Is luck on my side? Optimism,pessimism, and ambiguity aversion

The influences of optimism and pessimism on ambiguity aversion were investigated in two tasks that manipulated the presence or absence of a potentially competitive experimenter. A total of 112 participants chose which option—ambiguous or known-risk—they preferred in the two slightly differing Ellsberg urns tasks. Optimism was measured using the Extended Life Orientation Test (ELOT). Highly optimistic people showed significantly less ambiguity aversion than less optimistic people when information was given that the number of balls was randomly determined. This pattern was present but less pronounced in the condition when the composition of the ambiguous urn could be interpreted as being influenced (rigged) by the experimenter. Pessimism was uninfluential. Perceptions of the situation, especially the degree of trust in the experimenter, were significantly influenced by the participants' optimism. People who do not have highly optimistic personalities tend to shy away from choosing ambiguous options. When ambiguity is clear, and trust issues are removed, people's optimistic outlook influences their degree of ambiguity aversion and thus their decisions.     

Developmental changes in effects of risk and valence on adolescent decision-making

Recent research on risky decision-making in adults has shown that both the risk in potential outcomes and their valence (i.e., whether those outcomes involve gains or losses) exert dissociable influences on decisions. We hypothesised that the influences of these two crucial decision variables (risk and valence) on decision-making would vary developmentally during adolescence. We adapted a risk-taking paradigm that provides precise metrics for the impacts of risk and valence. Decision-making in 11–16 year old female adolescents was influenced by both risk and valence. However, their influences assumed different developmental patterns: the impact of valence diminished with age, while there was no developmental change in the impact of risk. These different developmental patterns provide further evidence that risk and valence are fundamentally dissociable constructs and have different influences on decisions across adolescence.     

Neuropsychological Deficits in Relation to Symptoms of ADHD: Independent Contributions and Interactions

Twelve children with and without Down syndrome (DS) performed eight subtests of an apraxia battery to determine under what conditions children with DS had difficulty performing representational and nonrepresentational gestures. Participants with DS also completed a dichotic listening test. Participants with DS performed just as well as control participants on all aspects of the apraxia battery except a subtest in which they were required to pantomime tool use from verbal instruction. This suggests that children with DS have difficulty generating an action from memory following verbal instruction. Given the sufficient context or visual demonstration, children with DS performed similar to the other participants. As well, there was a great deal of within-group variability for dichotic listening ear advantage. Participants with a greater left ear advantage on the dichotic listening test committed more errors on an imitation test that also included a verbal component than participants with a greater right ear advantage.     

Holding your place: Reactions to the prospect of status gains and losses

This paper examines individuals’ reactions to the prospect of gaining or losing status in groups. The results of three experiments provide evidence that individuals attach greater value to status when recalling the risk of status loss than when recalling the potential for status gain (Experiment 1), are willing to pay more to avoid a status loss than to achieve a status gain (Experiment 1), and put forth greater effort when striving to prevent status loss than when striving to gain status (Experiment 2). Finally, individuals who risk losing status allocate more resources toward personal status concerns (and away from group interests and potential monetary gain) than do individuals who have a chance of gaining status (Experiment 3). We discuss the implications of this research both in terms of individuals’ psychological experience of their status, as well as status attainment and maintenance concerns in groups.     

The effect of swimming experience on acquisition and retention of swimming-based taste aversion learning in rats

Swimming endows rats with an aversion to a taste solution consumed before swimming. The present study explored whether the experience of swimming before or after the taste-swimming trials interferes with swimming-based taste aversion learning. Experiment 1 demonstrated that a single preexposure to 20 min of swimming was as effective as four or eight preexposures in causing the interference effect. Experiment 2 found that a single 5-min preexposure was enough to cause the interference effect. Experiment 3 showed that preexposure to swimming interfered with but did not completely thwart the acquisition of swimming-based taste aversion learning. Experiment 4 failed to demonstrate a reliable retroactive interference effect by swimming postexposures. With a modified procedure, however, Experiment 5 successfully demonstrated a reliable effect by four postexposures. The associative and habituation accounts of these results are discussed.     

概率大小、损益结果和认知闭合需要对模糊规避的影响

模糊规避是指在相同奖赏的情况下,决策者会力图规避从主观上判断具有模糊概率的事件而偏好具有相同精确概率的事件。本研究探讨了概率大小、损益结果和认知闭合需要对模糊规避的影响。研究发现,在小概率受益的情况下,个体倾向于模糊寻求;在中概率受益的情况下,个体倾向于模糊规避;在高概率受益的情况下,个体倾向于模糊规避;在小概率损失的情况下,个体倾向于模糊规避;在中概率损失的情况下,个体倾向于模糊规避;在高概率损失的情况下,个体倾向于模糊寻求。但是,研究并未发现认知闭合需要对模糊规避有预测作用。     

Self‐Control Moderates Decision‐Making Behavior When Minimizing Losses versus Maximizing Gains

We examined (1) whether people would be more responsive to the delayed consequences of their decisions when attempting to minimize losses than when attempting to maximize gains in a history‐dependent decision‐making task and (2) how trait self‐control would moderate such an effect. In two experiments, participants performed a dynamic decision‐making task where they chose one of two options on each trial. The increasing option always gave a smaller immediate reward but caused future rewards for both options to increase. The decreasing option always gave a larger immediate reward but caused future rewards for both options to decrease. In Experiment 1 where the two options had equivalent expected value in the long run, participants were more prone to select the increasing option, which yielded larger benefits on future trials, in the loss‐minimization condition than in the gain‐maximization condition. Trait self‐control moderated the effect of losses by enhancing the effect for low self‐control participants while attenuating it for high self‐control participants. In Experiment 2 where selecting the increasing option was suboptimal, low self‐control participants still attempted to reduce losses on future trials by selecting the increasing option more often than high self‐control participants. These results suggest that decision makers value delayed consequences of their actions more in a losses domain relative to a gains domain and low self‐control individuals are more susceptible to such an effect. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

From brand aversion or indifference to brand attachment: Authors' response to commentaries to Park,Eisingerich, and Park's brand attachment–aversion model

The primary purpose of our target article was to theoretically argue and empirically demonstrate that it is possible to elevate the customer–brand relationships to the desired level of human relationships by offering three types of self-relevant benefits. In this response, we discuss the major comments provided by each set of commentators, which are insightful and thought-provoking. It is our hope that this dialogue will open up a new avenue for future research regarding the nature and management of customer–brand relationships.     

Salivary conditioning with antennal gustatory unconditioned stimulus in an insect

Classical conditioning of olfactory conditioning stimulus (CS) with gustatory unconditioned stimulus (US) in insects has been used as a pertinent model for elucidation of neural mechanisms underlying learning and memory. However, a conditioning system in which stable intracellular recordings from brain neurons are feasibly obtained while monitoring the conditioning effect has remained to be established. Recently, we found classical conditioning of salivation in cockroaches Periplaneta americana, in which an odor was associated with sucrose solution applied to the mouth, and this conditioning could be monitored by activities of salivary neurons. Application of gustatory US to the mouth, however, leads to feeding movement accompanying a movement of the brain that prevents stable recordings from brain neurons. Here we investigated whether a gustatory stimulus presented to an antenna could serve as an effective US for producing salivary conditioning. Presentation of sucrose or sodium chloride solution to an antenna induced salivation and also increased activities of salivary neurons. A single pairing trial of an odor with antennal presentation of sucrose or sodium chloride solution produced conditioning of salivation or of activities of salivary neurons. Five pairing trials led to a conditioning effect that lasted for one day. Water or tactile stimulus presented to an antenna was not effective for producing conditioning. The results demonstrate that gustatory US presented to an antenna is as effective as that presented to the mouth for producing salivary conditioning. This conditioning system provides a useful model for studying the neural basis of learning at the level of singly identifiable neurons.