Bulletin of NTU "KhPI". Series: Problems of Electrical Machines and Apparatus Perfection. The Theory and Practice / Вісник Національного технічного університету "ХПІ". Серія: Проблеми удосконалювання електричних машин і апаратів. Теорія і практика
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In search of convergent regional brain abnormality in cognitive emotion regulation: a transdiagnostic neuroimaging meta-analysis
No full textCognitive emotion regulation (i.e., reappraisal) impairment is a key feature in a wide variety of mental disorders, suggesting common nature of disruption across psychiatric diagnoses. However, the extent of potential shared neurobiological disturbances related to reappraisal
impairment is incompletely understood. This study, therefore, aimed to identify neurobiological substrates of disturbed reappraisal using a transdiagnostic approach by performing a quantitative coordinate-based meta-analysis (CBMA) on reappraisal tasks across various mental disorders. Following the best-practice guidelines for neuroimaging meta-analysis, we systematically
searched PubMed, ScienceDirect and Web of Science databases for whole-brain neuroimaging studies published through February 2020 that compared brain activation in patients with mental disorders and matched healthy controls during a reappraisal task. Out of 1608 publications, we retrieved 32 publications with 1240 unique individuals, providing sufficient power for conducting CBMA using activation likelihood estimation (ALE) method. The reported peak coordinates for the patient/control difference in selected articles were extracted and several ALE analyses were performed to identify spatial convergence. Surprisingly, neither the pooled ALE analysis nor
additional analyses restricting to in-/decreased contrasts and more homogeneous grouping of coordinates (i.e., regulation direction, stimulus valence and disorder category) provided significant convergent findings. This CBMA indicates a lack of convergent regional abnormality related to reappraisal across various mental disorders. This might be due to the complex nature of reappraisal, heterogeneous clinical populations or methodological flexibility including preprocessing and analytical methods
Phi Fluctuates with Surprise: An empirical pre-study for the synthesis of the Free Energy Principle and Integrated Information Theory
No full textThe Free Energy Principle (FEP) and Integrated Information Theory (IIT) are two ambitious theoretical approaches. The first aims to make a formal framework for describing self-organizing and life-like systems in general, and the second attempts a mathematical theory of conscious experience based on the intrinsic properties of a system. They are each concerned with complementary aspects of the properties of systems, one with life and behavior, the other with meaning and experience, so combining them has potential for scientific value. In this paper, we take a first step towards such a synthesis by expanding on the results of the evolutionary simulation study by Albantakis et al. (2014), which show a relationship between IIT-measures and fitness in differing complexities of tasks. We relate some basic FEP-related information theoretic measures to this result, finding that the surprisal of simulated agents’ observations is inversely related to the general increase in fitness and integration over evolutionary time. Moreover, surprisal fluctuates together with IIT-based consciousness measures in within-trial time. This suggests that the consciousness measures used in IIT indirectly depend on the relation between the agent and the external world, and that it should therefore be possible to relate them to the theoretical concepts used in the FEP. Lastly, we suggest a future approach for investigating this relationship empirically
A Comparison of Penalized Maximum Likelihood Estimation and Markov Chain Monte Carlo Techniques for Estimating Confirmatory Factor Analysis Models with Small Sample Sizes
No full textWith small to modest sample sizes and complex models, maximum likelihood (ML) estimation of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) models can show serious estimation problems such as nonconvergence or parameter estimates that are outside the admissible parameter space. In the present article, we discuss two Bayesian estimation methods for stabilizing parameter estimates of a CFA: Penalized maximum likelihood (PML) estimation and Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. We clarify that these use different Bayesian point estimates from the joint posterior distribution—the mode (PML) of the joint posterior distribution, and the mean (EAP) or mode (MAP) of the marginal posterior distribution—and discuss under which conditions the two methods produce different results. In a simulation study, we show that the MCMC method clearly outperforms PML and that these performance gains can be explained by the fact that MCMC uses the EAP as a point estimate. We also argue that it is often advantageous to choose a parameterization in which the main parameters of interest are bounded and suggest the four-parameter beta distribution as a prior distribution for loadings and correlations. Using simulated data, we show that selecting weakly informative four-parameter beta priors can further stabilize parameter estimates, even in cases when the priors were mildly misspecified. Finally, we derive recommendations and propose directions for further research
Social Anxiety and Common OXTR Gene Variant are Associated with Cortisol Response Following Peer Social Challenge
No full textPeer rejection and acceptance experiences are commonplace with potential to promote emotional and adrenocortical stress reactivity. Risk for heightened stress reactivity during these social challenges may be influenced by individual differences in social interaction anxiety (SIA) and the common gene variant, OXTR rs53576, but this relationship remains to be elucidated. We tested the relationship between SIA, OXTR rs53576, and cortisol stress response over time in 53 young adults (Mage=20.13yrs) using an experimental design. Participants were randomized to receive either scripted rejection or acceptance from a group of peer confederates. Saliva samples were collected pre- and post-evaluation and assayed for cortisol. In the peer rejection condition, participants showed significantly lower cortisol responses over time when social interaction anxiety levels were not elevated (versus elevated), and when possessing the GG genotype (versus AA/AG). In the peer acceptance condition, when SIA was not elevated, the GG genotype was associated with significantly lower cortisol responses than the AA/AG genotype. Individual differences in SIA and OXTR 53576 are related to cortisol responses to peer social stressors, with non-elevated levels of SIA and the GG genotype generally contributing to reduced cortisol responsiveness
Exposure to thin and non-thin bodies elicits ‘feeling fat’: Validation of a novel state measure
No full text‘Feeling fat’ refers to the subjective experience of carrying excess weight and relates to severity of eating pathology. Despite research suggesting that ‘feeling fat’ fluctuates across contexts, this construct is almost exclusively assessed in terms of frequency or as a trait. Examining state ‘feeling fat’ in response to external stimuli can inform us of the nature of this construct. In an experimental study, 290 community women were exposed to five categories of affective (pleasant, aversive, and neutral) and body (thin and non-thin) images in quasi-random order. Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) valence and arousal rating scales as well as a novel SAM ‘feeling fat’ scale were rated for each image. Theoretically-relevant constructs (i.e., trait ‘feeling fat’, thin-ideal internalization, body dissatisfaction, eating pathology) were also measured. Body images elicited greater state ‘feeling fat’ than affective images, with images of non-thin bodies producing higher state ‘feeling fat’ than thin bodies. Positive correlations were observed between state ‘feeling fat’ in response to thin and all variables of interest, whereas associations between these variables and ‘feeling fat’ in response to non-thin images were small or non-significant. The development of a state measure of ‘feeling fat’ allows for the investigation of triggers of this bodily experience and will facilitate future research
When They Cry: Tears Facilitate Responses toward Members of Socially Disadvantaged Groups
No full textEmotional tears are vehicles for bonding between individuals, even with those belonging to different social categories. Yet, little is known about the reactions they provoke towards members of underprivileged groups such as immigrants or the explanatory mechanisms of their effects. Across three experiments (with 548 adults) using standardized images of emotional displays, we tested the effects of tears on cognitive inferences (of warmth and competence) and affective responses (such as compassion or discomfort), and indirectly on self-reported prosocial behavioral tendencies towards an immigrant male. We observed that, compared to non-tearful (i.e., both neutral and sad) expressions, a tearful immigrant is perceived as warmer but not as less competent (except for Study 3). Moreover, observers felt more compassion (but not discomfort or trust) in response to the tears of an immigrant, compared to his non-tearful displays. In Study 3, we found similar effects of tears on other self-transcendent emotions such as feeling moved or tenderness. Observers were also more prone to approach a tearful immigrant than a non-tearful one, as well as more willing to donate money, but not volunteer, to provide him assistance. Finally, inferred warmth and self-transcendent emotions explained the effects of tears on approach and donation intentions. This study highlights the need for the study of emotion expression in the context of interethnic and more broadly intergroup relations and the effects of emotional tears beyond the willingness to provide immediate succor. We also discuss implications that tears have for promoting different types of solidarity with members of underprivileged groups such as immigrants
To Sit Quietly in a Room Alone: The Psychology of Social, Material, and Sensation Seeking Input
No full textExternal input is any kind of physical stimulation created by an individual’s surroundings that can be detected by the senses. The present research established a novel conceptualization of this construct by investigating it in relation to the needs for material, social, and sensation seeking input, and by testing the consequences of these needs for psychological functioning during long- and short-term input deprivation. It was established that the three needs constitute different dimensions of an overarching construct (i.e., need for external input), that the needs for social and sensation seeking input have negative consequences for people’s experiences of long-term input deprivation (i.e., COVID-19 restrictions), and that the need for material input negatively predicts the experiences of short-term input deprivation (i.e., sitting in a chair without doing anything else but thinking). Overall, this research established a novel construct that has fundamental implications for experiences and actions in a range of different contexts
When the US far-right sneezes, the European far-right catches a cold. Quasi-experimental of electoral contagion from Spain
No full textDoes the electoral defeat of a far-right party abroad influence support for far-right parties at home? By exploiting the quasi-experimental setting provided by the coincidental timing of Donald Trump’s 2020 electoral defeat with the Spanish Sociological Study’s monthly barometer data collection, we provide robust causal evidence to show that far-right’s electoral loss in the US had a negative contagious spillover effect on support for the Spanish far-right. Empirically we estimate treatment effects based on the as good as random exposure to the electoral results, as well as regression discontinuity models to isolate the causal impact of Donald Trump’s electoral defeat on support for Spain’s new far-right party, VOX. Our results - which are robust to various modelling approaches including covariate adjustment, regional fixed effects, placebo issues and nearest-neighbour matching - demonstrate that Trump’s defeat to Joe Biden had a sizeable negative effect on support for VOX. The contagion effect is substantive: equal to 3-5 percentage-points among the general population and 8-11 percentage-points among right-wing voters. Our findings make an important contribution to the broader literature on electoral behaviour as they indicate that the electoral success of ideologically symmetrical parties abroad plays a role in understanding a party's domestic success
Image or identity? Only Super-Recognizers’ (memor)ability is consistently viewpoint-invariant
No full textA face’s memorability refers to the unique combination of its intrinsic visual features facilitating its later recognition. Despite considerable variation in face recognition ability amongst the general population, individuals show substantial concordance regarding the memorability of various faces. And, when the viewpoints across which identities are seen at encoding and recognition differ, such agreement persists, though to a lesser extent. Consequently, face recognition cannot rely solely on image-dependent encoding; individuals must extract some invariant facial information, robust to changes in viewpoint, to do so consistently. However, whether such consistency covaries with overall face processing ability is unclear. Here, therefore, in two experiments we tested recognition of (i) implicitly encoded face images and (ii) explicitly encoded identities in a group of normal control observers against a group of “Super-Recognizers” (SRs) who possess exceptional face processing skills. When implicit encoding was surreptitiously solicited, recognition of studied images was comparable between groups. Yet, when encoding was explicitly solicited, SRs more accurately recognized studied identities across viewpoint changes than normal observers. Critically, image-dependent information could only inform recognition in the first experiment, whereas viewpoint-invariant information could inform recognition consistently in both. Individualized profiles of observers’ performance (as a function of stimulus memorability) reveal that only SRs performed consistently between experiments. We suggest that SRs’ unique capacity for utilizing viewpoint-invariant information for recognition, regardless of encoding conditions, is rooted in fundamentally more accurate and robust representations of identity-based memorability. These results invite a reinterpretation of face memorability that describes viewpoint-invariant information, diagnostic of facial identity representations in memory
Does European Union Funding Reduce Eurosceptic Voting?
No full textThe European Union redistributes ever larger shares of its budget to enhance the economic performance of specific areas within its jurisdiction. However, we know little about the electoral consequences arising from this effort and it is unclear to what extent funding helps to counteract discontent among voters. This study aims to bridge this knowledge gap by employing cross-national quasi-experimental data from an initiative that distributed vouchers to European municipalities ahead of the 2019 European Parliament election. Additionally, geolocated data on beneficiaries of two major European Union funds, election results, register data from polling stations, and a city-wide survey experiment in Denmark were analyzed. In sum, the results show that funding has little to no effect on Eurosceptic voting