Trait gambling cognitions predict near-miss experiences and persistence in laboratory slot machine gambling

'Near-miss' outcomes (i.e., unsuccessful outcomes close to the jackpot) have been shown to promote gambling persistence. Although there have been recent advances in understanding the neurobiological responses to gambling near-misses, the psychological mechanisms involved in these events remain unclear. The goal of this study was to explore whether trait-related gambling cognitions (e.g., beliefs that certain skills or rituals may help to win in games of chance) influence behavioural and subjective responses during laboratory gambling. Eighty-four individuals, who gambled at least monthly, performed a simplified slot machine task that delivered win, near-miss, and full-miss outcomes across 30 mandatory trials followed by a persistence phase in extinction. Participants completed the Gambling-Related Cognitions Scale (GRCS; Raylu & Oei, 2004), as well as measures of disordered gambling (South Oaks Gambling Screen [SOGS]; Lesieur & Blume, 1987) and social desirability bias (DS-36; Tournois, Mesnil, & Kop, 2000). Skill-oriented gambling cognitions (illusion of control, fostered by internal factors such as reappraisal of losses, or perceived outcome sequences), but not ritual-oriented gambling cognitions (illusion of control fostered by external factors such as luck or superstitions), predicted higher subjective ratings of desire to play after near-miss outcomes. In contrast, perceived lack of self-control predicted persistence on the slot machine task. These data indicate that the motivational impact of near-miss outcomes is related to specific gambling cognitions pertaining to skill acquisition, supporting the idea that gambling near-misses foster the illusion of control.     

Do extraverts get more bang for the buck? Refining the affective-reactivity hypothesis of extraversion

One of the most robust observations in personality and emotion research is the finding that extraverts are happier than introverts. Some theorists have attributed this to differential reactivity of the brain reward system, which is central to many biologically inspired models of extraversion. This affective-reactivity hypothesis, which suggests that extraverts should be more susceptible to the induction of positive affect, has so far received very mixed empirical support. In this article, we consider a more biologically plausible account of extraverts' affective-reactivity. Over 5 experiments, we demonstrate that extraverts show greater affective-reactivity only in response to clearly appetitive stimuli and situations (e.g., where rewards are being pursued). Conversely, after merely pleasant stimuli and situations (without any reward-approach element), extraverts and introverts respond similarly. We also show that it is specifically activated affect (e.g., feelings of alertness), rather than pleasantly valenced affect (e.g., feelings of contentment), that characterizes the affective-reactivity of extraverts. Such reactions may potentially facilitate the reward-seeking behavior associated with extraversion, but they seem unlikely to explain the broadly happy disposition of extraverts.     

Semantic predictability eliminates the transposed-letter effect

Semantic predictability facilitates word recognition during language processing. One possible explanation for this facilitation is that highly specific predictions generated online during language processing preactivate some features of upcoming words. To explore whether, how, and when these predictions affect visual word recognition, in the two experiments reported here we investigated the influence of semantic predictability on transposed-letter priming. In order to do so, a paradigm that combines self-paced word-by-word reading with masked priming was developed. Transposed-letter priming occurred in nonconstraining contexts but not in constraining contexts, indicating that readers use context to make predictions about both letter identity and position in upcoming words, and that these predictions have an early influence on visual word recognition.     

Maltreated Children’s Social Understanding and Empathy: A Preliminary Exploration of Foster Carers’ Perspectives

Previous research suggests that parental abuse and neglect can have adverse effects on children’s peer relationships and self-perceptions. Emerging theoretical and empirical work suggests that children’s social understanding and empathy could play a key role as mediators of these effects, but we have little knowledge about the viability of such a model in explaining the everyday experiences of children in care. Thus, in order to gain an in-depth insight into the potentiality of this conceptual model, a focus group and detailed semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with a total of 10 foster carers. First, a thematic analysis revealed that problematic self-perceptions and peer relationships were indeed commonplace. Crucially, in line with our theoretical model, carers readily identified children’s difficulties with social understanding and empathy as relevant explanations for their socio-emotional problems. Carers reported using a variety of strategies to help children, but expressed a need for a clearer training package of practical strategies that could be used to encourage social understanding and empathy in children, with the aim of improving their social relationships.     

Gut feelings and the reaction to perceived inequity: The interplay between bodily responses, regulation, and perception shapes the rejection of unfair offers on the ultimatum game

It has been robustly demonstrated using the ultimatum game (UG) that individuals frequently reject unfair financial offers even if this results in a personal cost. One influential hypothesis for these rejections is that they reflect an emotional reaction to unfairness that overrides purely economic decision processes. In the present study, we examined whether the interplay between bodily responses, bodily regulation, and bodily perception ("interoception") contributes to emotionally driven rejection behavior on the UG. Offering support for bodily feedback theories, interoceptive accuracy moderated the relationship between changes in electrodermal activity to proposals and the behavioral rejection of such offers. Larger electrodermal responses to rejected relative to accepted offers predicted greater rejection in those with accurate interoception but were unrelated to rejection in those with poor interoception. Although cardiovascular responses during the offer period were unrelated to rejection rates, greater resting heart rate variability (linked to trait emotion regulation capacity) predicted reduced rejection rates of offers. These findings help clarify individual differences in reactions to perceived unfairness, support previous emotion regulation deficit accounts of rejection behavior, and suggest that the perception and regulation of bodily based emotional biasing signals ("gut feelings") partly shape financial decision making on the UG.     

Attachment and well-being: The mediating effects of psychological needs satisfaction within the coach–athlete and parent–athlete relational contexts

ObjectivesGrounded in attachment theory and self-determination theory, this study aimed to examine whether basic needs satisfaction is a mechanism by which athletes' insecure attachment styles are associated with levels of well-being.MethodAthletes (N = 430) from a range of sports and competition levels completed a multi-section questionnaire to assess the main variables of the study.ResultsBootstrap mediation analysis revealed that athletes' perceptions of satisfaction of basic psychological needs generally mediated the association between their attachment styles and well-being. Moreover, the indirect effect of athletes' experience of the satisfaction of basic needs on well-being was greater within the parental relational context than within the coaching relational context.ConclusionsOverall, the findings from the study highlight that the integration of attachment and self-determination theories can promote understanding of relational process in sport.     

Incidental memory for parts of scenes from eye movements

Incidental memory for parts of scenes was examined in two search experiments and one memory control experiment. Eye movements were recorded during the search experiments and used to select gaze-contingent sections from search scenes for a surprise memory recognition task. Results from the recognition task showed incidental memory was better for sections viewed longer and with multiple fixations. Sections not fixated during search were still recognized above chance as well. Differences in sections did not affect memory performance in a control experiment when viewing time was held constant. These results show that memory for parts of scenes can occur incidentally during search and encoding of tested sections is better with longer viewing time and with multiple fixations.     

Why Does It Feel Good To Act Like an Extravert?

Research into enacted personality provides a novel perspective on the tendency for extraverted individuals to experience high levels of positive affect. Several studies now show that behaving in an extraverted way – thereby enacting an extraverted ‘personality state’ – is sufficient for elevating levels of positive affect. A question that remains, however, is why extraverted behavior has this robust impact on affective experience. In this paper, I consider several potential explanatory mechanisms for this phenomenon, including reward‐ and goal‐related processes, as well as physical/bodily processes underpinning affective experience. Future research addressing these explanations may facilitate greater understanding of this intriguing phenomenon, along with its potential theoretical and practical implications.     

Anti-Luminosity: Four Unsuccessful Strategies

Adam Morton, Stephen de Wijze, Hillel Steiner, and Eve Garrard have defended the view that evil action is qualitatively distinct from ordinary wrongdoing. By this, they do not that mean that evil actions feel different to ordinary wrongs, but that they have motives or effects that are not possessed to any degree by ordinary wrongs. Despite their professed intentions, Morton and de Wijze both offer accounts of evil action that fail to identify a clear qualitative difference between evil and ordinary wrongdoing. In contrast, both Steiner's and Garrard's accounts of evil do point to qualitative distinctions between kinds of action, but it is implausible that either account correctly characterizes evil. The most plausible accounts maintain that evil actions have a necessary connection to extreme harms, and this suggests that evil is not qualitatively distinct from ordinary wrongdoing.     

Causal Inference from Descriptions of Experimental and Non-Experimental Research: Public Understanding of Correlation-Versus-Causation

The human tendency to conflate correlation with causation has been lamented by various scientists (Kida, 2006; Stanovich, 2009), and vivid examples of it can be found in both the media and peer-reviewed literature. However, there is little systematic data on the extent to which individuals conflate correlation with causation. In three experiments, we presented people with one of four research vignettes generated from the combination of two independent variables: whether the vignette described an experimental or non-experimental design, and whether it revealed a positive or negative association. Upon reading their vignette, participants selected inferences that could be drawn from the findings. Participants drew causal inferences from non-experimental vignettes as often as they did from experimental vignettes, and more frequently for causal statements and directions of association that fit with intuitive notions than for those that did not. We discuss our findings in relation to other biases in human thinking.