Approaching Fake News at the Expense of Truth: A Psychophysiological Study of News on Social Media

In 2018, sixty-eight percent of adults in America obtained their news from social media sites. During the same period, the amount of fake news online has increased substantially, resulting in increased propagation of false information. The research literature is growing on the effects of fake news on social media, but few studies have examined psychophysiological responses to true and fake news on social media. This research utilizes psychophysiological measures, specifically heart rate variability and skin conductance, to compare the perceived believability of news headlines posted on social media. Our findings indicate that individuals exhibit increased levels of approach behavior to true and fake news on social media. Additionally, higher time spent on social media is related to an increase in approach behavior to fake news. These findings have important implications for research and practice

Development of novel methods for analysis of autonomic balance and gamma coherence in autism.

INTRODUCTION: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that is characterized by difficulty in social interactions, limited range of interests, and repetitive behaviors. ASD has been shown to negatively affect both ambient vision and the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The objectives of this thesis were to determine the efficacy of two novel therapies, visuo-motor training with ambient prism lenses and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), on autonomic balance and EEG gamma coherence. Heart rate variability (HRV) and skin conductance level (SCL) were used as indicators of autonomic function. HRV is an excellent indicator of autonomic balance because it has a low frequency (LF) component, representative of combined parasympathetic and sympathetic inputs, and a high frequency (HF) component, representative of parasympathetic only inputs. SCL is controlled solely by sympathetic inputs and is therefore indicative of sympathetic tone. Gamma coherence refers to the coactivation of different regions of the brain during completion of a task. DATA COLLECTION: Autonomic measures of heart rate (HR) and SCL were collected for both the prism lens study and the rTMS study. Patients enrolled in the prism lens study were fitted with an appropriate pair of lenses and performed daily visuo-motor exercises for six months. Autonomic data was collected twice: once at the baseline (before treatment) and again after completing the prism lens training course. Patients enrolled in the rTMS study underwent 18 weekly sessions of TMS. Autonomic data was collected during each session. EEG data was collected twice for both the prism lens and rTMS study, once before and after the course of therapy. Behavioral checklists such as the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) and the Repetitive Behavior Checklist (RBS) were completed by the subjects’ parents before and after therapy. DATA PROCESSING AND ANALYSIS: HR and SCL data collected as the patients watched scenes from The Lion King (prism lens study) or as patients received TMS (rTMS study) was exported into Microsoft Excel to begin pre-processing. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 14.0 software. HR data was further analyzed using Kubios HRV software to calculate heart rate variability (HRV) measures. EEG data was exported into a software program called Brain Electrical Source Analysis (BESA) for analysis of gamma coherence. RESULTS: Results from the prism lens study show that average HR among participants decreased significantly after completion of prism lens therapy. There was also a decrease in LF power, an increase in the percentage of HF power, a decrease in the ratio of LF to HF power (cardiac autonomic balance index), and a decrease in SCL. No significant changes were observed in gamma coherence following prism lens therapy. Results from the rTMS study show changes in several measures that reached significance: increased RR interval (time lapse between successive heartbeats), increased SDNN (standard deviation of RR interval), increased HF component of HRV, decreased LF/HF ratio, and decreased SCL. In addition, there was increased gamma coherence between frontal-temporal regions and frontal-parietal regions following TMS therapy. CONCLUSIONS: ASD has been shown to present symptoms of disrupted autonomic balance resulting from excess activity of the sympathetic branch and suppressed parasympathetic activity. In this thesis, autonomic balance, as indicated by HRV and SCL, was used as a measure of the effectiveness of two novel therapies for the treatment of ASD: prism lenses and rTMS. Both therapies resulted in an improvement of autonomic balance through the activation of the parasympathetic branch and/or by reducing activity of the sympathetic branch. Prism lens therapy did not improve gamma coherence; however, TMS therapy was shown to increase gamma coherence between frontal-parietal and frontal-temporal regions during processing target stimuli

It’s all about gains: Risk preferences in problem gambling

Problem gambling is a serious socioeconomic problem involving high individual and social costs. In this article, we study risk preferences of problem gamblers including their risk attitudes in the gain and loss domains, their weighting of probabilities, and their degree of loss aversion. Our findings indicate that problem gamblers are systematically more risk taking and less sensitive toward changes in probabilities in the gain domain only. Neither their risk attitudes in the loss domain nor their degree of loss aversion are significantly different from the controls. Additional evidence for a similar degree of sensitivity toward negative outcomes is gained from skin conductance data—a psychophysiological marker for emotional arousal—in a threat-of-shock task

Personality assessment based on biosignals during a decision-making task

Due to the emergence of novel acquisition devices and signal processing techniques, the study of electrophysiology and its applications has assumed an important role on the Biomedical Engineering community. Recently, research on this area has expanded to several domains, with the psychophysiology being a proeminent one, more specifically in the field of personality psychology. In this thesis, participants were asked to perform a wildly known decision-making task, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), and their biosignals were recorded during this performance with the objective of determining whether changes in biosignals could be related to personality. This project was composed by 71 participants and their biosignals were used to extract meaningful features that together could create a predictive model of personality. For this, all biosignals were processed prior to the feature extraction step and the features were extracted from the entire signals, recorded during the performance of the IGT, and also dividing the task in five blocks. After the extraction, a machine learning algorithm was used to compute the best predictive models for the Five Factor Model (FFM) personality dimensions and for the Maximization and Regret scales, using each biosignal individually and in the end all features from all biosignals. The results showed that the predictive models which use features from all biosignals perform better than the models which use only one biosignal. The Openness to Experience, Agreeableness and Maximization scales are well predicted with features from Electrocardiogram (ECG), the Agreeableness, Maximization and Extraversion scales with Electrodermal Activity (EDA) features and the Extraversion and Openness to Experience scales with features from Blood Volume Pulse (BVP). The hypothesis that personality traits is more expressed in the start of IGT was confirmed since the highest number of features is extracted from the Block 1 of the IGT. The results should be further validated for other populations

The Biometric Evolution of Sound and Space

Auditoria in the late 20th and 21st centuries have evolved into a series of spatial conventions that are an established and accepted norm. The relationship between space and music now exists in a decoupled condition, and music is no longer reliant on volumetric and material conditions to define its form (Glantz 2000). This thesis looks at a series of novel approaches to investigate how the links between music and space can be reconnected though evolutionary computation, parametric modelling, virtual acoustics and biometric sensing. The thesis describes in detail the experiments undertaken in developing methodologies in linking music, space and the body. The thesis will show how it is possible to develop new form finding and musical generation tools that allow new room shapes and acoustic measures to inform how new acoustic and musical forms can be developed unconsciously and objectively by a listener, in response to sound and site

What Happened Last Night? Sleep, Sex, and Recollection

Previous research has repeatedly illustrated the beneficial influence of sleep on memory processes. Further, evidence has demonstrated the power of sexual valance to enhance memory for certain types of stimuli. The present study investigated the possible interaction effect between sleep and sexual valance on recollection memory in 44 undergraduate and graduate student participants at Eastern Kentucky University, based upon a method by Alger, Lau, & Fishbein (2012); however, in the current study, recollection memory items were words received audibly rather than visually. Behavioral data, electroencephalography (EEG), and skin conductance data was collected to assess memory performance, sleep progress, autonomic nervous system activity, and sleep-related behavior. Results indicated a significant interaction effect between condition (sleep/awake) and image type (sexual/nonsexual): words paired with sexual images were best recalled by sleep participants, while awake participants recalled nonsexual images better than sexual images

Psychophysiological correlates of attachment organization : linear and non-linear analysis of autonomic regulation during the adult attachment interview

Tese de doutoramento - Ramo do Conhecimento em Psicologia ClínicaDuring the last half century, Attachment Theory reached an evermore crucial place inside developmental psychology. In fact, since Bowlby's theoretical groundwork (1962/82, 1973, 1980) in association with Ainsworth's empirical drives (e.g., 1967, 1982, 1983), attachment research grew astonishingly fast not only to explain the normative processes of human development, but also considering psychopathological processes. As an extension of the research, lately, there has been a rising interest on the role of biological measures (electrodermal and cardiac activity) and their relationship with adult attachment organization (Dozier & Kobak, 1992; Roisman, Tsai & Chiang, 2004; Roisman, 2007). Under this umbrella, the present study aims to explore, with linear and nonlinear data analysis models, the relationship between attachment organization and autonomic activity in an non-clinical context. The sample comprised 50 female participants from the north of Portugal, aged between 17 and 27 (M = 21.20, SD = 3.26), which were monitored, with a multimedia system (Bio-Dual channel and Representation of Attachment Multimedia System), for skin conductance and heart rate while answering to the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI, George, Kaplan & Main, 1985). The AAI was scored with Kobak's Q-sort method (Kobak, 1993), allowing to classify each participant in three attachment patterns (secure, dismissing or preoccupied), and two attachment strategies (security vs. insecurity and hyperactivation vs. deactivation). The results, using a linear data analysis approach based on the mean, evidenced an attachment organization patterns differentiation, throughout the AAI questions, only for skin conductance, but not for heart rate. The non-linear data analysis approach, addressed the variability and sudden shifts not explained by the mean, revealed attachment organization differences in terms of heart rate in some of the critical attachment questions of the AAI. The analysis of the heart rate variability, using the LF/HF ration evidenced no differences at all between attachment patterns. The main results are discussed in terms of attachment theory and how the psychophysiological approach may contribute for a deeper understanding of the biological correlates of attachment.Durante o último meio século, a Teoria da Vinculação alcançou cada vez mais um papel relevante nos meandros da Psicologia do Ddesenvolvimento. De facto, desde as bases teóricas de Bowlby (1962/82, 1973, 1980) até às pretensões empíricas de Ainsworth (e.g. 1967, 1982, 1983), a investigação da vinculação tem crescido a um ritmo alucinante, não só explicando os processos normativos do desenvolvimento humano, mas também considerando os processos psicopatológicos. Recentemente, na extensão do seu campo de investigação, tem surgido um crescente interesse relativamente ao papel das medidas biológicas (actividade electrodérmica e cardíaca) e a sua relação com a organização da vinculação no adulto (Dozier & Kobak, 1992; Roisman, Tsai & Chiang, 2004; Roisman, 2007). Neste sentido, o presente estudo pretende explorar, com modelos de análise linear e não-linear, a relação entre a organização da vinculação e a actividade autonómica no âmbito de um contexto não clínico. A amostra é constituída por 50 participantes femininas do norte de Portugal, com idades compreendidas entre os 17 e os 27 anos (M = 21.20; DP = 3.26) de idade, que foram monitorizadas com um sistema multimédia (Bio-Dual channel and Representation of Attachment Multimedia System) em termos de condutância da pele e frequência cardíaca, enquanto respondiam à Entrevista de Vinculação do Adulto (Adult Attachment Interview; AAI, George, Kaplan & Main, 1985). As AAI’s foram cotadas mediante o método do Q-sort de Kobak (1993), permitindo enquadrar cada participante em termos dos 3 padrões da vinculação (seguro, desligado ou preocupado) e duas estratégias vinculação (segurança vs. insegurança e hiperactivação vs. desactivação). Os resultados, usando uma abordagem linear de análise de dados baseada na média, evidenciaram uma diferenciação em termos de condutância da pele, mas não de frequência cardíaca entre os padrões da vinculação, no decorrer das questões da AAI. As abordagens não-lineares de análise de dados, focadas na variabilidade e nas alterações súbitas não explicadas pela média, revelaram que os diferentes padrões de vinculação se distinguiam em termos de frequência cardíaca em algumas das questões da AAI. As análises de variabilidade cardíaca, usando o rácio LF/HF, não evidenciaram quaisquer diferenças entre os padrões de vinculação. Os principais resultados são discutidos em termos da teoria de vinculação e da forma como a abordagem psicofisiológica poderá contribuir para uma compreensão mais profunda dos correlatos biológicos da vinculação.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - Bolsa de doutoramento SFRH/BD/22261/2005Fundação Bial - refs. 43/96, 25/0