The relationship between responsiveness to social and monetary rewards and ADHD symptoms

Alterations in reward processing are frequently reported in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). One important factor affecting reward processing is the quality of reward as social and monetary rewards are processed by different neural networks. However, the effect of reward type on reward processing in ADHD has not been extensively studied. Hence, in the current study, an exploratory research was conducted to investigate the effect of reward type (i.e., social or monetary) on different phases of reward processing. We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) during a spatial attention paradigm in which cues heralded availability and type of the upcoming reward and feedbacks informed about the reward earned. Thirty-nine (19 males) healthy individuals (age range: 19-27 years) participated in the study. ADHD symptoms were assessed by using ADHD self-report scale (ASRS). Our results revealed a consistent negative correlation between the hyperactivity subscale of ASRS and almost all social-feedback related ERPs (P2, P3, and FRN). ERP amplitudes after social feedbacks were less positive for P2 and P3 and more negative for FRN for individuals with greater hyperactivity levels. Our findings suggest that hyporesponsiveness to social feedbacks may be associated with hyperactivity. However, the results have to be confirmed with clinical populations.     

Associations between sleep variables and ostensibly paranormal experiences and paranormal beliefs: A scoping review

Night-time is a period of great significance for many people who report paranormal experiences. However, there is limited understanding of the associations between sleep variables and seemingly paranormal experiences and/or beliefs. The aim of this review is to improve our understanding of these associations while unifying a currently fragmented literature-base into a structured, practical review. In this pre-registered scoping review, we searched for relevant studies in MEDLINE (PubMed), PsycINFO (EBSCO), Web of Science and EMBASE using terms related to sleep and ostensibly paranormal experiences and beliefs. Forty-four studies met all inclusion criteria. All were cross-sectional and most investigated sleep paralysis and/or lucid dreaming in relation to ostensibly paranormal experiences and paranormal beliefs. Overall, there were positive associations between many sleep variables (including sleep paralysis, lucid dreams, nightmares, and hypnagogic hallucinations) and ostensibly paranormal experiences and paranormal beliefs (including those of ghosts, spirits, and near-death experiences). The findings of this review have potential clinical implications such as reducing misdiagnosis and treatment development and provide foundations for further research. Our findings also highlight the importance of understanding why so many people report ‘things that go bump in the night’.     

Socio-Economic Status and Creativity: A Meta-Analysis

In the present study, we examined the relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and creativity through a meta-analysis of 885 effect sizes from 151 samples in 117 studies. Analyses of a multivariate model with a robust variance estimator showed a small positive correlation between creativity and SES (r = .120, 95% CI [0.086, 0.154]). Further analyses with four groups of moderators (i.e., creativity measure, SES indicator, sample characteristics, and study characteristics) indicated that the mean effect size is significantly higher when the creativity index is flexibility rather than fluency or when SES is measured by parental or one's own level of education and parental occupation rather than the location of residency. In addition, the relationship between creativity and SES dissipated as the students progressed from elementary school through college. The potential role of schooling in the creativity-SES link is discussed.     

Telling stories: Gender differences in peers’ emotion talk and communication style

Eighty girls and 64 boys (M= 6 years; 8 months, SD= .65) narrated a wordless picture book in mixed‐ or same‐gender dyads. In mixed‐gender as well as same‐gender dyads, girls used more emotion explanations than did boys. Combined across dyad type, girls used more emotion labels than did boys. Girls used a higher proportion of collaborative speech acts than did boys in same‐gender dyads, but girls and boys used the same amount in mixed‐gender dyads. Whereas girls used a higher proportion of informing acts in mixed‐gender dyads than did boys, boys used more than did girls in same‐gender dyads. The findings support contextual models of gender and suggest that speaker as well as partner gender influence emotion expression and conversational style.     

Investigation of the association between mobbing and musculoskeletal discomfort in academicians

This study aimed to identify the association between exposure to mobbing and musculoskeletal discomfort in academicians. One hundred academicians working at a university were included in the study. Permission was granted by the Rector prior to the study and questionnaires were delivered to the academicians. The Turkish version of the Leymann Inventory of Psychological Terror (LIPT) was used to evaluate mobbing and the Turkish version of the Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ) was used to assess musculoskeletal discomfort. When the data were analyzed, a moderate association was found between mobbing perceived by the academic staff and musculoskeletal discomfort. In conclusion, this study showed that mobbing is a risk factor for musculoskeletal discomfort.