Brain-Injured Footballers,Voluntary Choice and Social Goods. A Reply to Corlett

ABSTRACT

In this essay, we respond to Angelo Corlett’s criticism of our paper ‘Ethics, Brain Injuries, and Sports: Prohibition, Reform, and Prudence’. To do so, first, we revisit certain assumptions and arguments Corlett makes concerning intercollegiate football and brain injuries in his 2014 paper ‘Should intercollegiate football be eliminated?’. Second, we identify and criticize two key elements in his response regarding (a) ‘luck egalitarianism’, and (b) ‘public goods’. We conclude by reaffirming our critical reading of Corlett’s original 2014 paper and by identifying further elements (i) luck and the nature of individual responsibility; and (ii) the nature of sports as public rather than merely private goods, that he would have to address for his latter 2018 position to hold true.     

No Reasons to Believe the False

I argue that if there are nondisabled reasons to believe p, then there cannot be nondisabled reasons to believe something incompatible with p. I first defend a restricted version of the view, which applies only to situations where the relevant agent has complete evidence. Then, I argue for a generalized version of the view, which holds regardless of the agent's evidence. As a related result, I show that, given plausible assumptions, there cannot be nondisabled reasons to believe something false.     

Self‐Report and Psychophysiological Responses to Fear Appeals

This study was designed to assess the relationship between self‐report and psychophysiological responses to fear appeals and behavioral changes elicited by these. Ninety‐two subjects watched one of four messages that varied in level of threat (high vs. low) and efficacy (high vs. low). Concomitantly, psychophysiological measures (heart rate and skin conductance) were registered. Perceived threat and efficacy varied according to the characteristics of the message. High‐threat messages elicited significantly different levels of autonomic arousal than low‐threat messages. Following of behavioral recommendation was higher among subjects who were exposed to the high threat / high efficacy stimulus, those who reported high perceived threat, and for those who showed an autonomic response pattern related to the facilitation of attentional processes.     

Color at the point of sale: Psychological and communicative implications

The environment that surrounds a consumer when they are at a point of sale can influence them both psychologically and communicatively. In this sense, the study arises from the need to discover the capacity of influence that colors of the components of the commercial establishment (wall, floor, ceiling, and furniture) have. The aim is to determine whether these factors influence the psychological level (feeling of pleasantness, calmness, etc.) and the communicative experience received in stores. The quasi-experimental methodology made it possible to study the impact of the independent variables (colors of the different components) on the dependent variables (psychological and communicative). For this purpose, two methods of measurement were constructed: a tool for the analysis of commercial establishments which allowed to establish patterns and a reception protocol capable of measuring both levels of influence of components and colors, by means of a reception test comprising of Level I (psychological) and Level II (communicative). This survey was applied to a total sample of 315 subjects. Overall, the study makes it possible to define which architectural components and colors stores should have in order to exert a certain perceptual influence on the subject. In general terms, this study reflects how the color of the different components of the space can influence the subject's primary perception of the establishment, with respect to the feeling of pleasantness, comfort, stimulation, calmness, security, spaciousness, formality, and warmth, as well as the perception of the quantity and quality of the information received and overall satisfaction and confidence.     

Short-term memory reactivation of a weak CS–US association promotes long-term memory persistence in conditioned odor aversion

In conditioned odor aversion (COA), the association of a tasteless odorized solution (the conditioned stimulus [CS]) with an intraperitoneal injection of LiCl (the unconditioned stimulus [US[), which produces visceral malaise, results in its future avoidance. The strength of this associative memory is mainly dependent on two parameters, that is, the strength of the US and the interstimuli interval (ISI). In rats, COA has been observed only with ISIs of ≤15 min and LiCl (0.15 M) doses of 2.0% of bodyweight, when tested 48 h after acquisition (long-term memory [LTM]). However, we previously reported a robust aversion in rats trained with ISIs up to 60 min when tested 4 h after acquisition (short-term memory [STM]). Since memories get reactivated during retrieval, in the current study we hypothesized that testing for STM would reactivate this COA trace, strengthening its LTM. For this, we compared the LTM of rats trained with long ISIs or low doses of LiCl initially tested for STM with that of rats tested for LTM only. Interestingly, rats conditioned under parameters sufficient to produce STM, but not LTM, showed a reliable LTM when first tested for STM. These observations suggest that under suboptimal training conditions, such as long ISIs or low US intensities, a CS–US association is established but requires reactivation in the short-term in order to persist in the long-term.

The dynamic and malleable nature of memories is a well-studied phenomenon. Traditionally, for memory formation to occur, a set of processes collectively known as consolidation are thought to be needed in order to stabilize memories, making them susceptible to modification during this period (Dudai et al. 2015). More recently a slightly distinct theory, known as memory integration, was proposed according to which memories are rapidly formed during learning without the need for consolidation, but any relevant information around the event can be integrated modifying them (Gisquet-Verrier and Riccio 2019). Common to both theories though, is that memories alternate between an inactive and an active state and modifications can mostly occur during the active state, which lasts for some time after learning, or during its reactivation due to retrieval (Lee et al. 2017; Albo and Gräff 2018; Gisquet-Verrier and Riccio 2019). Thus, memory malleability is explained either because consolidation can be altered or because additional information can be integrated with the initial memory (Bailey et al. 1996; Dudai 2004; Wixted 2004; Alberini et al. 2006; Lee et al. 2008, 2017; McGaugh and Roozendaal 2009; Roesler and Schröder 2011; Dudai et al. 2015; Nader 2015; Crossley et al. 2019; Gisquet-Verrier and Riccio 2019).In conditioned odor aversion (COA), an odorized tasteless solution (conditioned stimulus, CS) whose ingestion is followed by gastrointestinal malaise (unconditioned stimulus, US) is rejected in future encounters (conditioned response, CR). In most COA studies, a robust aversion has been observed only when the interstimulus interval (ISI) is ∼5 min, and no significant aversion can be seen when the ISI is >15 min (Hankins et al. 1973; Palmerino et al. 1980; Ferry et al. 1995, 1996; Ferry and di Scala 1997; Ferry et al. 2006; Chapuis et al. 2007). This observation has been attributed to a short-lasting memory of the odor that becomes unavailable for its association with the US after ISI >15 min. However, in all these instances the CR was measured 48 h after conditioning (LTM test), leaving up the possibility that CS–US association was formed but somehow did not last till the long-term. In keeping with this possibility, we previously reported a significant aversion during a test performed 4 h after conditioning (i.e., STM test) in rats trained with ISIs up to 60 min, three times longer than previously described (Tovar-Díaz et al. 2011). The LTM, however, was not tested so no further insight was provided regarding its persistence due to STM reactivation.Thus, in the current paper we hypothesized that a STM test would reactivate the initial memory, allowing it to further consolidate/integrate the information and to persist in the LTM. To test this possibility, we trained independent groups of rats with reduced US intensities or prolonged ISIs in a standard two-bottle choice COA paradigm and tested them twice at 4 and 48 h after conditioning. Our findings suggest that COA takes place under milder US and longer ISIs than previously thought and reactivating this memory during the STM test promotes its persistence in the LTM test.