Nonspatial attentional capture by previously rewarded scene semantics

Recent research has shown that reward influences visual perception and cognition in a way that is distinct from the well-documented goal-directed mechanisms. In the current study we explored how task-irrelevant stimulus-reward associations affect processing of stimuli when attention is constrained and reward no longer delivered. During a training phase, participants performed a choice game, exposing them to different reward schedules for different semantic categories of natural scene pictures. In a separate test session in which no additional reward was provided, the differentially rewarded scene categories were used as task-irrelevant non-targets in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task. Participants performed a detection task on a previously non-rewarded target category. Results show that participants' sensitivity index (d′) for target detection decreased as a function of whether the reward was coupled to the distractor category during training. The semantic category of natural scenes associated with high reward caused more interference in target detection than the semantic category associated with a low reward. The same was found when new, unseen distractor pictures of the same semantic categories were used. The present findings suggest that reward can be selectively associated with high level scene semantics. We argue that learned stimulus-reward associations persistently bias perceptual processing independently of spatial shifts in attention and the immediate prospect of reward.     

From Unemployment to Employment and Back: Professional Trajectories and Well-Being

Applied Research in Quality of Life - So far, only few studies have considered different aspects of well-being in studying losing or gaining employment. We examined life satisfaction, mental...     

On the origin of worries about modern health hazards: Experimental evidence for a conjoint influence of media reports and personality traits

Objective: Worries about health threatening effects of potential health hazards of modern life (e.g. electric devices and pollution) represent a growing phenomenon in Western countries. Yet, little is known about the causes of this growing special case of affective risk perceptions termed Modern Health Worries (MHW). The purpose of this study is to examine a possible role of biased media reports in the formation of MHW.

Design: In two experiments, we investigated whether typical television reports affect MHW. In Study 1, 130 participants were randomly assigned to a film on idiopathic environmental intolerance (IEI) or a control film about cystic fibrosis. In Study 2, 82 participants were randomly assigned to either a film on the dangers of electromagnetic fields or a control condition.

Main outcome measures: Increases in MHW after sensational media reports.

Results: In Study 1, only participants high on the personality trait of absorption revealed increased MHW after watching the IEI film. In Study 2, specifically worries about radiation were found to be elevated after watching the film on the dangers of electromagnetic fields compared to the control film.

Conclusion: The results of both studies reveal a significant and specific influence of sensational short mass media reports on MHW. The influence of potential moderators such as absorption remains to be clarified.     

Somatic symptom reporting has a dimensional latent structure: Results from taxometric analyses

Medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) are one of the key features of somatoform disorders. Although MUS are currently treated as both categorical (in terms of the diagnosis of somatoform disorders) and dimensional (in terms of quantitative measures of somatization/somatic symptom reporting), little is known about the empirical latent structure of MUS. Using taxometric analyses, the latent structure of somatic symptom reporting was analyzed with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-15 in two student samples (N = 782 and N = 2,577) and a primary care sample (N = 519). We applied three popular taxometric methods: Maximum Eigenvalue (MAXEIG), Mean Above Minus Below a Cut (MAMBAC) and Latent-Mode (L-Mode). Simulation data were created to evaluate the appropriateness of the data for our analyses and to create the comparison curve fit index (CCFI) as an objective outcome measure. The results of all taxometric methods in any of the three data sets were in favor of a dimensional solution (CCFI < .50). Simulated taxonic and dimensional datasets differed substantially and the samples were appropriate for taxometric analysis. Accordingly, the latent structure of somatization/somatic symptom reporting as assessed by the PHQ-15 is dimensional in both primary care and student samples. Implications regarding the practical application as well as models of etiology and pathogenesis of somatic symptom reporting are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Using hippocampal-striatal loops for spatial navigation and goal-directed decision-making

The hippocampus plays a central role in spatial representation, declarative and episodic memory. In this area, so-called place cells possess high spatial selectivity, firing preferentially when the individual is within a small area of the environment. Interestingly, it has been found in rats that these cells can be active also when the animal is outside the location or context of their corresponding place field producing so-called "forward sweeps". These typically occur at decision points during task execution and seem to be utilized, among other things, for the evaluation of potential alternative paths. Anticipatory firing is also found in the ventral striatum, a brain area that is strongly interconnected with the hippocampus and is known to encode value and reward. In this paper, we describe a biologically based computational model of the hippocampal-ventral striatum circuit that implements a goal-directed mechanism of choice, with the hippocampus primarily involved in the mental simulation of possible navigation paths and the ventral striatum involved in the evaluation of the associated reward expectancies. The model is validated in a navigation task in which a rat is placed in a complex maze with multiple rewarding sites. We show that the rat mentally activates place cells to simulate paths, estimate their value, and make decisions, implementing two essential processes of model-based reinforcement learning algorithms of choice: look-ahead prediction and the evaluation of predicted states.     

A whole lot of misery: Adorno's negative Aristotelianism—Replies to Allen,Celikates, and O'Connor

Can one both be an Aristotelian in ethics and a negativist, whereby the latter involves subscribing to the view that the good cannot be known in our social context but that ethical guidance is nonetheless possible in virtue of a pluralist conception of the bad (of which this context and human history provide us ample knowledge)? Moreover, is it possible to combine Aristotelianism with a thoroughly historical outlook? I have argued that such combinations are, indeed, possible, and that we can find an example of them in Adorno's work. In this paper, I reply to three critics (Allen, Celikates and O'Connor) who cast doubt on this proposal. I also reply to other concerns they raise, regarding immanent critique, negativism, the role of social theory in Adorno's work, and the danger of being co‐opted. I stress the holism of Adorno's position, and, amid some more deflationary moves, insist on the distinctiveness of the Aristotelian position that results.     

Efficacy of an internet-based intervention for burnout: a randomized controlled trial in the German working population

Background and Objectives: Internet-based interventions are a viable treatment option for various mental problems. However, their effects on the burnout syndrome yielded mixed results. In this paper, we examine the efficacy of a structured and therapist-guided internet intervention, based on solution-focused and cognitive-behavioral therapy, for individuals with symptoms of burnout.

Design: Two-arm, Internet-based, randomized, wait-list controlled trial (RCT).

Methods: Participants were recruited through in-house events and online advertising. They were randomly assigned to the intervention or a wait-list. Group comparison was conducted three months after randomization. Outcomes were the burnout level according to the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-GS) and the levels of depression, anxiety and stress according to the DASS-21.

Results: Thirty-nine participants were included in the trial; 36 (92.3%) took part at the 3-months-follow-up. Intention-to-treat analyses revealed significant group differences in favor of the intervention group in depression (d?=?0.66), cynicism (d?=?0.87) and personal accomplishment (d?=?0.75).

Conclusions: The intervention helped ameliorate symptoms of work-related stress and burnout. Although limited by a small sample size, the study suggests that the program provides effective support for affected individuals. However, further studies with bigger sample sizes should be conducted to examine the effects of such programs more precisely.