Are Decisions Made by Group Representatives More Risk Averse? The Effect of Sense of Responsibility

We tested the hypothesis that a sense of responsibility drives group representatives' decisions to be more risk averse compared with decisions made by individuals. The hypothesis was supported when the monetary considerations (i.e., payoff inequality and the magnitude effect) were controlled for in the potential gain domain as well as in the potential loss domain. Evidence showed that this is because the group representatives were concerned about how they would view themselves (e.g., guilt and self‐blame) and also how they would be viewed by others (i.e., to avoid being blamed and looked down upon by others). This study provided new insights into understanding group representatives' decision making under risk. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Culture and the physical environment. Holistic versus analytic perceptual affordances

Westerners' perceptions tend to focus on salient foreground objects, whereas Asians are more inclined to focus on contexts. We hypothesized that such culturally specific patterns of attention may be afforded by the perceptual environment of each culture. In order to test this hypothesis, we randomly sampled pictures of scenes from small, medium, and large cities in Japan and the United States. Using both subjective and objective measures, Study 1 demonstrated that Japanese scenes were more ambiguous and contained more elements than American scenes. Japanese scenes thus may encourage perception of the context more than American scenes. In Study 2, pictures of locations in cities were presented as primes, and participants' subsequent patterns of attention were measured. Both Japanese and American participants primed with Japanese scenes attended more to contextual information than did those primed with American scenes. These results provide evidence that culturally characteristic environments may afford distinctive patterns of perception.     

Sensitivity to criticism and theory of mind: A cross cultural study on Japanese and Italian children

Although recent studies have shown cross-cultural differences in theory of mind (ToM) between children in Western and Eastern cultures, little is known about cross-cultural differences pertaining to social correlates. The present research investigated cultural variations in the relationship between sensitivity to criticism and ToM. Japanese (n = 76) and Italian (n = 76) 6-year-olds completed a sensitivity-to-criticism task (either the teacher condition or the peer condition), second-order false-belief tasks, and a verbal ability test. The results replicated previous findings of an association between ability rating after teacher criticism and ToM in both countries. Cultural variation was found in emotional response and motivation after teacher, but nor peer, criticism. Japanese children responded to teacher criticism more positively than did Italian children. Moreover, Japanese children who failed the second-order false-belief task were more motivated after teacher criticism than were Italian children. These results are discussed in relation to differences in cultural factors.     

Feature and Configuration in Face Processing: Japanese Are More Configural Than Americans

Previous work suggests that Asians allocate more attention to configuration information than Caucasian Americans do. Yet this cultural variation has been found only with stimuli such as natural scenes and objects that require both feature‐ and configuration‐based processing. Here, we show that the cultural variation also exists in face perception—a domain that is typically viewed as configural in nature. When asked to identify a prototypic face for a set of disparate exemplars, Japanese were more likely than Caucasian Americans to use overall resemblance rather than feature matching. Moreover, in a speeded identity‐matching task, Japanese were more accurate than Americans in identifying the spatial configuration of features (e.g., eyes). Together, these findings underscore the robustness of culture’s influences on cognition.     

Insufficient augmentation of ambient GABA responsible for age-related cognitive deficit

Age-related degeneration of intracortical inhibition could underlie declines in cognitive function during senescence. Based on a hypothesis that a decrease in basal concentration of ambient (extrasynaptic) GABA with aging leads to depressing intracortical inhibition, we investigated how the basal concentration affects stimulus-evoked activity (as signal), ongoing-spontaneous activity (as noise) of neurons and their (signal-to-noise) ratio S/N. We simulated a neural network model equipped with a GABA transport system that regulates ambient GABA concentration in a neuronal activity-dependent manner. An increase in basal concentration augmented ambient GABA, increased GABA-mediated inhibitory current, and depressed ongoing-spontaneous activity while still keeping stimulus-evoked activity. This led to S/N improvement, for which it was necessary for the reversal potential of GABA transporter to be close to the resting potential of neurons. Above the resting potential, ongoing-spontaneous activity was predominantly enhanced due to excessive GABA-uptake from the extracellular space by transporters. Below the resting potential, stimulus-evoked activity was predominantly depressed, caused by excessive GABA-release. We suggest that the insufficient augmentation of ambient GABA due to a decrease in its basal concentration may be one of the possible causes of cognitive deficit with aging, increasing ongoing-spontaneous neuronal activity as noise. GABA transporter may contribute to improving S/N, provided that its reversal potential is close to the resting potential.     

Culturally contingent situated cognition: influencing other people fosters analytic perception in the United States but not in Japan

Interpersonal influence and interpersonal adjustment play crucial roles in structuring social interactions. However, not much is known about whether their consequences are culturally contingent. We hypothesized that in order to effectively influence others, people need to employ a perceptual style that serves their cultural imperative. Specifically, we predicted that in the United States, interpersonal influence fosters an analytic, context-independent perceptual style that helps people focus on their goal; however, in Japan, where the cultural imperative is to attend to other people and fit into social contexts, this pattern may be absent or reversed. In two studies, we tested this hypothesis by measuring interpersonal interactions (Study 1) and then by manipulating interpersonal interactions (Study 2). Overall, the findings support a culturally contingent situated-cognition approach, which highlights not only interpersonal underpinnings of perceptual styles but also the role that culture plays in ascribing meaning to interpersonal interactions.     

中药在心血管疾病中应用现状与反思

具有悠久历史的中医药在现代医学中有鲜明的时代特点。心血管疾病是现代社会严重威胁生命及健康的病患。本文总结分析了古老中药在现代心血管疾病中应用的现状,并深入分析其影响因素,从而提出扬长避短的未来心血管疾病应用中药的思路。     

Subjective value of risky foods for individual domestic chicks: a hierarchical Bayesian model

For animals to decide which prey to attack, the gain and delay of the food item must be integrated in a value function. However, the subjective value is not obtained by expected profitability when it is accompanied by risk. To estimate the subjective value, we examined choices in a cross-shaped maze with two colored feeders in domestic chicks. When tested by a reversal in food amount or delay, chicks changed choices similarly in both conditions (experiment 1). We therefore examined risk sensitivity for amount and delay (experiment 2) by supplying one feeder with food of fixed profitability and the alternative feeder with high- or low-profitability food at equal probability. Profitability varied in amount (groups 1 and 2 at high and low variance) or in delay (group 3). To find the equilibrium, the amount (groups 1 and 2) or delay (group 3) of the food in the fixed feeder was adjusted in a total of 18 blocks. The Markov chain Monte Carlo method was applied to a hierarchical Bayesian model to estimate the subjective value. Chicks undervalued the variable feeder in group 1 and were indifferent in group 2 but overvalued the variable feeder in group 3 at a population level. Re-examination without the titration procedure (experiment 3) suggested that the subjective value was not absolute for each option. When the delay was varied, the variable option was often given a paradoxically high value depending on fixed alternative. Therefore, the basic assumption of the uniquely determined value function might be questioned.     

Role of biological-motion information in recognition of facial expressions by young children

Data on the development of the perception of facial biological motion during preschool years are disproportionately scarce. We investigated the ability of preschoolers to recognise happy, angry, and surprised expressions, and eye-closing facial movements on the basis of facial biological motion. Children aged 4 years (n = 18) and 5-6 years (n = 19), and adults (n = 17) participated in a matching task, in which they were required to match the point-light displays of facial expressions to prototypic schematic images of facial expressions and facial movement. The results revealed that the ability to recognise facial expressions from biological motion emerges as early as the age of 4 years. This ability was evident for happy expressions at the age of 4 years; 5-6-year-olds reliably recognised surprised as well as happy expressions. The theoretical significances of these findings are discussed.