The influence of biased exposure to forgone outcomes

After making decisions, we often get feedback concerning forgone outcomes (what would have happened had we chosen differently). Yet, many times, our exposure to such feedback is systematically biased. For example, your friends are more likely to tell you about a party you missed if it was fun than if it was boring. Despite its prevalence, the effects of biased exposure to forgone outcomes on future choice have not been directly studied. In three studies (five experiments) using a simplified learning task, we study the basic influence of biased exposure to forgone outcomes in the extreme case in which decision makers can easily infer the missing information such that the biased exposure carries almost no informational value. The results in all studies suggest that nevertheless, the biased exposure to forgone outcomes affected choice. Exposure to forgone outcomes only when they were better than the obtained outcomes (Only-Better-Forgone) increased selections of the forgone option compared with exposure to forgone outcomes only when they were worse than the obtained outcome (Only-Worse-Forgone). Moreover, relative to an unbiased exposure to all forgone outcomes, the effect of exposure to Only-Worse-Forgone was larger than the effect of exposure to Only-Better-Forgone feedback. However, these effects were not universal: In environments that include rare negative events (“disasters”), biased exposure to forgone outcomes had very little effect. We raise potential explanations and further discuss implications for marketing and risk awareness.     

L’annonce d’un décès en milieu hospitalier

Announcing a death is always a delicate moment for close familial members but also for caregivers. Law gives some precisions about how this information must be delivered. Recently the state council judged that the lack of empathy from caregivers and the late of the death announcement can create a damage. This judgement gives more precisions about how a death announcement must be in a hospital. This topic is pretty similar with the information which must be given to close familial members about organ donation. This latter is definitely more exceptional and the procedure is a way more regulated. There are much rules which explain how this information must be delivered.     

Consciousness as a logically consistent and prognostic model of reality

The work demonstrates that brain might reflect the external world causal relationships in the form of a logically consistent and prognostic model of reality, which shows up as consciousness. The paper analyses and solves the problem of statistical ambiguity and provides a formal model of causal relationships as probabilistic maximally specific rules. We suppose that brain makes all possible inferences from causal relationships. We prove that the suggested formal model has a property of an unambiguous inference: from consistent premises we infer a consistent conclusion. It enables a set of all inferences to form a consistent model of the perceived world. Causal relationships may create fixed points of cyclic inter-predictable properties. We consider the “natural” classification introduced by John St. Mill and demonstrate that a variety of fixed points of the objects’ attributes forms a “natural” classification of the external world. Then we consider notions of “natural” categories and causal models of categories, introduced by Eleanor Rosch and Bob Rehder and demonstrate that fixed points of causal relationships between objects attributes, which we perceive, formalize these notions. If the “natural” classification describes the objects of the external world, and “natural” concepts the perception of these objects, then the theory of integrated information, introduced by G. Tononi, describes the information processes of the brain for “natural” concepts formation that reflects the “natural” classification. We argue that integrated information provides high accuracy of the objects identification. A computer-based experiment is provided that illustrates fixed points formation for coded digits.     

孤独症谱系障碍者视觉定向与视觉搜索的特点及神经机制

定向网络是注意网络的重要组成部分, 主要包括视觉定向与视觉搜索两大任务。对于这两大注意任务, 正常个体在神经机制上存在较大的重叠, 然而, 孤独症个体却表现出截然相反的行为证据。研究者从非社会信息的注意视角发现, 一般而言, 在视觉定向上, 孤独症个体注意转移不存在缺陷, 而注意脱离存在困难, 但该结论仍有争议; 在视觉搜索上, 孤独症个体存在视觉搜索优势, 但该优势发生的阶段及原因仍需进一步探究。未来研究应进一步考察孤独症个体在视觉定向任务中左右视野的不对称性、视觉搜索优势的内在机制及两大注意任务之间的相互关系。     

时间信息加工与信息加工时间特性双视角下的重要时间参数及其证据

时间既是人类信息加工的对象, 也是(非时间)信息加工的制约因素。数十毫秒至数秒之间的时间加工与人类日常生活关联紧密, 譬如主观计时、演奏及言语等活动。根据以往文献分析可知, 在该时间区域内, 20~ 60 ms、1/3~1 s、2~3 s是研究者关注的重要时间参数, 但是支持这些参数的证据尚存分歧。首先从“时间信息加工”和“信息加工的时间特性”的视角介绍时间参数的基本观点及其提出背景, 然后基于“时间信息加工”视角从行为学研究、脑损伤研究、神经药理学研究, 脑电研究、脑成像研究、经颅磁刺激研究、经颅直流电刺激研究等领域介评了1/3~1 s和2~3 s分界区域的证据, 接着基于“信息加工的时间特性”视角从时序知觉阈限研究、感觉运动同步研究、主观节奏研究、言语行为研究、知觉逆转研究、返回抑制研究及失匹配负波研究等领域介评了20~60 ms和2~3 s时间窗口的证据。未来研究既要注意构建基于分界区域与时间窗口的更强解释力的理论假说, 也要厘清分界区域与时间窗口的联系与区别。     

医疗信息的风险感知

从信息加工视角探究个体对医疗信息的风险感知过程, 通过医疗信息来源、医疗信息内容与呈现形式和信息加工主体三个方面归纳其影响因素, 并基于经验-分析式加工理论和字面-要义加工理论探讨医疗信息风险感知的认知机制。今后研究可更注重医疗信息风险感知的通用研究与特殊主题研究的平衡、风险感知测量工具的规范性与特异性的结合, 并立足于中国医疗体系建立具有循证依据的预防措施和配套政策。     

直觉和分析在不同信息获取与呈现方式下对多特征目标判断质量的影响

采用多特征目标判断任务,考察了不同信息获取方式与信息呈现方式条件下,直觉和分析思维模式对判断质量的影响。结果发现：（1）在多特征目标判断任务中,直觉思维比分析思维更有效;（2）直觉型决策者运用直觉思维的判断质量比感觉型决策者更高;（3）归类组块的信息呈现方式能够有效提升决策者运用直觉思维的判断质量;（4）思维模式、信息获取方式与信息呈现方式对多特征目标的判断质量存在三阶交互作用,归类组块的信息呈现方式使直觉型决策者运用直觉思维的判断质量最高,而运用分析思维的判断质量低于感觉型决策者;归类组块排列信息时,直觉型决策者运用分析思维的判断质量低于信息随机排列时的水平。     

Influence of individual differences in working memory on the continued influence effect of misinformation

ABSTRACT

Misinformation often continues to influence people’s cognition even after being retracted (the continued influence effect of misinformation, CIE). The current research aimed to investigate whether the individual differences in the central executive function of WM and updating could influence the CIE of misinformation with varying relevance. The results showed that the individual differences in central executive function could significantly affect the CIE, especially for the high-relevant misinformation. While the individual differences in the updating ability had a weaker impact on the CIE in general and only negatively related to the CIE for the low-relevant misinformation. The study extends the understanding of the relationship between individual differences and the CIE from previous studies, which is in line with the mental-model-updating hypothesis, and offers a preliminary clue for identifying the persons vulnerable to the CIE of misinformation in the real world.     

Concise formulas for the standard errors of component loading estimates

Concise formulas for the asymptotic standard errors of component loading estimates were derived. The formulas cover the cases of principal component analysis for unstandardized and standardized variables with orthogonal and oblique rotations. The formulas can be used under any distributions for observed variables as long as the asymptotic covariance matrix for sample covariances/correlations is available. The estimated standard errors in numerical examples were shown to be equivalent to those by the methods using information matrices.The author is indebted to anonymous reviewers for the corrections and suggestions on this study, which have led to improvements of earlier versions of this article.     

From agape to organs: religious difference between Japan and America in judging the ethics of transplant

This essay argues that Japan's resistance to the practice of transplanting organs from persons deemed "brain dead" may not be the result, as some claim, of that society's religions being not yet sufficiently expressive of love and altruism. The violence to the body necessary for the excision of transplantable organs seems to have been made acceptable to American Christians at a unique historical "window of opportunity" for acceptance of that new form of medical technology. Traditional reserve about corpse mutilation had weakened and, especially as presented by the theologian Joseph Fletcher, organ donation was touted as both expressive of agape and a way of "updating" Christianity via the ethics of Utilitarianism. Many Japanese, largely Buddhist and Confucian in their orientation, view these changed valorizations as neither necessary nor patently more ethical than those of their own traditions.