142 research outputs found
(Not as) Big as a Barn: Upper Bounds on Dark Matter-Nucleus Cross Sections
Critical probes of dark matter come from tests of its elastic scattering with
nuclei. The results are typically assumed to be model-independent, meaning that
the form of the potential need not be specified and that the cross sections on
different nuclear targets can be simply related to the cross section on
nucleons. For point-like spin-independent scattering, the assumed scaling
relation is , where the comes from coherence and the from kinematics for . Here we calculate where model
independence ends, i.e., where the cross section becomes so large that it
violates its defining assumptions. We show that the assumed scaling relations
generically fail for dark matter-nucleus cross sections , significantly below the geometric sizes of
nuclei, and well within the regime probed by underground detectors. Last, we
show on theoretical grounds, and in light of existing limits on light
mediators, that point-like dark matter cannot have , above which many claimed constraints originate
from cosmology and astrophysics. The most viable way to have such large cross
sections is composite dark matter, which introduces significant additional
model dependence through the choice of form factor. All prior limits on dark
matter with cross sections with
must therefore be re-evaluated and reinterpreted.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, comments are welcom
Development and Validation of the Behavioral Tendencies Questionnaire
At a fundamental level, taxonomy of behavior and behavioral tendencies can be described
in terms of approach, avoid, or equivocate (i.e., neither approach nor avoid). While there are
numerous theories of personality, temperament, and character, few seem to take advantage
of parsimonious taxonomy. The present study sought to implement this taxonomy by
creating a questionnaire based on a categorization of behavioral temperaments/tendencies
first identified in Buddhist accounts over fifteen hundred years ago. Items were developed
using historical and contemporary texts of the behavioral temperaments, described as
“Greedy/Faithful”, “Aversive/Discerning”, and “Deluded/Speculative”. To both maintain
this categorical typology and benefit from the advantageous properties of forced-choice
response format (e.g., reduction of response biases), binary pairwise preferences for items
were modeled using Latent Class Analysis (LCA). One sample (n1 = 394) was used to estimate
the item parameters, and the second sample (n2 = 504) was used to classify the participants
using the established parameters and cross-validate the classification against
multiple other measures. The cross-validated measure exhibited good nomothetic span
(construct-consistent relationships with related measures) that seemed to corroborate the
ideas present in the original Buddhist source documents. The final 13-block questionnaire
created from the best performing items (the Behavioral Tendencies Questionnaire or BTQ)
is a psychometrically valid questionnaire that is historically consistent, based in behavioral
tendencies, and promises practical and clinical utility particularly in settings that teach and
study meditation practices such as Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
Trait Conscientiousness and the Personality Meta-Trait Stability are Associated with Regional White Matter Microstructure
Establishing the neural bases of individual differences in personality has been an enduring topic of interest. However, while a growing literature has sought to characterize grey matter correlates of personality traits, little attention to date has been focused on regional white matter correlates of personality, especially for the personality traits agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness. To rectify this gap in knowledge we used a large sample (n > 550) of older adults who provided data on both personality (International Personality Item Pool) and white matter tract-specific fractional anisotropy (FA) from diffusion tensor MRI. Results indicated that conscientiousness was associated with greater FA in the left uncinate fasciculus (β = 0.17, P < 0.001). We also examined links between FA and the personality meta-trait ‘stability’, which is defined as the common variance underlying agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism/emotional stability. We observed an association between left uncinate fasciculus FA and stability (β = 0.27, P < 0.001), which fully accounted for the link between left uncinate fasciculus FA and conscientiousness. In sum, these results provide novel evidence for links between regional white matter microstructure and key traits of human personality, specifically conscientiousness and the meta-trait, stability. Future research is recommended to replicate and address the causal directions of these associations
Hyperspectral phasor analysis enables multiplexed 5D in vivo imaging
Time-lapse imaging of multiple labels is challenging for biological imaging as noise, photobleaching and phototoxicity compromise signal quality, while throughput can be limited by processing time. Here, we report software called Hyper-Spectral Phasors (HySP) for denoising and unmixing multiple spectrally overlapping fluorophores in a low signal-to-noise regime with fast analysis. We show that HySP enables unmixing of seven signals in time-lapse imaging of living zebrafish embryos
The Role of Psychological Traits for the Gender Gap in Full-Time Employment and Wages: Evidence from Germany
This paper shows that differences in various non-cognitive traits, specifically the big five, positive and negative reciprocity, locus of control and risk aversion, contribute to gender inequalities in wages and employment. Using the 2004 and 2005 waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel, evidence from regression and decomposition techniques suggests that gender differences in psychological traits are more important for inequalities in wages than in employment. Differences in the big five, in particular in agreeableness, conscientiousness and neurocitism matter for both wages and employment. For the latter, the results also show a large effect of differences in external locus of control
Affective processes as network hubs
The practical problems of designing and coding a web-based flight simulator for teachers has led to a ‘three-tier plus environment’ model (COVE model) for a software agent’s cognition (C), psychologicsal (O), physical (V) processes and responses to tasks and interpersonal relationships within a learning environment (E). The purpose of this article is to introduce how some of the COVE model layers represent preconscious processing hubs in an AI human-agent’s representation of learning in a serious game, and how an application of the Five Factor Model of psychology in the O layer determines the scope of dimensions for a practical computational model of affective processes. The article illustrates the model with the classroom-learning context of the simSchool application (www.simschool.org); presents details of the COVE model of an agent’s reactions to academic tasks; discusses the theoretical foundations; and outlines the research-based real world impacts from external validation studies as well as new testable hypotheses of simSchool
Do personality traits moderate the manifestation of type 2 diabetes genetic risk?
AbstractObjective. To test whether personality traits moderate type 2 diabetes (T2D) genetic risk. Methods. Using a large community-dwelling sample (n=837, Mage=69.59±0.85years, 49% males) we fitted a series of linear regression models predicting glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) from T2D polygenic risk — aggregation of small individual effects of a large number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) — and five personality traits. We tested the main effects of personality traits and their interactions with T2D polygenic risk score, controlling for age and sex. The models in the final set were adjusted for cognitive ability, highest educational qualification, and occupational class. Results. Lower levels of openness were associated with heightened levels of HbA1c (β=−0.014, p=.032). There was a significant interaction between T2D polygenic risk score and agreeableness: lower agreeableness was related to a stronger association between T2D polygenic risk and HbA1c (β=−0.08, p=.021). In the model adjusted for cognitive ability, the main effect of openness was not significant (β=−0.08, p=.057). The interaction between agreeableness and T2D polygenic risk was still present after controlling for cognitive ability and socioeconomic status indicators, and the interaction between conscientiousness and polygenic risk score was also significant: lower conscientiousness was associated with a stronger association between T2D polygenic risk and HbA1c levels (β=0.09, p=.04). Conclusions. Personality may be associated with markers of diabetes, and may moderate the expression of its genetic risk
Personality psychology: Lexical approaches, assessment methods, and trait concepts reveal only half of the story—Why it is time for a paradigm shift
This article develops a comprehensive philosophy-of-science for personality psychology that goes far beyond the scope of the lexical approaches, assessment methods, and trait concepts that currently prevail. One of the field’s most important guiding scientific assumptions, the lexical hypothesis, is analysed from meta-theoretical viewpoints to reveal that it explicitly describes two sets of phenomena that must be clearly differentiated: 1) lexical repertoires and the representations that they encode and 2) the kinds of phenomena that are represented. Thus far, personality psychologists largely explored only the former, but have seriously neglected studying the latter. Meta-theoretical analyses of these different kinds of phenomena and their distinct natures, commonalities, differences, and interrelations reveal that personality psychology’s focus on lexical approaches, assessment methods, and trait concepts entails a) erroneous meta-theoretical assumptions about what the phenomena being studied actually are, and thus how they can be analysed and interpreted, b) that contemporary personality psychology is largely based on everyday psychological knowledge, and c) a fundamental circularity in the scientific explanations used in trait psychology. These findings seriously challenge the widespread assumptions about the causal and universal status of the phenomena described by prominent personality models. The current state of knowledge about the lexical hypothesis is reviewed, and implications for personality psychology are discussed. Ten desiderata for future research are outlined to overcome the current paradigmatic fixations that are substantially hampering intellectual innovation and progress in the field
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