The nature of thinking, shallow and deep

Citation: Brase GL (2014) The nature of thinking, shallow and deep. Front. Psychol. 5:435. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00435Because the criteria for success differ across various domains of life, no single normative standard will ever work for all types of thinking. One method for dealing with this apparent dilemma is to propose that the mind is made up of a large number of specialized modules. This review describes how this multi-modular framework for the mind overcomes several critical conceptual and theoretical challenges to our understanding of human thinking, and hopefully clarifies what are (and are not) some of the implications based on this framework. In particular, an evolutionarily informed “deep rationality” conception of human thinking can guide psychological research out of clusters of ad hoc models which currently occupy some fields. First, the idea of deep rationality helps theoretical frameworks in terms of orienting themselves with regard to time scale references, which can alter the nature of rationality assessments. Second, the functional domains of deep rationality can be hypothesized (non-exhaustively) to include the areas of self-protection, status, affiliation, mate acquisition, mate retention, kin care, and disease avoidance. Thus, although there is no single normative standard of rationality across all of human cognition, there are sensible and objective standards by which we can evaluate multiple, fundamental, domain-specific motives underlying human cognition and behavior. This review concludes with two examples to illustrate the implications of this framework. The first example, decisions about having a child, illustrates how competing models can be understood by realizing that different fundamental motives guiding people’s thinking can sometimes be in conflict. The second example is that of personifications within modern financial markets (e.g., in the form of corporations), which are entities specifically constructed to have just one fundamental motive. This single focus is the source of both the strengths and flaws in how such entities behave

Exhaust environment measurements of a turbofan engine equipped with an afterburner and 2D nozzle

A test to measure the acoustic noise and static pressure environment on a structure exposed to engine exhaust flow was conducted at the NASA Lewis Research Center Propulsion Systems Laboratory by using an F100 derivative engine with a two-dimensional convergent-divergent (2D/CD) non-flight-weight demonstrator nozzle. A highly instrumented, water cooled flat panel was placed behind the 2D/CD nozzle, and tests were conducted at simulated Mach/altitude flight conditions with the engine at military or maximum-afterburner power setting. The panel instrumentation consisted of acoustic pressure microphones, thermocouples, and static-pressure pickups. Measurements indicated that the exhaust environment may excite structural resonances up to 10,000 HZ and that overall sound pressure levels decrease with increasing altitude

Education and Persuasion in Extension Forestry: Effects of Different Numerical Information Formats

We applied to forestry information a finding from cognitive psychology: Simple frequencies (1 in 100) and percentages (1%) are perceived as clearer than absolute frequencies (e.g., 28 million Americans), even as the latter are perceived to be larger quantities. We replicated these findings for numerical information about forestry issues, although the perception of greater value for absolute frequencies worked for low proportions of references class but not for large proportions (e.g., 3 out of 4, or 75%). These results illustrate a tension between the dual goals of education and persuasion in the communication of forestry information

A threatening exchange: gender and life history strategy predict perceptions and reasoning about sexual harassment

Sexual harassment is a serious societal issue, with extensive economic and psychological consequences, yet it is also an ill-defined construct fundamentally defined in terms of subjective perception. The current work was designed to examine the ways in which individual differences between people are systematically related to different perceptions of sexual harassment scenarios, as well as reasoning about those harassment situations. Participants (N = 460) read several possible harassment scenarios and rated how uncomfortable they would find them. They then also evaluated a quid pro quo sexual harassment situation in terms of their interpretation of it as a threat or a social exchange and completed a deductive reasoning task about the same situation. Females and individuals with slow life history strategies were more uncomfortable with potential harassment situations and were more likely to interpret the quid pro quo scenario as a threat. Further, interpreting the scenario as a threat was associated with poorer performance on the deductive logic task, compared to those who interpreted the scenario as a social exchange

Power in a social exchange: To what extent are decisions about fertility “shared” within intimate relationships?

There is disagreement in the literature regarding how fertility decision-making is shared within heterosexual couples. It was predicted that more egalitarian attitudes, more equivalent levels of education, and more equivalent levels of careerorientation would be associated with greater compromise and agreement in fertility negotiations. Heterosexual couples (N = 120, Mage= 21, SDage= 4.96) were asked to discuss both their family planning and financial planning intentions. These discussions were transcribed and then coded by three independent coders for statements indicative of inequitable power (concessions, persuasion, and disagreement) and equitable power (compromise and agreement). We found that the similarity of couples’ gender role attitudes and career-orientations did not predict their use of compromise or persuasion. However, individuals with higher levels of education were more likely to use persuasion and disagreement statements in their fertility discussions. Females and males were equally likely to use compromise, persuasion, and concession when discussing their plans

From reading numbers to seeing ratios: a benefit of icons for risk comprehension

Promoting a better understanding of statistical data is becoming increasingly important for improving risk comprehension and decision-making. In this regard, previous studies on Bayesian problem solving have shown that iconic representations help infer frequencies in sets and subsets. Nevertheless, the mechanisms by which icons enhance performance remain unclear. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the benefit offered by icon arrays lies in a better alignment between presented and requested relationships, which should facilitate the comprehension of the requested ratio beyond the represented quantities. To this end, we analyzed individual risk estimates based on data presented either in standard verbal presentations (percentages and natural frequency formats) or as icon arrays. Compared to the other formats, icons led to estimates that were more accurate, and importantly, promoted the use of equivalent expressions for the requested probability. Furthermore, whereas the accuracy of the estimates based on verbal formats depended on their alignment with the text, all the estimates based on icons were equally accurate. Therefore, these results support the proposal that icons enhance the comprehension of the ratio and its mapping onto the requested probability and point to relational misalignment as potential interference for text-based Bayesian reasoning. The present findings also argue against an intrinsic difficulty with understanding single-event probabilities

HER2 and ESR1 mRNA expression levels and response to neoadjuvant trastuzumab plus chemotherapy in patients with primary breast cancer

Introduction: Recent data suggest that benefit from trastuzumab and chemotherapy might be related to expression of HER2 and estrogen receptor (ESR1). Therefore, we investigated HER2 and ESR1 mRNA levels in core biopsies of HER2-positive breast carcinomas from patients treated within the neoadjuvant GeparQuattro trial. Methods: HER2 levels were centrally analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC), silver in-situ hybridization (SISH) and qRT-PCR in 217 pretherapeutic formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) core biopsies. All tumors had been HER2-positive by local pathology and had been treated with neoadjuvant trastuzumab/ chemotherapy in GeparQuattro. Results: Only 73% of the tumors (158 of 217) were centrally HER2-positive (cHER2-positive) by IHC/SISH, with cHER2-positive tumors showing a significantly higher pCR rate (46.8% vs. 20.3%, p<0.0005). HER2 status by qRT-PCR showed a concordance of 88.5% with the central IHC/SISH status, with a low pCR rate in those tumors that were HER2-negative by mRNA analysis (21.1% vs. 49.6%, p<0.0005). The level of HER2 mRNA expression was linked to response rate in ESR1-positive tumors, but not in ESR1-negative tumors. HER2 mRNA expression was significantly associated with pCR in the HER2-positive/ESR1-positive tumors (p=0.004), but not in HER2-positive/ESR1-negative tumors. Conclusions: Only patients with cHER2-positive tumors - irrespective of the method used - have an increased pCR rate with trastuzumab plus chemotherapy. In patients with cHER2-negative tumors the pCR rate is comparable to the pCR rate in the non-trastuzumab treated HER-negative population. Response to trastuzumab is correlated to HER2 mRNA levels only in ESR1-positive tumors. This study adds further evidence to the different biology of both subsets within the HER2-positive group

Changes in circulating microRNA levels associated with prostate cancer

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the hypothesis that changes in circulating microRNAs (miRs) represent potentially useful biomarkers for the diagnosis, staging and prediction of outcome in prostate cancer. METHODS: Real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis of 742 miRs was performed using plasma-derived circulating microvesicles of 78 prostate cancer patients and 28 normal control individuals to identify differentially quantified miRs. RESULTS: A total of 12 miRs were differentially quantified in prostate cancer patients compared with controls, including 9 in patients without metastases. In all, 11 miRs were present in significantly greater amounts in prostate cancer patients with metastases compared with those without metastases. The association of miR-141 and miR-375 with metastatic prostate cancer was confirmed using serum-derived exosomes and microvesicles in a separate cohort of patients with recurrent or non-recurrent disease following radical prostatectomy. An analysis of five selected miRs in urine samples found that miR-107 and miR-574-3p were quantified at significantly higher concentrations in the urine of men with prostate cancer compared with controls. CONCLUSION: These observations suggest that changes in miR concentration in prostate cancer patients may be identified by analysing various body fluids. Moreover, circulating miRs may be used to diagnose and stage prostate cance