Neural Responses to Feedback Regarding Betrayal and Cooperation in Adolescents with Anxiety and Mood Disorders

This study examined patterns of neural response to feedback regarding betrayal and cooperation in adolescents with anxiety/mood disorders and healthy peers. We compared performance on and neural activation patterns during the Prisoner’s Dilemma (PD) game, an economic exchange task involving betrayal and cooperation, between age- and IQ-matched groups of adolescents with anxiety/depressive disorders (A/D) (N=13) and healthy controls (n=17). Participants were deceived to believe that their co-player (a pre-programmed computer algorithm) was another study participant. Although participants responded similarly following feedback that the co-player had cooperated with them on preceding trials, A/D adolescents were more likely than controls to cooperate following trials when the other player betrayed them. Further, A/D participants differed significantly from controls in patterns of neural activation in response to feedback that they had been betrayed. In particular, A/D participants showed more activation relative to baseline in the precuneus, cerebellum, and supramarginal gyrus than did controls. Groups did not, in contrast, differ significantly in patterns of activation in response to feedback that their co-player had cooperated with them. Our findings provide preliminary evidence that A/D adolescents may not only behave differently than do healthy peers when they encounter potential social obstacles, but that they may also engage a different set of neural resources. These findings offer a first step toward elucidating the mechanisms underlying social impairment in youth with internalizing disorders

Socio-emotional Functioning in Bipolar Disorder Versus Typical Development: Behavioral and Neural Differences

Socio-emotional dysfunction is a core feature of bipolar disorder (BD) across the lifespan. Recent evidence indicates associations between this atypical functioning and the presence of neurally-based anomalies. This article critically reviews the literature on two types of core socioemotional skills that may represent endophenotypes for BD, with a focus on differences between individuals with BD, both youth and adults, and their typically developing peers. First, it examines studies of social cue perception and interpretation, with an emphasis on behavioral and neural studies of facial expression processing. Second, it shifts to examine behavioral and neural differences in cognitive and behavioral flexibility. Finally, the article summarizes potential future directions for research in this area

Associations among perceptual anomalies, social anxiety, and paranoia in a college student sample

Recent evidence suggests that normal-range paranoid ideation may be particularly likely to arise in individuals disposed to both social anxiety and perceptual anomalies. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that among college students in an unselected sample, social anxiety and experience of perceptual anomalies would not only each independently predict the experience of self-reported paranoid ideation, but would also interact to predict paranoid patterns of thought. A diverse sample of 644 students completed a large battery of self-report measures, as well as the five-factor Paranoia/Suspiciousness Questionnaire (PSQ). We conducted hierarchical multiple regression analyses predicting scores on each PSQ factor from responses on measures of social anxiety, perceptual aberration, and the interaction between the two constructs. Current general negative affect was covaried in all analyses. We found that both social anxiety and perceptual aberrations, along with negative affect, predicted multiple dimensions of paranoia as measured by the PSQ; the two constructs did not, however, interact significantly to predict any dimensions. Our findings suggest that perceptual aberration and anxiety may contribute to normal-range paranoid ideation in an additive rather than an interactive manner

Conditions for Autonomy in the Information Society: Disentangling as a public service

An ambition for a democratic information society is providing services that maintain and even enhance citizens’ mastery and control of their life situation. Analyzing public services from a citizen autonomy perspective can indicate where the service and its IT-systems do not support user autonomy. We analyze a public service and discuss it as a sociomaterial entanglement. Based on our data on citizens’ use of a public service we identify a need to distinguish between entanglements and imbrications and suggest the notion of disentangling in order to characterize the way in which the public service advisors help the citizens. From at a design perspective we look for openings for change and improvement. Different types of entanglements need different types of competencies to address them. We make a distinction between entanglement and imbrication to open up a space for change. Finally, we discuss how the notion of disentangling tax issues can support citizen autonomy

Paranoid Thinking, Suspicion, and Risk for Aggression: A Neurodevelopmental Perspective

This article represents an effort to extend our understanding of paranoia or suspicion and its development by integrating findings across clinical, developmental, and neuroscience literatures. We first define “paranoia” or paranoid thought and examine its prevalence across typically and atypically developing individuals and theoretical perspectives regarding its development and maintenance.We then briefly summarize current ideas regarding the neural correlates of adaptive, appropriately trusting interpersonal perception, social cognition, and behavior across development. Our focus shifts subsequently to examining in normative and atypical developmental contexts the neural correlates of several component cognitive processes thought to contribute to paranoid thinking: (a) attention bias for threat, (b) jumping to conclusions biases, and (c) hostile intent attribution biases. Where possible, we also present data regarding independent links between these cognitive processes and aggressive behavior. By examining data regarding the behavioral and neural correlates of varied cognitive processes that are likely components of a paranoid thinking style, we hope to advance both theoretical and empirical research in this domain

Ola Bratteli and his diagrams

This article discusses the life and work of Professor Ola Bratteli (1946--2015). Family, fellow students, his advisor, colleagues and coworkers review aspects of his life and his outstanding mathematical accomplishments.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figure

How Can I Help You? A chatbot’s answers to citizens’ information needs

AI-based chatbots are becoming an increasingly common part of the front-line of public services. Through natural language, users can write simple queries to a chatbot which answers with appropriate information. We have investigated how a public chatbot operates in actual practice and how it answers the citizens’ questions about the rules and regulations for welfare benefits. We use the concept of citizens’ information needs to determine the quality of the chatbot’s answers. Information needs are often not formulated from the start as answerable questions. We analyse logs from chat sessions between the chatbot and the citizens, and focus on problems that arise, e.g., that the chatbot gives irrelevant answers or omits important information. The paper shows how the inner workings of the chatbot shapes the answerable questions. We conclude that responsible use of AI (such as chatbots) is a matter of design of the overall service and includes acknowledging that the AI itself can never be responsible