The role of feedback in shaping responses to risky road scenarios: Evidence from electrodermal activity

When faced with hazardous driving situations, rapid and effective risk perception and decision-making processes are of crucial importance for avoiding crashes. In these cases, the processes are accompanied and influenced by underlying psychophysiological mechanisms such as electrodermal activity (EDA) modulations. The present work aims to assess the psychophysiological mechanisms underlying participants’ risk perception and decision-making when facing risky road scenarios, as correlated to the feedback role in modulating participants’ behavior. Study 1 (n = 32) explores the behavioral effects of administering a contingent feedback in a decision (decision-making) and an evaluation (risk perception) task in response to a set of risky and not risky images. The behavioral data reveal an effect on the participants’ probability of response, independently from the type of image presented, when the feedback was administered. In the decision task, the effect is accompanied by a change in the amplitude and percentage of the skin conductance responses (SCRs), which are moderated by block of trials. Study 2 (n = 44) better assesses the role of task and block on participants’ physiological activation, as measured by EDA signal. The results show an increase in psychophysiological activation when the feedback is delivered, in the first part of the tasks, both in terms of SCRs amplitude and percentage to the presented road scenarios, followed by a decrease in the second part of the tasks. Moreover, this effect is more evident in the decision task than the evaluation task. These findings suggest that the role exerted by feedback when facing risky traffic images may be described as based on an associative process that, once the correct response has been learned, tends to be reduced as it becomes automatic. Overall, the results of the two studies represent an important step toward the development of training programs aimed at promoting safer behaviors in risky driving contexts.     

Neurobehavioral deficit and computed tomographic abnormalities in three samples of schizophrenic patients

Recent reports have suggested that schizophrenics show brain abnormalities as reflected on computed tomography (CT Scan). We present data on three groups of schizophrenic patients which replicate our original report of this phenomenon with associated neuropsychological test results. The over-all evidence for an increased rate of neuropsychological abnormalities and related CT structural anomalies in groups of schizophrenics in several studies is robust. The biological dynamics, cause-effect relationships, and clinical applicability of this phenomenon in the individual case, however, are far from clear. Diagnostic agreements between behavioral and structural abnormalities should simultaneously sound a note of clinical caution and stimulate further study.     

Sedation threshold and Archimedes spiral after-effect: A follow-up of their use with civilian psychiatric patients

In the study reported here an attempt was made to confirm, on a more heterogeneous group of civilian patients, some previous work on sedation threshold and spiral after-effect in young military patients. Sedation threshold and spiral after-effect data were collected in thirty-eight neurotic and nine psychotic patients. The main findings of the study were as follows: (1) The practicability and reliability of the sedation threshold technique used is not restricted to the experimental setting in which it was originally devised. The method can on the contrary be applied under a variety of clinical conditions. (2) No significant differences were found in the uniformly high sedation threshold and spiral aftereffect scores of patients suffering from neurotic depression, obsessional neurosis, and chronic anxiety. Further, civilian dysthymics as a whole did not differ significantly on either test from military dysthymics. The previous work on neurotics was thus confirmed. (3) Previous findings (with military psychotics) of a significant negative correlation between sedation threshold and spiral after-effect were confirmed in the present group of schizophrenic patients.

The advantages of a psychophysiological approach to personality were reaffirmed and the possible usefulness of the sedation threshold and spiral after-effect as tools for differential diagnosis was discussed.     

Is Psychopathology the Key to Understanding Why Some Children Become Aggressive When They Are Exposed To Violent Television Programming?

Children with diagnosed psychopathologies may experience aggravation of those illnesses with their exposure to media violence. Children with the most common, often undiagnosed, form of psychopathology—Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBDs)—manifested changes in heart rate, heart vagal heart tone and other psychophysiological reactions to media violence. Children without a diagnosis did not manifest these same psychophysiological responses. These reactions, or the absence of them, made determining the effect of violent media on children a more reliable measure than acted out behavior, which can be more susceptible to experimenter interpretation and, thus, experimenter bias. This paper explains why there is a difference in the psychophysiological responses between the two groups. Future research should more carefully examine the putative psychological harm violent television content may impose on children with psychological ailments.     

Psychological and physiological stress in non-competitive and competitive esports settings: A systematic review

ObjectivesCompetition is related to psychophysiological stress responses and is a key aspect of esports. Yet, while competition may indeed have an impact on performance, little is known about competition-related psychophysical stress responses in esports. Accordingly, this review aims to investigate whether playing esports in competitive (and non-competitive) settings is related to psychological and/or physiological stress.DesignA systematic literature review was performed. Study inclusion criteria included: assessment of psychological and/or physiological stress in esports, study of healthy individuals over 12 years of age, and published in peer-reviewed journals in English or German.MethodThe literature search comprised EBSCOhost, PubMed, and Web of Science up until August 2019. An additional search was performed on Science Direct, Google Scholar, and Sponet.ResultsSeventeen studies met inclusion criteria. In publications investigating the non-competitive setting, it can be assumed that merely playing esports games is unrelated to psychophysiological stress reactions. While three out of five studies on stress in competitive settings demonstrated no hormonal reaction, one study reported an increase in anxiety levels in winners as well as an increase cortisol levels from baseline to postgame conditions, and two studies found an activation of the sympathetic nervous system. Overall, the studies revealed theoretical and methodological limitations, which are discussed in the present review.ConclusionsAlthough the existing literature contributes to an initial understanding of psychophysiological stress in esports, further in-depth studies of stress responses in actual competition are needed.     

Individual response differences in spider phobia: comparing phobic and non-phobic women of different reactivity levels

In contrast to previous stress research, studies concerning phobic disorders have never systematically investigated individual response differences between phobic participants integrating numerous different response measures. The aim of this article is to clarify the existence of significant individual response differences in psychophysiological responses (e.g., heart rate, skin conductance responses (SCR), corrugator, cortisol), subjective ratings (e.g., valence, arousal), and avoidance behavior in 46 spider phobic and 44 non-phobic women when exposed to 20 phobic and 20 neutral pictures. Previous studies that did not attend to individual response differences showed that, during phobic stimulation, phobic individuals have increased psychophysiological responses (heart rate, SCR, and corrugator responses), more negative valence rating, and more subjective arousal than non-phobic individuals. These results were confirmed by our data. With regard to individual response uniqueness, 1/3-2/3 of spider-phobic women with low responsiveness in heart rate, cortisol, and avoidance behavior were indistinguishable from non-phobic women during phobic stimulation. With SCR, corrugator EMG, and subjective ratings, no individual response uniqueness was found. Based on the findings, exposure therapy might be improved by tailoring interventions to individuals with a therapeutic focus on those psychophysiological measures that show the highest individual responsivity.     

Functioning of the phonological loop in auditory hallucinations

Two experiments designed to assess the functioning of the phonological store and loop were carried out with schizophrenic patients experiencing auditory hallucinations, schizophrenic patients not experiencing hallucinations and normal subjects. In the first experiment, phonological encoding was assessed. Although both groups of psychiatric patients performed more poorly overall than the normal subjects, there were no significant differences between the performances of the hallucinating and nonhallucinating patients. In the second experiment, the unattended speech effect (a phenomenon thought to reflect the functioning of the phonological store in normal subjects) was assessed in hallucinating schizophrenic patients, non-hallucinating schizophrenic patients and normal controls. The psychiatric patients performed more poorly overall than the normal subjects, but there was no evidence of abnormal functioning of the phonological store or loop in either patient group. Overall, the findings indicate that phonological store and loop abnormalities are not implicated in the experience of auditory hallucinations.     

Depersonalization: a selective impairment of self-awareness

Depersonalization is characterised by a profound disruption of self-awareness mainly characterised by feelings of disembodiment and subjective emotional numbing. It has been proposed that depersonalization is caused by a fronto-limbic (particularly anterior insula) suppressive mechanism--presumably mediated via attention--which manifests subjectively as emotional numbing, and disables the process by which perception and cognition normally become emotionally coloured, giving rise to a subjective feeling of 'unreality'. Our functional neuroimaging and psychophysiological studies support the above model and indicate that, compared with normal and clinical controls, DPD patients show increased prefrontal activation as well as reduced activation in insula/limbic-related areas to aversive, arousing emotional stimuli. Although a putative inhibitory mechanism on emotional processing might account for the emotional numbing and characteristic perceptual detachment, it is likely, as suggested by some studies, that parietal mechanisms underpin feelings of disembodiment and lack of agency feelings.     

Individual response differences in spider phobia: Comparing phobic and non-phobic women of different reactivity levels

Abstract

In contrast to previous stress research, studies concerning phobic disorders have never systematically investigated individual response differences between phobic participants integrating numerous different response measures. The aim of this article is to clarify the existence of significant individual response differences in psychophysiological responses (e.g., heart rate, skin conductance responses (SCR), corrugator, cortisol), subjective ratings (e.g., valence, arousal), and avoidance behavior in 46 spider phobic and 44 non-phobic women when exposed to 20 phobic and 20 neutral pictures. Previous studies that did not attend to individual response differences showed that, during phobic stimulation, phobic individuals have increased psychophysiological responses (heart rate, SCR, and corrugator responses), more negative valence rating, and more subjective arousal than non-phobic individuals. These results were confirmed by our data. With regard to individual response uniqueness, 1/3–2/3 of spider-phobic women with low responsiveness in heart rate, cortisol, and avoidance behavior were indistinguishable from non-phobic women during phobic stimulation. With SCR, corrugator EMG, and subjective ratings, no individual response uniqueness was found. Based on the findings, exposure therapy might be improved by tailoring interventions to individuals with a therapeutic focus on those psychophysiological measures that show the highest individual responsivity.     

Die bewegte Seite der Schizophrenie

For more than 100 years multiple motor abnormalities have been described in schizophrenic patients in the various stages of the disease. These include a variety of quantitative and qualitative dysfunctions, which are now seen as trait markers of the disease. There are good arguments for assigning, describing and investigating motor dysfunctions as an independent category, in addition to cognitive, positive and negative core symptoms of schizophrenia, not least in order to develop treatment methods.     

Response-monitoring dysfunction in schizophrenia: an event-related brain potential study

Error-monitoring abnormalities may underlie positive symptoms of schizophrenia. Response-synchronized event-related potentials during picture-word matching yielded error- and correct-response-related negativity (ERN, CRN) and positivity (Pe, Pc) and preresponse lateralized readiness potentials (LRP) from 18 schizophrenic patients and 18 controls. Both groups responded faster to matches than nonmatches, although patients were generally slower and made more errors to nonmatches. Compared with controls, patients, particularly with paranoid subtype, had smaller ERNs and larger CRNs, which were indistinguishable. LRPs showed evidence of more response conflict before errors than before correct responses in controls but not patients. Despite ERN/CRN abnormalities, post-error slowing and Pe were normal in patients, suggesting a dissociation of ERN and error awareness. Anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortical dysfunction in schizophrenia are implicated.     

Deficits of subliminal self-face processing in schizophrenia

Most studies show that self-processing in schizophrenia is impaired at the supraliminal level. Schizophrenic patients generally lack the ability to prioritize the processing of self-related information, such as their own face. However, some evidence suggests that schizophrenic patients may retain intact subliminal processing abilities even though their conscious experiences are compromised. We conducted the first study exploring schizophrenic patients’ subliminal self-face processing. Using a breaking continuous flash suppression (bCFS) paradigm, we interocularly suppressed face images (self, famous, and unknown faces). Participants’ reaction times to detect the faces when they broke the suppression were recorded as an index for the subliminal processing of faces. Unlike the healthy controls, schizophrenic patients did not demonstrate a processing advantage for their own face when it broke interocular suppression; only a face familiarity effect was found. These findings contribute to the understanding of self-processing deficits in schizophrenia.     

Suicidal tendencies in schizophrenic patients hospitalized for the first time

180 (15%) patients from 1208 first-hospitalized schizophrenic patients had suicidal tendencies. Our findings show that the suicidal tendencies of schizophrenic patients have their own features. These conclusions can be supported by the differences between the determinants of the suicidal tendencies of schizophrenic and non-schizophrenic population; such different determinants are: sex, age, family and suicidal method. Suicidal tendencies are more frequent among patients without formal thought disturbances. We explain this fact with an "incoherence of decision processes". The features of the suicidal tendencies of schizophrenic patients are based on the grounds of psychosis own dynamic.     

Psychophysiological responsivity and the type A behavior pattern

Studies were reviewed in which the psychophysiological responses of Type A and B subjects were studied in various contexts. It appears that Type A's manifest greater psychophysiological arousal than Type B's in solitary as well as interpersonal situations in which there is a moderate external incentive to accomplish something. and there is an intermediate probability of failing to accomplish that something. Further, Type A's appear to manifest greater psychophysiological arousal than Type B's in interpersonal situations in which another person annoys or harasses the subject. Why Type A's respond in these situations with greater psychophysiological arousal was discussed in terms of the possibilities that (a) these situations may engage some defining characteristic(s) of Type A's, (b) Type A's may fear and therefore try to avoid failure more vigorously than Type B's, and (c) Type A's may be more motivated to gain and maintain control over important environmental events and therefore are more aroused by threats to such control than Type B's.     

Diagnostic change in schizophrenic diseases--a case register study of 10 years

This study is an investigation covering all schizophrenic patient discharged between 1976 and 1986, a total of 2561 patients, for evidence of any shift in diagnosis and/or syndromes during this time. During the period 1454 schizophrenic patients were hospitalised more than once. Of these, 135 patients (9.3%) exhibited a syndrome shift. These patients can be classified as 8 distinct types.     

神经科学偏见效应：可重复性及其心理机制的探索

神经科学的发展对其他学科以及社会产生了重要的影响。虽然神经科学方法与行为研究方法都是探索人类心理与行为的有效手段并各有所长, 但神经科学的研究结果却可能引起人们过度的解读和信任。研究者发现, 当某一结论使用神经科学结果作为证据时, 比使用行为科学结果或者心理生理学指标作为证据时更加让人信服, 即使神经科学结果与该结论之间毫无关系, 这种现象被称为神经科学偏见(neuroscience bias)。通过系统回顾近年来关于神经科学偏见的研究, 我们发现：(1)虽然神经科学偏见存在可重复性的争论, 但该效应确实存在; (2)神经科学偏见的产生可能是因为个体倾向于还原论的解释(即使用低层次、简单的机制来解释更高层次上的现象)及心理本质主义的影响(即人们认为心理与行为的本质是神经活动)。神经科学偏见反映了公众对科学结果解读的偏见, 未来研究需要探讨这种偏见的心理机制, 从而引导科学结果的正确解读和运用。     

Auditory abnormalities in autism: toward functional distinctions among findings

Recently, findings on a wide range of auditory abnormalities among individuals with autism have been reported. To date, functional distinctions among these varied findings are poorly established. Such distinctions should be of interest to clinicians and researchers alike given their potential therapeutic and experimental applications. This review suggests three general trends among these findings as a starting point for future analyses. First, studies of auditory perception of linguistic and social auditory stimuli among individuals with autism generally have found impaired perception versus normal controls. Such findings may correlate with impaired language and communication skills and social isolation observed among individuals with autism. Second, studies of auditory perception of pitch and music among individuals with autism generally have found enhanced perception versus normal controls. These findings may correlate with the restrictive and highly focused behaviors observed among individuals with autism. Third, findings on the auditory perception of non-linguistic, non-musical stimuli among autism patients resist any generalized conclusions. Ultimately, as some researchers have already suggested, the distinction between impaired global processing and enhanced local processing may prove useful in making sense of apparently discordant findings on auditory abnormalities among individuals with autism.     

Dream content of schizophrenic, nonschizophrenic mentally ill, and community control adolescents

This study compared the manifest dream content of 20 schizophrenic adolescent inpatients whose medications were stable for at least four weeks, 21 adolescent inpatients with other mental disorders (nonschizophrenic group) matched for age and gender, and 31 matched community controls. All participants were administered the standardized Formal Dream Content Rating Scale (FDCRS), which evaluates dream-related anxiety, cognitive disturbance, implausibility, involvement, primitivity, and recall, as well as two additional scales measuring emotional expression and duration of dream report. The Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS) was administered to the two inpatient groups. The community controls demonstrated more involvement and emotional expression than the schizophrenic patients; furthermore, they demonstrated more implausibility and had a greater duration of dream report compared with the nonschizophrenic group. In the schizophrenic patients only, elevated scores on the negative subscale of the PANSS were significantly correlated with lower scores on involvement, emotional expression, and dream recall. No relationship was found between the positive subscale of the PANSS and any of the FDCRS subscales. These results suggest that psychopathology per se, rather than the specific psychiatric disturbance, may be associated with impoverishment of dream content, and that negative, rather than positive, schizophrenic symptomatology may be influential in the dream content of schizophrenic youngsters.