Anxious attachment and excessive acquisition: The mediating roles of anthropomorphism and distress intolerance

Background and aims: Most individuals with hoarding disorder (HD) are prone to excessively acquiring new possessions. Understanding the factors that contribute to this collecting behavior will allow us to develop better treatment approaches for HD. The aim of this study was to test our assumption that an anxious attachment style is associated with a tendency to anthropomorphize comforting objects and an inability to tolerate distress, which in turn leads to excessive acquisition. Methods: A total of 361 participants with subclinical to clinical acquisition problems (77.8% female) completed a series of self-report measures. Results: As expected, greater anxious attachment was related to greater distress intolerance and stronger tendencies to anthropomorphize inanimate objects. In turn, greater distress intolerance and anthropomorphism were related to more excessive buying and greater acquisition of free items. Examination of the pathways and indirect effects showed support for double mediation rather than serial mediation, as distress intolerance did not predict anthropomorphism. Discussion and conclusion: These novel findings, if replicated, suggest that adding treatment modules that target improving distress tolerance and reducing anthropomorphism to standard treatment for HD may lead to further reductions in excessive acquiring

Synchronous vs non-synchronous imitation: using dance to explore interpersonal coordination during observational learning

Observational learning can enhance the acquisition and performance quality of complex motor skills. While an extensive body of research has focused on the benefits of synchronous (i.e., concurrent physical practice) and non-synchronous (i.e., delayed physical practice) observational learning strategies, the question remains as to whether these approaches differentially influence performance outcomes. Accordingly, we investigate the differential outcomes of synchronous and non-synchronous observational training contexts using a novel dance sequence. Using multidimensional cross-recurrence quantification analysis, movement time-series were recorded for novice dancers who either synchronised with (n = 22) or observed and then imitated (n = 20) an expert dancer. Participants performed a 16-count choreographed dance sequence for 20 trials assisted by the expert, followed by one final, unassisted performance trial. Although end-state performance did not significantly differ between synchronous and non-synchronous learners, a significant decline in performance quality from imitation to independent replication was shown for synchronous learners. A non-significant positive trend in performance accuracy was shown for non-synchronous learners. For all participants, better imitative performance across training trials led to better end-state performance, but only for the accuracy (and not timing) of movement reproduction. Collectively, the results suggest that synchronous learners came to rely on a realtime mapping process between visual input from the expert and their own visual and proprioceptive intrinsic feedback, to the detriment of learning. Thus, the act of synchronising alone does not ensure an appropriate training context for advanced sequence learning

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Measuring virtual embodiment: A psychometric investigation of a standardised questionnaire for the psychological sciences

Psychological science increasingly employs virtual reality (VR) as a therapeutic and experimental tool. When represented by an avatar, a user's self-perception is altered through a full-body perceptual illusion known as virtual embodiment. However, inconsistent measurement of this construct derives uncertainties about the efficacy of VR-driven behavioural, cognitive, and social-psychological changes. Accordingly, we sought to provide psychological scientists a valid and reliable measure to assess the virtual embodiment construct during experimental and therapeutic simulations. In a repeated-measures experimental paradigm, participants (N = 86) completed a series of visuo-motor tasks in-vivo and in VR. Our study had three objectives: 1) compare visuo-motor performance across in-vivo and VR tasks; 2) assess the psychometric properties of theoretically foundational body ownership, agency, and self-location dimensions from a virtual embodiment questionnaire widely used in the literature; 3) analyse the simplified 11-item questionnaire's underlying structure using principal component analysis (PCA). We found that VR embodiment does not directly align with physical embodiment when considering proprioception and kinaesthesia, and there is limited support for convergent and discriminant validity of body ownership, agency, and self-location as independent dimensions of the embodiment construct. However, there is strong support for criterion validity when these dimensions comprise the overall measurement of embodiment. The PCA revealed a straightforward and theoretically interpretable underlying structure with three components: embodiment, disembodiment, and agency. This study offers psychometric support for the exploration of the simplified 11-item questionnaire as a theoretically grounded measure for behavioural scientists who seek to investigate virtual embodiment as a psychological construct

Perspective Taking in Virtual Reality: Addressing Gender Bias in STEM

Altering an individual’s identity during virtual tasks, such that it is incongruent with their own identity, can reduce unconscious biases and increase empathy and prosocial behavior. While such virtual embodiment has been investigated for race, age, and socioeconomic status, the question remains whether immersive perspective taking reduces implicit gender bias. Accordingly, we investigated the effect of gendered embodiment on gender bias related to the underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and math fields. Undergraduate students (N=65) undertook a simulated virtual interview task, which included the rating and selection of male and female candidates. Females were significantly more empathetic than males. Greater empathy predicted higher candidate ratings, except for competence of the female candidate. Preliminary findings establish foundations for future comparative studies and contribute to elucidating the nature of empathy during and after virtual perspective taking, such that it may have a greater impact on males for modulating gender bias

Embodied Transgender Interactions: Exploring Dyadic Interpersonal Coordination and Decision Making in Virtual Reality

Social cognition is shaped by cultural and social-psychological contexts. Depending on the social cues displayed, the cognitive processes that emerge during embodied social interactions can vary. This study explored the influence of gender diverse social cues on interpersonal coordination and decision-making during dyadic interaction in virtual reality. Participants embodied either a transgender or cisgender avatar and interacted with a transgender confederate (human-controlled virtual agent). Results suggest that transgender embodied women and men displayed more interpersonal affiliation, via their coordination dynamics with the confederate, after an explicit gender identity disclosure. Additionally, cognitive flexibility for ambiguous decisions was influenced by attributions of responsibility made toward the confederate. However, cisgender embodied men did not substantially change their decision-making behaviours or increase their coordination with the confederate. Viscerally taking on the perspective and appearance of a transgender person, achieved through virtual embodiment and interaction, may support positive interactions between cisgender and transgender communities

Determinants of Object Choice and Object Attachment: Compensatory Consumption in Compulsive Buying-Shopping Disorder and Hoarding Disorder

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Individuals who meet criteria for compulsive buying–shopping disorder (i.e., acquiring problems only) or hoarding disorder (i.e., acquiring and discarding problems) may acquire possessions to compensate for unmet belonging needs, but may do so in different ways. Those with compulsive buying–shopping disorder may acquire objects that they believe will relieve the distress associated with unmet belonging needs (e.g., objects that distract or comfort), whereas those with hoarding disorder may acquire objects that they believe achieve belonging needs (e.g., objects that have interpersonal connotations). Accordingly, this study examined whether a belongingness threat would drive individuals who excessively acquire possessions to choose a human-like object (person-shaped tea holder) or a comfort item (box of chamomile tea). METHODS: One hundred seventy-five participants (57 self-reported excessive acquiring only; 118 self-reported excessive acquiring and difficulty discarding) recalled a time when they either felt supported or unsupported by a significant other before choosing an object to take home with them. Participants rated how anthropomorphic and comforting the objects were as well as how attached they became to their chosen object. RESULTS: Unsupported individuals were more likely to acquire the comfort item than supported individuals; however, individuals with both acquiring and discarding problems were more likely to acquire the human-like item than those with an acquiring problem only. Comfort and anthropomorphism ratings predicted object choice and attachment. DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSION: The current findings extend the Compensatory Consumer Behavior Model to include what factors determine strategy choice and object attachment

H-reflex excitability is inhibited in soleus, but not gastrocnemius, at the short-latency response of a horizontal jump-landing task

Impaired spinal-level neuromuscular control is suggested to contribute to instability and injury during dynamic landing tasks. Despite this suggestion, spinal-level neuromuscular control is yet to be examined during a horizontal jump-landing task. The aim of the current study was to assess changes in H-reflexes and its reliability at the short-latency response of landings from short and long distances. Eight healthy individuals (five male, three female; age, 22 ± 1.2 yrs; height, 178 ± 8.1 cm; weight, 72 ± 15.7 kg) participated in the study. H-reflexes were evoked at the SLR in the soleus and medial gastrocnemius muscles, during two landing conditions: 25% and 50% of maximal broad jump distance. H-reflexes were expressed relative to the background electromyography (EMG) and maximal M-wave responses (M-max). Soleus H-reflexes were inhibited when landing from shorter distance (25%, 13.9 ± 7.6%; 50%, 8.3 ± 6.5%; p < 0.01). No change in H-reflex excitability was observed in medial gastrocnemius. Background EMG was unaltered across landing conditions. Inhibition of soleus H-reflex excitability from 25% to 50% landing condition indicates a reduced contribution of Ia-afferent feedback to the alpha-motor neuron during landings from greater distances, which may contribute to stiffness regulation at the ankle joint. Unaltered H-reflex excitability of medial gastrocnemius is most likely attributed to its functional role during the landing task