How do we evaluate future gambles? Experimental evidence on path dependency in risky intertemporal choice

This study reports three experiments which demonstrate path dependency in risky intertemporal choice. Consider a lottery to be resolved and paid in a future time period. One can obtain the present value of this lottery in three different ways: (1) eliciting directly the present certainty equivalent (CE) of the future lottery (direct path); (2) eliciting the future CE and then discounting this amount to the present (risk‐time path); and (3) eliciting the present value of the risky prospect and then determining the CE of this current lottery (time‐risk path). Standard rational choice models such as the discounted expected utility model, assume a multiplicative model, where all three methods mentioned above would yield the same value. We conducted three studies to examine if this is the case: Experiments 1 and 2 were based on a set of matching‐task questions and Experiment 3 used a process‐tracing design to analyze the natural sequence of decision making by the subjects. These three studies show that the evaluation of future gambles is path‐dependent. The present values elicited under the time‐risk and direct paths are, on average, higher than those reported under the risk‐time path. In addition, we found evidence for a two‐stage evaluation of risky future prospects: When evaluating a future gamble, individuals first assess the present value of the gamble (time discounting) and then they determine a certainty equivalent (probability discounting). Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does text–picture integration also occur with longer text segments?

Text–picture integration is one of the most important cognitive processes when reading illustrated text. There is empirical evidence that text‐picture integration takes place when learning with pictures combined with single sentences. The present experiment investigated whether text–picture integration also takes place when the single sentences are embedded into longer text segments and hence when materials become more complex. In a within‐subjects design, 43 participants read an illustrated story, in which the different combinations of general and specific sentences and pictures, respectively, were embedded. In line with previous findings, participants were more likely to falsely recognize specific versions of the sentences after having studied their general versions combined with specific pictures. Thus, the experiment shows that text–picture integration also occurs when learners have to read longer text passages combined with pictures.     

Cooling blocks ITM and LTM formation and preserves memory

In Lymnaea aerial respiratory behaviour can be operantly conditioned; snails learn not to perform this behaviour. Depending on the training procedure used, snails are competent to form either intermediate-term (ITM; lasting 1-3 h) or long-term (LTM; >4 h) memory. We found that cooling the snails for 1 h immediately after training was sufficient to block either ITM or LTM. Cooling snails for a similar period 10 or 15 min after cessation of training, failed to block ITM and LTM formation, respectively. Finally, we employed the cooling technique to extend both ITM and LTM. That is, cooling could prevent forgetting. Cooling extended LTM that normally persisted for 2 days to at least 8 days. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that forgetting is due to the learning and remembering of interfering events, and thus is an active process.     

Experimental Evaluation of Near‐ and Far‐Transfer Effects of an Adaptive Multicomponent Working Memory Training

An important question in cognitive science today is whether working memory training leads to transfer effects. Training studies reported no transfer as well as far transfer to untrained abilities (e.g., reasoning), but different methodological problems have not allowed reliable conclusions to be drawn. Furthermore, most samples have consisted of young adults, whereas older adults have rarely been included. This study attempted to address these limitations. Ninety‐one older adults were randomly assigned to a training group or an active or passive control group. Short‐term memory, speed, and reasoning were assessed as far‐transfer criteria. In addition, transfer to everyday life was investigated using an ambulatory assessment method. Although there were significant training effects, no transfer effects were found. Instead, the active control group showed the same increase in the near‐transfer tasks (i.e., working memory) as the experimental group indicating that unspecific factors explain the training gains of older adults. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performing a secondary executive task with affective stimuli interferes with decision making under risk conditions

Previous studies demonstrated that executive functions are crucial for advantageous decision making under risk and that therefore decision making is disrupted when working memory capacity is demanded while working on a decision task. While some studies also showed that emotions can affect decision making under risk, it is unclear how affective processing and executive functions predict decision-making performance in interaction. The current experimental study used a between-subjects design to examine whether affective pictures (positive and negative pictures compared to neutral pictures), included in a parallel executive task (working memory 2-back task), have an impact on decision making under risk as assessed by the Game of Dice Task (GDT). Moreover, the performance GDT plus 2-back task was compared to the performance in the GDT without any additional task (GDT solely). The results show that the performance in the GDT differed between groups (positive, negative, neutral, and GDT solely). The groups with affective pictures, especially those with positive pictures in the 2-back task, showed more disadvantageous decisions in the GDT than the groups with neutral pictures and the group performing the GDT without any additional task. However, executive functions moderated the effect of the affective pictures. Regardless of affective influence, subjects with good executive functions performed advantageously in the GDT. These findings support the assumption that executive functions and emotional processing interact in predicting decision making under risk.     

Persönlichkeitsstörung und Intelligenzminderung

There have previously been only few objective investigations on the combined occurrence of intellectual disability and personality disorder. Despite this difficulty, from the current clinical viewpoint there is no doubt that at least people with mild intellectual disability can also develop personality disorders. In slight degrees of intellectual disability it is possible to psychopathologically describe the typical symptoms objectively. For the disorder symptomatic of combined personality disorder in people with an intellectual disability, there are no confirmed facts, publications or diagnostic rules. The diagnostic assignment of behavioral abnormalites as combined personality disorder with dependent and infantile components in people with intellectual diasabilities still does not seem to be justified. In people with medium to severe mental disorders only the comprehensive term “behavioral abnormalities” should be applied.     

The eyes grasp,the hands see: Metric category knowledge transfers between vision and touch

Categorization of seen objects is often determined by the shapes of objects. However, shape is not exclusive to the visual modality: The haptic system also is expert at identifying shapes. Hence, an important question for understanding shape processing is whether humans store separate modality-dependent shape representations, or whether information is integrated into one multisensory representation. To answer this question, we created a metric space of computer-generated novel objects varying in shape. These objects were then printed using a 3-D printer, to generate tangible stimuli. In a categorization experiment, participants first explored the objects visually and haptically. We found that both modalities led to highly similar categorization behavior. Next, participants were trained either visually or haptically on shape categories within the metric space. As expected, visual training increased visual performance, and haptic training increased haptic performance. Importantly, however, we found that visual training also improved haptic performance, and vice versa. Two additional experiments showed that the location of the categorical boundary in the metric space also transferred across modalities, as did heightened discriminability of objects adjacent to the boundary. This observed transfer of metric category knowledge across modalities indicates that visual and haptic forms of shape information are integrated into a shared multisensory representation.