Antisocial Learning: Using Learning Window Width to Model Callous-Unemotional Traits?

Psychopathic traits and the childhood analogue, callous-unemotional traits, have been severely neglected by the research field in terms of mechanistic, falsifiable accounts. This is surprising given that some of the core symptoms of the disorder point towards problems with basic components of associative learning. In this manuscript we describe a new mechanistic account that is concordant with current cognitive theories of psychopathic traits and is also able to replicate previous empirical data. The mechanism we describe is one of individual differences in an index we have called, “learning window width”. Here we show how variation in this index would result in different outcome expectations which, in turn, would lead to differences in behaviour. The proposed mechanism is intuitive and simple with easily calculated behavioural implications. Our hope is that this model will stimulate discussion and the use of mechanistic and computational accounts to improve our understanding in this area of research

Spin tests of a single-engine, high-wing light airplane

The airplane has a relatively steep spin mode (low angle of attack) with a high load factor and high velocity. The airplane recovers almost immediately after any deviation from the prospin control positions, except for one maneuver with reduced flexibility in the elevator control system

The role of serotonin 1B in the representation of outcomes.

Disrupted serotonin neurotransmission has been implicated in the etiology of psychopathic traits. Empirical research has found that people with high levels of psychopathic traits have a deficit in reinforcement learning that is thought to be linked with amygdala dysfunction. Altered serotonin neurotransmission provides a plausible explanation for amygdala dysfunction in psychopathic traits and recent research suggests that this may be associated with serotonin 1B (5-HT1B) receptor function. This research used an animal model to test the hypothesis that 5-HT1B receptors are involved in the encoding of the specific features of reinforcing outcomes. An outcome devaluation task was used to test the effect of the systemic administration of a selective 5-HT1B receptor agonist administered before encoding of "action-outcome" associations. Results showed that while administration of a 5-HT1B receptor agonist allowed rats to acquire instrumental responding for food, when the content of that learning was further probed using an outcome devaluation task, performance differed from controls. 5-HT1B agonism impaired learning about the specific sensory qualities of food rewards associated with distinct instrumental responses, required to direct choice performance when the value of one outcome changed. These findings suggest a role for 5-HT1B receptor function in the encoding of the specific features of reinforcing outcomes

Task-switching ability protects against the adverse effects of pain on health: A longitudinal study of older adults

Aging is often accompanied by increases in pain, which may threaten physical health. Successfully managing increased pain requires the ability to switch attention away from the pain and toward adaptive health cognitions and behaviors. However, no study to date has tested how pain interacts with task-switching ability to predict future health in older adults. Additionally, no study has tested whether objective (i.e., task-switching performance) or subjective measures of cognitive ability have a stronger impact on future health

Both Trait and State Mindfulness Predict Lower Aggressiveness via Anger Rumination: a Multilevel Mediation Analysis

Trait mindfulness, or the capacity for nonjudgmental, present-centered attention, predicts lower aggression in cross-sectional samples, an effect mediated by reduced anger rumination. Experimental work also implicates state mindfulness (i.e., fluctuations around one's typical mindfulness) in aggression. Despite evidence that both trait and state mindfulness predict lower aggression, their relative impact and their mechanisms remain unclear. Higher trait mindfulness and state increases in mindfulness facets may reduce aggression-related outcomes by (1) limiting the intensity of anger, or (2) limiting rumination on anger experiences. The present study tests two hypotheses: First, that both trait and state mindfulness contribute unique variance to lower aggressiveness, and second, that the impact of both trait and state mindfulness on aggressiveness will be uniquely partially mediated by both anger intensity and anger rumination. 86 participants completed trait measures of mindfulness, anger intensity, and anger rumination, then completed diaries for 35 days assessing mindfulness, anger intensity, anger rumination, anger expression, and self-reported and behavioral aggressiveness. Using multilevel zero-inflated regression, we examined unique contributions of trait and state mindfulness facets to daily anger expression and aggressiveness. We also examined the mediating roles of anger intensity and anger rumination at both trait and state levels. Mindfulness facets predicted anger expression and aggressiveness indirectly through anger rumination after controlling for indirect pathways through anger intensity. Individuals with high or fluctuating aggression may benefit from mindfulness training to reduce both intensity of and rumination on anger

Hoping grey goes green: air pollution’s impact on consumer automobile choices

In this research, we examine to what extent, if any, natural environmental factors affect consumer purchase decisions regarding “green” products. We collect and combine several unique datasets to study the impact of air pollution on consumers’ choices of passenger vehicles in China. Exploiting cross-city variation, we find that air pollution levels negatively affect the sales of fuel-inefficient cars on average. This relationship, though, is U-shaped over the observed air pollution levels, in that fuel inefficient car purchases rise with air pollution beyond some threshold. Furthermore, a city’s income level is a significant factor in this non-monotonic relationship, in the sense that consumers of higher-income cities are less likely to suffer this reversal. All these results are consistent with the literature’s theoretical predictions of hope. The rich findings of our study yield important implications to both marketers and policy makers

High Trait Shame Undermines the Protective Effects of Prevalence Knowledge on State Shame Following HPV/CIN Diagnosis in Women

Human papillomavirus (HPV), and the related, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), are common yet poorly understood physical conditions. The diagnosis of HPV often elicits shame and guilt, which in turn may undermine psychological and physical health. The current study compared shame and guilt responses to diagnosis among two groups: women diagnosed with HPV/CIN and women diagnosed with Epstein–Barr Virus (EBV/IM). Eighty women recently diagnosed with HPV/CIN or EBV/IM completed measures of shame- and guilt-proneness, shame and guilt following diagnosis, and disease knowledge including prevalence estimates (HPV and EBV, respectively). HPV/CIN (vs. EBV/IM) predicted more diagnosis-related shame and guilt. Estimates of high prevalence interacted with diagnosis and shame-proneness to predict diagnosis-related shame. Simple slope analyses indicated that in women with HPV/CIN reporting low-to-average shame-proneness, high prevalence estimates reduced diagnosis-related shame; however, women high in shame-proneness experienced high diagnosis-related shame regardless of more accurate prevalence estimates. Women high in shame-proneness appear to be particularly vulnerable to HPV-related shame even when they are aware that it is very common

Physiological response to reward and extinction predicts alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette use two years later

Physiological responses to reward and extinction are believed to represent the Behavioral Activation System (BAS) and Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) constructs of Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory and underlie externalizing behaviors, including substance use. However, little research has examined these relations directly

Physiological response to reward and extinction predicts alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette use two years later

Physiological responses to reward and extinction are believed to represent the Behavioral Activation System (BAS) and Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) constructs of Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory and underlie externalizing behaviors, including substance use. However, little research has examined these relations directly