714 research outputs found
The role of simulations in consumer experiences and behavior: insights from the grounded cognition theory of desire
What are the mechanisms by which extrinsic and environmental cues affect consumer experiences, desires, and choices? Based on the recent grounded cognition theory of desire, we argue that consumption and reward simulations constitute a central mechanism in these phenomena. Specifically, we argue that appetitive stimuli, such as specific product cues, can activate simulations of consuming and enjoying the respective products, based on previous learning experiences. These consumption and reward simulations can lead to motivated behavior, and can be modulated by state and trait individual differences, situational factors, and product-extrinsic cues. We outline the role of simulations within the grounded theory of desire, offering a theoretical framework for understanding motivational processes in consumer behavior. Then we illustrate the theory with behavioral, physiological, and neuroimaging findings on simulations in appetitive behavior and sensory marketing. Finally, we outline important issues for further research and applications for stimulating healthy, prosocial, and sustainable consumer choices
On the Rarity of Food Provisioning by Male Dickcissels
Males of polygynous bird species typically provide less parental care to their offspring than males of monogamous species (Ketterson and Nolan 1994). Generally, in polygynous species, a male forfeits some potential reproductive success ifhe shifts his reproductive effort from mating with multiple females to parental care (Trivers 1972, Gubemick et al. 1993, Schleicher et al. 1993). In the polygynous dickcissel (Spiza americana), singing and foraging activities constitute much of a male\u27s time-activity budget (Schartz and Zimmerman 1971, Finck 1984). Although male dickcissels are attentive to their nests and mates (e.g., nest protection and vigilance) females incubate the eggs and feed the young (Gross 1921). Herein, we describe an account ofa male dickcissel feeding brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) young early in the breeding season, summarize and review previous reports of food provisioning by the male dickcissel, and discuss the rarity of this behavior in the dickcissel
Studying human eating behaviour in the laboratory: theoretical considerations and practical suggestions
Robinson and colleagues (2018) make important first steps in highlighting the shortcomings of laboratory studies of human eating behaviour, and providing some general suggestions to increase methodological and reporting quality. In this commentary, we present additional important theoretical considerations and practical suggestions. First, we discuss the role of situational cues in eating behaviour and highlight the implications for designing ecologically valid laboratory experiments. Next, we discuss food intake in laboratory settings in the context of the distinction between implicit and explicit measures used widely in social psychology, and provide practical recommendations to keep intake a relatively implicit measure. Finally, we recognise that designing optimal experiments requires significant resources so we present a practical procedure to recruit the smallest informative sample via Bayesian sequential hypothesis testing
Respuesta inmunologica en casos de bartonelosis con y sin complicaciones durante el embarazo
Bartonellosis (Carrion's Disease) during pregnancy is associated with high rates of maternal and perinatal mortality. We report the immunological patterns in two cases of human bartonellosis during pregnancy. One patient had an uncomplicated course while the second patient developed life threatening anasarca and cardiac tamponade. The patient with a complicated course had a Th1 response with a higher elevation of IL-10. This elevation has been associated with poor outcome pregnancies during bacterial infections.Bartonelosis (Enfermedad de Carrión) durante el embarazo esta asociado a una alta tasa de mortalidad maternal y perinatal. Reportamos el perfil inmunológico de dos casos de Bartonelosis humana en el embarazo. Una paciente tuvo un curso sin complicaciones, mientras la segunda presento complicaciones severas de anasarca y tamponamiento cardiaco. La paciente con curso complicado tuvo un patrón de repuesta Th1, con una elevación de IL-10, que se ha asociado a mal pronóstico en infecciones durante embarazo
Should I stop or should I go? The role of associations and expectancies
Datasets available in ORE at http://hdl.handle.net/10871/17735This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.Following exposure to consistent stimulus-stop mappings, response inhibition can become automatized with practice. What is learned is less clear, even though this has important theoretical and practical implications. A recent analysis indicates that stimuli can become associated with a stop signal or with a stop ‘goal’. Furthermore, expectancy may play an important role. Previous studies that have used stop or no-go signals to manipulate stimulus-stop learning cannot distinguish between stimulus-signal and stimulus-goal associations, and expectancy has not been measured properly. In the present study, participants performed a task that combined features of the go/no-go task and the stop- signal task in which the stop-signal rule changed at the beginning of each block. The go and stop signals were superimposed over forty task-irrelevant images. Our results show that participants can learn direct associations between images and the stop goal without mediation via the stop signal. Exposure to the image-stop associations influenced task performance during training, and the expectancies measured following task completion or measured within the task. But, despite this, we found an effect of stimulus-stop associations on test performance only when the task increased the task-relevance of the images. This could indicate that the influence of stimulus-stop learning on go performance is strongly influenced by attention to both task-relevant and task-irrelevant stimulus features. More generally, our findings suggest a strong interplay between ‘automatic’ and ‘controlled’ processes.Economic and Social Research CouncilEuropean Research Counci
Propensity Score Adjustment for Unmeasured Confounding in Observational Studies
Adjusting for several unmeasured confounders is a challenging problem in the analysis of observational
data. Information about unmeasured confounders is sometimes available from external
validation data, such as surveys or secondary samples drawn from the same source population.
In principal, the validation permits us to recover information about the missing data, but the
difficulty is in eliciting a valid model for nuisance distribution of the unmeasured confounders.
Motivated by a British study of the effects of trihalomethane exposure on full-term low birthweight,
we describe a flexible Bayesian procedure for adjusting for a vector of unmeasured
confounders using external validation data. We summarize the unmeasured confounders with a
scalar summary score using the propensity score methodology of Rosenbaum and Rubin. The
score has the property that it breaks the dependence between the exposure and unmeasured
confounders within levels of measured confounders. To adjust for unmeasured confounding in a
Bayesian analysis, we need only update and adjust for the summary score during Markov chain
Monte Carlo simulation. We demonstrate that trihalomethane exposure is associated with increased
risk of full-term low birthweight, and this association persists even after adjusting for
eight unmeasured confounders. Empirical results from simulation illustrate that our proposed
method eliminates bias from several unmeasured confounders, even in small samples
Adjustment for Missing Confounders Using External Validation Data and Propensity Scores
Reducing bias from missing confounders is a challenging problem in the analysis of observational
data. Information about missing variables is sometimes available from external validation
data, such as surveys or secondary samples drawn from the same source population. In principle,
the validation data permits us to recover information about the missing data, but the
di�culty is in eliciting a valid model for nuisance distribution of the missing confounders. Motivated
by a British study of the e�ects of trihalomethane exposure on risk of full-term low
birthweight, we describe a
exible Bayesian procedure for adjusting for a vector of missing confounders
using external validation data. We summarize the missing confounders with a scalar
summary score using the propensity score methodology of Rosenbaum and Rubin. The score
has the property that it induces conditional independence between the exposure and the missing
confounders given the measured confounders. It balances the unmeasured confounders across
exposure groups, within levels of measured covariates. To adjust for bias, we need only model
and adjust for the summary score during Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation. Simulation
results illustrate that the proposed method reduces bias from several missing confounders over
a range of di�erent sample sizes for the validation data
Quantifying the anisotropy in the infrared emission of powerful AGN
We use restframe near- and mid-IR data of an isotropically selected sample of
quasars and radio galaxies at 1.0 \leq z \leq 1.4, which have been published
previously, to study the wavelength-dependent anisotropy of the IR emission.
For that we build average SEDs of the quasar subsample (= type 1 AGN) and radio
galaxies (= type 2 AGN) from ~1-17 {\mu}m and plot the ratio of both average
samples. From 2 to 8 {\mu}m restframe wavelength the ratio gradually decreases
from 20 to 2 with values around 3 in the 10{\mu}m silicate feature. Longward of
12{\mu}m the ratio decreases further and shows some high degree of isotropy at
15 {\mu}m (ratio ~1.4). The results are consistent with upper limits derived
from the X-ray/mid-IR correlation of local Seyfert galaxies. We find that the
anisotropy in our high-luminosity radio-loud sample is smaller than in
radio-quiet lower-luminosity AGN which may be interpreted in the framework of a
receding torus model with luminosity-dependent obscuration properties. It is
also shown that the relatively small degree of anisotropy is consistent with
clumpy torus models.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures; accepted by Ap
Treatment for hepatorenal syndrome in people with decompensated liver cirrhosis: a network meta-analysis
This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows:
To compare the benefits and harms of different treatments of hepatorenal syndrome in people with decompensated liver cirrhosis
Clustering of Radio Galaxies and Quasars
We compute the cross-correlation between a sample of 14,000 radio-loud AGN
(RLAGN) with redshifts between 0.4 and 0.8 selected from the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey and a reference sample of 1.2 million luminous red galaxies in the same
redshift range. We quantify how the clustering of radio-loud AGN depends on
host galaxy mass and on radio luminosity. Radio-loud AGN are clustered more
strongly on all scales than control samples of radio-quiet galaxies with the
same stellar masses and redshifts, but the differences are largest on scales
less than 1 Mpc. In addition, the clustering amplitude of the RLAGN varies
significantly with radio luminosity on scales less than 1 Mpc. This proves that
the gaseous environment of a galaxy on the scale of its dark matter halo, plays
a key role in determining not only the probability that a galaxy is radio-loud
AGN, but also the total luminosity of the radio jet. Next, we compare the
clustering of radio galaxies with that of radio-loud quasars in the same
redshift range. Unified models predict that both types of active nuclei should
cluster in the same way. Our data show that most RLAGN are clustered more
strongly than radio-loud QSOs, even when the AGN and QSO samples are matched in
both black hole mass and radio luminosity. Only the most extreme RLAGN and
RLQSOs in our sample, with radio luminosities in excess of 10^26 W/Hz, have
similar clustering properties. The majority of the strongly evolving RLAGN
population at z~0.5 are found in different environments to the quasars, and
hence must be triggered by a different physical mechanism.Comment: 12 pages, 13 Figures, submitted to MNRA
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