Humans in specific instances are psychologically prepared to prioritize misinformation over truth to, inter alia, mobilize the ingroup against the outgroup & signal commitment to the group to fellow ingroup members

Petersen, Michael Bang, Mathias Osmundsen, and John Tooby. 2020. “The Evolutionary Psychology of Conflict and the Functions of Falsehood.” PsyArXiv. August 29. doi:10.31234/osf.io/kaby9

Abstract: Truth is commonly viewed as the first causality of war. As such the current circulation of fake news, conspiracy theories and other hostile political rumors is not a unique phenomenon but merely another example of how people are motivated to dispend with truth in situations of conflict. In this chapter, we theorize about the potentially evolved roots of this motivation and outline the structure of the underlying psychology. Specifically, we focus on how the occurrence of intergroup conflict throughout human evolutionary history has built psychological motivations into the human mind to spread information that (a) mobilize the ingroup against the outgroup, (b) facilitate the coordination of attention within the group and (c) signal commitment to the group to fellow ingroup members. In all these instances, we argue, human psychology is designed to select information that accomplishes these goals most efficiently rather than to select information on the basis of its veracity. Accordingly, we hypothesize that humans in specific instances are psychologically prepared to prioritize misinformation over truth.

Check also Echo Chambers Exist! (But They're Full of Opposing Views). Jonathan Bright, Nahema Marchal, Bharath Ganesh, Stevan Rudinac. arXiv Jan 30 2020. arXiv:2001.11461. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2020/02/echo-chambers-exist-but-theyre-full-of.html

And: The rise in the political polarization in recent decades is not accounted for by the dramatic rise in internet use; claims that partisans inhabit wildly segregated echo chambers/filter bubbles are largely overstated:

Deri, Sebastian. 2019. “Internet Use and Political Polarization: A Review.” PsyArXiv. November 6. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/11/the-rise-in-political-polarization-in.html

And Testing popular news discourse on the “echo chamber” effect: Does political polarisation occur among those relying on social media as their primary politics news source? Nguyen, A. and Vu, H.T. First Monday, 24 (5), 6. Jun 4 2019. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/10/testing-popular-news-discourse-on-echo.html

Check also
Why Smart People Are Vulnerable to Putting Tribe Before Truth. Dan M Kahan. Scientific American, Dec 03 2018. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/12/why-smart-people-are-vulnerable-to.html

Baum, J., Rabovsky, M., Rose, S. B., & Abdel Rahman, R. (2018). Clear judgments based on unclear evidence: Person evaluation is strongly influenced by untrustworthy gossip. Emotion, https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/12/clear-judgments-based-on-unclear.html

The key mechanism that generates scientific polarization involves treating evidence generated by other agents as uncertain when their beliefs are relatively different from one’s own:

Scientific polarization. Cailin O’Connor, James Owen Weatherall. European Journal for Philosophy of Science. October 2018, Volume 8, Issue 3, pp 855–875. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/12/the-key-mechanism-that-generates.html

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

Tappin, Ben M., and Ryan McKay. 2018. “Moral Polarization and Out-party Hate in the US Political Context.” PsyArXiv. November 2. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/11/moral-polarization-and-out-party-hate.html

Forecasting tournaments, epistemic humility and attitude depolarization. Barbara Mellers, PhilipTetlock, Hal R. Arkes. Cognition, https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/10/forecasting-tournaments-epistemic.html

Does residential sorting explain geographic polarization? Gregory J. Martin & Steven W. Webster. Political Science Research and Methods, https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/10/voters-appear-to-be-sorting-on-non.html

Liberals and conservatives have mainly moved further apart on a wide variety of policy issues; the divergence is substantial quantitatively and in its plausible political impact: intra party moderation has become increasingly unlikely:

Peltzman, Sam, Polarizing Currents within Purple America (August 20, 2018). SSRN: https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/09/liberals-and-conservatives-have-mainly.html

Does Having a Political Discussion Help or Hurt Intergroup Perceptions? Drawing Guidance From Social Identity Theory and the Contact Hypothesis. Robert M. Bond, Hillary C. Shulman, Michael Gilbert. Bond Vol 12 (2018), https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/10/having-political-discussion-with-out.html


All the interactions took the form of subjects rating stories offering ‘ammunition’ for their own side of the controversial issue as possessing greater intrinsic news importance:

Perceptions of newsworthiness are contaminated by a political usefulness bias. Harold Pashler, Gail Heriot. Royal Society Open Science, https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/08/all-interactions-took-form-of-subjects.html

When do we care about political neutrality? The hypocritical nature of reaction to political bias. Omer Yair, Raanan Sulitzeanu-Kenan. PLOS, https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/05/when-do-we-care-about-political.html

Democrats & Republicans were both more likely to believe news about the value-upholding behavior of their in-group or the value-undermining behavior of their out-group; Republicans were more likely to believe & want to share apolitical fake news:

Pereira, Andrea, and Jay Van Bavel. 2018. “Identity Concerns Drive Belief in Fake News.” PsyArXiv. September 11. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/09/democrats-republicans-were-both-more.html

In self-judgment, the "best option illusion" leads to Dunning-Kruger (failure to recognize our own incompetence). In social judgment, it leads to the Cassandra quandary (failure to identify when another person’s competence exceeds our own): The best option illusion in self and social assessment. David Dunning. Self and Identity, https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/04/in-self-judgment-best-option-illusion.html

People are more inaccurate when forecasting their own future prospects than when forecasting others, in part the result of biased visual experience. People orient visual attention and resolve visual ambiguity in ways that support self-interests: "Visual experience in self and social judgment: How a biased majority claim a superior minority." Emily Balcetis & Stephanie A. Cardenas. Self and Identity, https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/04/people-are-more-inaccurate-when.html

Can we change our biased minds? Michael Gross. Current Biology, Volume 27, Issue 20, 23 October 2017, Pages R1089–R1091. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/10/can-we-change-our-biased-minds.html

Summary: A simple test taken by millions of people reveals that virtually everybody has implicit biases that they are unaware of and that may clash with their explicit beliefs. From policing to scientific publishing, all activities that deal with people are at risk of making wrong decisions due to bias. Raising awareness is the first step towards improving the outcomes.

People believe that future others' preferences and beliefs will change to align with their own:

The Belief in a Favorable Future. Todd Rogers, Don Moore and Michael Norton. Psychological Science, Volume 28, issue 9, page(s): 1290-1301, https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/09/people-believe-that-future-others.html

Kahan, Dan M. and Landrum, Asheley and Carpenter, Katie and Helft, Laura and Jamieson, Kathleen Hall, Science Curiosity and Political Information Processing (August 1, 2016). Advances in Political Psychology, Forthcoming; Yale Law & Economics Research Paper No. 561. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2816803

Abstract: This paper describes evidence suggesting that science curiosity counteracts politically biased information processing. This finding is in tension with two bodies of research. The first casts doubt on the existence of “curiosity” as a measurable disposition. The other suggests that individual differences in cognition related to science comprehension - of which science curiosity, if it exists, would presumably be one - do not mitigate politically biased information processing but instead aggravate it. The paper describes the scale-development strategy employed to overcome the problems associated with measuring science curiosity. It also reports data, observational and experimental, showing that science curiosity promotes open-minded engagement with information that is contrary to individuals’ political predispositions. We conclude by identifying a series of concrete research questions posed by these results.

Facebook news and (de)polarization: reinforcing spirals in the 2016 US election. Michael A. Beam, Myiah J. Hutchens & Jay D. Hmielowski. Information, Communication & Society, http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/03/our-results-also-showed-that-facebook.html

The Partisan Brain: An Identity-Based Model of Political Belief. Jay J. Van Bavel, Andrea Pereira. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/02/the-tribal-nature-of-human-mind-leads.html

The Parties in our Heads: Misperceptions About Party Composition and Their Consequences. Douglas J. Ahler, Gaurav Sood. Aug 2017, http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/01/we-tend-to-considerably-overestimate.html

The echo chamber is overstated: the moderating effect of political interest and diverse media. Elizabeth Dubois & Grant Blank. Information, Communication & Society, http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/01/the-echo-chamber-is-overstated.html

Processing political misinformation: comprehending the Trump phenomenon. Briony Swire, Adam J. Berinsky, Stephan Lewandowsky, Ullrich K. H. Ecker. Royal Society Open Science, published on-line March 01 2017. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160802, http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/4/3/160802

Competing cues: Older adults rely on knowledge in the face of fluency. By Brashier, Nadia M.; Umanath, Sharda; Cabeza, Roberto; Marsh, Elizabeth J. Psychology and Aging, Vol 32(4), Jun 2017, 331-337. http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/07/competing-cues-older-adults-rely-on.html

Stanley, M. L., Dougherty, A. M., Yang, B. W., Henne, P., & De Brigard, F. (2017). Reasons Probably Won’t Change Your Mind: The Role of Reasons in Revising Moral Decisions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/09/reasons-probably-wont-change-your-mind.html

Science Denial Across the Political Divide — Liberals and Conservatives Are Similarly Motivated to Deny Attitude-Inconsistent Science. Anthony N. Washburn, Linda J. Skitka. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 10.1177/1948550617731500. http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/09/liberals-and-conservatives-are.html

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

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. http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/08/training-in-education-or-neuroscience.html

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, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1704882114, http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/09/individuals-with-greater-science.html

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. http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/06/expert-ability-can-actually-impair.html

Public Perceptions of Partisan Selective Exposure. Perryman, Mallory R. The University of Wisconsin - Madison, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2017. 10607943. http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/10/citizens-believe-others-especially.html

The Myth of Partisan Selective Exposure: A Portrait of the Online Political News Audience. Jacob L. Nelson, and James G. Webster. Social Media + Society, http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/09/the-myth-of-partisan-selective-exposure.html

Echo Chamber? What Echo Chamber? Reviewing the Evidence. Axel Bruns. Future of Journalism 2017 Conference. http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/09/echo-chamber-what-echo-chamber.html

Fake news and post-truth pronouncements in general and in early human development. Victor Grech. Early Human Development, http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/09/fake-news-and-post-truth-pronouncements.html

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). Social Science Research Network, http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/10/consumption-of-fake-news-is-consequence.html

Twitter: While partisan opinion leaders are certainly polarized, centrist/non-political voices are much more likely to produce the most visible information; & there is little evidence of echo-chambers in consumption

Mukerjee, Subhayan, Kokil Jaidka, and Yphtach Lelkes. 2020. “The Ideological Landscape of Twitter: Comparing the Production Versus Consumption of Information on the Platform.” OSF Preprints. June 23. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2020/06/twitter-while-partisan-opinion-leaders.html

Contrary to this prediction, we found that moderate and uncertain participants showed a nonreciprocal attraction towards extreme and confident individuals:

Zimmerman, Federico, Gerry Garbulsky, Dan Ariely, Mariano Sigman, and Joaquin Navajas. 2020. “The Nonreciprocal and Polarizing Nature of Interpersonal Attraction in Political Discussions.” PsyArXiv. August 21. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2020/08/contrary-to-this-prediction-we-found.html

The likelihood of having had first sex with an older partner is also higher (25% higher) for females with at least one older brother if compared to females without older brothers

The “dating game”: age differences at first sex of college students in Italy. Maria Carella, Thaís García-Pereiro, Roberta Pace and Anna Paterno. Genus Genus (2020) 76:23. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41118-020-00087-2

Abstract: Researchers have devoted much attention both to the analysis of the first sexual experience and to how the couple was established, but little is still known about age differences of partners at their first sexual relationship. The availability of two highly comparable waves of a survey on the sexual behavior of college students in Italy (SELFY—Sexual and Emotional LiFe of Youth) carried out in 2000 and 2017 allowed us to study the predictors of age differences between partners at first sex, filling the existing gap on recent research. Results of multivariate analyses show important gender differences on mate selection: women tend to choose an older partner for having their first sexual experience and are less likely as men to be involved in age discordant first sex relationships with a younger partner. Age gaps between partners also influence age at sexual debut, which tends to occur earlier in a relationship with an older partner and later if having first sex with a younger partner. Another important predictor of the age gap is the type of relationship that linked the respondent to its partner at first sex. Our estimations indicate a lower likelihood of having had an older first sex partner for students who had their first sexual experience with the own boy/girl-friend or with a friend compared to those who  have had it with a stranger. Finally, we have found a higher likelihood of first sex relationships among same-age partners relative to older partners through SELFY waves and small changes on variables influencing such relationships.

Keywords: Age differences, Mate matching, First sexual intercourse, College students, Italy

A Mental Winner Effect? Competitive Mental Imagery Impacts Self-Assurance but not Testosterone in Women

A Mental Winner Effect? Competitive Mental Imagery Impacts Self-Assurance but not Testosterone in Women. Jennifer M. Gray, Emilie Montemayor, Meggan Drennan, Marlaina Widmann & Katherine L. Goldey. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology (2020). August 24 2020. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40750-020-00149-x

Abstract
Objective: In humans and other species, winning or losing a competition elicits changes in testosterone that may influence engagement or performance in subsequent competitive events. Furthermore, anticipating or observing competition can change mood and testosterone, suggesting that cognitions surrounding competitive events may at least partially drive specific physiological and emotional responses. In the present study, we investigated the effect of imagined competition on mood and testosterone in women.

Methods: Participants (62 women) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions (high-investment win, high-investment loss, low-investment win, low-investment loss) and were asked to imagine and write about experiencing both the competition and its outcome. Salivary testosterone levels and self-reported mood were assessed before and after the competitive cognition task.

Results: Although imagining a competitive scenario was not salient enough to elicit significant changes in testosterone, imagining a high-investment competition and imagining a win each significantly increased feelings of self-assurance. Participants were more likely to write about their motivation to compete again when imagining a loss than when imagining a win, but testosterone did not predict including content about competing again.

Conclusions: Visualizing oneself winning a contest of personal importance increased feelings of self-assurance in the absence of a testosterone response in women. Future research is needed to determine how the combination of positive mental imagery and physical competition could influence mood and testosterone, and whether self-assurance induced by mental imagery can increase the chance of future victories.

Predictive processing in sensory hierarchies may be well-modeled as (folded, sparse, partially disentangled) variational autoencoders, with beliefs discretely-updated via the formation of synchronous complexes

Safron, Adam. 2020. “Integrated World Modeling Theory (IWMT) Implemented: Towards Reverse Engineering Consciousness with the Free Energy Principle and Active Inference.” August 28. doi:10.31234/osf.io/paz5j. Accepted for presentation at the 1st International Workshop on Active Inference (IWAI 2020)

Abstract: Integrated World Modeling Theory (IWMT) is a synthetic model that attempts to unify theories of consciousness within the Free Energy Principle and Active Inference framework, with particular emphasis on Integrated Information Theory (IIT) and Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT). IWMT further suggests predictive processing in sensory hierarchies may be well-modeled as (folded, sparse, partially disentangled) variational autoencoders, with beliefs discretely-updated via the formation of synchronous complexes—as self-organizing harmonic modes (SOHMs)—potentially entailing maximal a posteriori (MAP) estimation via turbo coding. In this account, alpha-synchronized SOHMs across posterior cortices may constitute the kinds of maximal complexes described by IIT, as well as samples (or MAP estimates) from multimodal shared latent space, organized according to egocentric reference frames, entailing phenomenal consciousness as mid-level perceptual inference. When these posterior SOHMs couple with frontal complexes, this may enable various forms of conscious access as a kind of mental act(ive inference), affording higher order cognition/control, including the kinds of attentional/intentional processing and reportability described by GNWT. Across this autoencoding heterarchy, intermediate-level beliefs may be organized into spatiotemporal trajectories by the entorhinal/hippocampal system, so affording episodic memory, counterfactual imaginings, and planning.

Public understanding & perception of sensory experience & scientific understanding: Even in a sample with fairly high educational attainment, many respondents were unaware of fairly common forms of sensory variation

Cuskley, Christine, and Charalampos Saitis. 2020. “What Do People Know About the Senses? Understanding Perceptions of Variation in Sensory Experience.” PsyArXiv. August 28. doi:10.31234/osf.io/ghcxv

Abstract: Academic disciplines spanning cognitive science, art, and music have made strides in understanding how humans sense and experience the world. We now have a better scientific understanding of how human sensation and perception function both in the brain and in interaction than ever before. However, there is little research on how this high level scientific understanding is translated into knowledge for the public more widely. We present descriptive results from a simple survey and compare how public understanding and perception of sensory experience lines up with scientific understanding. Results show that even in a sample with fairly high educational attainment, many respondents were unaware of fairly common forms of sensory variation. In line with the well-documented under representation of sign languages within linguistics, respondents tended to under-estimate the number of sign languages in the world. We outline how our results represent gaps in public understanding of sensory variation, and argue that filling these gaps can form an important early intervention, acting as a basic foundation for improving acceptance, inclusivity, and accessibility for cognitively diverse populations.

How People Know Their Risk Preference: We recount diagnostic behaviours & experiences, focusing on voluntary, consequential acts & experiences from which we seem to infer our risk preference

Arslan, Ruben C., Martin Brümmer, Thomas Dohmen, Johanna Drewelies, Ralph Hertwig, and Gert Wagner. 2019. “How People Know Their Risk Preference.” PsyArXiv. December 12. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-72077-5

Abstract: People differ in their willingness to take risks. Recent work found that revealed preference tasks (e.g., laboratory lotteries)—a dominant class of measures—are outperformed by survey-based stated preferences, which are more stable and predict real-world risk taking across different domains. How can stated preferences, often criticised as inconsequential “cheap talk,” be more valid and predictive than controlled, incentivized lotteries? In our multimethod study, over 3,000 respondents from population samples answered a single widely used and predictive risk-preference question. Respondents then explained the reasoning behind their answer. They tended to recount diagnostic behaviours and experiences, focusing on voluntary, consequential acts and experiences from which they seemed to infer their risk preference. We found that third-party readers of respondents’ brief memories and explanations reached similar inferences about respondents’ preferences, indicating the intersubjective validity of this information. Our results help unpack the self perception behind stated risk preferences that permits people to draw upon their own understanding of what constitutes diagnostic behaviours and experiences, as revealed in high-stakes situations in the real world.

Fluctuations in Grandiose and Vulnerable Narcissistic States: A Momentary Perspective

Edershile, Elizabeth A., and Aidan G. Wright. 2019. “Fluctuations in Grandiose and Vulnerable Narcissistic States: A Momentary Perspective.” PsyArXiv. April 10. doi:10.31234/osf.io/8gkpm

Abstract: Theories of narcissism emphasize the dynamic processes within and between grandiosity and vulnerability. Research seeking to address this has either not studied grandiosity and vulnerability together or has used dispositional measures to assess what are considered to be momentary states. Emerging models of narcissism suggest grandiosity and vulnerability can further be differentiated into a three-factor structure – Exhibitionistic Grandiosity, Entitlement, and Vulnerability. Research in other areas of maladaptive personality (e.g., borderline personality disorder) has made headway in engaging data collection and analytic methods that are specifically meant to examine such questions. The present study took an exploratory approach to studying fluctuations within and between grandiose and vulnerable states. Fluctuations – operationalized as gross variability, instability, and lagged effects – were examined across three samples (two undergraduate and a community sample oversampled for narcissistic features; Total person N = 862; Total observation N = 36,631). Results suggest variability in narcissistic states from moment to moment is moderately associated with dispositional assessments of narcissism. Specifically, individuals who are dispositionally grandiose express both grandiosity and vulnerability, and vary in their overall levels of grandiosity and vulnerability over time. On the other hand, dispositionally vulnerable individuals tend to have high levels of vulnerability and low levels of grandiosity. Entitlement plays a key role in the processes that underlie narcissism and narcissistic processes appear unique to the construct and not reflective of broader psychological processes (e.g., self-esteem). Future research should consider using similar methods and statistical techniques on different timescales to study dynamics within narcissism.

Language Is Less Arbitrary Than One Thinks: Iconicity and Indexicality in Real-world Language Learning and Processing

Murgiano, Margherita, Yasamin Motamedi, and Gabriella Vigliocco. 2020. “Language Is Less Arbitrary Than One Thinks: Iconicity and Indexicality in Real-world Language Learning and Processing.” PsyArXiv. August 29. doi:10.31234/osf.io/qzvxu

Abstract: In the last decade, a growing body of work has convincingly demonstrated that languages embed a certain degree of non-arbitrariness (mostly in the form of iconicity, namely the presence of imagistic links between linguistic form and meaning). Most of this previous work has been limited to assessing the degree (and role) of non-arbitrariness in the speech (for spoken languages) or manual components of signs (for sign languages). When approached in this way, non-arbitrariness is acknowledged but still considered to have little presence and
purpose, showing a diachronic movement towards more arbitrary forms. However, this perspective is limited as it does not take into account the situated nature of language use in face-to-face interactions, where language comprises categorical components of speech and signs, but also multimodal cues such as prosody, gestures, eye gaze etc. We review work concerning the role of context-dependent iconic and indexical cues in language acquisition and processing to demonstrate the pervasiveness of non-arbitrary multimodal cues in language use and we discuss their function. We then move to argue that the online omnipresence of multimodal non-arbitrary cues supports children and adults in dynamically developing situational models.

Despite compliment givers’ anxiety at the prospect of giving compliments, they felt better after having done so; we misestimate our compliments’ value to others, & so we refrain from engaging in this prosocial behavior

Why a Simple Act of Kindness Is Not as Simple as It Seems: Underestimating the Positive Impact of Our Compliments on Others. Erica J. Boothby, Vanessa K. Bohns. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, August 28, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167220949003

Abstract: A simple compliment can make someone’s day, start a new friendship, or just make the world a better, kinder place. So, why don’t people give more compliments? Perhaps people misforecast the effect their compliment will have. Five studies explored this possibility. In Studies 1a and 1b, compliment givers underestimated how positively the person receiving their compliment would feel, with consequences for their likelihood of giving a compliment. Compliment givers also overestimated how bothered and uncomfortable the recipient would feel (Study 2)—and did so even in hindsight (Study 3). Compliment givers’ own anxiety and concern about their competence led to their misprediction, whereas third-party forecasters were accurate (Study 4). Finally, despite compliment givers’ anxiety at the prospect of giving compliments across our studies, they felt better after having done so (Study 4). Our studies suggest that people misestimate their compliments’ value to others, and so they refrain from engaging in this prosocial behavior.

Keywords: compliment, social influence, prosocial behavior, well-being, conversation

Spontaneous remission of dementia before death: Results from a study on paradoxical lucidity

Batthyány, A., & Greyson, B. (2020). Spontaneous remission of dementia before death: Results from a study on paradoxical lucidity. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, Aug 2020. https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000259

Abstract: The aim of this research was to study paradoxical lucidity—the unexpected return of cognition and communication in patients with diagnosed dementia—systematically in a contemporary sample. We conducted a survey of caregivers who had witnessed at least one case of paradoxical lucidity in the year prior to survey completion. We assessed diagnosis and degree of preexisting cognitive impairment, cognitive state during the lucid episode, and temporal proximity of the lucid episode to death. Detailed case reports of 124 dementia patients who experienced an episode of paradoxical lucidity were received. In more than 80% of these cases, complete remission with return of memory, orientation, and responsive verbal ability was reported by observers of the lucid episode. The majority of patients died within hours to days after the episode. Further prospective study is warranted, as paradoxical lucidity suggests that there may exist a reversible and functional aspect of pathophysiology in severe dementia.


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Check also Check also Paradoxical lucidity: A potential paradigm shift for the neurobiology and treatment of severe dementias. George A. Mashoura et al. Check also Alzheimer's & Dementia, Volume 15, Issue 8, August 2019, Pages 1107-1114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2019.04.002

Abstract: Unexpected cognitive lucidity and communication in patients with severe dementias, especially around the time of death, have been observed and reported anecdotally. Here, we review what is known about this phenomenon, related phenomena that provide insight into potential mechanisms, ethical implications, and methodologic considerations for systematic investigation. We conclude that paradoxical lucidity, if systematically confirmed, challenges current assumptions and highlights the possibility of network-level return of cognitive function in cases of severe dementias, which can provide insight into both underlying neurobiology and future therapeutic possibilities.
4. Possible mechanisms of PL

Several forms of dementia, including Alzheimer's dementia, are largely associated with irreversible degeneration of the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus, resulting in confusion, disorientation, and memory loss, among other symptoms [35], [36]. Because the episodes of PL occur rather suddenly, it is unlikely that regeneration of neurons can account for them. Such fluctuations may reflect complex adjustments in signaling cascades, synaptic modifications, neuronal network interactions, and, perhaps, temporary reversal of, or compensation for, chronic functional inhibition due to neurotoxic proteins [37]. We acknowledge that there are different modes of cognitive fluctuation in varying types of dementia [38], [39], such as dementia with Lewy bodies. As noted in the Introduction, our focus is on the dramatic behavioral recovery at the time when the functional consequences of the neurodegeneration are thought to be irreversible, although a more comprehensive understanding of mechanisms of cognitive fluctuation across the full disease course for a range of dementias is lacking.

There have been no neuroscientific studies of PL, and thus, any mechanistic framework must be considered speculative. However, the related phenomena described previously speak to the biological possibility of PL and provide some insight into a potential mechanism. Because episodes of PL often occur just before death, the emerging neurobiological data related to NDEs are of relevance. As noted, surges of neurophysiological activity have been observed in humans just before death in the critical or operative care setting [21], [22], [23] and in experimental rodent models after cardiac or respiratory arrest [24]. It is thus conceivable that some patients with severe dementia might also experience a surge of neurophysiological activity before death, which is manifested as a lucid episode. Furthermore, extrapolating from studies of rats assessing neurochemistry after two minutes of asphyxia [25], it is possible that as oxygen and glucose levels fall or fluctuate, there is a surge of neurotransmitter levels that results in transient or metastable activation of the brain. However, such surges of electrical activity or neurotransmitter release do not explain how there can be enhanced synchronization or communication across the brain, which has been observed in dying rats and which could possibly account for a spontaneous recovery of cogent behavior in a patient with severe dementia. A network-level explanation is likely required.

The dynamics of complex networks are of relevance to neural function and have long been studied in the field of physics. There are precedents for the spontaneous recovery of nonbiological networks after periods of inactivity or damage [40]. In fact, network concepts related to “amplitude death” and “oscillation death” might be applicable to the observed surge in neurophysiological coherence just before functional network breakdown in the brain around the time of death. Using a Stuart-Landau model, one investigation described the dynamics of how such oscillations can spontaneously “revive,” [41] while another study described how the revival of such oscillations can be accompanied by rhythmicity and dynamic activity across the network [42]. These concepts have also been instantiated in neuronal models, with the conclusion that at a certain point of neuronal inhibition in a sparsely connected network, there is a counterintuitive “rebirth” of neuronal activity [43] that is manifested across the network. Furthermore, conditions for rapid and nonlinear synchronization (sometimes referred to as “explosive synchronization”) occur in association with arousal when brain network hubs are suppressed [44], as in dementia [45].

Thus, although the mechanism of PL is unknown, there is evidence that the dying or hypoxic brain can generate neurochemical and neuroelectrical surges that might be associated with the network dynamics of complex systems and that might generate spontaneous network integration manifesting as lucid behavior. We emphasize that this is speculative, but computational modeling studies of large-scale brain networks, which have been applied to Alzheimer's disease, could be investigated to establish foundational credibility for such network phenomena in those with severe dementia. It must also be noted that there may not be a unique mechanism for PL that is restricted to the days before death but rather a mechanism that is common to cognitive fluctuations in less severe stages of the disease [12], [13]. Furthermore, changes in systemic factors, rather than intrinsic neural dynamics, might drive the causal mechanisms responsible for lucid episodes. For example, one case report of a patient with Parkinson's disease dementia was able to correlate cognitive fluctuations with paroxysmal episodes of hypotension [46]. Thus, systemic physiologic factors must also be considered in the mechanism of PL.

We find considerable warming biases in the CMIP6 modeled trends, & we show that these biases are linked to biases in surface temperature (these models simulate an unrealistically large global warming)

The vertical profile of recent tropical temperature trends: Persistent model biases in the context of internal variability. Dann M. Mitchell et al. Environmental Research Letters, June 2020. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ab9af7

Abstract: Tropospheric and stratospheric tropical temperature trends in recent decades have been notoriously hard to simulate using climate models, notably in the upper troposphere. Aside from the warming trend itself, this has broader implications, e.g. atmospheric circulation trends depend on latitudinal temperature gradients. In this study, tropical temperature trends in the CMIP6 models are examined, from 1979 to 2014, and contrasted with trends from the RICH/RAOBCORE radiosondes, and the ERA5/5.1 reanalysis. As in earlier studies, we find considerable warming biases in the CMIP6 modeled trends, and we show that these biases are linked to biases in surface temperature (these models simulate an unrealistically large global warming). We also uncover previously undocumented biases in the lower-middle stratosphere: the CMIP6 models appear unable to capture the time evolution of stratospheric cooling, which is non-monotonic owing to the Montreal Protocol. Finally, using models with large ensembles, we show that their standard deviation in tropospheric temperature trends, which is due to internal variability alone, explains ∼50% (±20%) of that from the CMIP6 models.

Swingers and polyamorists: Discrediting varied aspects of monogamy can alter gender power dynamics and, under certain circumstances, substantially erode gender hierarchy

From 2019... Swingers and polyamorists: A comparative analysis of gendered power dynamics. Michelle Wolkomir. Sexualities, October 24, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460719876845

Abstract: American culture reveres monogamy, holding it up as an ideal moral standard, as a kind of Holy Grail for intimacy, and as a cornerstone for establishing normative social interactions. Monogamy, as often practiced, also prescribes and reproduces binary and hierarchical gender relations. Given these interconnections, how do people in non-monogamous relationships conceptualize gender? To explore this question, this study examines how people experience two varied forms of non-monogamy—swinging and polyamory. A comparative analysis of data from in-depth interviews with 22 swingers and 23 polyamorists illustrates how discrediting varied aspects of monogamy can alter gender power dynamics and, under certain circumstances, substantially erode gender hierarchy.

Keywords: Gender inequality, heterosexuality, monogamy, polyamory, swinging

There has long been skepticism among both scientists and laypersons that male bisexual orientation exists; paper finds robust evidence that male sexual orientation is expressed on a continuum

Robust evidence for bisexual orientation among men. Jeremy Jabboura et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Jun 2020. https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/early/2020/07/14/2003631117.full.pdf

Significance: There has long been skepticism among both scientists and laypersons that male bisexual orientation exists. Skeptics have claimed that men who self-identify as bisexual are actually homosexual or heterosexual. (The existence of female bisexuality has been less controversial.) This controversy can be resolved using objective, genital responses of men to male and female erotic stimuli. We combined nearly all available data (from eight previous American, British, and Canadian studies) to form a dataset of more than 500 men, much larger than any previous individual study, and conducted rigorous statistical tests. Results provided compelling evidence that bisexualidentified men tend to show bisexual genital and subjective arousal patterns. Male sexual orientation is expressed on a continuum rather than dichotomously.

Abstract: The question whether some men have a bisexual orientation—that is, whether they are substantially sexually aroused and attracted to both sexes—has remained controversial among both scientists and laypersons. Skeptics believe that male sexual orientation can only be homosexual or heterosexual, and that bisexual identification reflects nonsexual concerns, such as a desire to deemphasize homosexuality. Although most bisexual-identified men report that they are attracted to both men and women, self-report data cannot refute these claims. Patterns of physiological (genital) arousal to male and female erotic stimuli can provide compelling evidence for male sexual orientation. (In contrast, most women provide similar physiological responses to male and female stimuli.) We investigated whether men who self-report bisexual feelings tend to produce bisexual arousal patterns. Prior studies of this issue have been small, used potentially invalid statistical tests, and produced inconsistent findings. We combined nearly all previously published data (from eight previous studies in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada), yielding a sample of 474 to 588 men (depending on analysis). All participants were cisgender males. Highly robust results showed that bisexual-identified men’s genital and subjective arousal patterns were more bisexual than were those who identified as exclusively heterosexual or homosexual. These findings support the view that male sexual orientation contains a range, from heterosexuality, to bisexuality, to homosexuality.

Keywords: sexual orientation | bisexuality | sexual arousal | Kinsey scale | sexuality

From 2019... Foundational assumptions of the "random effects" model used pervasively in psychology impose far stronger constraints on the generalizability of results than most researchers appreciate

From 2019... Yarkoni, Tal. 2019. “The Generalizability Crisis.” PsyArXiv. November 22. doi:10.31234/osf.io/jqw35

Abstract: Most theories and hypotheses in psychology are verbal in nature, yet their evaluation overwhelmingly relies on inferential statistical procedures. The validity of the move from qualitative to quantitative analysis depends on the verbal and statistical expressions of a hypothesis being closely aligned—that is, that the two must refer to roughly the same set of hypothetical observations. Here I argue that most inferential statistical tests in psychology fail to meet this basic condition. I demonstrate how foundational assumptions of the "random effects" model used pervasively in psychology impose far stronger constraints on the generalizability of results than most researchers appreciate. Ignoring these constraints dramatically inflates false positive rates and routinely leads researchers to draw sweeping verbal generalizations that lack any meaningful connection to the statistical quantities they are putatively based on. I argue that the routine failure to consider the generalizability of one's conclusions from a statistical perspective lies at the root of many of psychology's ongoing problems (e.g., the replication crisis), and conclude with a discussion of several potential avenues for improvement.

School bullying victimization was far less frequently recalled by the Chinese sample (6.2%–12.6%) than the German sample (29.3%–37.0%); bullies in China had poor mental health comparable to victims

Bullies Get Away With It, But Not Everywhere: Mental Health Sequelae of Bullying in Chinese and German Students. Muyu Lin et al. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, August 17, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022120949913

Abstract: Bullying victimization is associated with adverse mental health consequences, while bullies suffer few or no adverse consequences in Western societies. Yet the universality of these consequences across western and eastern cultures is unknown. The current study investigated retrospective bullying experience in primary and secondary schools and its effects on adult mental health (depression, anxiety, stress, lifetime suicidal behavior, positive mental health, life satisfaction, social support, self-efficacy, and sense of control) in 5,012 Chinese and 1,935 German university students. School bullying victimization was far less frequently recalled by the Chinese sample (6.2%–12.6%) than the German sample (29.3%–37.0%), but victims had similar adverse mental health in both countries. In Germany, bullies and not-involved had equally good mental health, whereas bullies in China had poor mental health comparable to victims. Bullying victimization has similar adverse effects on mental health across countries. However, compared to the German students, the prevalence of school bullying is significantly lower, and bullies are also more likely to suffer mental health problems in adulthood in Chinese students. The differences of reasons for and consequences of being bullies are discussed and may have important implications for evolutionary theories and interventions of bullying.

Keywords: bullying, peer victimization, cultural difference, mental health, descriptive survey study

Bisexual people had up to six times the odds of engaging in Non-Suicidal Self-Injury compared to other sexualities. Mental health variables of anxiety and depression symptoms were found to be most common

Bisexuality and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI): A narrative synthesis of associated variables and a meta-analysis of risk. Brendan J. Dunlop et al. Journal of Affective Disorders, Volume 276, November 1 2020, Pages 1159-1172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.07.103

Highlights
• Bisexual people have heightened odds of engaging in Non-Suicidal Self-Injury.
• A narrative synthesis finds anxiety and depression associated most for this group.
• Studies frequently did not report bisexual people separately from others.
• Risk of bias in included studies was most commonly found to be moderate.

Abstract
Background
Bisexual people have been found to be at increased risk of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) when compared to heterosexual and gay or lesbian people. The purpose of this review was to update the estimated risk of NSSI for bisexual people and to examine variables that have been associated with NSSI in this population.

Methods: The protocol for this paper was pre-registered (CRD42019145299). An electronic search of PsycINFO, CINAHL Plus, PubMed, Ovid Online and Web of Science was undertaken from earliest available date to October 2019. Twenty-four eligible papers were identified. Meta-analyses, including moderator analysis, were conducted to ascertain NSSI risk and a narrative synthesis was undertaken of predictors and correlates. All studies were assessed for risk of bias.

Results: Bisexual people had up to six times the odds of engaging in NSSI compared to other sexualities. Mental health variables of anxiety and depression symptoms were found to be most commonly associated with NSSI for this population. The majority of studies had moderate risk of bias. This review demonstrates that bisexual people have an elevated risk of engaging in NSSI. Increased incidence of anxiety and depression and exposure to negative life events may explain this increased risk.

Limitations: Studies were found to be consistently cross-sectional in design and limited to western cultures. A limitation of this review was that only English language papers were included.

Conclusions: Results are clinically relevant as they suggest early identification and prevention of NSSI can be achieved. Future research should examine bisexual people independently of others.

Keywords:BisexualBisexualityNon-suicidal self-injuryNSSISelf-injuryLGBT

Cross-country study: Mothers were predominantly more authoritative than fathers, and fathers were mostly more authoritarian than mothers (based on both parent and descendant reports)

Systematic review of the differences between mothers and fathers in parenting styles and practices. Yosi Yaffe. Current Psychology (2020). Aug 23 2020. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-020-01014-6

Abstract: Parenting is a broad construct that comprises stable and durable attitudes and behaviors regarding child-rearing. Since mothers and fathers play different roles in the family, parenting styles and practices in childhood and adolescence may differ depending on the parents’ and adolescents’ gender. While gender differences in parenting are theoretically warranted, the research literature in this field is considerably limited and lacking conclusive information dealing with this question. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review is to aggregate and synthesize the available research studies containing significant findings on the differences between mothers and fathers in parenting styles and practices. For that purpose, we conducted a systematic search of the PsycInfo, Scopus, Eric, and Web of Science databases, covering literature published from 1990 to 2020. The search was restricted to peer-reviewed studies in English alone. Our findings reveal that mothers as compared to fathers are perceived as more accepting, responsive, and supportive, as well as more behaviorally controlling, demanding, and autonomy granting than fathers. Accordingly, in the studies comparing parents on the constructs of overall parenting styles, mothers were predominantly more authoritative than fathers, and fathers were mostly more authoritarian than mothers (based on both parent and descendant reports). These parental differences established by research from over 15 countries around the globe seem to apply similarly for male and female descendants, while principally not varying by their age.

Callousness, but not pornography use, significantly predicted self-reported sexual aggressiveness; more frequent pornography use was related to lower odds of reporting sexual aggressiveness

Is Male Adolescents’ Sexual Aggressiveness Better Explained by Prior Pornography Use or Callousness? A Brief Report. Aleksandar Štulhofer. Sexual Abuse, August 26, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/1079063220952777

Abstract: To address growing concerns about the role of pornography use in adolescents’ sexual socialization, we explored the role of callousness, relative to pornography use, in male adolescents’ self-reported sexual aggressiveness. Two competing conceptualizations of this role were tested using data from a larger longitudinal research project on sexualized media use and adolescent well-being. Considering that callousness was assessed at only two waves (T2 and T4), 381 male Croatian adolescents (Mage = 15.88, SD = 0.49) who participated in both waves were included in the study. Generalized mixed effects regression modeling indicated that callousness, but not pornography use, significantly predicted sexual aggressiveness 11 months later. Callousness also moderated the association between pornography use and sexual aggressiveness, so that among participants who scored high in callousness, more frequent pornography use was related to lower odds of reporting sexual aggressiveness. High callousness is a risk factor for male adolescents’ sexual aggression and should be addressed in prevention programs.

Keywords: sexual aggression, adolescents, pornography use, callousness

Toxoplasma gondii is reported to manipulate the behavior of its non-definitive hosts in ways that promote lethal interactions with the parasite's definitive feline hosts; infected hyenas have less fear of lions

Toxoplasma gondii infections are associated with boldness towards lions in wild hyena hosts. Eben Gering,  View ORCID ProfileZachary M. Laubach, Patricia Weber, Gisela Soboll Hussey, Kenna D. S. Lehmann, Tracy M. Montgomery, Julie W. Turner, Wei Perng, Malit O. Pioon, Kay E. Holekamp, Thomas Getty. bioRxiv Aug27 2020. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.26.268805

Abstract: Toxoplasma gondii is widely reported to manipulate the behavior of its non-definitive hosts in ways that promote lethal interactions with the parasite's definitive feline hosts. Nonetheless, there is a lack of data on the association between T. gondii infection and costly behavioral interactions with felids in nature. Here, we report that three decades of field observations reveal T. gondii infected hyena cubs approach lions more closely than uninfected peers and have higher rates of lion mortality. Our findings support the hypothesis that T. gondii's manipulation of host boldness is an extended phenotype that promotes parasite transmission from intermediate hosts to feline predators. While upregulating hyena boldness toward lions might achieve this, it may also reflect a collateral influence of manipulative traits that evolved in other hosts (e.g., rodents). In either case, our findings corroborate the potential impacts of a globally distributed and generalist parasite (T. gondii) on fitness-related interaction with felids in a wild host.

COVID-19 lockdown policies & imprisonment: Psychological parallels can be drawn between the two forms of confinement, & ordinary citizens in lockdown have, to some extent, sensed the ‘pains of imprisonment’

Dhami, Mandeep K., Leonardo Weiss-Cohen, and Peter Ayton. 2020. “Are People Experiencing the ‘pains of Imprisonment’ During the Covid-19 Lockdown?.” PsyArXiv. August 27. doi:10.31234/osf.io/5xwbs

Abstract
Background: By the end of March 2020, more than a fifth of the world’s population was in various degrees of ‘lockdown’ in order to slow the spread of Covid-19. This enforced confinement led some to liken lockdown to imprisonment. We directly compared individual’s experiences of lockdown with prisoners’ experiences of imprisonment in order to determine whether psychological parallels can be drawn between these two forms of confinement.
Method: Online surveys of adults in lockdown in the UK (N = 300) and California (N = 450) were conducted four and five weeks into lockdown in each region, respectively. The UK data was then compared to Souza and Dhami’s (2010) sample of 267 medium security prisoners in England, and the Californian data was compared to Dhami et al.’s (2007) sample of 307 medium security Federal prisoners in California. We measured the effects of Group (Lockdown v. Prison) on five categories of dependent variables (i.e., activity, social contact, thoughts, feelings, and rule-breaking), controlling for demographic differences between the groups.
Results: In both regions, people in lockdown thought significantly less often about missing their freedom, as well as missing their family and friends living elsewhere than did first-time prisoners. However, people in lockdown in both regions were also significantly less engaged in a range of daily activities than were first-time prisoners. Additionally, in both regions, people in lockdown reported feeling more hopeless than first-time prisoners.
Conclusions: Although Governments introducing lockdown policies do not intend to punish their citizens as courts do when sending convicted offenders to prison, such policies can have unintended adverse consequences. Psychological parallels can be drawn between the two forms of confinement, and ordinary citizens in lockdown have, to some extent, sensed the ‘pains of imprisonment.’

Supplemental Materials osf.io/8gvmk/

Non-Hispanic White Americans generally conceptualize multicultural policies in nonzero-sum terms; even so, sometimes diversity efforts are likely to elicit backlash from majority group members

Understanding Whites’ perceptions of multicultural policies: A (non)zero-sum framework? Taylor Ballinger & Jennifer Crocker. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Jul 30 2020. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000315

Abstract: Non-Hispanic Whites can perceive multicultural diversity policies as excluding their group and threatening their identity. However, increasing demographic diversity and the proliferation of organizational diversity efforts may have led Whites to view multicultural policies in more nonzero-sum ways. Reanalyzing nationally representative data, Study 1 showed that over the past 10 years, White Americans have become more supportive of diversity policies that explicitly recognize group memberships and have become less likely to view these policies as harmful to their group. Five experiments further showed that a multicultural (vs. colorblind) policy did not increase Whites’ experiences of social identity threat (Studies 2–6) or their perceived exclusion from a company’s diversity efforts (Studies 4–6). While a multicultural policy increased how much Whites believed an organization generally valued diversity and specifically valued the group differences of racial minorities, it did not decrease how much Whites believed their own group differences were valued (Studies 4–5). A multicultural policy only threatened Whites when group differences were narrowly defined to exclude their group (Study 6). An internal meta-analysis (N = 1,998) supported these conclusions and found they did not depend on need to belong, ethnic identification, political ideology, or the imagined presence of an outgroup coworker. These findings indicate that non-Hispanic White Americans generally conceptualize multicultural policies in nonzero-sum terms and suggest that (non)zero-sum beliefs may be key to understanding when diversity efforts are likely to elicit backlash from majority group members.

These results do not support the use of probiotic, prebiotic, and fermented food interventions for cognitive performance

Prebiotics, probiotics, fermented foods and cognitive outcomes: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Wolfgang Marx et al. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, August 27 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.07.036

Highlights
• Twenty-two studies investigated pre- and probiotics and fermented foods on cognition.
• No intervention had a significant effect on global or specific domains of cognition.
• Heterogeneity regarding the population, cognitive tests, and intervention identified.

Abstract: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate randomized controlled trials that investigated the use of probiotic, prebiotic, and fermented food interventions for cognitive performance. In total, 22 studies (n = 1551) were included that investigated probiotics (11 studies, n = 724), prebiotics (5 studies, n = 355), and fermented foods (6 studies, n = 472). Despite several individual studies (14 of 22) reporting significant improvements in specific cognitive domains, results of the pooled meta-analysis found no significant effect for any intervention for global cognition (Probiotics: g = 0.115, 95 %CI -0.041, 0.270, p = 0.148; Prebiotics: g = 0.077, 95 %CI -0.091, 0.246, p = 0.369; Fermented food: g = 0.164 95 %CI -0.017, 0.345, p = 0.076) or any individual cognitive domain. Most studies (16 of 22) had low risk of bias. These results do not support the use of probiotic, prebiotic, and fermented food interventions for cognitive outcomes. This may be due to the limited number of small and short-term studies as well clinical heterogeneity relating to the population, cognitive tests, and intervention. Therefore, further trials that investigate these interventions in clinical populations using adequately powered samples are warranted.

Keywords: Meta-analysisProbioticPrebioticCognitionFermented foods

Contrary to the generally accepted beliefs that wearing eyeglasses makes you look older & wearing sunglasses make you look younger, our results suggest that the effect of glasses on age perception is rather small

Do Glasses Modulate Age Perception? Nicolas M. Brunet, Jonathan Sharp. i-Perception, August 26, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/2041669520953457

Abstract: No formal studies have reported how glasses influence age perception, except for a London Vision Clinic survey that found that people over 45 look 5 or more years older when wearing eyeglasses. To investigate the effect of eyeglasses and sunglasses on age perception while controlling for age and interpersonal differences, we digitally manipulated the photographs of faces of 50 young adults, to create two age conditions (young and old) and three eyewear conditions (no glasses, eyeglasses, and sunglasses). Participants then estimated the age of the faces, displayed in random order. Contrary to the generally accepted beliefs that wearing eyeglasses makes you look older and wearing sunglasses make you look younger, our results suggest that the effect of glasses on age perception is rather small.

Keywords: faces, glasses, sunglasses, age perception, eyewear, eyeglasses

The posture adopted during a task can improve cognitive performance with a better answer for arithmetic in the sitting position than during walking but more correctly recalled words while walking

Is it better to sit down, stand up or walk when performing memory and arithmetic activities? G. Abou Khalil, K. Doré-Mazars, P. Senot, D. P. Wang & A. Legrand. Experimental Brain Research (2020). Aug 26. https://rd.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00221-020-05858-z

Abstract: It is now accepted that performing a cognitive task impacts postural control (Polskaia and Lajoie 2016; Vuillerme et al. Neurosci Lett 291: 77–80, 2000). However, the reverse impact of posture on cognitive performance is less documented. The present study investigated performance in two cognitive activities (memory and arithmetic) performed in three different postural conditions (sitting, standing, and walking). Overall, our data suggest that the posture adopted during a task can improve cognitive performance with a better answer for arithmetic in the sitting position than during walking but more correctly recalled words while walking. This study, thus, suggests that there could be preferential association between cognition and posture, i.e., memory cognitive performance can be improved when walking and mental arithmetic while sitting.

An interquartile increase in local individualism offsets 41% of the effect of state lockdown orders on social distancing and reduces COVID-related charitable fundraising by 48%

Bian, Bo and Li, Jingjing and Xu, Ting and Foutz, Natasha, Individualism During Crises: Big Data Analytics of Collective Actions and Policy Compliance amid COVID-19 (June 5, 2020). SSRN: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3620364

Abstract: Collective actions and government interventions are important measures to alleviate the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, engagement in these actions and compliance to government policies vary significantly within the U.S. This study explains this heterogeneity through an understudied cultural dimension—individualism. Using novel big data analytics on a quarter petabyte of data, we present the first evidence on how individualism affects offline social distancing and online charitable crowdfunding around state-issued stay-at-home orders. Following economic history studies, we leverage GIS techniques to construct a U.S. county-level measure of individualism that traces the amounts of time counties spent at the frontier during the 1790-1890 period. We then use high-dimensional fixed-effect models, text mining, geo-analytics, and a novel migration-based identification strategy to analyze social distancing compliance and GoFundMe fundraising activities. Our analysis reveals that an interquartile increase in local individualism offsets 41% of the effect of state lockdown orders on social distancing and reduces COVID-related charitable fundraising by 48%. These effects are stronger in counties where social distancing generates larger externalities, suggesting our results are partly driven by individualism lowering the tendency to internalize the externality of their actions. Finally, we show that government interventions, such as stimulus checks, can mitigate the negative impact of individualism. Our study is the first to identify the downside of individualism during crises. It also demonstrates the importance of big data-driven, culture-aware policymaking.

Keywords: COVID-19, individualism, crises, social distancing, charitable crowdfunding, culture-aware policymaking, collective action
JEL Classification: D62, D64, D70, I10, I30

Blind spots in self-perceptions: Because individuals and others differ in their susceptibility to biases or motivations and in the information they have access to, self- and other-knowledge will vary by trait

Self–Other Knowledge Asymmetry (SOKA) Model. Kathryn L. Bollich-Ziegler. In The Oxford Handbook of Accurate Personality Judgment (edited by Tera D. Letzring and Jana S. Spain). Jul 2020, DOI 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190912529.013.10

Abstract: Despite the strong intuition that people know themselves well, much research in self-perception demonstrates the biases present when evaluating one’s own personality traits. What specifically are these blind spots in self-perceptions? Are self-perceptions always disconnected from reality? And under what circumstances might other people actually be more accurate about the self? The self–other knowledge asymmetry (SOKA) model suggests that because individuals and others differ in their susceptibility to biases or motivations and in the information they have access to, self- and other-knowledge will vary by trait. The present chapter outlines when and why other-perceptions are sometimes more accurate than self-perceptions, as well as when self-reports can be most trusted. Also discussed are next steps in the study of self- and other-knowledge, including practical, methodological, and interdisciplinary considerations and extensions. In sum, this chapter illustrates the importance of taking multiple perspectives in order to accurately understand a person.

Keywords: self-perception, self-knowledge, other-knowledge, personality, accuracy

Brain region becomes active in people born blind when they touch a 3D model of a face with their hands, suggesting that this area does not require visual experience to develop a preference for faces

Visual experience is not necessary for the development of face-selectivity in the lateral fusiform gyrus. N. Apurva Ratan Murty, Santani Teng, David Beeler, Anna Mynick, Aude Oliva, and Nancy Kanwisher. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, August 24, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2004607117

Significance: Here we show robust face-selectivity in the lateral fusiform gyrus of congenitally blind participants during haptic exploration of 3D-printed stimuli, indicating that neither visual experience, nor fovea-biased input, nor visual expertise is necessary for face-selectivity to arise in its characteristic location. Similar resting fMRI correlation fingerprints in individual blind and sighted participants suggest a role for long-range connectivity in the specification of the cortical locus of face-selectivity.

Abstract: The fusiform face area responds selectively to faces and is causally involved in face perception. How does face-selectivity in the fusiform arise in development, and why does it develop so systematically in the same location across individuals? Preferential cortical responses to faces develop early in infancy, yet evidence is conflicting on the central question of whether visual experience with faces is necessary. Here, we revisit this question by scanning congenitally blind individuals with fMRI while they haptically explored 3D-printed faces and other stimuli. We found robust face-selective responses in the lateral fusiform gyrus of individual blind participants during haptic exploration of stimuli, indicating that neither visual experience with faces nor fovea-biased inputs is necessary for face-selectivity to arise in the lateral fusiform gyrus. Our results instead suggest a role for long-range connectivity in specifying the location of face-selectivity in the human brain.

Keywords: face selectivitycongenital blindnessdevelopmenthapticsfusiform gyrus

Popular version: Face-specific brain area responds to faces even in people born blind - Study finds that the fusiform face area is active when blind people touch 3D models of faces. Anne Trafton. MIT News Office, August 26, 2020. https://news.mit.edu/2020/fusiform-brain-faces-blind-0826

More than 20 years ago, neuroscientist Nancy Kanwisher and others discovered that a small section of the brain located near the base of the skull responds much more strongly to faces than to other objects we see. This area, known as the fusiform face area, is believed to be specialized for identifying faces. 

Now, in a surprising new finding, Kanwisher and her colleagues have shown that this same region also becomes active in people who have been blind since birth, when they touch a three-dimensional model of a face with their hands. The finding suggests that this area does not require visual experience to develop a preference for faces. 

“That doesn’t mean that visual input doesn’t play a role in sighted subjects — it probably does,” she says. “What we showed here is that visual input is not necessary to develop this particular patch, in the same location, with the same selectivity for faces. That was pretty astonishing.”

Seeing what you want to see: Sexual activation makes potential partners seem more appealing and romantically interested

Seeing what you want to see: Sexual activation makes potential partners seem more appealing and romantically interested. Gurit E. Birnbaum et al. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, August 26, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407520952162

Abstract: Recent studies have indicated that activation of the sexual system fosters relationship initiation. In three studies, we expand on this work to investigate whether sexual activation encourages initiating relationship with prospective partners by biasing the way they are perceived. In all studies, participants encountered a potential partner and rated this partner’s attractiveness and romantic interest following sexual activation. Participants’ interest in the partner was self-reported or evaluated by raters. Study 1 revealed that sexual activation led participants to perceive potential partners as more attractive and interested in oneself. Study 2 added to these findings, providing a test of sexual priming rather than more general closeness priming. Mediational analyses in Study 3 indicated that heightened romantic interest mediated the link between sexual activation and perceiving potential partners as more interested in oneself. These findings suggest that sexual activation facilitates relationship initiation by motivating projection of one’s desires onto prospective partners.

Keywords: Attraction, dating, impression formation, relationship initiation, sexual desire

Forgoing earned incentives to signal pure motives: Financial incentives have self-image costs, those who receive incentives view their actions less positively due to the perceived incompatibility between incentives & intrinsic motives

Forgoing earned incentives to signal pure motives. Erika Kirgios et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, July 21 2020, Pages 16891-16897. https://www.pnas.org/content/117/29/16891

Abstract: Policy makers, employers, and insurers often provide financial incentives to encourage citizens, employees, and customers to take actions that are good for them or for society (e.g., energy conservation, healthy living, safe driving). Although financial incentives are often effective at inducing good behavior, they’ve been shown to have self-image costs: Those who receive incentives view their actions less positively due to the perceived incompatibility between financial incentives and intrinsic motives. We test an intervention that allows organizations and individuals to resolve this tension: We use financial rewards to kick-start good behavior and then offer individuals the opportunity to give up some or all of their earned financial rewards in order to boost their self-image. Two preregistered studies -- an incentivized online experiment (n = 763) on prosocial behavior and a large field experiment (n = 17,968) on exercise -- provide evidence that emphasizing the intrinsic rewards of a past action leads individuals to forgo or donate earned financial rewards. Our intervention allows individuals to retroactively signal that they acted for the right reason, which we call “motivation laundering.” We discuss the implications of motivation laundering for the design of incentive systems and behavioral change.