The results of the following study show that among various neurophysiological measures, only the frontal asymmetry index measured with electroencephalography was significant in predicting further purchase decisions. The decision to buy was also influenced by the brand type (national brand or private label). Data from 21 participants were recorded during exposure to 20 fast-moving consumer goods. The electroencephalographic signal from the frontal lobe (F3 and F4) served to calculate the frontal asymmetry index for alpha, beta, and gamma bands. Electromyographic electrodes were placed on the zygomaticus major and corrugator supercilii muscles, whereas the galvanic skin responses were gathered from the forefinger and ring finger of the nondominant hand. Eye tracking glasses were used to control for eye movements. After product exposure, participants filled in the Purchase Intentions Scale, which then served to assess the final binary decision. A logistic regression model was applied to determine which neurophysiological factors play a crucial role in predicting a purchase decision and whether the brand type is relevant. The prediction rate of the resulting model was 65.8%. The article describes the possible implications of these results.
{"title":"EEG Frontal Asymmetry Predicts Product Purchase Differently for National Brands and Private Labels","authors":"U. Garczarek-Bąk, Aneta Disterheft","doi":"10.1037/npe0000094","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/npe0000094","url":null,"abstract":"The results of the following study show that among various neurophysiological measures, only the frontal asymmetry index measured with electroencephalography was significant in predicting further purchase decisions. The decision to buy was also influenced by the brand type (national brand or private label). Data from 21 participants were recorded during exposure to 20 fast-moving consumer goods. The electroencephalographic signal from the frontal lobe (F3 and F4) served to calculate the frontal asymmetry index for alpha, beta, and gamma bands. Electromyographic electrodes were placed on the zygomaticus major and corrugator supercilii muscles, whereas the galvanic skin responses were gathered from the forefinger and ring finger of the nondominant hand. Eye tracking glasses were used to control for eye movements. After product exposure, participants filled in the Purchase Intentions Scale, which then served to assess the final binary decision. A logistic regression model was applied to determine which neurophysiological factors play a crucial role in predicting a purchase decision and whether the brand type is relevant. The prediction rate of the resulting model was 65.8%. The article describes the possible implications of these results.","PeriodicalId":45695,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neuroscience Psychology and Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2018-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84717243","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The present research investigates the ways in which the time preferences of young adults are influenced by the level of their executive cognitive abilities and by situational changes in these abilities. Within the framework of this study, young adults were asked to respond to a questionnaire dealing with their time preferences in light of changing amounts and delay durations. Some were asked to do a Stroop task beforehand, whereas others performed a similar but simpler task. This research assumes that because the Stroop task requires that the individual reach a decision while overcoming an automatic tendency and an ingrained habit, his or her self-control resources are depleted. As such, when an individual is filling out the questionnaire dealing with time preferences after a Stroop task, his or her ability to avoid automatic tendencies is depleted, making it difficult for him/her to reject the receipt of money in the present. The study found that, in general, individuals having good executive cognitive abilities, namely, those who got the highest scores on the Stroop task, were characterized by a lower rate of subjective discounting. In addition, the research showed a marked difference between those individuals who had experienced depletion and those who had not, in that the depleted individuals tended to demand higher discount rates for having postponed the payment. This means that the depletion of executive-ability resources caused a behavior similar to that of those having the lowest executive abilities. This outcome may attest to the fact that a depletion in the available level of executive abilities in an individual reduces the ability of that individual to overcome his or her natural tendency to prefer the present, thus influencing his or her intertemporal choices.
{"title":"Time Preference, Executive Functions, and Ego-Depletion: An Exploratory Study","authors":"Y. Bayer, Y. Osher","doi":"10.1037/npe0000092","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/npe0000092","url":null,"abstract":"The present research investigates the ways in which the time preferences of young adults are influenced by the level of their executive cognitive abilities and by situational changes in these abilities. Within the framework of this study, young adults were asked to respond to a questionnaire dealing with their time preferences in light of changing amounts and delay durations. Some were asked to do a Stroop task beforehand, whereas others performed a similar but simpler task. This research assumes that because the Stroop task requires that the individual reach a decision while overcoming an automatic tendency and an ingrained habit, his or her self-control resources are depleted. As such, when an individual is filling out the questionnaire dealing with time preferences after a Stroop task, his or her ability to avoid automatic tendencies is depleted, making it difficult for him/her to reject the receipt of money in the present. The study found that, in general, individuals having good executive cognitive abilities, namely, those who got the highest scores on the Stroop task, were characterized by a lower rate of subjective discounting. In addition, the research showed a marked difference between those individuals who had experienced depletion and those who had not, in that the depleted individuals tended to demand higher discount rates for having postponed the payment. This means that the depletion of executive-ability resources caused a behavior similar to that of those having the lowest executive abilities. This outcome may attest to the fact that a depletion in the available level of executive abilities in an individual reduces the ability of that individual to overcome his or her natural tendency to prefer the present, thus influencing his or her intertemporal choices.","PeriodicalId":45695,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neuroscience Psychology and Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2018-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79780791","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
V. Allom, B. Mullan, L. Monds, S. Orbell, K. Hamilton, A. Rebar, M. Hagger
Using a dual-process framework, the aim of this research was to investigate the associations between reflective and impulsive processes and saving behavior. Self-control and saving habit were tested as additional factors that potentially moderate the relationship between constructs representing reflective and impulsive processes and behavior, or exert indirect effects on behavior through these systems. A community sample of 594 participants completed measures of saving intention, buying impulsiveness, trait self-control, saving automaticity, and propensity to save money. A well-fitting variance-based structural equation model, goodness-of-fit index = 0.338, average path coefficient = .119, p < .001, accounted for statistically significant amounts of variance in the key dependent variables: intention to save, R2 = .364, buying impulsiveness, R2 = .232, and saving behavior, R2 = .173. Self-control and saving habit were indirectly related to saving behavior through intention, and buying impulsiveness was directly related to behavior when saving habits were low. Findings indicate strong saving habits may help to protect against impulsive spending and offer several targets for interventions aimed at improving saving behavior.
{"title":"Reflective and Impulsive Processes Underlying Saving Behavior and the Additional Roles of Self-Control and Habit","authors":"V. Allom, B. Mullan, L. Monds, S. Orbell, K. Hamilton, A. Rebar, M. Hagger","doi":"10.1037/npe0000093","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/npe0000093","url":null,"abstract":"Using a dual-process framework, the aim of this research was to investigate the associations between reflective and impulsive processes and saving behavior. Self-control and saving habit were tested as additional factors that potentially moderate the relationship between constructs representing reflective and impulsive processes and behavior, or exert indirect effects on behavior through these systems. A community sample of 594 participants completed measures of saving intention, buying impulsiveness, trait self-control, saving automaticity, and propensity to save money. A well-fitting variance-based structural equation model, goodness-of-fit index = 0.338, average path coefficient = .119, p < .001, accounted for statistically significant amounts of variance in the key dependent variables: intention to save, R2 = .364, buying impulsiveness, R2 = .232, and saving behavior, R2 = .173. Self-control and saving habit were indirectly related to saving behavior through intention, and buying impulsiveness was directly related to behavior when saving habits were low. Findings indicate strong saving habits may help to protect against impulsive spending and offer several targets for interventions aimed at improving saving behavior.","PeriodicalId":45695,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neuroscience Psychology and Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2018-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89931084","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Loukas Balafoutas, Rudolf Kerschbamer, Regine Oexl
By means of a laboratory experiment with 508 participants, we study the impact of ego depletion on revealed distributional preferences. Subjects are exposed to a social preference identification procedure in 2 consecutive weeks. In the treatment intervention, they accomplish an ego-depletion task before being exposed to the procedure in 1 of the 2 weeks, and in the control intervention they accomplish a control task. Half of the subjects are exposed to the intervention in Week 1 and the other half in Week 2. Our design allows us to cleanly identify 3 separate effects on social preferences: (a) the effect of exposing subjects to the social preference identification procedure a second time, (b) the effect of the intervention per se, and (c) the effect of ego depletion in particular. We find that only the intervention per se has an effect on social preferences for some types, whereas the ego-depletion task does not have a significant effect compared with the control task, and preferences display a considerable degree of stability over time.
{"title":"Distributional Preferences and Ego Depletion","authors":"Loukas Balafoutas, Rudolf Kerschbamer, Regine Oexl","doi":"10.1037/npe0000082","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/npe0000082","url":null,"abstract":"By means of a laboratory experiment with 508 participants, we study the impact of ego depletion on revealed distributional preferences. Subjects are exposed to a social preference identification procedure in 2 consecutive weeks. In the treatment intervention, they accomplish an ego-depletion task before being exposed to the procedure in 1 of the 2 weeks, and in the control intervention they accomplish a control task. Half of the subjects are exposed to the intervention in Week 1 and the other half in Week 2. Our design allows us to cleanly identify 3 separate effects on social preferences: (a) the effect of exposing subjects to the social preference identification procedure a second time, (b) the effect of the intervention per se, and (c) the effect of ego depletion in particular. We find that only the intervention per se has an effect on social preferences for some types, whereas the ego-depletion task does not have a significant effect compared with the control task, and preferences display a considerable degree of stability over time.","PeriodicalId":45695,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neuroscience Psychology and Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2018-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87620268","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
R. Viviani, L. Dommes, Julia E. Bosch, J. Stingl, P. Beschoner
Models of decision processes postulate the action of a similar mechanism when computing responses across very different domains, such as decisions made on the intensity of a stimulus or according to subjective preferences. However, the neural substrates of decision-making in domains such as those involving emotion processing in social interactions have as yet remained largely unexplored. In this functional neuroimaging study, we used a paradigm developed in neuroeconomical studies of subjective preferences to uncover the neural substrates involved in deciding the degree of sadness in facial expressions, which convey information on sufferance in conspecifics. Because of the possible association of facial expressions with stimulus properties such as the capacity to be emotionally arousing, we used a procedure designed to control for this possible confound. The contrast representing differences in attributed sadness activated the precuneus and posterior cingular cortex, areas often implicated in studies of subjective preference. Also, the somatosensory cortex was active, an area associated with both sensory discrimination tasks in the visual domain and whose lesion is known to result in deficits in emotion recognition. In the same contrast, no activation of the amygdala, the substrate of emotional arousal, was detected (or of any other area associated with the sensory processing of faces, such as the fusiform gyrus). These results suggest that specific networks beyond those sensitive to the arousing properties of emotional stimuli are active when making choices in a social–cognitive domain.
{"title":"The Neural Correlates of Decisions About Sadness in Facial Expressions","authors":"R. Viviani, L. Dommes, Julia E. Bosch, J. Stingl, P. Beschoner","doi":"10.1037/npe0000081","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/npe0000081","url":null,"abstract":"Models of decision processes postulate the action of a similar mechanism when computing responses across very different domains, such as decisions made on the intensity of a stimulus or according to subjective preferences. However, the neural substrates of decision-making in domains such as those involving emotion processing in social interactions have as yet remained largely unexplored. In this functional neuroimaging study, we used a paradigm developed in neuroeconomical studies of subjective preferences to uncover the neural substrates involved in deciding the degree of sadness in facial expressions, which convey information on sufferance in conspecifics. Because of the possible association of facial expressions with stimulus properties such as the capacity to be emotionally arousing, we used a procedure designed to control for this possible confound. The contrast representing differences in attributed sadness activated the precuneus and posterior cingular cortex, areas often implicated in studies of subjective preference. Also, the somatosensory cortex was active, an area associated with both sensory discrimination tasks in the visual domain and whose lesion is known to result in deficits in emotion recognition. In the same contrast, no activation of the amygdala, the substrate of emotional arousal, was detected (or of any other area associated with the sensory processing of faces, such as the fusiform gyrus). These results suggest that specific networks beyond those sensitive to the arousing properties of emotional stimuli are active when making choices in a social–cognitive domain.","PeriodicalId":45695,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neuroscience Psychology and Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2018-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88677743","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Adriana Kraig, C. Cornelis, Elizabeth T. Terris, M. Neubert, Matthew S. Wood, Jorge A. Barraza, P. Zak
Websites offering microfinance loans have become an increasingly popular form of investment. However, it is unclear why some projects offered on sites such as Kiva.org, Microplace.com, and Lendforpeace.org are more successful at meeting funding goals than others. The present article reports the results of an experiment to test if communicating social purpose enhances investment appeal and the neurophysiological mechanism through which this effect occurs. By connecting physiological and behavioral responses to microfinance requests for 101 participants, we found that investments with a social purpose, compared with those that were self-focused, received 25% more loans. Social purpose requests were associated with a significant reduction in two measures of physiologic arousal, resulted in greater empathic concern, and produced stronger negative affect compared with self-focused requests. These factors were largely driven by responses by women, who invested 90% more money to requests overall and 97% more to social purpose requests than did men. Our findings indicate that communicating social purpose is an effective way to attract more investment to entrepreneurs in developing countries.
{"title":"Social Purpose Increases Direct-to-Borrower Microfinance Investments by Reducing Physiologic Arousal","authors":"Adriana Kraig, C. Cornelis, Elizabeth T. Terris, M. Neubert, Matthew S. Wood, Jorge A. Barraza, P. Zak","doi":"10.1037/npe0000091","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/npe0000091","url":null,"abstract":"Websites offering microfinance loans have become an increasingly popular form of investment. However, it is unclear why some projects offered on sites such as Kiva.org, Microplace.com, and Lendforpeace.org are more successful at meeting funding goals than others. The present article reports the results of an experiment to test if communicating social purpose enhances investment appeal and the neurophysiological mechanism through which this effect occurs. By connecting physiological and behavioral responses to microfinance requests for 101 participants, we found that investments with a social purpose, compared with those that were self-focused, received 25% more loans. Social purpose requests were associated with a significant reduction in two measures of physiologic arousal, resulted in greater empathic concern, and produced stronger negative affect compared with self-focused requests. These factors were largely driven by responses by women, who invested 90% more money to requests overall and 97% more to social purpose requests than did men. Our findings indicate that communicating social purpose is an effective way to attract more investment to entrepreneurs in developing countries.","PeriodicalId":45695,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neuroscience Psychology and Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2018-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72370236","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We analyze the influence of individuals’ degree of extraversion and neuroticism on the determinants of their risk-taking behavior in investment decisions. As there are no studies that investigate the influence of personality traits on risk attitude, risk perception, and return expectations in investment decisions simultaneously, we provide a meaningful contribution to existing literature. We use a unique data set that contains 342 undergraduate business students’ questionnaire responses measuring the students’ degree of extraversion and neuroticism as well as their risk attitude, risk perception, and return expectations. Therefore, we are able to identify which determinants of risk-taking are influenced by extraversion and neuroticism and induce individuals to take investment risks. We find that more extraverted individuals are less risk averse, whereas more neurotic subjects are more risk averse. Beside these results, we find that more conscientious individuals are more risk averse and perceive investments in assets as more risky. Further research should consider individuals’ personality as an influence factor on the determinants of risk-taking behavior in investment decisions.
{"title":"The Relationship of Extraversion and Neuroticism with Risk Attitude, Risk Perception, and Return Expectations","authors":"A. Oehler, Florian Wedlich","doi":"10.1037/npe0000088","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/npe0000088","url":null,"abstract":"We analyze the influence of individuals’ degree of extraversion and neuroticism on the determinants of their risk-taking behavior in investment decisions. As there are no studies that investigate the influence of personality traits on risk attitude, risk perception, and return expectations in investment decisions simultaneously, we provide a meaningful contribution to existing literature. We use a unique data set that contains 342 undergraduate business students’ questionnaire responses measuring the students’ degree of extraversion and neuroticism as well as their risk attitude, risk perception, and return expectations. Therefore, we are able to identify which determinants of risk-taking are influenced by extraversion and neuroticism and induce individuals to take investment risks. We find that more extraverted individuals are less risk averse, whereas more neurotic subjects are more risk averse. Beside these results, we find that more conscientious individuals are more risk averse and perceive investments in assets as more risky. Further research should consider individuals’ personality as an influence factor on the determinants of risk-taking behavior in investment decisions.","PeriodicalId":45695,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neuroscience Psychology and Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2018-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73093364","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Previous studies have suggested that the participation of people with disabilities in the labor market might be affected by their risk perception, as finding a job might be perceived as an action that risks their allowance. The current study explores 2 main questions that relate to risk preferences among people with disabilities. First, it explores the potential relationship between risk preferences and employment by comparing the risk preferences of employed and unemployed people with disabilities. Second, it questions whether the risk preferences of people with disabilities are different from those of people without disabilities. To measure risk preferences in these 3 populations, we used 2 common elicitation methods: the Holt–Laury task and the balloon analogue risk task. The 2 methods complement each other, as the Holt–Laury task measures decisions from description and “explicit” risk-taking, whereas the balloon analogue risk task measures decisions from experience and “implicit” risk-taking. The results revealed no difference in risk preferences between people with and without disabilities. However, contrary to propositions from earlier studies, employed people with disabilities were found to be more risk-averse than unemployed people with disabilities. One possible interpretation of the results could be that risk aversion increases the willingness of people with disabilities to make compromises in order to participate in the labor market.
{"title":"Risk Preferences of People With Disabilities and Their Relation to Labor Market Participation","authors":"Ofir Y. Pinto, E. Ert","doi":"10.1037/npe0000089","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/npe0000089","url":null,"abstract":"Previous studies have suggested that the participation of people with disabilities in the labor market might be affected by their risk perception, as finding a job might be perceived as an action that risks their allowance. The current study explores 2 main questions that relate to risk preferences among people with disabilities. First, it explores the potential relationship between risk preferences and employment by comparing the risk preferences of employed and unemployed people with disabilities. Second, it questions whether the risk preferences of people with disabilities are different from those of people without disabilities. To measure risk preferences in these 3 populations, we used 2 common elicitation methods: the Holt–Laury task and the balloon analogue risk task. The 2 methods complement each other, as the Holt–Laury task measures decisions from description and “explicit” risk-taking, whereas the balloon analogue risk task measures decisions from experience and “implicit” risk-taking. The results revealed no difference in risk preferences between people with and without disabilities. However, contrary to propositions from earlier studies, employed people with disabilities were found to be more risk-averse than unemployed people with disabilities. One possible interpretation of the results could be that risk aversion increases the willingness of people with disabilities to make compromises in order to participate in the labor market.","PeriodicalId":45695,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neuroscience Psychology and Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2018-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79322727","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We design a novel experiment to examine the role of inertia in choosing partners, that is, a preference for staying with one’s original partner when offered an opportunity to switch. Our data show that the majority of participants who are offered the choice to play a new game with their original partner or a new partner will choose the original partner, even when they deceived their original partner in order to gain selfish profits. The results may suggest the importance of considering inertia in partner selections, in addition to economic incentives.
{"title":"Inertia in Partnerships","authors":"Wei Bao, Erte Xiao, Yulei Rao","doi":"10.1037/npe0000085","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/npe0000085","url":null,"abstract":"We design a novel experiment to examine the role of inertia in choosing partners, that is, a preference for staying with one’s original partner when offered an opportunity to switch. Our data show that the majority of participants who are offered the choice to play a new game with their original partner or a new partner will choose the original partner, even when they deceived their original partner in order to gain selfish profits. The results may suggest the importance of considering inertia in partner selections, in addition to economic incentives.","PeriodicalId":45695,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neuroscience Psychology and Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2018-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87011303","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Can the mind be understood as a muscle? Both embodiment theorists and cognitive scientists have proposed that the architecture of the mind is flexible and adaptable. This proposition implies that cognitions can be shaped through repeated bodily actions and modal simulations, making them physically embodied at the brain level. To explore this notion, a measure of cortical thickness is extracted from anatomical brain scans to test whether cortical thickness is correlated with choice (here, in the domain of fast food). Results revealed that consumers’ large-sized fast-food choices are significantly correlated with the cortical thickness of structures in the prefrontal cortex and that this association holds even for cases in which the participants were offered a possible monetary incentive to choose a smaller-sized portion. Body mass index, age, and sex were not correlated with cortical thickness or portion choice in the present data set. In summary, this work provides preliminary insights into the possible existence of a malleable, muscle-like brain, which would support the idea that cognitions are grounded in a plastic sensory system and subject to repeated bodily actions and modal simulations.
{"title":"Decision Muscles? How Choosing More Food (Despite Incentives to Eat Less) Is Associated With the Brain’s Cortical Thickness","authors":"M. Reimann","doi":"10.1037/npe0000087","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/npe0000087","url":null,"abstract":"Can the mind be understood as a muscle? Both embodiment theorists and cognitive scientists have proposed that the architecture of the mind is flexible and adaptable. This proposition implies that cognitions can be shaped through repeated bodily actions and modal simulations, making them physically embodied at the brain level. To explore this notion, a measure of cortical thickness is extracted from anatomical brain scans to test whether cortical thickness is correlated with choice (here, in the domain of fast food). Results revealed that consumers’ large-sized fast-food choices are significantly correlated with the cortical thickness of structures in the prefrontal cortex and that this association holds even for cases in which the participants were offered a possible monetary incentive to choose a smaller-sized portion. Body mass index, age, and sex were not correlated with cortical thickness or portion choice in the present data set. In summary, this work provides preliminary insights into the possible existence of a malleable, muscle-like brain, which would support the idea that cognitions are grounded in a plastic sensory system and subject to repeated bodily actions and modal simulations.","PeriodicalId":45695,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neuroscience Psychology and Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2018-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72494599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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