Environmental control and psychosis-relevant traits modulate the prospective sense of agency in non-clinical individuals

The sense of agency concerns the experience of being the source of one’s own actions and their consequences. An altered sense of agency can occur due to task automation and in psychosis. We tested in a non-clinical sample the hypothesis that reducing voluntary task control diminishes intentional binding as an implicit indicator of the sense of agency, possibly interacting with psychosis-relevant personality traits. Agent-device interactions were manipulated obtaining positive-control (voluntary interaction), no-control (automation), and negative-control (device-commanded interaction) groups. The main results showed reduced prospective intentional binding (predictive coding of action consequences) in the no-control and negative-control groups, compared to the positive-control group. Psychosis-like experiences covaried positively with intentional binding in the no-control group, but negatively in the negative-control group. Moreover, positive-social traits were associated with increased intentional binding in the positive-control group. These findings demonstrate the interplay between environmental and individual differences variables in establishing the implicit sense of agency.     

绿色变革型领导的影响效果及其理论解释机制

在环境问题日益严峻的当代背景下,社会各界愈发呼吁企业及其领导者履行环境责任。正因如此,绿色变革型领导在近几年逐渐成为一个前沿研究主题。绿色变革型领导是指领导者激励下属实现组织的绿色环保目标,鼓励下属取得超出预期水平的环保绩效。目前,研究发现,绿色变革型领导能够显著提升员工和企业的绿色行为、绿色创新。社会认知、情感事件、自我决定、社会认同和动态能力是解释上述关系的重要理论。最后,文章提出了一些展望供未来研究参考。     

Environmental attitudes mediate the link between need for cognition and pro-environmental goal choice

Need for cognition is a form of cognitive motivation, which reflects the extent that one actively seeks information and enjoys critical thinking about information. Accordingly, those high in need for cognition seek out and acquire information, resulting in stronger and more stable attitudes. However, need for cognition has yet to be examined in the domain of goal pursuit. Toward that end, we examined how this form of cognitive motivation impacts goal related cognitions. Specifically, how need for cognition influences goal choice. Because need for cognition is a domain-general form of cognitive motivation, we hypothesized that domain-specific attitudes would mediate the relationship between need for cognition pro-environmental goals. This hypothesis was tested in two separate studies. Results demonstrate consistent evidence in support of our hypothesis that environmental attitudes mediate the relationship between need for cognition and pro-environmental goal choice. Results hold implications for goal pursuit research, such that need for cognition can be empirically studied in relation to goal related cognitions and behaviors to the same extent as other forms of cognitive motivation. Moreover, these results suggest that need for cognition can be considered along side previously investigated antecedents of pro-environmental behavior.     

The reminiscence bump is blind to blindness: Evidence from sound- and odor-evoked autobiographical memory

The reminiscence bump is the disproportionally high reporting of autobiographical memories from adolescence and early adulthood and is typically observed when memories are evoked by cues, such as words, pictures, and sounds. However, when odors are used the bump shifts to early childhood. Although these findings indicate that sensory modality affects the bump, the influence of the individual’s sensory function on the reminiscence bumps is unknown. We examined the reminiscence bumps of sound- and odor-evoked autobiographical memories of early blind and sighted individuals, since early blindness implies considerable effects on sensory experience. Despite differences in sensory experience between blind and sighted individuals, the groups displayed similar age distributions of both sound- and odor-evoked memories. The auditory bump spanned the first two decades of life, whereas the olfactory bump was once again found in early childhood. These results demonstrate that the reminiscence bumps are robust to fundamental differences in sensory experience.     

The effects of exercise at different temperatures on cognitive function: A systematic review

To date, no review has focused specifically on the potential modulating role of environmental temperature on the effects of exercise on cognitive function. Despite this, a range of occupations and performance contexts exist (e.g., military personnel, emergency services, sport) where the maintenance of cognitive function in environmentally challenging environments is crucial. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to evaluate the experimental research investigating how manipulating environmental temperature influenced the effects of acute bouts exercise on cognitive functioning from pre-to-post exercise, or during exercise. Studies to be included were assessed by two authors reviewing title, abstract, and then full-text. From the searches conducted, twenty articles were identified which met the inclusion criteria. For the purpose of this review, exercise involved in each study was categorised into low, moderate, and vigorous dosages (dependent on intensity and duration). The results indicate that moderate dosages of exercise help stimulate improved cognitive performance from pre-to-post exercise in temperate conditions, where cold exposure appears to blunt these effects. In addition, hot environments led to cognitive decrements during and post exercise which were often identified in studies that implemented prolonged moderate or vigorous exercise protocols. Therefore, suggesting a combination of heightened physiological strain from increased dose of exercise, alongside heat exposure, can be detrimental to optimal cognitive functioning, whereby executive functioning tasks appeared to be most affected. The findings from this systematic review highlight the potential modulating role of environmental temperature on the effects of exercise on cognitive function. Thus, highlighting the importance of considering the role of environmental temperature for individuals either exercising to elicit desired cognitive benefits or for those involved in physically demanding occupations or performance domains.     

Egoistic,altruistic, and biospheric environmental concerns: A path analytic investigation of their determinants

Swami, V., Chamorro‐Premuzic, T., Snelgar, R. & Furnham, A. (2009) Egoistic, altruistic, and biospheric environmental concerns: A path analytic investigation of their determinants. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 139–145. Previous studies have shown that environmental concerns (ECs) can be reduced to a three‐factor model – comprising altruistic, biospheric, and egoistic concerns – but there have been few studies examining individual difference predictors of ECs. In this study with 203 individuals from a British community sample, we show that biospheric concern was significantly associated with participants’ age, political orientation, Machiavellianism, and the Big Five personality traits of Agreeableness, Emotional Stability, and Conscientiousness. Altruistic concern was significantly associated with sex, age, political orientation, and Machiavellianism, but not the Big Five traits, whereas egoistic concern was not significantly associated with any of these predictors except sex. These results are discussed in relation to previous work on ECs and pro‐environmental behavior.