Age against the machine: active ageing and guest learning on campus

This paper offers a brief overview of ‘the guest student’ initiative, established in countries like Germany, and highlights its potential to support those in later life – or the ‘third age’ – in particular.  In a nutshell, where the initiative is supported, universities open up selected lectures to the public which they, as ‘guest students’ (Gasthöreren), can apply to attend.  The paper considers how UK third age citizens are supported (e.g. through the U3A initiative) and how universities might think about supporting their communities in a post-pandemic world

Attribution und sozial kognitive Neurowissenschaften

In dieser Arbeit wurde ein experimentelles Design zur neurowissenschaftlichen Erfassung von Attribution entwickelt, evaluiert und im Zuge von EEG-Messungen zur Untersuchung von Attributionseffekten auf die neurophysiologischen Korrelate der Fehlerverarbeitung verwendet. Es wurde eine klassische „Flanker - Aufgabe“ durch einen adaptiven Algorithmus so verändert, dass die Leistung der Versuchspersonen auf Zufallsniveau gehalten wurde. Einunddieselbe Aufgabe wurde dabei nach einem Block ohne Manipulation einer Versuchsgruppe als schwierig und der anderen Gruppe als einfach beschrieben. Damit konnte ermöglicht werden, stabile, differenzielle Ursachenwahrnehmungen für die Fehler zu induzieren. Die Gruppen unterschieden sich signifikant zwischen externer und interner Attribution über eine große Anzahl von Durchgängen; dabei blieben aber Anstrengung und Reaktionszeit konstant. Das verwendete Design erfüllt optimale Ansprüche für neurowissenschaftliche Studien und bietet damit eine neue Möglichkeit, das aktuelle Erlebnis unterschiedlicher Attributionen in kontrolliertem Setting zu untersuchen. Unter Verwendung der neu entwickelten Methode wurden ereigniskorrelierte Potenziale ermittelt, um den Einfluss von Attribution auf Fehler- und Feedbackver¬arbeitung zu untersuchen. Die ERN, eine frühe Komponente, welche mit Fehlerverar¬beitung im Zusammenhang steht, war durch die unterschiedlichen Attributionen nicht verändert. Bedeutsam ist die Erkenntnis, dass die fERN eine Komponente, die nach Feedbackverarbeitung auftritt, nur in der intern attributierenden Gruppe nach der Manipulation aufgetreten ist. Die fERN unterschied sich hier signifikant zwischen positivem und negativem Feedback. Dies bestätigt auch vorherige Befunde, die ebenfalls zeigen, dass für die fERN auch der emotionale Wert entscheidend ist. Die geringere Bedeutung des Fehlers und des Feedbacks für externe Manipulation zeigte sich zusätzliche in einer signifikant reduzierten P300 Amplitude bei Versuchspersonen, welche die Fehlerursache nicht sich selbst zuschrieben

Simulating Moral Actions: An Investigation of Personal Force in Virtual Moral Dilemmas

Advances in Virtual Reality (VR) technologies allow the investigation of simulated moral actions in visually immersive environments. Using a robotic manipulandum and an interactive sculpture, we now also incorporate realistic haptic feedback into virtual moral simulations. In two experiments, we found that participants responded with greater utilitarian actions in virtual and haptic environments when compared to traditional questionnaire assessments of moral judgments. In experiment one, when incorporating a robotic manipulandum, we found that the physical power of simulated utilitarian responses (calculated as the product of force and speed) was predicted by individual levels of psychopathy. In experiment two, which integrated an interactive and lifelike sculpture of a human into a VR simulation, greater utilitarian actions continued to be observed. Together, these results support a disparity between simulated moral action and moral judgment. Overall this research combines state-of-the-art virtual reality, robotic movement simulations, and realistic human sculptures, to enhance moral paradigms that are often contextually impoverished. As such, this combination provides a better assessment of simulated moral action, and illustrates the embodied nature of morally-relevant actions

Correction: Virtual Morality: Transitioning from Moral Judgment to Moral Action?

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0164374.]

Disease, Normality, and Current Pharmacological Moral Modification

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Amygdala reactivity in ethnic minorities and its relationship to the social environment: an fMRI study

Background: Ethnic minority individuals have an increased risk of developing a psychotic disorder, particularly if they live in areas of ethnic segregation, or low own group ethnic density. The neurobiological mechanisms underlying this ethnic minority associated risk are unknown. We used functional MRI to investigate neural responses to faces of different ethnicity, in individuals of black ethnicity, and a control group of white British ethnicity individuals. Methods: In total 20 individuals of black ethnicity, and 22 individuals of white British ethnicity underwent a 3T MRI scan while viewing faces of black and white ethnicity. Own group ethnic density was calculated from the 2011 census. Neighbourhood segregation was quantified using the Index of Dissimilarity method. Results: At the within-group level, both groups showed greater right amygdala activation to outgroup faces. Between groups, the black ethnicity group showed greater right amygdala activation to white faces, compared to the white ethnicity group. Within the black ethnicity group, individuals living in areas of lower own group ethnic density showed greater right amygdala reactivity to white faces (r = −0.61, p = 0.01). Conclusions: This is the first time an increased amygdala response to white faces has been demonstrated in individuals of black ethnicity. In the black ethnicity group, correlations were observed between amygdala response and neighbourhood variables associated with increased psychosis risk. These results may have relevance for our understanding of the increased rates of paranoia and psychotic disorders in ethnic minority individuals

Can cognitive psychological research on reasoning enhance the discussion around moral judgments?

In this article we will demonstrate how cognitive psychological research on reasoning and decision making could enhance discussions and theories of moral judgments. In the first part, we will present recent dual-process models of moral judgments and describe selected studies which support these approaches. However, we will also present data that contradict the model predictions, suggesting that approaches to moral judgment might be more complex. In the second part, we will show how cognitive psychological research on reasoning might be helpful in understanding moral judgments. Specifically, we will highlight approaches addressing the interaction between intuition and reflection. Our data suggest that a sequential model of engaging in deliberation might have to be revised. Therefore, we will present an approach based on Signal Detection Theory and on intuitive conflict detection. We predict that individuals arrive at the moral decisions by comparing potential action outcomes (e.g., harm caused and utilitarian gain) simultaneously. The response criterion can be influenced by intuitive processes, such as heuristic moral value processing, or considerations of harm caused

Virtual Morality: Transitioning from Moral Judgment to Moral Action?

The nature of moral action versus moral judgment has been extensively debated in numerous disciplines. We introduce Virtual Reality (VR) moral paradigms examining the action individuals take in a high emotionally arousing, direct action-focused, moral scenario. In two studies involving qualitatively different populations, we found a greater endorsement of utilitarian responses–killing one in order to save many others–when action was required in moral virtual dilemmas compared to their judgment counterparts. Heart rate in virtual moral dilemmas was significantly increased when compared to both judgment counterparts and control virtual tasks. Our research suggests that moral action may be viewed as an independent construct to moral judgment, with VR methods delivering new prospects for investigating and assessing moral behaviour