It's all in the past:Temporal-context effects modulate subjective evaluations of emotional visual stimuli, regardless of presentation sequence

The aim of this study was to investigate if and how temporal context influences subjective affective responses to emotional images. To do so, we examined whether the subjective evaluation of a target image is influenced by the valence of its preceding image, and/or its overall position in a sequence of images. Furthermore, we assessed if these potentially confounding contextual effects can be moderated by a common procedural control: randomized stimulus presentation. Four groups of participants evaluated the same set of 120 pictures from the International Affective System (IAPS) presented in four different sequences. Our data reveal strong effects of both aspects of temporal context in all presentation sequences, modified only slightly in their nature and magnitude. Furthermore, this was true for both valence and arousal ratings. Subjective ratings of negative target images were influenced by temporal context most strongly across all sequences. We also observed important gender differences: females expressed greater sensitivity to temporal-context effects and design manipulations relative to males, especially for negative images. Our results have important implications for future emotion research that employs normative picture stimuli, and contributes to our understanding of context effects in general

PREFERENCES OF MEN AND WOMEN IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC WHEN SHOPPING FOR FOOD

Abstract TURČÍNKOVÁ, J., BRYCHTOVÁ, J., URBÁNEK, J.: Preferences of men and women in the Czech Republic when shopping for food. Acta univ. agric. et silvic. Mendel. Brun., 2012, LX, No. 7, pp. 425-432 Buying behavior of men and women shows considerable diff erences. The individual stages of purchase decision-making process lead to convergence or conversely deepening of these diff erences. The paper provides results of analysis of chosen aspects of consumer behavior of men and women in the Czech Republic. It focuses on the grocery shopping in small-sized shops. Due to the complexity of the problem the research could not cover all aspects associated with this topic. It identifi es who in a household is responsible for grocery shopping, how o en and in what quantity of purchases. The paper examines to what extent is a purchase planned and by what a consumer is usually stimulated to an impulsive shopping. Further, it describes factors leading to a choice of shopping place and to a satisfaction with shopping conditions. The primary data was collected through a method of in-depth interviews conducted from January to March 2011 on a sample of 56 respondents in the three smaller stores in the Moravské Budějovice, and via questionnaire survey which took place in all regions of the Czech Republic (n = 5809) among respondents aged 12+. The results confi rmed we can observe diff erences in shopping behavior of women and man, even though the importance of various factors taken into account when making a choice of a particular food product show signifi cant diff erences from the gender perspective (none of the analyzed factors was found to have higher statistical signifi cance than weak, p < .05). The qualitative research, however, revealed that women tend to make more frequent purchases and keep a certain level of supplies at home, while men tend to leave shopping till it becomes necessary, they are more likely to stick to their shopping list and more loyal to their favorite products. Women are more fl exible when in need to replace a missing product with its substitute. The proportion of impulsively purchased items in a shopping basket is higher for women than for men. The fi ndings should help in particular small-scale operators of stores. consumer behavior, men, women, grocery shopping, gender marketing The behavior of each consumer on the market with groceries is very individual. It is not easy to predict the behavior of individuals; however, it is somewhat easier to predict the behavior of groups of customers. This means we can segment customers according to certain criteria. This contribution develops knowledge of gender marketing, which is based on the possibility of the existence of uncontested diff erences in shopping behavior of men and women. Diff erences between men and women in society are considered natural. Style changes in food shopping are caused by developments and changes in society. In many families, there are now both men and women busy working which leads in the haste and lack of time. People are no longer willing to devote as much time to buying groceries as before. Consumers and their wishes and desires diff er signifi cantly, so it is virtually impossible for vendors to meet all the requirements perfectly. Market segmentation can help to deal with this problem. Market segmentation can be performed according to various criteria. For example, Traditional theory sees woman as a housewife taking care of household and children. Ma

Personality systems, spirituality, and existential well-being:a person-centered perspective

Recent research on the salutogenic benefits of spirituality and religiosity has yielded inconsistent findings. It is suggested that such discrepancies reflect individual differences in personality, but this cannot be investigated with variable-driven approaches. The present study measured the influence of personality on the relationship between spirituality and existential well-being (EWB) from the perspective of Personality Systems Interaction theory-an approach focused on functional relationships between cognitive and affective systems, using Latent Profile Analysis. Three major results emerged: First, we identified discrete Analytical, Intuitive, and Flexible personality profiles resembling closely the prototypes reported elsewhere. Second, while preferences for intuitive cognitive processing resulted in high scores on all dimensions of spirituality and EWB, the reverse was true for individuals prone to analytical information processing, replicating previous research. Third, EWB operates independently from other spirituality dimensions, and relates differentially to distinct personality profiles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

An evaluation of traffic-awareness campaign videos:Empathy induction is associated with brain function within superior temporal sulcus

Acting appropriately within social contexts requires an ability to appreciate others' mental and emotional states. Indeed, some campaign programs designed to reduce anti-social behaviour seek to elicit empathy for the victims. The effectiveness of these campaigns can be evaluated according to the degree to which they induce such responses, but by applying neuroscientific techniques this can be done at the behavioural and neurophysiological level. Neuroimaging studies aimed at identifying the neural mechanisms behind such socio-cognitive and -emotional processes frequently reveal the role of the superior temporal sulcus (STS). We applied this knowledge to assess the effectiveness of traffic-awareness campaign adverts to induce empathic expression. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were acquired from 20 healthy male volunteers as they watched these campaign videos consisting of a dramatic sequence of events and catastrophic endings, and control videos without such dramatic endings. Among other structures, a significantly greater neural response was observed within bilateral STS, particularly within the right hemisphere, during the observation of campaign relative to control videos. Furthermore, activation in these brain regions correlated with the subjects' empathic expression. Our results develop our understanding of the role of STS in social cognition. Moreover, our data demonstrate the utility of neuroscientific methods when evaluating the effectiveness of campaign videos in terms of their ability to elicit empathic responses. Our study also demonstrates the utility of these specific stimuli for future neuroscientific research

Functional anatomy of outcome evaluation during Iowa Gambling Task performance in patients with Parkinson's disease: an fMRI study

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the functional anatomy of decision-making during the Iowa Gambling Task in patients with Parkinson's disease. We used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a computerized version of IGT to compare 18 PD patients on dopaminergic medication in the ON state and 18 healthy control subjects. Our analyses focused on outcome evaluation following card selection, because we expected this aspect of decision-making to be impaired in PD patients. The PD patients exhibited lower activation of the left putamen than the control group as a reaction to penalty. Using psychophysiological interaction analysis, we identified decreased functional connectivity between the right globus pallidus internus and the left anterior cingulate gyrus in the PD group. In contrast, increased connectivity between these structures was observed after penalty in the control group. Our results suggest altered functioning of the basal ganglia and their connections with the cortical structures involved in the limbic loop (e.g., the limbic fronto-striatal circuit of the basal ganglia) during decision-making in PD patients. Differences in the response to loss could be associated with insufficient negative reinforcement after a loss in PD patients in the ON state in comparison to a healthy population

Identifying Activated T Cells in Reconstituted RAG Deficient Mice Using Retrovirally Transduced Pax5 Deficient Pro-B Cells

Various methods have been used to identify activated T cells such as binding of MHC tetramers and expression of cell surface markers in addition to cytokine-based assays. In contrast to these published methods, we here describe a strategy to identify T cells that respond to any antigen and track the fate of these activated T cells. We constructed a retroviral double-reporter construct with enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP) and a far-red fluorescent protein from Heteractis crispa (HcRed). LTR-driven EGFP expression was used to enrich and identify transduced cells, while HcRed expression is driven by the CD40Ligand (CD40L) promoter, which is inducible and enables the identification and cell fate tracing of T cells that have responded to infection/inflammation. Pax5 deficient pro-B cells that can give rise to different hematopoietic cells like T cells, were retrovirally transduced with this double-reporter cassette and were used to reconstitute the T cell pool in RAG1 deifcient mice that lack T and B cells. By using flow cytometry and histology, we identified activated T cells that had developed from Pax5 deficient pro-B cells and responded to infection with the bacterial pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. Microscopic examination of organ sections allowed visual identification of HcRed-expressing cells. To further characterize the immune response to a given stimuli, this strategy can be easily adapted to identify other cells of the hematopoietic system that respond to infection/inflammation. This can be achieved by using an inducible reporter, choosing the appropriate promoter, and reconstituting mice lacking cells of interest by injecting gene-modified Pax5 deficient pro-B cells