonresponse and Measures of Polarization. Amnon Cavari and Guy Freedman. The Journal of Politics, https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/03/polarized-mass-or-polarized-few.html

Gender differences in environmental concern are smaller in societies with higher levels of gender inequality, economic scarcity, power distance, and collectivism

Cross-National Variation of Gender Differences in Environmental Concern: Testing the Sociocultural Hindrance Hypothesis. Hoi-Wing Chan, Vivien Pong, Kim-Pong Tam. Environment and Behavior, https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916517735149

Abstract: Although it is widely accepted that women are more pro-environmental than men, findings regarding gender differences in environmental concern have actually been mixed. In this study, we attempt to reconcile these mixed findings by considering the influence of sociocultural contexts. Specifically, we propose that some sociocultural contexts tend to hinder the psychological process that underlies gender differences in environmental concern. We tested this sociocultural hindrance hypothesis with an international survey data set (International Social Survey Programme) that involved respondents from 32 countries. We found that gender differences in environmental concern were smaller in societies with higher levels of gender inequality, economic scarcity, power distance, and collectivism. These results highlight the need to examine both the “why” and “when” questions for gender differences in environmental concern. They also indicate the importance of considering not only individual-level variables but also societal-level factors in the study of environmental concern.

Sleep and the gut microbiome: antibiotic-induced depletion of the gut microbiota reduces nocturnal sleep in mice

Sleep and the gut microbiome: antibiotic-induced depletion of the gut microbiota reduces nocturnal sleep in mice. Jonathan Elliott Lendrum, Bradley Seebach, Barrett Klein, Sumei Liu. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/199075

Abstract: Several bacterial cell wall components such as peptidoglycan and muramyl peptide are potent inducers of mammalian slow-wave sleep when exogenously administered to freely behaving animals. It has been proposed that the native gut microflora may serve as a quasi-endogenous pool of somnogenic bacterial cell wall products given their quantity and close proximity to the intestinal portal. This proposal suggests that deliberate manipulation of the host's intestinal flora may elicit changes in host sleep behavior. To test this possibility, we evaluated 24 h of sleep-wake behavior after depleting the gut microbiota with a 14 d broad-spectrum antibiotic regimen containing high doses of ampicillin, metronidazole, neomycin, and vancomycin. High-throughput sequencing of the bacterial 16S rDNA gene was used to confirm depletion of fecal bacteria and sleep-wake vigilance states were determined using videosomnography techniques based on previously established behavioral criteria shown to highly correlate with standard polysomnography-based methods. Additionally, considering that germ-free and antibiotic-treated mice have been earlier shown to display increased locomotor activity, and since locomotor activity has been used as a reliable proxy of sleep, we suspected that the elevated locomotor activity previously reported in these animals may reflect an unreported reduction in sleep behavior. To examine this potential relationship, we also quantified locomotor activity on a representative subsample of the same 24 h of video recordings using the automated video-tracking software ANY-maze. We found that antibiotic-induced depletion of the gut microbiota reduced nocturnal sleep, but not diurnal sleep. Likewise, antibiotic-treated mice showed increased nocturnal locomotor activity, but not diurnal locomotor activity. Taken together, these results support a link between the gut microbiome and nocturnal sleep and locomotor physiology in adult mice. Additionally, our findings indicate that antibiotics may be insomnogenic via their ability to diminish gut-derived bacterial somnogens. Given that antibiotics are among the most commonly prescribed drugs in human medicine, these findings have important implications for clinical practice with respect to prolonged antibiotic therapy, insomnia, and other idiopathic sleep-wake and circadian-rhythm disorders affecting an estimated 50-70 million people in the United States alone.

Value information about a drug, such as the price tag, can strongly affect its therapeutic (and antitherapeutic) effect

Interactions between brain and spinal cord mediate value effects in nocebo hyperalgesia. A. Tinnermann et al. Science  Oct 06 2017, Vol. 358, Issue 6359, pp. 105-108. DOI: 10.1126/science.aan1221

Abstract: Value information about a drug, such as the price tag, can strongly affect its therapeutic effect. We discovered that value information influences adverse treatment outcomes in humans even in the absence of an active substance. Labeling an inert treatment as expensive medication led to stronger nocebo hyperalgesia than labeling it as cheap medication. This effect was mediated by neural interactions between cortex, brainstem, and spinal cord. In particular, activity in the prefrontal cortex mediated the effect of value on nocebo hyperalgesia. Value furthermore modulated coupling between prefrontal areas, brainstem, and spinal cord, which might represent a flexible mechanism through which higher-cognitive representations, such as value, can modulate early pain processing.

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From the editors:

Patients in randomized clinical trials frequently stop taking their drug, complaining of side effects. However, it turns out that some of these subjects are part of the placebo group and thus never received any active medication. This is a case of the nocebo effect seriously interfering with medical treatment. Tinnermann et al. investigated whether value information such as the price of a medication can further modulate behavioral nocebo effects and the underlying neural network dynamics. They used brain imaging to characterize the circuits involved in nocebo hyperalgesia within the descending pain pathway from the prefrontal cortex to the spinal cord. Their findings revealed how value information increased the nocebo effect.

Polity or Policy? Explaining Ordinary Muslims’ Support for Suicide Bombing

Polity or Policy? Explaining Ordinary Muslims’ Support for Suicide Bombing. Christine Fair & Junjie Chen. Georgetown University Working Paper, August 2017. https://georgetown.academia.edu/ChristineFair/Drafts

Abstract: Public opinion research shows there is considerable, albeit varied, support for terrorist tactics among the world’s varied Muslim populations. Data from the Pew Research Center demonstrated that in 2014, 47 and 46 percent of Bangladeshis and Lebanese respondents, respectively, approved of suicide bombing, compared to only 5 and 3 percent of Tunisian and Pakistani respondents (Pew 2014). Scholars have sought to identify respondent-level determinants of support for suicide bombings (and other forms of political violence) perpetrated by Islamist militant groups by using a variety of country-specific and multi-national survey samples as well as novel survey techniques (reviewed in Bullock, Imai and Shapiro 2011). None of the extant literature has focused on aspects of the polity in which these Muslims respondents live, namely whether or not the person lives in a Muslim-majority country and/or whether that person lives in a country which has adopted Islam as the state’s formal religion. We posit that these two considerations are likely important in explaining why some Muslims support suicide bombing while others do not. To test the salience of these variables, we employ 2011-2-12 data from Pew Research Center’s World’s Muslim Survey, to model support for suicide bombing using Ordinary Least Squares regression. We find that the share of Muslims in the state’s population is generally negatively associated with the support of terrorist attacks while the codification of Islam as a state religion positively correlates with support for suicide bombing.

Types of intelligence predict likelihood to get married and stay married

Types of intelligence predict likelihood to get married and stay married: Large-scale empirical evidence for evolutionary theory. Jaakko Aspara, Kristina Wittkowski, and Xueming Luo. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 122, February 1 2018, Pages 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.09.028

Highlights
•    Intelligence scores of male individuals are studied as predictors of marriage.
•    Two samples are examined: initially non-married males and already-married males.
•    Intelligence predicts both likelihood to get married and likelihood to stay married.
•    Verbal, numeric, and spatial logic intelligence differently predict the two.
•    The results suggest intelligence to be an evolutionary fitness indicator in mating.

Abstract: Decisions related to marriage and divorce are key life events for individuals. In the present research, we provide large-scale evidence of the role of individual intelligence in marriage and divorce behavior, controlling for tangible resources such as income and social status symbols. We find that male individuals' intelligence score at early adulthood has a positive relationship with their subsequent likelihood to get married, in a sample of 120,290 males. Intelligence also predicts continued marriage (non-divorce) in a separate sample of 68,150 married males. The relatively easier-to-perceive verbal intelligence predicts the likelihood of getting married (bivariate correlation r = 0.07) slightly better than the harder-to-observe numeric (r = 0.06) and logical intelligence (r = 0.05). The likelihood to stay married is predicted to an equal extent by verbal, numeric, and logical intelligence (r ≈ 0.05). A series of regression models confirms the direct effect of residualized intelligence on marriage behavior over and above its indirect effect through income, social status, and other control variables. These findings provide empirical evidence for the notion of evolutionary psychology that human intelligence, as an intangible fitness indicator, directly influences mating prospects, rather than merely exerting its influence through the tangible resources of income and social status.

Keywords: Evolution; Intelligence; Marriage; Divorce; Fitness indicators; Verbal intelligence; Numeric ability; Spatial logic

My comment: Marriage should be understood as something temporary... CheckThe Future of Everything. 50 Experts Explain Where We’re Heading– and How We’ll Get There. The Wall Street Journal, Dec 2014. >>> The Future of Love Will Play Out by Prehistoric Rules. By Helen Fisher:

"Third, we will see more divorce. Today, almost 50% of American men and women are projected to divorce. However, in huntinggathering societies, men and women regularly have two or three marriages. Across prehistory, serial pairing was probably the norm—as it is becoming once again.

In fact, I believe we are shedding some 10,000 years of agrarian traditions and returning to our prehistoric roots. Our farming forebears were obliged to marry someone with the “right” kin, social and religious connections. Arranged marriages were the norm."

Male brain type women and female brain type men are more similar to the opposite sex than to their own in a range of social, cognitive and personality variables

Male brain type women and female brain type men: Gender atypical cognitive profiles and their correlates. Annika M., Svedholm-Häkkinen, Sini J. Ojala, & Marjaana Lindeman. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 122, February 1 2018, Pages 7–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.09.041

Highlights
•    Sex differences have been documented in occupations, interests, and abilities
•    Empathizing-Systemizing theory attempts to explain cognitive sex differences
•    Women on average empathize more, men on average systemize more
•    We studied men and women with gender atypical cognitive profiles
•    Gender atypical profiles predicted qualities commonly linked with the opposite sex

Abstract: Gender differences exist in abilities, interests, and occupations. According to the Empathizing-Systemizing theory, the reason for all gender differences lies in the relative weights of two cognitive processes: women empathize more, which is useful in understanding people, while men systemize more, which means interpreting phenomena as rule-based systems. The terms “male and female brain type” refer to a heightened preference for one process over the other. We aimed to find out whether the gender atypical groups of male brain type women and female brain type men are more similar to the opposite sex than to their own in terms of a range of social, cognitive and personality variables. Female and male brain type groups were identified and compared within both genders in an online study (N = 2983). The results show there are female brain type men and male brain type women, who are characterized by qualities more often associated with the opposite sex, and who have not been reached by prior research. Thus, these findings demonstrate that cognitive type is a more powerful predictor of certain characteristics than is biological sex.

Keywords: Brain type; Empathizing; Systemizing; Cognitive style; Gender differences

Participants who read about an underdog had higher creativity scores and produced a wider range of ideas

The Underdog Advantage in Creativity. Abby Boytos, Kerry Smith, and JongHan Kim. Thinking Skills and Creativity, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2017.10.003

Highlights
•    The study examines how thinking about underdogs can enhance creativity.
•    Underdogs often achieve success by finding creative solutions.
•    For underdogs, their approach motivation and lack of resources give underdogs a creative advantage.
•    Reading an underdog story may predispose the individual to finding creative solutions.

Abstract: Underdogs are expected to lose. Yet, many underdogs—from the Biblical David to today’s Harry Potter—emerge victorious. What do underdogs who win against seemingly impossible odds have in common? One answer may be creativity: they find creative ways to reach their goals. To determine how creativity figures into the success of underdogs, we randomly assigned participants in this study to either of two groups: one that reads a story about an underdog and one that reads a story about a top dog. After reading their respective stories, the participants completed the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. As we predicted, participants who had read about an underdog had higher creativity scores and produced a wider range of ideas than those who had read about a top dog. Those results suggested that their contemplation of successful underdogs had stimulated the participants’ creativity. The implication is that the underdog experience may itself predispose individuals to finding creative solutions.

Keywords: creativity; underdog; top dog; inspiration; carryover effect

Educational differences in the chances and timing of grandparenthood

Who becomes a grandparent – and when? Educational differences in the chances and timing of grandparenthood. Jan Skopek and Thomas Leopold. Demographic Research, Vol 37, article 29, pages 917-928. http://www.demographic-research.org/Volumes/Vol37/29/

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Despite  recent  advances,  the  demographic  understanding  of  grandparenthood  remains limited.

OBJECTIVE: Our  study  examines  educational  differences  in  the  transition  to  grandparenthood. Comparing  East  and  West  Germany,  we  analyze  educational  differences  in  a)  the chance  of  becoming  a  grandparent,  and  b)  the  timing  of  grandparenthood  for  both  men and women.

METHODS: We   used   fertility   data   across   three   family   generations   (German   Ageing   Survey, N= 2,434 men and women born 1933‒1948) and methods of survival time analysis to study educational gradients in the transition to grandparenthood.

RESULTS: We found a strong educational gradient in the chances of grandparenthood among West German  women:  Lower-educated  women’s  chances  of  becoming  a  grandmother  were similar to higher-educated women’s chances of becoming a mother.

CONCLUSIONS: Our  findings  have  implications  for  research  on  multi-generational  social  mobility  and on the consequences of grandparenthood.

CONTRIBUTION: Our  study  is  the  first  to  analyze  how  the  transition  to  grandparenthood  is  socially stratified.

The most common word during sleep is "No," 10pct of speech are profanities and 26pct are interrogations

What does the sleeping brain say? Syntax and semantics of sleep talking in healthy subjects and in parasomnia patients. Isabelle Arnulf et al. Sleep, zsx159, https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsx159

Abstract

Objectives: Speech is a complex function in humans, but the linguistic characteristics of sleep talking are unknown. We analyzed sleep-associated speech in adults, mostly (92%) during parasomnias.

Methods: The utterances recorded during night-time video-polysomnography were analyzed for number of words, propositions and speech episodes, frequency, gaps and pauses (denoting turn-taking in the conversation), lemmatization, verbosity, negative/imperative/interrogative tone, first/second person, politeness and abuse.

Results: The 232 subjects (aged 49.5 ± 20 y old; 41% women; 129 with rapid eye movement [REM] sleep behavior disorder and 87 with sleepwalking/sleep terrors, 15 healthy subjects and 1 patient with sleep apnea speaking in non-REM sleep) uttered 882 speech episodes, containing 59% non-verbal utterance (mumbles, shouts, whispers, laughs) and 3349 understandable words. The most frequent word was “No”: negations represented 21.4% of clauses (more in non-REM sleep). Interrogations were found in 26% of speech episodes (more in non-REM sleep), and subordinate clauses were found in 12.9% of speech episode. As many as 9.7% of clauses contained profanities (more in non-REM sleep). Verbal abuse lasted longer in REM sleep and was mostly directed towards insulting or condemning someone, whereas swearing predominated in non-REM sleep. Men sleep-talked more than women and used a higher proportion of profanities. Apparent turn-taking in the conversation respected the usual language gaps.

Conclusions: Sleep talking parallels awake talking for syntax, semantics and turn- taking in conversation, suggesting that the sleeping brain can function at a high level. Language during sleep is mostly a familiar, tensed conversation with inaudible others, suggestive of conflicts.

Keywords: sleep talking, language, syntax, linguistics, semantics, verbal abuse, REM sleep behavior disorder, sleepwalking


My comment: The most common word during sleep is "No," and 10pct of speech are profanities and 26pct are interrogations.

The End of Free College in England: Implications for Quality, Enrolments, and Equity

The End of Free College in England: Implications for Quality, Enrolments, and Equity. Richard Murphy, Judith Scott-Clayton, Gillian Wyness. NBER Working Paper No. 23888. www.nber.org/papers/w23888

Abstract: Despite increasing financial pressures on higher education systems throughout the world, many governments remain resolutely opposed to the introduction of tuition fees, and some countries and states where tuition fees have been long established are now reconsidering free higher education. This paper examines the consequences of charging tuition fees on university quality, enrolments, and equity. To do so, we study the English higher education system which has, in just two decades, moved from a free college system to one in which tuition fees are among the highest in the world. Our findings suggest that England’s shift has resulted in increased funding per head, rising enrolments, and a narrowing of the participation gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students. In contrast to other systems with high tuition fees, the English system is distinct in that its income-contingent loan system keeps university free at the point of entry, and provides students with comparatively generous assistance for living expenses. We conclude that tuition fees, at least in the English case supported their goals of increasing quality, quantity, and equity in higher education.

Individual Difference Correlates of Self-Perceptions of Creativity

Individual Difference Correlates of Self-Perceptions of Creativity. Mark Batey and David J. Hughes. In book: The Creative Self, pp.185-218. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-809790-8.00011-X

Abstract: The current chapter reports a systematic review of the relationship between self-perceptions of creativity and the individual difference traits of cognitive ability and personality. To structure our review, we separate out self-perceptions of creative traits, creative processes, and creative products. Our findings reveal that cognitive ability measures rarely relate to creative self-perceptions, but there are consistent positive associations with Openness to Experience and Extraversion. The relationships with Neuroticism, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness are more nuanced and vary relative to the type of self-perception (trait, process, product), the domain of the self-perception (e.g., arts vs. science), or culture. We explore some of the likely theoretical rationales for the findings and identify areas in need of further research. Lastly, we present a series of hypothetical models outlining nuanced relations between self-perceptions and individual differences and we present an exploratory but explanatory model that situates individual differences, self-perceptions of creativity, and actual creative achievement.

We feel with more intensity when observed

Janina Steinmetz and Stefan Pfattheicher (2017). Beyond Social Facilitation: A Review of the Far-Reaching Effects of Social Attention. Social Cognition: Vol. 35, No. 5, pp. 585-599. https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2017.35.5.585

Abstract: Social psychology has demonstrated that people behave differently in social attention, compared to when alone. First and foremost, being in social attention affects people's performance and their interpersonal behavior by increasing arousal and reputational concerns, respectively. However, newer work demonstrates more fundamental intra-psychological effects of social attention. As mere reminders of social attention can activate reputational concerns, people's thoughts and behavior are affected by such reminders even when people's reputation is not at stake. These findings provide a deeper look at more intra-personal effects of social attention. As a result, recent research focuses on how social attention fundamentally influences people's subjective perceptions and experiences. In this review, we provide an overview of the far-reaching effects of social attention, identify relevant moderators and mediators, discuss socio-motivational and cognitive processes underlying these effects, and highlight avenues for future research.

KEYWORDS: social attention, social facilitation, shared reality, social presence

Macaques conceal food from alpha males by inhibiting interest in it, refraining from approaching it or looking at it

Factors influencing deceptive behaviours in Tonkean macaques (Macaca tonkeana). Charlotte Canteloup et al. https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539X-00003443

Abstract: The complex social environments of primates create opportunities for engaging in tactical deception, especially for subordinate individuals. We analysed the behaviour of subordinate Tonkean macaques with dominant conspecifics in an experimental food competition context. The subordinate macaque could see two pieces of food in a test area, but only one piece was visible to the dominant. Both individuals were released into the test area at the same time or with the subordinate given a short head start on the dominant. Here, based on video analysis of the subordinates’ behaviours, we describe and classify functionally deceptive behaviours displayed by subordinates, and report factors that influenced these behaviours. Subordinates used several types of tactical deception, including concealment and distraction, especially when paired with competitors of much higher social rank, and they obtained the hidden food more frequently when they used a combination of tactics rather than only one.

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The most frequently used tactic was concealment by inhibiting interest in object, either by refraining from approaching the food, or ‘freezing’ (see Video 1 in the online edition of this journal, which can be accessed via http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/1568539x), sometimes avoiding looking at the food. In this kind of concealment, subordinates acted as if they were unaware of the presence of food, for example by not entering the test area, or entering and then stopping or sitting down. The most parsimonious interpretation of this tactic is that the subordinate was simply inhibited by the dominant’s presence and/or gaze (behaviour reading hypothesis; e.g., Povinelli & Vonk, 2003), rather than actively refraining from approaching despite knowing that the dominant was unaware of the food (mindreading hypothesis; e.g., Call & Tomasello, 2008). It is conceivable that most cases of simple concealment by inhibiting interest reflect simple behavioural inhibition induced by the presence of a dominant competitor.

Concealment by inhibiting interest was used on its own or combined with other tactics such as concealment by hiding. In concealment by hiding, subordinates behaved so as not to be seen by the dominant. For example, they refrained from immediately entering the test area, or headed for the hidden food when the dominant’s back was turned (see Video 2 in the online edition of this journal, which can be accessed via http://booksandjournals. brillonline.com/content/journals/1568539x) or after the dominant left the test area. Similar behaviour has been described in the context of sneaky matings in long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis: Overduin-de Vries et al., 2015), and geladas (Theropithecus gelada: le Roux et al., 2013), done out of view of the alpha male. We previously reported that subordinate Tonkean macaques moved preferentially for hidden food when released simultaneously or slightly before the dominant, and proposed that they are capable of visual perspective-taking (Canteloup et al., 2016). In this context, concealment by hiding could reflect an active attempt by subordinates to be out of view of the dominant. However, we cannot exclude the lower-level explanation that subordinates merely reacted to the dominant’s gaze, without perspective-taking (Canteloup et al., 2016).

Most cancer drugs entered the market without evidence of benefit on survival or quality of life

Availability of evidence of benefits on overall survival and quality of life of cancer drugs approved by European Medicines Agency: retrospective cohort study of drug approvals 2009-13. BMJ 2017; 359 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j4530

Abstract

Objective: To determine the availability of data on overall survival and quality of life benefits of cancer drugs approved in Europe.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Publicly accessible regulatory and scientific reports on cancer approvals by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) from 2009 to 2013.

Main outcome measures: Pivotal and postmarketing trials of cancer drugs according to their design features (randomisation, crossover, blinding), comparators, and endpoints. Availability and magnitude of benefit on overall survival or quality of life determined at time of approval and after market entry. Validated European Society for Medical Oncology Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (ESMO-MCBS) used to assess the clinical value of the reported gains in published studies of cancer drugs.

Results: From 2009 to 2013, the EMA approved the use of 48 cancer drugs for 68 indications. Of these, eight indications (12%) were approved on the basis of a single arm study. At the time of market approval, there was significant prolongation of survival in 24 of the 68 (35%). The magnitude of the benefit on overall survival ranged from 1.0 to 5.8 months (median 2.7 months). At the time of market approval, there was an improvement in quality of life in seven of 68 indications (10%). Out of 44 indications for which there was no evidence of a survival gain at the time of market authorisation, in the subsequent postmarketing period there was evidence for extension of life in three (7%) and reported benefit on quality of life in five (11%). Of the 68 cancer indications with EMA approval, and with a median of 5.4 years’ follow-up (minimum 3.3 years, maximum 8.1 years), only 35 (51%) had shown a significant improvement in survival or quality of life, while 33 (49%) remained uncertain. Of 23 indications associated with a survival benefit that could be scored with the ESMO-MCBS tool, the benefit was judged to be clinically meaningful in less than half (11/23, 48%).

Conclusions: This systematic evaluation of oncology approvals by the EMA in 2009-13 shows that most drugs entered the market without evidence of benefit on survival or quality of life. At a minimum of 3.3 years after market entry, there was still no conclusive evidence that these drugs either extended or improved life for most cancer indications. When there were survival gains over existing treatment options or placebo, they were often marginal.

My commentary: My thesis of why this came to pass is that our desperation for cancer death is so great that a few months of life and the hope of maybe, perhaps, having the cure in your hands, are enough to make us suffer those treatments and for doctors to try them

Democrat veterans suffer more PTSD than Republicans -- Political Affiliation, Probable PTSD, and Symptoms of Depression in Veterans

Political Affiliation, Probable PTSD, and Symptoms of Depression in Iraq and Afghanistan Combat Veterans: A Pilot Study. Lating, Jeffrey M. et al. Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease: October 2017 - Volume 205 - Issue 10 - p 809–811. doi: 10.1097/NMD.0000000000000715

Abstract: Ideological commitment of military personnel has been associated with mitigating trauma and protecting mental health. This pilot study assessed whether Democratic and Republican political affiliation differentially predicted probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and symptoms of depression in 62 male Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans. The Liberalism-Conservatism Scale, the PTSD Checklist-Military Version (PCL-M), and the Patient Health Questionnaire–9 (PHQ-9) were assessment measures. Results revealed that Democratic combat veterans had stronger liberal attitudes than Republican combat veterans (r = 0.95). Moreover, of the 50% of the entire sample higher than the cutoff score of 50 on the PCL-M, 84.8% were Democrats compared with 10.3% of Republicans. On the PHQ-9, 46.9% of Democrats compared with 3.7% of Republicans were higher than the cutoff score of 20. These initial results suggest possible mechanisms of action, including differences in shattered world view assumptions, willingness to disclose emotional concerns, and physiological reactions between Democratic and Republican combat veterans.

My commentary: It is just a pilot study, so we don't know how representative is. They say that Democrat veterans suffer more PTSD than Republicans. Explanations are: "The large effects sizes found in these data suggest the possibility worth exploring further that identified political affiliation might capture a shattered world view occurring more in Democrat than Republican combat veterans. Moreover, because Republicans are more likely than Democrats to report being in better mental health (Newport, 2007), it is possible that Democrats are more likely than Republicans to disclose emotional concerns, and thus more likely to complete these types of studies. In addition, there are data to suggest that there might be basic structural differences in the brains of those who identify as conservative or liberal (Oxley et al., 2008). Therefore, it might be worth investigating if these possible differences are related to the physiological diatheses associated with PTSD and depression (Elbejjani et al., 2015; Pitman et al., 2012)."

Searching for Moral Dumbfounding: Identifying Measurable Indicators

McHugh, C., McGann, M., Igou, E. R., & Kinsella, E. L. (2017). Searching for Moral Dumbfounding: Identifying Measurable Indicators of Moral Dumbfounding. Collabra: Psychology, 3(1), 23. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.79

Abstract: Moral dumbfounding is defined as maintaining a moral judgement, without supporting reasons. The most cited demonstration of dumbfounding does not identify a specific measure of dumbfounding and has not been published in peer-review form, or directly replicated. Despite limited empirical examination, dumbfounding has been widely discussed in moral psychology. The present research examines the reliability with which dumbfounding can be elicited, and aims to identify measureable indicators of dumbfounding. Study 1 aimed at establishing the effect that is reported in the literature. Participants read four scenarios and judged the actions described. An Interviewer challenged participants’ stated reasons for judgements. Dumbfounding was evoked, as measured by two indicators, admissions of not having reasons (17%), unsupported declarations (9%) with differences between scenarios. Study 2 measured dumbfounding as the selecting of an unsupported declaration as part of a computerised task. We observed high rates of dumbfounding across all scenarios. Studies 3a (college sample) and 3b (MTurk sample), addressing limitations in Study 2, replaced the unsupported declaration with an admission of having no reason, and included open-ended responses that were coded for unsupported declarations. As predicted, lower rates of dumbfounding were observed (3a 20%; 3b 16%; or 3a 32%; 3b 24% including unsupported declarations in open-ended responses). Two measures provided evidence for dumbfounding across three studies; rates varied with task type (interview/computer task), and with the particular measure being employed (admissions of not having reasons/unsupported declarations). Possible cognitive processes underlying dumbfounding and limitations of methodologies used are discussed as a means to account for this variability.

Keywords: Morality,  Dumbfounding,  Judgement,  Intuitions,  Reasoning

Are the Neural Correlates of Consciousness in the Front or in the Back of the Cerebral Cortex? Clinical and Neuroimaging Evidence

Are the Neural Correlates of Consciousness in the Front or in the Back of the Cerebral Cortex? Clinical and Neuroimaging Evidence. Melanie Boly, Marcello Massimini, Naotsugu Tsuchiya, Bradley R. Postle, Christof Koch and Giulio Tononi. Journal of Neuroscience Oct 04 2017, 37 (40) 9603-9613; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3218-16.2017

Abstract: The role of the frontal cortex in consciousness remains a matter of debate. In this Perspective, we will critically review the clinical and neuroimaging evidence for the involvement of the front versus the back of the cortex in specifying conscious contents and discuss promising research avenues.

My commentary: Seems to be in the back.

The Effect of an Interruption on Risk Decisions -- Interruptions decrease the novelty of the risk decision and increases its taking

The Effect of an Interruption on Risk Decisions. Daniella Kupor, Wendy Liu and On Amir. Journal of Consumer Research,  ucx092, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucx092

Abstract: Interruptions during consumer decision making are ubiquitous. In seven studies, we examine the consequences of a brief interruption during a financial risk decision. We identify a fundamental feature inherent in an interruption's temporal structure - a repeat exposure to the decision stimuli - and find that this re-exposure reduces decision stimuli's subjective novelty. This reduced novelty in turn reduces decision makers' apprehension and increases the amount of risk that they take in a wide range of financial risky decision contexts. Consistent with our theoretical framework, this interruption effect disappears when a stimulus's subjective novelty is restored after an interruption. We further find that these consequences are unique to interruptions and do not result from other interventions (e.g., time pressure and elongated thinking); this is because an interruption's unique temporal structure (which results in a repeat exposure to the decision stimuli) underlies its consequences. Our findings shed light on how and when interruptions during decision making can influence risk taking.

Keywords: risk taking, decision making, interruption

Delegating Decisions: Recruiting Others to Make Choices We Might Regret

Delegating Decisions: Recruiting Others to Make Choices We Might Regret. Mary Steffel and Elanor Williams. Journal of Consumer Research, ucx080. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucx080

Abstract: Consumers typically prefer freedom of choice, but when faced with a choice they might regret, they may prefer freedom from choice. Eight experiments show that people delegate difficult decisions, regardless of the decision's importance, and regardless of their potential surrogate's expertise. Delegation stems from a desire to avoid responsibility for potentially making the wrong choice rather than simply the desire to avoid the possibility of a poor outcome: although anticipated disappointment with the outcome and anticipated regret about one's decision both contribute to the decision to delegate, only anticipated regret directly leads people to delegate choices to others. Consequently, delegation is an appealing method for coping with difficult choices while allowing consumers to retain the benefits of choosing that they would forgo by opting out of the choice. Moreover, giving people the option to delegate makes them less prone to walk away from difficult choices empty-handed.

Keywords: choice delegation, choice deferral, responsibility, regret

Poor Metacognitive Awareness of Belief Change

Poor Metacognitive Awareness of Belief Change. Michael Wolfe and Todd Williams. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2017.1363792

Abstract: When people change beliefs as a result of reading a text, are they aware of these changes? This question was examined for beliefs about spanking as an effective means of discipline. In two experiments, subjects reported beliefs about spanking effectiveness during a prescreening session. In a subsequent experimental session, subjects read a one-sided text that advocated a belief consistent or inconsistent position on the topic. After reading, subjects reported their current beliefs and attempted to recollect their initial beliefs. Subjects reading a belief inconsistent text were more likely to change their beliefs than those who read a belief consistent text. Recollections of initial beliefs tended to be biased in the direction of subjects' current beliefs. In addition, the relationship between the belief consistency of the text read and accuracy of belief recollections was mediated by belief change. This belief memory bias was independent of on-line text processing and comprehension measures, and indicates poor metacognitive awareness of belief change.

Keywords: Beliefs, Belief change, Metacognition, Comprehension, Recollection

Check also: Political partisans disagreed about the importance of conditional probabilities; highly numerate partisans were more polarized than less numerate partisans

It depends: Partisan evaluation of conditional probability importance. Leaf Van Boven et al. Cognition, Mar 2 2019, https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/03/political-partisans-disagreed-about.html

And: Biased Policy Professionals. Sheheryar Banuri, Stefan Dercon, and Varun Gauri. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 8113. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/08/biased-policy-professionals-world-bank.html

And: Dispelling the Myth: Training in Education or Neuroscience Decreases but Does Not Eliminate Beliefs in Neuromyths. Kelly Macdonald et al. Frontiers in Psychology, Aug 10 2017. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/08/training-in-education-or-neuroscience.html

And: Wisdom and how to cultivate it: Review of emerging evidence for a constructivist model of wise thinking. Igor Grossmann. European Psychologist, in press. Pre-print: https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/08/wisdom-and-how-to-cultivate-it-review.html

And: Individuals with greater science literacy and education have more polarized beliefs on controversial science topics. Caitlin Drummond and Baruch Fischhoff. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 114 no. 36, pp 9587–9592, https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/09/individuals-with-greater-science.html

And: Expert ability can actually impair the accuracy of expert perception when judging others' performance: Adaptation and fallibility in experts' judgments of novice performers. By Larson, J. S., & Billeter, D. M. (2017). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 43(2), 271–288. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/06/expert-ability-can-actually-impair.html

And: Collective Intelligence for Clinical Diagnosis—Are 2 (or 3) Heads Better Than 1? Stephan D. Fihn. JAMA Network Open. 2019;2(3):e191071, https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/03/one-conclusion-that-can-be-drawn-from.html

And Poor Metacognitive Awareness of Belief Change. Michael Wolfe and Todd Williams. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Oct 2017. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/10/poor-metacognitive-awareness-of-belief.html

Intergenerational Consequences of a Geographic Mobility Shock

The Gift of Moving: Intergenerational Consequences of a Mobility Shock. Emi Nakamura, Jósef Sigurdsson, and Jón Steinsson. NBER Working Paper No. 22392. http://www.nber.org/papers/w22392

We exploit a volcanic “experiment" to study the costs and benefits of geographic mobility. We show that moving costs (broadly defined) are very large and labor therefore does not flow to locations where it earns the highest returns. In our experiment, a third of the houses in a town were covered by lava. People living in these houses where much more likely to move away permanently. For those younger than 25 years old who were induced to move, the “lava shock” dramatically raised lifetime earnings and education. Yet, the benefits of moving were very unequally distributed within the family: Those older than 25 (the parents) were made slightly worse off by the shock. The large gains from moving for the young are surprising in light of the fact that the town affected by our volcanic experiment was (and is) a relatively high income town. We interpret our findings as evidence of the importance of comparative advantage: the gains to moving may be very large for those badly matched to the location they happened to be born in, even if differences in average income are small.

Gossip as an Intrasexual Competition Strategy: Sex Differences in Gossip Frequency, Content, and Attitudes

Gossip as an Intrasexual Competition Strategy: Sex Differences in Gossip Frequency, Content, and Attitudes. Adam C. Davis. Evolutionary Psychological Science, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40806-017-0121-9

Abstract: From an evolutionary perspective, gossip has been considered a putative intrasexual competition strategy that is used to vie for mates and resources linked to reproductive success. To date, no study has directly examined the relations between intrasexual competitiveness, reported tendency to gossip, and attitudes toward gossiping. Limited empirical work has also focused on whether gossip frequency, gossip content, and gossip attitudes correspond to women’s and men’s divergent intrasexual competition strategies and evolved mating preferences. In a sample of 290 heterosexual young adults, we found that intrasexual competition positively predicted reported gossip frequency and favorable attitudes toward gossiping. Additionally, women reported a greater tendency to gossip in comparison to men, particularly about physical appearance and social information, whereas men reported gossiping more about achievement. Women also reported greater enjoyment of, and perceived more value in, gossiping than men. Collectively, these findings provide empirical support for the hypothesis that gossip is an intrasexual competition tactic that, by and large, corresponds to women’s and men’s evolved mate preferences and differential mate competition strategies.

Check also: What Shall We Talk about in Farsi? Content of Everyday Conversations in Iran. Mahdi Dahmardeh, R. I. M. Dunbar. Human Nature, http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/08/content-of-everyday-conversations-in.html. Pay attention to the table there.

The Wisdom in Virtue: Pursuit of Virtue Predicts Wise Reasoning About Personal Conflicts

The Wisdom in Virtue: Pursuit of Virtue Predicts Wise Reasoning About Personal Conflicts. Alex C. Huynh et al. Psychological Science, https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617722621

Abstract: Most people can reason relatively wisely about others’ social conflicts, but often struggle to do so about their own (i.e., Solomon’s paradox). We suggest that true wisdom should involve the ability to reason wisely about both others’ and one’s own social conflicts, and we investigated the pursuit of virtue as a construct that predicts this broader capacity for wisdom. Results across two studies support prior findings regarding Solomon’s paradox: Participants (N = 623) more strongly endorsed wise-reasoning strategies (e.g., intellectual humility, adopting an outsider’s perspective) for resolving other people’s social conflicts than for resolving their own. The pursuit of virtue (e.g., pursuing personal ideals and contributing to other people) moderated this effect of conflict type. In both studies, greater endorsement of the pursuit of virtue was associated with greater endorsement of wise-reasoning strategies for one’s own personal conflicts; as a result, participants who highly endorsed the pursuit of virtue endorsed wise-reasoning strategies at similar levels for resolving their own social conflicts and resolving other people’s social conflicts. Implications of these results and underlying mechanisms are explored and discussed.

Check also: Wisdom and how to cultivate it: Review of emerging evidence for a constructivist model of wise thinking. Igor Grossmann. European Psychologist, in press. http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/10/the-wisdom-in-virtue-pursuit-of-virtue.html

Brain Activity Unique to Orgasm in Women: An fMRI Analysis

Brain Activity Unique to Orgasm in Women: An fMRI Analysis. Nan J. Wise, Eleni Frangos, and Barry R. Komisaruk. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2017.08.014

Abstract

Background: Although the literature on imaging of regional brain activity during sexual arousal in women and men is extensive and largely consistent, that on orgasm is relatively limited and variable, owing in part to the methodologic challenges posed by variability in latency to orgasm in participants and head movement.

Aim: To compare brain activity at orgasm (self- and partner-induced) with that at the onset of genital stimulation, immediately before the onset of orgasm, and immediately after the cessation of orgasm and to upgrade the methodology for obtaining and analyzing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) findings.

Methods: Using fMRI, we sampled equivalent time points across female participants’ variable durations of stimulation and orgasm in response to self- and partner-induced clitoral stimulation. The first 20-second epoch of orgasm was contrasted with the 20-second epochs at the beginning of stimulation and immediately before and after orgasm. Separate analyses were conducted for whole-brain and brainstem regions of interest. For a finer-grained analysis of the peri-orgasm phase, we conducted a time-course analysis on regions of interest. Head movement was minimized to a mean less than 1.3 mm using a custom-fitted thermoplastic whole-head and neck brace stabilizer.

Outcomes: Ten women experienced orgasm elicited by self- and partner-induced genital stimulation in a Siemens 3-T Trio fMRI scanner.

Results: Brain activity gradually increased leading up to orgasm, peaked at orgasm, and then decreased. We found no evidence of deactivation of brain regions leading up to or during orgasm. The activated brain regions included sensory, motor, reward, frontal cortical, and brainstem regions (eg, nucleus accumbens, insula, anterior cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, operculum, right angular gyrus, paracentral lobule, cerebellum, hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus, ventral tegmental area, and dorsal raphe).

Clinical Translation: Insight gained from the present findings could provide guidance toward a rational basis for treatment of orgasmic disorders, including anorgasmia.

Strengths and Limitations: This is evidently the first fMRI study of orgasm elicited by self- and partner-induced genital stimulation in women. Methodologic solutions to the technical issues posed by excessive head movement and variable latencies to orgasm were successfully applied in the present study, enabling identification of brain regions involved in orgasm. Limitations include the small sample (N = 10), which combined self- and partner-induced stimulation datasets for analysis and which qualify the generalization of our conclusions.

Conclusion: Extensive cortical, subcortical, and brainstem regions reach peak levels of activity at orgasm.

Key Words: Human Female; Orgasm; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Sexual Behavior; Sexual Arousal

Olfactory cues are more effective than visual cues in experimentally triggering autobiographical memories

Olfactory cues are more effective than visual cues in experimentally triggering autobiographical memories. Maaike J. de Bruijn & Michael Bender. Memory, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2017.1381744

Abstract: Folk wisdom often refers to odours as potent triggers for autobiographical memory, akin to the Proust phenomenon that describes Proust’s sudden recollection of a childhood memory when tasting a madeleine dipped into tea. Despite an increasing number of empirical studies on the effects of odours on cognition, conclusive evidence is still missing. We set out to examine the effectiveness of childhood and non-childhood odours as retrieval cues for autobiographical memories in a lab experiment. A total of 170 participants were presented with pilot-tested retrieval cues (either odours or images) to recall childhood memories and were then asked to rate the vividness, detail, and emotional intensity of these memories. Results showed that participants indeed reported richer memories when presented with childhood-related odours than childhood-related images or childhood-unrelated odours or images. An exploratory analysis of memory content with Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count did not reveal differences in affective content. The findings of this study support the notion that odours are particularly potent in eliciting rich memories and open up numerous avenues for further exploration.

KEYWORDS: Scent, olfaction, odour, autobiographical memory, Proust

Individuals who find food-related images more motivationally relevant than erotic ones may eat twice as much as their opposites

The reality of “food porn”: Larger brain responses to food-related cues than to erotic images predict cue-induced eating. Francesco Versace et al. BioRxiv.org,  September 5, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1101/184838

Abstract: While some individuals can defy the lure of temptation, many others find appetizing food irresistible. Using event-related potentials, we showed that individuals who find food-related images more motivationally relevant than erotic ones ("sign-trackers") are more susceptible to cue-induced eating and, in the presence of a palatable food option, eat twice as much as individuals with the opposite brain reactivity profile ("goal-trackers"). These findings contribute to the understanding of the neurobiological basis of vulnerability to cue-induced behaviors.

Perception of Causality: Categories and Constraints

Categories and Constraints in Causal Perception. Jonathan Kominsky et al. Psychological Science, last updated Sep 27 2017 https://osf.io/k8t4b/

Abstract: When object A moves adjacent to a stationary object, B, and in that instant A stops moving and B starts moving, people irresistibly see this as an event in which A causes B to move. Real-world causal collisions are subject to Newtonian constraints on the relative speed of B following the collision, but here we show that perceptual constraints on the relative speed of B (which align imprecisely with Newtonian principles) define two categories of causal events in perception. Using performance-based tasks, we show that triggering events, in which B moves noticeably faster than A, are treated as being categorically different from launching events, in which B does not move noticeably faster than A, and that these categories are unique to causal events (Experiments 1 and 2). Furthermore, we show that 7- to 9-month-old infants are sensitive to this distinction, which suggests that this boundary may be an early-developing component of causal perception (Experiment 3).

Acute exposure to blue wavelength light during memory consolidation improves verbal memory performance

Acute exposure to blue wavelength light during memory consolidation improves verbal memory performance. Anna Alkozei et al. PLoS One, September 2017, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0184884

Abstract: Acute exposure to light within the blue wavelengths has been shown to enhance alertness and vigilance, and lead to improved speed on reaction time tasks, possibly due to activation of the noradrenergic system. It remains unclear, however, whether the effects of blue light extend beyond simple alertness processes to also enhance other aspects of cognition, such as memory performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a thirty minute pulse of blue light versus placebo (amber light) exposure in healthy normally rested individuals in the morning during verbal memory consolidation (i.e., 1.5 hours after memory acquisition) using an abbreviated version of the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT-II). At delayed recall, individuals who received blue light (n = 12) during the consolidation period showed significantly better long-delay verbal recall than individuals who received amber light exposure (n = 18), while controlling for the effects of general intelligence, depressive symptoms and habitual wake time. These findings extend previous work demonstrating the effect of blue light on brain activation and alertness to further demonstrate its effectiveness at facilitating better memory consolidation and subsequent retention of verbal material. Although preliminary, these findings point to a potential application of blue wavelength light to optimize memory performance in healthy populations. It remains to be determined whether blue light exposure may also enhance performance in clinical populations with memory deficits.

Changing beliefs about past public events with believable and overtly unbelievable doctored photographs

Changing beliefs about past public events with believable and unbelievable doctored photographs. Robert Nash. Memory, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2017.1364393

Abstract: Doctored photographs can shape what people believe and remember about prominent public events, perhaps due to their apparent credibility. In three studies, subjects completed surveys about the 2012 London Olympic torch relay (Experiment 1) or the 2011 Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton (Experiments 2-3). Some were shown a genuine photo of the event; others saw a doctored photo that depicted protesters and unrest. A third group of subjects saw a doctored photo whose inauthenticity had been made explicit, either by adding a written disclaimer (Experiment 1) or by making the digital manipulation deliberately poor (Experiments 2-3). In all three studies, doctored photos had small effects on a subset of subjects' beliefs about the events. Of central interest though, comparable effects also emerged when the photos were overtly inauthentic. These findings suggest that cognitive mechanisms other than credibility - such as familiarity misattribution and mental imagery - can rapidly influence beliefs about past events even when the low credibility of a source is overt.

KEYWORDS: Belief distortion, photographs, credibility, familiarity, images

Preliminary Evidence For Existence of Oral Sex in a Rural Igbo Community in Southeast Nigeria

Preliminary Evidence For Existence of Oral Sex in a Rural Igbo Community in Southeast Nigeria. Pavol Prokop, Ike E. Onyishi, Chiedozie O. Okafor & Michael N. Pham. Human Ethology Bulletin, Volume 32, No 3, 129-140,  https://doi.org/10.22330/heb/323/129-140

ABSTRACT: There is debate regarding whether oral sex recurred over human evolution. We investigated the occurrence of oral sex (cunnilingus and fellatio) and other sexual activities among a rural Igbo community in south-east Nigeria. We found that giving and receiving oral sex was less common relative to other sexual activities in both men and women. Both sexes reported more frequent vaginal sexual intercourse (particularly ventro-ventral posture compared with dorso-ventral posture) in the past 10 days compared to oral sex. Taken together, our data suggests that vaginal sexual activities follow similar patterns that are documented in other parts of world and that oral sex occurred less frequently in this traditional society.

Keywords: Evolution, human, Igbo people, oral sex.

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Oral sex is a common sexual behavior in humans and non-human animals (primates; short-nosed fruit bat; wolves)

Women's Attraction to Benevolent Sexism: Needing Relationship Security Predicts Greater Attraction to Men who Endorse Benevolent Sexism

Women's Attraction to Benevolent Sexism: Needing Relationship Security Predicts Greater Attraction to Men who Endorse Benevolent Sexism. Emily Cross and Nickola Overall. European Journal of Social Psychology, doi: 10.1002/ejsp.2334.

Abstract: Benevolent sexism prescribes that men should cherish and protect women in intimate relationships. Despite the romantic tone of these attitudes, prior research indicates that benevolent sexism undermines women's competence, ambition and independence. Ambivalent sexism theory proposes that benevolent sexism is able to incur these costs because the promise of a chivalrous protective partner offers women security in their intimate relationships. We tested this key proposition by examining whether women who intensely need relationship security — women higher in attachment anxiety — are more attracted to men who endorse benevolent sexism. Highly anxious women (N = 632) rated men described as endorsing benevolent sexism as relatively more attractive, and reported greater preferences for partners to hold benevolently sexist attitudes. These results advance understanding regarding the underlying reasons women find benevolent sexism appealing and identify who will be most vulnerable to the potential costs of benevolent sexism.

Is Romantic Desire Predictable? Machine Learning Applied to Initial Romantic Attraction

Is Romantic Desire Predictable? Machine Learning Applied to Initial Romantic Attraction. Samantha Joel, Paul Eastwick and Eli Finkel. Psychological Science, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797617714580

Abstract: Matchmaking companies and theoretical perspectives on close relationships suggest that initial attraction is, to some extent, a product of two people’s self-reported traits and preferences. We used machine learning to test how well such measures predict people’s overall tendencies to romantically desire other people (actor variance) and to be desired by other people (partner variance), as well as people’s desire for specific partners above and beyond actor and partner variance (relationship variance). In two speed-dating studies, romantically unattached individuals completed more than 100 self-report measures about traits and preferences that past researchers have identified as being relevant to mate selection. Each participant met each opposite-sex participant attending a speed-dating event for a 4-min speed date. Random forests models predicted 4% to 18% of actor variance and 7% to 27% of partner variance; crucially, however, they were unable to predict relationship variance using any combination of traits and preferences reported before the dates. These results suggest that compatibility elements of human mating are challenging to predict before two people meet.

KEYWORDS: attraction; dating; ensemble methods; machine learning; open data; open materials; random forests; romantic desire; romantic relationships; speed dating; statistical learning

Chief science adviser attacks academic ‘arrogance’ on policy

Chief science adviser attacks academic ‘arrogance’ on policy. By David Matthews. Times Higher Education. September 29, 2017
Sir Peter Gluckman, who advises New Zealand’s prime minister, cautions scientists against overreach
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/chief-science-adviser-attacks-academic-arrogance-policy

The chief science adviser to the prime minister of New Zealand has accused scientists of displaying “hubris” and “arrogance” when they comment on government policy.

Sir Peter Gluckman, who also chairs the International Network for Science Advice to Governments, levelled a series of sharp criticisms at researchers and science organisations during an event in Brussels that debated the role of policy and evidence in a “post-fact” world.

He argued that scientists needed to appreciate that politicians made their decisions based on values as well as scientific evidence.

“Individual scientists, professional and scientific organisations too often exhibit hubris in reflecting on policy implications of science,” Sir Peter told delegates at “EU for facts: evidence for policy in a post-fact world”, held on 26 September.

“This arrogance can become the biggest enemy of science effectively engaging with policy – the policy decisions inevitably involve dimensions beyond science.”

Scientists needed to appreciate that political ideology, financial and diplomatic constraints, and “electoral contracts” also had to be taken into account by politicians, Sir Peter said. “It is important that [scientific] knowledge is provided [to policymakers] in a way that does not usurp the ability of policy process to consider these broader dimensions: otherwise trust in advice can be lost as it becomes perceived as advocacy,” he argued.

He also said that he avoided using the “somewhat arrogant” term “evidence-based policy”, preferring “evidence-informed” instead. Meanwhile, “too often academy reports are focused on academic demonstration rather than meeting policy needs or answering an unasked question”, he added.

Similar warnings have come from other figures in science. Last year, Jeremy Berg, the editor-in-chief of Science, said that academics have too often ventured into giving policy prescriptions rather than just explaining the evidence, for example in the area of climate change.

Although he named no names, Sir Peter also warned that “individual scientists” were now using their “scientific standing” to make claims “well beyond the evidence and their expertise”. Universities may also “over-hype” their science, he added.

In addition, the pressures of “performance measurement, bibliometrics, and the quest for societal and industrial impact” also have the potential to undermine public trust in science, he said, “due to perceived or actual conflicts of interest and the potential to affect the behaviour of individual scientists”.

[More at the link above.]

Physicists find we’re not living in a computer simulation

Physicists find we’re not living in a computer simulation

Summary:

https://cosmosmagazine.com/physics/physicists-find-we-re-not-living-in-a-computer-simulation

Ringel and Kovrizhi showed that attempts to use quantum Monte Carlo to model systems exhibiting anomalies, such as the quantum Hall effect, will always become unworkable.

They discovered that the complexity of the simulation increased exponentially with the number of particles being simulated.

If the complexity grew linearly with the number of particles being simulated, then doubling the number of partices would mean doubling the computing power required. If, however, the complexity grows on an exponential scale – where the amount of computing power has to double every time a single particle is added – then the task quickly becomes impossible.

The researchers calculated that just storing information about a couple of hundred electrons would require a computer memory that would physically require more atoms than exist in the universe.



Paper:

Quantized gravitational responses, the sign problem, and quantum complexity. Zohar Ringel and Dmitry L. Kovrizhin. Science Advances, Sep 27 2017, Vol. 3, no. 9, e1701758, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1701758

Abstract: It is believed that not all quantum systems can be simulated efficiently using classical computational resources. This notion is supported by the fact that it is not known how to express the partition function in a sign-free manner in quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations for a large number of important problems. The answer to the question—whether there is a fundamental obstruction to such a sign-free representation in generic quantum systems—remains unclear. Focusing on systems with bosonic degrees of freedom, we show that quantized gravitational responses appear as obstructions to local sign-free QMC. In condensed matter physics settings, these responses, such as thermal Hall conductance, are associated with fractional quantum Hall effects. We show that similar arguments also hold in the case of spontaneously broken time-reversal (TR) symmetry such as in the chiral phase of a perturbed quantum Kagome antiferromagnet. The connection between quantized gravitational responses and the sign problem is also manifested in certain vertex models, where TR symmetry is preserved.

Individuals reared together are no more similar to one another in their personalities than if chosen at random in the population

Theoretical Concepts in the Genetics of Personality Development. Elliot M. Tucker-Drob & Daniel A. Briley. To appear in Handbook of Personality Development, by Dan P. McAdams, Rebecca L. Shiner, and Jennifer L. Tackett (Eds.). June 2017. http://labs.la.utexas.edu/tucker-drob/files/2015/02/Tucker-Drob-Briley-Genetics-of-Personality-Development-Chapter.pdf

Conventional work in the behavioral genetics of personality largely focused on single point estimates of heritability of personality. For instance, point estimates for the heritability of all of the Big Five personality traits have been reported to be approximately .40-.60 (for a review see Bouchard & McGue, 2003), with no consistent differences reported across different Big Five traits (Turkheimer, Pettersson, & Horn, 2014). Evidence for genetic influences on personality are derived from the observation that genetically more related individuals (e.g. identical twins) are more similar in their personality traits than genetically less related individuals (e.g. fraternal twins), even when holding shared rearing environment constant across relationship types. Also of note is that, after accounting for genetic relatedness, individuals reared together are no more similar to one another in their personalities than would be expected for individuals chosen at random out of the population. Nongenetic factors that differentiate individuals regardless of whether their rearing environment was shared with one another are termed the nonshared environment. These two important and interesting observations, that the heritability of personality is approximately 40%-60% at the population level and that nongenetic variation in personality is attributable to nonshared environmental factors, are the primary findings from behavioral genetics used to inform conventional personality theories. Yet, they do not do justice to the important developmental patterns in the genetics of personality.

The relative influence of genetic and environmental effects may shift across the lifespan, rather than remain static. Age trends in the heritability of personality have been reported in quantitative syntheses by Kandler (2012) for Neuroticism and Extraversion, and Briley and Tucker-Drob (2014) for all of the Big Five. In both syntheses, age trends have been very similar across each of the Big Five traits. [...] Heritability of personality is estimated at approximately 70% in early childhood, declines to approximately 50% by late adolescence, and subsequently declines to approximately 35% by late adulthood. Nonshared environmentality increases from approximately 30% to 50% to 65% from infancy to late adolescence, to late adulthood. However, at least some of this trend may reflect method bias, as nearly all of the effect sizes for very young children come from parent-reports. These ratings may exaggerate differences between siblings and thus inflate heritability.

Access to other options during drug access can divert the vast majority of rats from continued drug use

Trying to make sense of rodents' drug choice behavior. Serge H. Ahmed. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2017.09.027

Highlights
•    Rodents are the most frequently used animal models in experimental addiction research.
•    Rodents discount future delayed reward at a relatively high rate.
•    This behavioral trait seems to be protective against harmful drug use in certain choice settings.
•    In other settings, however, the same trait seems to confer a high vulnerability to harmful drug use.
•    More research effort should be expended to study the interactions between the set, the drug, and the setting.

Abstract: Since the first experimental hint for the existence of “an actual desire or striving for the drug” in nonhuman animals by Sidney Spragg in the late 1930s, much effort has been expended by lab researchers to try to model in a valid manner the key behavioral aspects and signs of addiction in animals, typically in rodents (i.e., mainly rats and, to a lesser extent, mice). Despite much advances, there still remains a lingering doubt about the disordered status of drug use in rodents. This is mainly because drug use occurs in a particular setting where animals have access to a drug for self-administration but without access to other valuable behavioral options that could compete with and divert from drug use. Here I review evidence showing that enriching the drug setting with other behavioral options can dramatically influence the pattern of drug choices in rodents. Overall, access to other options during drug access can divert the vast majority of rats from continued drug use. Only few individuals continue to engage in drug use despite access to and at the expense of other options. However, there exist certain high-risk settings in which virtually all animals are vulnerable to develop a harmful pattern of exclusive drug use that can even become fatal in the long run if not discontinued by an outside intervention. Paradoxically, it appears that the behavioral trait that is hypothesized to uniquely render rodents vulnerable to the latter settings (i.e., a narrow focus on the local, current choice, with no consideration of the global pattern of choice) would also protect most of them from using drugs in other choice settings. I conclude with an attempt to make sense of this peculiar setting-specific behavior and with some general propositions for future research.

If we spend a longer time waiting in a line, we buy more -- a form of mental accounting to offset the cost of the wait

Ulku, Sezer and Hydock, Christopher and Cui, Shiliang, Making the Wait Worthwhile: Experiments on the Effect of Queueing on Consumption (July 24, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3007786

Abstract: The queueing literature to date has implicitly assumed that customers’ consumption decisions are independent from the time they spent waiting in a line prior to making the decisions. Through a series of studies, we investigate this relationship, and find that when people spend a longer time waiting in a line, they tend to increase their consumption. Next, we identify mental accounting as the underlying mechanism that drives this behavior; a larger purchase allows people to offset the fixed cost of the long wait. Finally, we explore the effect of managerial practices commonly employed by firms to improve customers’ waiting experience. We find that while these practices result in improved customer experience, they actually lead to lower consumption

Keywords: Mental Accounting, Sunk Cost Fallacy, Consumer Behavior in Queues, Behavioral Operations