526 research outputs found
Explaining happiness trends in Europe
In Europe, differences among countries in the overall change in happiness since the early 1980s have been due chiefly to the generosity of welfare state programs - increasing happiness going with increasing generosity and declining happiness with declining generosity. This is the principal conclusion from a time-series study of 10 Northern, Western, and Southern European countries with the requisite data. In the present study, cross-section analysis of recent data gives a misleading impression that economic growth, social capital, and/or quality of the environment are driving happiness trends, but in the long-term, time-series data, these variables have no relation to happiness
Autistic Adults Show Similar Performance and Sensitivity to Social Cues on a Visual Perspective Taking Task as Non-autistic Adults
Autistic and non-autistic adults completed a visual perspective taking (VPT) task, reporting an objectâs location from an actorâs perspective, or their own. On half the trials the actor looked at and reached for the object, and on half did not. Accuracy and reaction time were measured. In Experiment 1, both groups (N = 34, mean age = 24Â years) responded slower when reporting the actorâs perspective, with no group differences in this effect. Experiment 2 included âotherâ VPT trials only. Both groups (N = 30, mean age = 25Â years) showed sensitivity to the actorâs behaviour, more accurately reporting his perspective when he acted upon the object. No group differences were observed. In contrast to developmental studies, these experiments suggest similar VPT abilities in autistic and non-autistic adults
Why would a special FM process exist in adults, when it does not appear to exist in children?
Cooper Greve, and Henson (this issue) Â caution restraint before accepting that a fast mapping (FM) process exists in adults. We welcome this, but would also add that the original rationale for studying FM in adults is not currently supported by developmental research. Despite the claims of several adult FM researchers, there is little evidence from developmental word learning research for a special hippocampus-independent FM process critical for childrenâs word learning
Social intuition: behavioral and neurobiological considerations
Social intuition is instrumental in bringing about successful human interactions, yet its behavioral and neural underpinnings are still poorly understood. We focus in this article on the automatic, involuntary, nature of social intuition, rather than on higher-level cognitive and explicit Theory-of-Mind processes (which contribute to rendering social intuition meaningful in real-life situations). We argue that social-affective implicit learning plays a crucial role in establishing automatic social intuition. These implicit learning processes involve associations between the perception of otherâs bodily articulations, concurrent events, and the consequences or outcomes in terms of subsequent actions, affective valences and visceral states. The traditional non-social implicit learning paradigms do not allow one to draw conclusions about the role of implicit learning processes in social intuition, as they lack these vital characteristics typically associated with human actions. We introduce a new implicit learning paradigm, which aims to fill these gaps. It targets agile, rapid, social-affective learning processes, involving cue contingencies with a relatively simple structure, unlike the very complex structures that underpin the traditional tasks. The paradigm features matching social and non-social versions, allowing direct comparison. Preliminary data suggest equal performance of TD (typically-developed) and ASC (autism spectrum conditions) groups on the non-social version, but impaired implicit learning in ASC on the social version. We hypothesize that this reflects an anomalous use of implicitly learned affective information in ASC when judging other people. We further argue that the mirror neuron mechanism (MNM), which is part of the Action Observation Network, forms an integral part of the neural substrate for social intuition. In particular as there are indications that the MNM supports action anticipation, and that implicitly learned information can trigger MNM activation, which both seem vital to a social intuition ability. The insights that can be derived from comparing the performances of TD and ASC individuals on (non)social implicit learning tasks, and the implications for the role of MNM activation, are discussed
Attention and Recall of Point-of-sale Tobacco Marketing: A Mobile Eye-Tracking Pilot Study
Introduction: As tobacco advertising restrictions have increased, the retail âpower wallâ behind the counter is increasingly invaluable for marketing tobacco products.
Objective: The primary objectives of this pilot study were 3-fold: (1) evaluate the attention paid/fixations on the area behind the cash register where tobacco advertising is concentrated and tobacco products are displayed in a real-world setting, (2) evaluate the duration (dwell-time) of these fixations, and (3) evaluate the recall of advertising displayed on the tobacco power wall.
Methods: Data from 13 Smokers (S) and 12 Susceptible or non-daily Smokers (SS) aged 180â30 from a mobile eye-tracking study. Mobile-eye tracking technology records the orientation (fixation) and duration (dwell-time) of visual attention. Participants were randomized to one of three purchase tasks at a convenience store: Candy bar Only (CO; N = 10), Candy bar + Specified cigarette Brand (CSB; N = 6), and Candy bar + cigarette Brand of their Choice (CBC; N = 9). A post-session survey evaluated recall of tobacco marketing. Key outcomes were fixations and dwell-time on the cigarette displays at the point-of-sale.
Results: Participants spent a median time of 44 seconds during the standardized time evaluated and nearly three-quarters (72%) fixated on the power wall during their purchase, regardless of smoking status (S: 77%, SS: 67%) or purchase task (CO: 44%, CSB: 71%, CBC: 100%). In the post session survey, nearly all participants (96%) indicated they noticed a cigarette brand and 64% were able to describe a specific part of the tobacco wall or recall a promotional offer.
Conclusions: Consumers are exposed to point-of-sale tobacco marketing, regardless of smoking status. FDA should consider regulations that limit exposure to point-of-sale tobacco marketing among consumers
Decision times in orthographic processing: a cross-linguistic study
Reading comparisons across transparent and opaque orthographies indicate critical differences that may reveal the mechanisms involved in orthographic decoding across orthographies. Here, we address the role of criterion and speed of processing in accounting for performance differences across languages. We used binary tasks involving orthographic (wordsâpseudowords), and non-orthographic materials (femaleâmale faces), and analyzed results based on Ratcliffâs Diffusion model. In the first study, 29 English and 28 Italian university students were given a lexical decision test. English observers made more errors than Italian observers while showing generally similar reaction times. In terms of the diffusion model, the two groups differed in the decision criterion: English observers used a lower criterion. There was no overall cross-linguistic difference in processing speed, but English observers showed lower values for words (and a smaller lexicality effect) than Italians. In the second study, participants were given a face gender judgment test. Female faces were identified slower than the male ones with no language group differences. In terms of the diffusion model, there was no difference between groups in drift rate and boundary separation. Overall, the new main finding concerns a difference in decision criterion limited to the orthographic task: English individuals showed a more lenient criterion in judging the lexicality of the items, a tendency that may explain why, despite lower accuracy, they were not slower. It is concluded that binary tasks (and the Diffusion model) can reveal cross-linguistic differences in orthographic processing which would otherwise be difficult to detect in standard single-word reading tasks
The effect of survival processing on memory for pictures depends on how memory is tested
Two experiments investigated the effects of survival processing on memory for pictures of objects.
In experiment 1, participants were presented with 32 pictures of common objects and rated them
for their relevance to a survival scenario, a moving home scenario, or for pleasantness. In a surprise
recall test, participants in the survival condition recalled more of the verbal labels of the objects
than participants in the moving and pleasantness conditions. In experiment 2, participants
rated 64 pictures of objects in survival, moving home, or pleasantness conditions. Memory for
visual detail was assessed using a forced-choice recognition test in which participants had to
decide which of two highly similar pictures was the one they rated at study. In contrast to the
results of experiment 1, correct recognition scores were highest in the pleasantness condition
and lowest in the survival condition. This pattern suggests that survival processing enhances
memory for objects but not for precise visual detail. The findings are consistent with the view
that rating objects for their survival value directs attention to the potential uses of the objects.
They also emphasise the importance of the match between encoding and retrieval processes in
the survival processing paradigm
Snus use and rejection in the USA
OBJECTIVE:
To determine whether snus might become a strategy for reducing the harm associated with cigarette smoking in the USA as appears to be the case in Sweden, we examined receptivity to snus use in two cities with the greatest exposure to the major brands.
METHODS:
A dual frame, telephone survey and a brief mail survey were conducted in 2011 and 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana and Dallas/Fort Worth Texas. Over 5000 adults completed surveys. Trial, ever use, current use and reasons for using or quitting snus after trial were measured.
RESULTS:
Among male smokers, 29.9% had ever tried snus (CI 22.7 to 38.1) and 4.2% were current users (CI 1.6 to 10.7). Among female smokers, 8.5% ever tried snus (CI 4.4 to 15.7) and current use was unknown. Current use was virtually absent among former smokers and never smokers. A major predictor of any level of snus use was current use of conventional smokeless tobacco. Those who tried and gave up snus cited curiosity (41.3%) and the fact that it was available at low or no cost (30%) as reasons for trial; reasons for not continuing included preferring another form of tobacco (75.1%) and disliking the mouth feel (34.6%). Almost all current snus users indicated that they were trying to cut down on cigarettes, but few (3.9%) were using it to quit smoking entirely.
CONCLUSIONS:
The low rate of adoption of snus suggests that neither the hopes nor the fears surrounding this new product are likely to be realised in the USA with the current marketing patterns
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