Responsible Reporting: Neuroimaging News in the Age of Responsible Research and Innovation

Besides offering opportunities in both clinical and non-clinical domains, the application of novel neuroimaging technologies raises pressing dilemmas. ‘Responsible Research and Innovation’ (RRI) aims to stimulate research and innovation activities that take ethical and social considerations into account from the outset. We previously identified that Dutch neuroscientists interpret “responsible innovation” as educating the public on neuroimaging technologies via the popular press. Their aim is to mitigate (neuro)hype, an aim shared with the wider emerging RRI community. Here, we present results of a media-analysis undertaken to establish whether the body of articles in the Dutch popular press presents balanced conversations on neuroimaging research to the public. We found that reporting was mostly positive and framed in terms of (healthcare) progress. There was rarely a balance between technology opportunities and limitations, and even fewer articles addressed societal or ethical aspects of neuroimaging research. Furthermore, neuroimaging metaphors seem to favour oversimplification. Current reporting is therefore more likely to enable hype than to mitigate it. How can neuroscientists, given their self-ascribed social responsibility, address this conundrum? We make a case for a collective and shared responsibility among neuroscientists, journalists and other stakeholders, including funders, committed to responsible reporting on neuroimaging research.     

The social affirmation use of social media as a motivator of collective action

The mobilizing potential of the internet has been widely recognized but also sharply criticized. We propose and test in two studies that the social affirmation use of social media motivates individuals for collective action to achieve social change. In Study 1, we surveyed participants of a university occupation and found that enduring participation was predicted by social affirmation use, mediated by group identification. In Study 2 we experimentally tested our hypothesis, the results of which confirmed that the social affirmation use of a forum (and in particular its interactive aspect) motivated individuals for collective action to achieve social change. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings for theory and research on the mobilizing potential of the internet.     

Testing the limits of tolerance: how intergroup anxiety amplifies negative and offensive responses to out-group-initiated contact

Three studies examine the amplifying effects of intergroup anxiety on individuals' negative and offensive responses to out-group-initiated contact. Because intergroup anxiety typically results in avoidance of the initiation of intergroup contact, these studies explored how intergroup anxiety affected individuals' interpretation of and responses to out-group-initiated contact. The authors hypothesized that intergroup anxiety amplifies individuals' threat appraisal of out-group-initiated contact as well as their feelings of anger and offensive action tendencies toward the out-group. Results showed consistent support for these hypotheses by demonstrating that intergroup anxiety amplified individuals' threat appraisal (Studies 2 and 3), anger (Studies 1-3), and offensive action tendencies toward the out-group (Study 2). Anger consistently predicted offensive action tendencies (Studies 2-3). Thus, intergroup anxiety decreased individuals' limits of tolerance by increasing their threat appraisal of out-group-initiated contact. The results are discussed in relation to theories of threat, emotion, and tolerance.     

I wish I were a warrior: the role of wishful identification in the effects of violent video games on aggression in adolescent boys

This study tested the hypothesis that violent video games are especially likely to increase aggression when players identify with violent game characters. Dutch adolescent boys with low education ability (N=112) were randomly assigned to play a realistic or fantasy violent or nonviolent video game. Next, they competed with an ostensible partner on a reaction time task in which the winner could blast the loser with loud noise through headphones (the aggression measure). Participants were told that high noise levels could cause permanent hearing damage. Habitual video game exposure, trait aggressiveness, and sensation seeking were controlled for. As expected, the most aggressive participants were those who played a violent game and wished they were like a violent character in the game. These participants used noise levels loud enough to cause permanent hearing damage to their partners, even though their partners had not provoked them. These results show that identifying with violent video game characters makes players more aggressive. Players were especially likely to identify with violent characters in realistic games and with games they felt immersed in.     

A longitudinal study on transactional relations between parental marital distress and adolescent emotional adjustment

Using a cross-lagged effect model with 3 waves of data from a 6-year longitudinal study with 3-year intervals, transactional relations between parental marital distress and adolescent emotional adjustment were examined. The sample consisted of 531 parent-adolescent dyads. Results showed that marital distress as reported by parents and emotional adjustment as reported by adolescents were reciprocally related in a transactional model over time. This was principally true for girls and for late adolescents and young adults. For older adolescent girls, an almost full transactional model was found, whereas associations between marital distress and emotional adjustment were less strong for younger girls and were absent for boys.     

Top-down influences make saccades deviate away: the case of endogenous cues

We tested a recent hypothesis suggesting that the eye deviates away from a location when top-down preparation can influence target selection. Participants had to make an eye movement to a peripheral target. Before the upcoming target, a central cue indicated the likely target location. Results show that when the target was presented at a location different from that indicated by the cue, eye movements to the target deviated away from the cued location. Because central cues are under top-down control, the present results are in line with a determining role of top-down preparation on saccade direction. These results contrast with the findings reported in a similar paradigm executed with hand movements, in which the movements were mostly initiated in the direction of the cued location. Therefore, we conclude that inhibitory effects typically observed when executing eye movements may not be observed when executing hand movements in similar conditions.     

Mandrills learn two-day time intervals in a naturalistic foraging situation

Animal Cognition - Primates display high efficiency in finding food in complex environments. Knowledge that many plant species produce fruit simultaneously, can help primates to anticipate fruit...     

Social Network Sites,Individual Social Capital and Happiness

Can online social contacts replace the importance of real-life social connections in our pursuit of happiness? With the growing use of social network sites (SNSs), attention has been increasingly drawn to this topic. Our study empirically examines the effect of SNS use on happiness for different subgroups of young adults. More specifically, we examine whether the effect of SNSs on happiness is moderated by individual social capital, as measured in terms of frequency of social contacts and feelings of loneliness. Using Dutch data from the Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences panel, we provide robust empirical evidence that there is, on average, no relationship between the amount of time spent on SNSs and happiness. However, we find a negative association between the numbers of hours spent on SNS and happiness for SNS users who feel socially disconnected and lonely. The results hold when we control for socio-demographic characteristics, trust, hours spent on other Internet sites and household income. Hence, SNSs are not a substitute for real-life social connections and, at most, complement them.     

How Does More Attention to Subjective Well-Being Affect Subjective Well-Being?

There is an ongoing debate as to whether pursuing happiness is beneficial for people’s subjective well-being (SWB). To address this question, we tested whether attention to SWB – measured by participation in SWB surveys – is related to experienced SWB in two longitudinal studies. The initial study was conducted from November to December 2013 (N?=?129), and the replication study, three years later from November to December 2016 (N?=?120). The studies include two groups: one group (the control group) answered three SWB surveys over 4 weeks, and the other group (the experimental group) followed the same procedure but additionally tracked their SWB in detail using the experience sampling method four times a day and the day reconstruction method once a day using a smartphone application for two weeks to heighten their attention to their SWB. Both studies show higher SWB scores at later measurements compared to the first ones.