Current research in behavioral sciences最新文献

The question of whether bilingual language experience confers a cognitive advantage is still open. Studies report that putative bilingual advantages can be accounted for by individual differences in socioeconomic class, immigration status, or culture. Such studies typically consider bilingual experience to be a categorical variable using parametric statistical analyses. However, bilingual experience is itself highly variable across individual participants in most studies reported to date. Here we test the hypothesis that bilingual experience has a direct effect on executive function by estimating the effect of L2 (English) experience on performance in the Simon and flanker tasks. Linear mixed-effects models were used to assess effects of bilingual experience on performance. Self-reported L2 proficiency was associated with reduced interference on the Simon task as well as faster global response times on the flanker task, suggesting some cognitive advantages during inhibitory control. We conclude that individual differences in bilingual language experience may explain the many contradictory findings in studies testing the veracity of the bilingual advantage.

Objectives

Chronotype impacts our state at a given time of day, however, chronotype is also heritable, trait-like, and varies systematically as a function of age and sex. However, only a handful of studies support a relationship between chronotype and trait-like cognitive abilities (i.e., intelligence), and the evidence is sparse and inconsistent between studies. Typically, studies have: (1) focused on limited subjective measures of chronotype, (2) focused on young adults only, and (3) have not considered sex differences. Here, using a combination of cognitive aptitude and ability testing, subjective chronotype, and objective actigraphy, we aimed to explore the relationship between trait-like cognitive abilities and chronotype.

Design

Participants (N = 61; 44 females; age = 35.30 ± 18.04 years) completed the Horne-Ostberg Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) to determine subjective chronotype and wore an activity monitor for 10 days to objectively assess bedtime, rise-time, total sleep time, inter-daily stability, intra-daily variability, and relative amplitude. Cognitive ability (e.g., Verbal, Reasoning and Short-Term Memory) testing took place at the completion of the study.

Results

Higher MEQ scores (i.e., more morning) were associated with higher inter-daily stability scores. Superior verbal abilities were associated with later bedtimes, younger age, but paradoxically, higher (i.e., more morning) MEQ scores. Superior STM abilities were associated with younger age only. The relationships between chronotype and trait-like cognitive abilities were similar for both men and women and did not differ between younger and older adults.

Conclusions

The present study demonstrates that chronotype, measured by the MEQ, is highly related to inter-daily stability (i.e., the strength of circadian synchronization). Furthermore, although evening types have superior verbal abilities overall, higher (i.e., more morning) MEQ scores were related to superior verbal abilities after controlling for “evening type” behaviours.

Conformity has been shown to affect behaviors ranging from attitudes to moral decisions. The current research examined how individual moral inclination (i.e., utilitarian vs. deontological) affects moral conformity in online settings. To this end we designed a trolley-like moral dilemma paradigm in which participants rated moral decisions both individually and after being exposed to other people's ratings. We validated the task with 363 participants, demonstrating that in online settings individuals tend to conform to the group's moral judgments. Using an additional 346 participants, we showed that individual differences influence the conformity tendency, such that people with utilitarian inclinations conform to a greater extent and more frequently than people with deontological inclinations. We conclude that people with prior utilitarian inclinations are more disposed to moral conformity.

Recent statistical studies have suggested a relationship between increased harmonic surprise and music preference. Conclusive behavioral evidence to establish this relationship is still lacking. We set out to address this gap through a behavioral study using computer-generated stimuli designed to differ only in contrastive and absolute harmonic surprise. We produced the stimuli with both experimental control and ecological validity in mind by engaging the help of studio musicians. The stimuli were rated for preference by 84 participants (44 female, 40 male) between 18 to 65 years old. Participants rated items featuring moderately increased absolute and contrastive surprise significantly higher than items with lower harmonic surprise. This effect applied only to levels of surprise within a range typically found in popular music, however. Excessive surprises did not yield an increase in preference. We discuss different mechanisms of consistency and how they may mediate the selection of neural strategies leading to preference formation. These findings provide evidence of a causal behavioral relationship between harmonic surprise and music preference.

Cultures that value individuality over collective cohesion tend to report higher levels of narcissism. One plausible explanation is that individuals with vertical individualistic orientations might find it easier to justify motivations to procure individual status and success, which may reinforce narcissistic tendencies. We tested this idea with samples of university students (N₁ = 545) and working adults (N₂ = 534). Specifically, we examined the degree to which cultural orientations related to grandiose narcissism through the fundamental social motives of status and affiliation. The indirect effects of vertical individualism on narcissism exhibited consistent patterns in both samples. As expected, vertical individualism related to higher levels of both agentic and antagonistic narcissism via a stronger status motive. The indirect effects of horizontal collectivism on narcissism were only observed for narcissistic rivalry. Specifically, horizontal collectivism related to lower levels of antagonistic narcissism via a stronger affiliation motive and a weaker status motive. Through documenting the interconnectedness of individuals’ cultural orientations, social motives, and narcissism, our findings demonstrate the central role of the status motive for narcissism.

Many everyday tasks require coordinated action towards specific items moving amongst others (e.g. touching, pointing). Pylyshyn (2001) proposed that multiple-object tracking (MOT), the ability to monitor positions of specific target items as they move amongst others, is an integral part of coordinated action towards targets.  In support of this, Terry and Trick (2021) found that when participants were required to touch any moving item that changed colour (visually guided touch) it not only interfered with MOT – but it interfered differentially, with less interference for touching items that changed colour if they were also targets in MOT.  However, direct touch may represent a special case. In this study, we attempted to replicate the finding using a different coordinated action: computer-mouse clicks. Participants tracked 2–3 targets in MOT while clicking any item that changed colour. Mouse-clicking also interfered differentially with MOT, which suggests a common mechanism may underlie these processes.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease associated with loss of upper and lower motor neurons in the primary motor cortex and spinal cord, respectively. Motor deficits are the main clinical features observed in patients with the disease. However, it has been suggested that the presence of neurotoxic factors in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from ALS patients causes loss of motor neurons. The present study investigated the motor and histopathological changes induced by intracerebroventricular (ICV) infusion of CSF from ALS patients in middle aged male Wistar rats. Middle aged male rats were divided into three groups: (1) control group, animals injected with artificial CSF solution; (2) N-ALS group, animals injected with CSF from volunteers without neurological disease; and (3) ALS group, animals inoculated with CFS from a patient with definite ALS. After surgical and infusion procedures, animals were evaluated in different motor tests (grip strength; catalepsy and open field tests). Moreover, animals’ spinal cords were histologically investigated. We observed that ALS-CSF infusion reduced grip strength and led to motor changes and reduction in the number of motor neurons and glial cells in thoracic and lumbar regions of spinal cord. However, CSF N-ALS caused reduction of nerve and glial cells in the thoracic but not in the lumbar region. Our data suggest that ALS-CSF is associated with neurodegenerative mechanisms observed in ALS pathology.

Background

We examined the characteristics of healthcare providers’ (HCPs) encounters, and the frequency of worker absenteeism/presenteeism, among HCPs in inpatient wards at a tertiary-level public hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. The wards were stratified by risk of respiratory virus transmission: low-risk (Surgery, Rehabilitation, Orthopedic, and Obstetrics and Gynecology) and high-risk (Medicine, Pediatric, Emergency, and Ear, Nose, and Throat) .

Methods

Observers followed HCPs throughout one self-selected 8-hour work shift to record their interaction with others. An encounter was defined as a 2-way conversation with ≥3 words in the physical presence of ≥1 person at <3 feet distance; or a physical skin-to-skin touch. We administered structured questionnaires to document demographics, health and work history, past practice while ill, and recent and current acute muscle pain and/or respiratory symptoms. We collected data from time and attendance records of participants reporting illness within the past seven days.

Results

From July to August 2019, 240 HCPs were enrolled and observed during 395 work shifts; 15,878 total encounters were made with a median duration of two minutes (interquartile range, 1–3). Number of contacts ranged from 25 to 49 encounters/8 h in the low-risk wards and 40 to 66 encounters/8 h in the high-risk wards. Physicians working during the 8-hour evening shift in high-risk wards had the highest estimated number of contacts (66 encounters; 95% confidence interval [CI], 43–89) while nurses working during the 8-hour night shift in the low-risk wards had the lowest number of contacts (25 encounters; 95% CI, 22–28). Forty-two (11%) shifts were staffed by HCPs with acute muscle pain and/or respiratory symptom(s) at the time of interview, and 89 (23%) by HCPs who reported symptom(s) during the past seven days, for which none were absent from work.

Conclusion

We observed difference in encounter patterns by ward type. About one in five work shifts were staffed by HCPs with acute muscle pain and/or respiratory symptoms who continued to work while ill. These findings have implications for preventing infectious disease transmission and the policy around sick leave in healthcare settings.

Substance abuse treatment constitutes a period of increased risk for suicide. It is unclear if social support during treatment influences suicide risk during treatment, or how this is characterized across different treatment modalities. The present study involved secondary analyses of the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Study, a large, longitudinal multi-site study conducted from 1991 to 1994 that involved interviews with patients at various treatment programs reporting on experiences while receiving substance abuse treatment. Data from people in inpatient (n = 2530) and outpatient treatment (n = 2568) programs were analyzed to determine the extent that various indicators of social support influenced odds of having suicidal ideation during treatment. Across both treatment modalities, ongoing interpersonal problems and patient perception of their performance in relationships significantly predicted odds of suicidal ideation one month into treatment. Contact with one's social support system during treatment only significantly decreased odds of suicidal ideation for inpatients. Relationship status did not significantly influence odds of suicidal ideation in either group. Overall, social support appears to be associated with decreased risk for suicidal ideation during substance abuse treatment, and certain indicators of social support may be especially important for specific treatment modalities.

The present study investigates to what extent the three key concepts from the Dark Triad Theory can explain individual differences in adult offending. Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey amongst a representative sample of 1587 adults, living in Ghent, Belgium (M_age = 48.06, 51.4% female). Negative binomial regression analyses are run and show that Machiavellianism and psychopathy have strong independent effects on adult offending, independent of age, sex and immigrant background.