Dare to compare: Fact-based versus simulation-based comparison in daily life

We examined the relative frequency of social, counterfactual, past-temporal, and future-temporal comparison in daily life using an experience-sampling method, in which participants were randomly prompted to record thought samples using palmtop computers carried for two weeks. Comparative thought accounted for 12% of all thoughts, and all four comparison types occurred with equivalent frequency. Comparisons may be either fact-based (i.e., based on actuality, as in social and past-temporal comparison) or simulation-based (i.e., based on imagination, as in counterfactual and future-temporal comparison). Because the latter are more “unbounded,” and because greater perceived opportunity invites greater self-improvement, we predicted and found that counterfactual and future-temporal comparison were more likely to be upward (vs. downward) than social and past-temporal comparison. All comparison types focused on approach more than avoidance motives, except for counterfactuals, which showed equivalent focus on both. These findings reveal the prominence of comparative thought in daily life, and underscore the value of an integrative theory that describes social, counterfactual, or temporal comparison using a common theoretical platform.     

Ethnicity, education, and the temporal stability of personality traits in the East Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area study

We examined the influence of age, gender, Black vs. White ethnicity, and education on five indices of personality stability and change across an average interval of 8 years in the East Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area study. In the full sample (n = 505, aged 30–88), examination of structural, rank-order, ipsative, and mean level stability, as well as indices of reliable change suggested that NEO-PI-R personality traits showed moderate to high levels of stability over time. There were few age and gender effects on temporal stability but rank-order, ipsative, and mean level stability were lower among Blacks and individuals with lower education. Future research should explore additional demographic predictors of temporal plasticity in a diverse range of samples, and employ observer ratings to assess personality.     

Efficient spatio-temporal data mining with GenSpace graphs

We describe a method for spatio-temporal data mining based on GenSpace graphs. Using familiar calendar and geographical concepts, such as workdays, weeks, climatic regions, and countries, spatio-temporal data can be aggregated into summaries in many ways. We automatically search for a summary with a distribution that is anomalous, i.e., far from user expectations. We repeatedly ranking possible summaries according to current expectations, and then allow the user to adjust these expectations. We also choose a propagation path in the GenSpace subgraph that reduces the storage and time costs of the mining process.     

The influence of temporal distance on justice and care morality

Agerström, J., Björklund, F. & Allwood, C. M. (2010). The influence of temporal distance on justice and care morality. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 46–55.
The primary goal of this study was to examine whether changes in the temporal distance of a moral dilemma affect how it is perceived and subsequently resolved. Based on Construal Level Theory ( Trope & Liberman, 2003 ), it was predicted that the relative weight of abstract justice features should increase and the relative weight of concrete care features should decrease with temporal distance. The results showed that females became increasingly justice-oriented with greater temporal distance. However, this was not the case for males who were unaffected by temporal distance. This interaction was conceptually replicated in a follow-up experiment in which abstraction was manipulated directly by a mindset manipulation. The present results suggest that temporal distance is a contextual factor that can alter the extent to which moral judgments and reasoning are based on justice and care, although this effect seems to be moderated by gender.     

The surprisingly low motivational power of future rewards: Comparing conventional money-based measures of discounting with motivation-based measures

Temporal discount rates are often poor predictors of behaviors that we expect will be motivated by the future. The current research suggests this may be because conventional discounting measures are poor measures of the motivational value of future rewards. In six studies, I develop motivation-based measures of the present value (PV) of future rewards and compare the PVs obtained with those obtained using conventional money-based discounting measures. Conventional money-based PVs consistently overestimate motivation-based PVs and are discriminable from them. I explore explanations for this mismatch, including timing of effort exertion (Study 2) and loss aversion (Study 3), both features of the motivation-based measures. In Study 5, I use self-reports of valuation strategies and a time pressure manipulation to demonstrate that participants use different valuation strategies in the conventional money-based and the motivation-based measures that, in part, determine the difference in PVs obtained and the relatively low correspondence between them.     

Effects of reward distribution and performance feedback on competitive responding

To implement competitive contingencies, one must select a distribution of unequal rewards and a schedule of feedback for competitors regarding one another's performance. This study investigated three bases for distributing rewards and two performance feedback conditions. Pairs of college students competed over a series of 2-min contests in which the competitive response was a knob pull. A sum of money was divided using a proportional distribution or one of two fixed reward distributions. In the proportional distribution, a subject's proportion of the sum was his or her proportion of the total number of responses. The two fixed distributions were divisions of 100%/0% or 67%/33%. Also, in every contest either subject could make a response that would end the contest prematurely and give both subjects the same amount—a sum equal to 33% of the competitive total. In the two feedback conditions, cumulative responses by each subject were either shown to both subjects during the contest or were not shown. The proportional distribution was clearly superior to either of the fixed distributions in number of responses produced across contests. The proportional distribution with feedback produced the largest number of competitive responses, and the 100%/0% distribution without feedback produced the smallest number. Differences among distributions typically emerged only during later blocks of contests. Fixed distributions of rewards often produced decelerating rates of responding, with losing competitors ending the contests before they were completed. Response-rate decreases were greatest for pairs in which the 2 subjects differed most in their response rates and proportion of wins. The presence of feedback had a small effect, increasing responding for some pairs in the 100%/0% distribution. Performance patterns were interpreted in terms of the consequences arranged for the individual participants by the reward distributions and differences in performance between competitors.     

Intelligence and Extraversion in the neural evaluation of delayed rewards

Temporal discounting (TD), the preference for earlier, smaller rewards over delayed, larger rewards, is a pervasive phenomenon that covaries with Big Five personality traits and Intelligence (IQ). This study provides novel insight by identifying correlates for IQ and Extraversion in the neural representation of TD preferences. An intertemporal choice task was employed, where offers were sequentially presented, distinguishing between one evaluation phase (first offer is presented) and one comparison phase (second offer is presented and values are compared). IQ correlated with responses of caudate nucleus to the subjective values of the offers, suggesting a role of cognitive abilities in modulating reward responses. Extraversion correlated with the strength of functional connectivity of a reward evaluation network centered on ventromedial prefrontal cortex.     

Haptic modality takes its time: Dynamic of activations of sensory modalities in perceptual and memory processes

Based on claims resulting from grounded cognition theory that perceptual and memory processes are using the same distributed systems, the present study investigated the temporal aspect of access to memory traces through haptic and auditory modalities. Unlike in the case of visual or auditory components, the perception of a vibrotactile component is more sequential in nature and therefore cannot be fully processed before the end of the signal. The present study explores the dynamic of components activation in a situation of audio‐vibrotactile asynchrony. We used a short‐term priming paradigm consisting of an association phase (between a vibration and sound) and a test phase testing priming effect of a vibrotactile stimulation on the processing of a target sound. Results showed an interference with a simultaneous processing and a facilitation with a sequential processing. The temporality process of perceptual components is also important at a memory level.