Brand (in)fidelity: When Flirting with the Competition Strengthens Brand Relationships

We document the existence and consequences of brand flirting: a short‐lived experience in which a consumer engages with and/or indulges in the alluring qualities of a brand without committing to it. We propose that brand flirting is exciting, and that when consumers flirt with a brand other than their typically preferred brand in the same product category, they can transfer this excitement to their preferred brand—resulting in even greater love and desire for it. Consistent with this conceptual account, we demonstrate that this brand flirting effect is mediated by excitement. Moreover, the brand flirting effect is most likely to emerge under conditions that facilitate arousal transfer: when consumers are highly committed to their preferred brand, and when the brand with which consumers flirt is similar to their preferred brand.     

Gaze following in multiagent contexts: Evidence for a quorum-like principle

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - Research shows that humans spontaneously follow another individual’s gaze. However, little remains known on how they respond when multiple gaze cues...     

Variability in the “stereotyped” prey capture sequence of male cuttlefish (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Sepia officinalis</Emphasis>) could relate to personality differences

Studies of animal personality have shown consistent between-individual variation in behaviour in many social and non-social contexts, but hunting behaviour has been overlooked. Prey capture sequences, especially in invertebrates, are supposed to be quite invariant. In cuttlefish, the attack includes three components: attention, positioning, and seizure. The previous studies indicated some variability in these components and we quantified it under the hypothesis that it could relate to personality differences. We, therefore, analysed predation sequences of adult cuttlefish to test their association with personality traits in different contexts. Nineteen subjects were first exposed to an “alert” and a “threat” test and then given a live prey, for 10 days. Predation sequences were scored for components of the attack, locomotor and postural elements, body patterns, and number of successful tentacle ejections (i.e. seizure). PCA analysis of predatory patterns identified three dimensions accounting for 53.1%, 15.9%, and 9.6% of the variance and discriminating individuals based on “speed in catching prey”, “duration of attack behaviour”, and “attention to prey”. Predation rate, success rate, and hunting time were significantly correlated with the first, second, and third PCA factors, respectively. Significant correlations between capture patterns and responsiveness in the alert and threat tests were found, highlighting a consistency of prey capture patterns with measures of personality in other contexts. Personality may permeate even those behaviour patterns that appear relatively invariant.     

Response to Discussants

In my response to discussants I refer to some of the many interesting points raised by them. I then focus and discuss the more critical ones, from a theoretical point of view and taking into account contextual factors related to the practice of Relational Psychoanalysis in Chile. From my point of view and experience, for example, psychiatric consultation and eventual medication during analysis may be considered in a supplementary logic rather than a dichotomous one. I also address other issues related to active listening and involvement, differentiating it from passivity and submissiveness. Discussants seem to agree around the main contributing factors in the patient’s growth.     

Newborns’ attention is driven by the translational movement

The present study investigated whether 2-day-old newborns are able to discriminate two translating meaningless Point-Light Displays (PLD) videos, in which the shape of one of them changes compared to that of the other along the trajectory, independently from movement kinematics, and if this ability is present both when stimuli differed at the end or at the beginning of the movement. To manipulate the instant in which along the movement the difference between stimuli was evident, and to maintain every unspecific dissimilarity possibly determining the preference, videos were played in a loop either forward or backwards. In Experiment 1, PLD stimuli moved with natural accelerated-decelerated kinematics; in Experiment 2 they moved at constant velocity. Four groups of newborns were submitted to the preferential looking technique experiments. Results showed that newborns looked longer at natural kinematics and that, irrespective of the type of kinematics, they discriminated the two stimuli only when videos were played forward, that is, only when stimuli differed at the end of the movement. These data suggest that, independently from kinematics, movement translational components induce newborns to allocate attention at the end of the observed movement. Given the strict link between attention and eye movements, we suggest that this effect may bootstrap the system and give rise to proactive gaze, the typical gaze behaviour present during executed and observed goal-directed actions.     

Rethinking the concepts of ‘local or global processors’: evidence from Williams syndrome,Down syndrome,and Autism Spectrum Disorders

Both Williams syndrome (WS) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have been characterized as preferentially processing local information, whereas in Down syndrome (DS) the reported tendency is to process stimuli globally. We designed a cross‐syndrome, cross‐task comparison to reveal similarities and differences in local/global processing in these disorders. Our in‐depth study compared local/global processing across modalities (auditory‐verbal/visuo‐spatial) and levels of processing (high/low) in the three syndromes. Despite claims in the literature, participants with ASD or WS failed to show a consistent local processing bias, while those with DS failed to show a reliable global processing bias. Depending on the nature of the stimuli and the task, both local and global processing biases were evident in all three neurodevelopmental disorders. These findings indicate that individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders cannot simply be characterized as local or global processors.     

The generation and maintenance of visual mental images: evidence from image type and aging

Imagery is a multi-componential process involving different mental operations. This paper addresses whether separate processes underlie the generation, maintenance and transformation of mental images or whether these cognitive processes rely on the same mental functions. We also examine the influence of age on these mental operations for independence of components. In Experiment 1, younger (22 years) and older (69 years) adults generated and maintained general, specific, contextual and autobiographical visual mental images evoked in response to concrete nouns. The older adults had longer generation times, but there was no difference between the two groups on maintenance. Both groups had shortest generation and maintenance times for general images, whereas only the older adults took longest in generating autobiographical images. In Experiment 2, the total maintenance time and number of transformations for each type of image were compared in another group of younger and older adults. General images were less transformed and more subject to decay for both groups. The older people maintained the autobiographical mental images for longest compared to other image types. In conclusion, image generation, maintenance and transformation seem to be differently affected by type of image and aging, supporting a model of their cognitive segregation.