Sex and personality traits influence the difference between time taken to tell the truth or lie

A necessary component of lying is the withholding of a truthful response. Hence, lying may be conceptualised as involving the inhibition of an initial, automatic response (the truth) while an alternative response (the lie) is generated. We investigated response times to visually and auditorially presented questions probing recent episodic memory, when subjects answered questions truthfully or with lies. We also investigated whether the absolute response times or difference between time taken to tell the truth or lie was affected by participants' sex or correlated with personality scores on the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised-Short Scale. 61 subjects answered the same 36 questions five times. The first time involved answering all questions truthfully, which allowed post hoc analysis of whether subjects had been consistent in their lying and truth-telling on the following four occasions. These latter four occasions involved answering all questions (one each with 'truth' or 'lie') for both types of presentation. Regardless of type of presentation or subjects' sex, subjects took approximately 200 msec. longer to lie than to tell the truth in response to each question (p<.001). There were significant correlations between truthful response times to auditorially presented questions and Eysenck 'Neuroticism' scores. There was also a significant correlation for women between mean individual lie-minus-truth time to auditorially presented questions and Eysenck 'Lie' scores. These preliminary data suggest that response time is systematically longer when telling a lie and that personality variables may play a part in this process.     

Seeing what we know and understand: How knowledge shapes perception

Expertise in object recognition, as in bird watching or X-ray specialization, is based on extensive perceptual experience and in-depth semantic knowledge. Although it has been shown that rich perceptual experience shapes elementary perception and higher level discrimination and identification, little is known about the influence of in-depth semantic knowledge on object perception and identification. By means of recording event-related brain potentials (ERPs), we show that the amount of knowledge acquired about initially unfamiliar objects modulates visual ERP components already 120 msec after object presentation, and causes gradual variations of activity in similar brain systems within a later timeframe commonly associated with meaning access. When perceptual analysis is made more difficult by blurring object pictures, knowledge has an even stronger effect on perceptual analysis and facilitates recognition. These findings demonstrate that in-depth knowledge not only affects involuntary semantic memory access, but also shapes perception by penetrating early visual processes traditionally held to be immune to such influences.     

Rewards and Creativity: Past,Present, and Future

Research on the effects of rewards on creativity has resulted in hundreds of empirical studies and several reviews of the reward–creativity relationship (RCR). Most reviews are retrospective in nature. They have quantitatively summarised and integrated previous research findings, but have largely overlooked the need for a theoretical framework to guide future research. The current systematic review of this literature intends to bridge this gap, based on the findings of 329 papers and book chapters. Our review summarises the theoretical developments in reward–creativity (RC) research, and classifies the literature in three distinct phases, i.e. the emergence of the cognitive perspective; behavioural rebuttal, and convergence. The paper identifies three important gaps in the existing RC literature: (1) the moderating effects of individual, group, organisational, and national‐level factors; (2) the mediating role of cognitive and affective states; and (3) the lack of consideration of creativity as a multidimensional construct. Based on these gaps, the paper presents a four‐factor framework to guide future RC research. It identifies potential moderators and mediators of the RCR, and draws attention to creativity as a multidimensional construct.     

Freedom and Happiness in Nations: A Research Synthesis

Freedom is highly valued, but there are limits to the amount of freedom a society can allow its members. This begs the question of how much freedom is too much. The answers to that question differ across political cultures and are typically based on ideological argumentation. In this paper, we consider the compatibility of freedom and happiness in nations by taking stock of the research findings on that matter, gathered in the World Database of Happiness. We find that freedom and happiness are positively correlated in contemporary nations. The pattern of correlation differs somewhat across cultures and aspects of freedom. We found no pattern of declining happiness returns, which suggests that freedom has not passed its maximum in the freest countries.     

Acceptability of,and Information Needs Regarding,Next-Generation Sequencing in People Tested for Hereditary Cancer: A Qualitative Study

Next generation sequencing (NGS) for patients at risk of hereditary cancer syndromes can also identify non-cancer related mutations, as well as variants of unknown significance. This study aimed to determine what benefits and shortcomings patients perceive in relation to NGS, as well as their interest and information preferences in regards to such testing. Eligible patients had previously received inconclusive results from clinical mutation testing for cancer susceptibility. Semi-structured telephone interviews were subjected to qualitative analysis guided by the approach developed by Miles and Huberman. The majority of the 19 participants reported they would be interested in panel/genomic testing. Advantages identified included that it would enable better preparation and allow implementation of individualized preventative strategies, with few disadvantages mentioned. Almost all participants said they would want all results, not just those related to their previous diagnosis. Participants felt that a face-to-face discussion supplemented by an information booklet would be the best way to convey information and achieve informed consent. All participants wanted their information stored and reviewed in accordance with new developments. Although the findings indicate strong interest among these individuals, it seems that the consent process, and the interpretation and communication of results will be areas that will require revision to meet the needs of patients.     

Islamic Considerations on the Application of Patient’s Autonomy in End-of-Life Decision

Journal of Religion and Health - In end-of-life situation, the need for patient’s preference comes into the picture with the intention of guiding physicians in the direction of patient care....     

Is Grit Hurting You? The Dark Side of Psychological Resources in Goal Pursuit

This article presents a study of the curvilinear role of psychological resources during goal striving through an interactive model linking work goal progress to a valued resource. Specifically, we explore the nonlinear relationship of grit with work goal progress. Additionally, we test the moderating role of perceived organizational support (POS) for this relationship. We hypothesized that an employee’s goal pursuit is not merely contingent on the excessive availability of the selected resources but instead might be an outcome of interaction between personal resources and the environment. Our sample comprises 293 university professors working in the United States who completed questionnaires at two time points. The study findings confirm the curvilinear role of grit in predicting work goal progress. Furthermore, the moderating role of POS on the nonlinear relationship between grit and work goal progress is confirmed to be significant. We discuss the theoretical implications for industry concerning performance and self-regulation based on our findings.     

Investigating the interplay between semantic and phonological distractor effects in picture naming

In this paper, we investigate the interplay between phonological facilitation and semantic interference effects in picture naming. We use a double distractor variant of the classic picture-word interference paradigm to investigate whether the reported interaction between these effects is dependent on the two types of related information being presented by the same distractor word or not. While prior studies using single mixed distractors such as pigeon for the target PIG have reported an interaction between phonological facilitation and semantic interference, we find additivity when the two types of related information come from two different distractor words. Possible implications of this result for how activation is transmitted within the speech production system are discussed.     

Phonological encoding is not contingent on semantic feature retrieval: an electrophysiological study on object naming

In the present study, the authors examined with event-related brain potentials whether phonological encoding in picture naming is mediated by basic semantic feature retrieval or proceeds independently. In a manual 2-choice go/no-go task the choice response depended on a semantic classification (animal vs. object) and the execution decision was contingent on a classification of name phonology (vowel vs. consonant). The introduction of a semantic task mixing procedure allowed for selectively manipulating the speed of semantic feature retrieval. Serial and parallel models were tested on the basis of their differential predictions for the effect of this manipulation on the lateralized readiness potential and N200 component. The findings indicate that phonological code retrieval is not strictly contingent on prior basic semantic feature processing.