Face the food: Food plating with facial patterns influences appetite and event-related brain potentials

The presentation of visual food cues (e.g., food plating) can affect our appetite and leads to characteristic changes of early as well as late positivity in the electroencephalogram. The present event-related potential (ERP) study attempted to change ERPs and affective ratings for food pictures by rearranging the components of a depicted meal (conventional presentation) as a smiley or frowny. The images were presented to 68 women (mean age?=?24 years), who rated the wanting and liking of the meals. Compared to conventional food plating, smiley and frowny meals elicited enhanced amplitudes of the P200, P300, and late positive potential (LPP) in a large occipito-parietal cluster. Frowny meals were rated as less appetizing than conventional food presentations. The mentioned ERP components are concomitants of face configuration processing (P200), automatic attention/novelty detection (P300), and voluntary attention/assignment of emotional meaning (LPP). Thus, the combination of two affective cues (food, face) in one stimulus changed the activation in motivational circuits of the brain. Also, serving a meal as a frowny could help to regulate appetite.

     

群体共同经历影响不公平感知

以往研究考察了不公平经历如何影响个体的认知、情绪及行为。然而, 这些研究着重于考察个体“独自经历”不公平的现象, 而尚未有研究考察, 当个体与他人以群体身份共同经历不公平时, 不公平经历对个体的影响。3项实验采用改编的三人最后通牒博弈任务考察“群体共同经历”不公平如何影响个体的不公平感知。研究结果表明, 无论是通过“共同命运” (实验1)、轮流为群体做决策(实验2), 还是招募成对朋友(实验3)来操纵或凸显群体身份, 群体共同经历不公平, 相比独自经历不公平, 均显著降低(而非提升)了被试的不公平感知。研究结果对于社会及组织管理具有借鉴意义。     

External loading and maximum dynamic output in vertical jumping: the role of training history

We examined the effect of training history on the load-power relationship in vertical jumping (VJ) by employing external loads ranging from -30% to +30% body weight (BW). Based on previous findings, we hypothesized that (1) the maximum dynamic output (power production and momentum generation) would be within the tested loading interval, and (2) the load-power and load-momentum relations would depend on the subject's training history. Thirty-one healthy male subjects of different training history (i.e., 9 strength-trained athletes, 12 speed-trained athletes, and 10 sedentary individuals), performed maximum countermovement jumps on a force plate while a pulley system was used to either reduce or increase the subject's BW. An increase in external loading during VJ resulted in a systematic decrease (p<.001) in power production and momentum generation in all 3 studied groups. We also observed significant Group×Load interactions (p<.01) for the load-power and the load-momentum relationships, probably due to the group differences in slopes of the trend lines that describe the loading-associated changes in power and momentum. The results suggest that, from the evolutionary standpoint, the human muscular system of the lower limbs could be designed to produce the maximum power output against the loads that are well below the mass and inertia of the human body.     

University socialization and the acceptance of anti‐egalitarian ideology: The underlying role of extrinsic life goals

Past research suggests that students in social science often become more egalitarian while students in business and economics show a trend in the opposite direction. Using a cross‐sectional study in which we compared first and third year students from different academic environments, we wanted to explore these issues and to test whether life goals may account for potential ideological differences among them. Psychology and economics students at first and third year of their respective academic group completed both the Aspiration index and social dominance orientation scale. Consistent with the socialization hypothesis, economics students reported higher levels of social dominance orientation than psychology students but only at the third year of study. A similar pattern of results was observed for extrinsic life goals (but no differences were found for intrinsic life goals). Importantly, the interaction between academic year and academic major on social dominance orientation was mediated by the measure of extrinsic life goals.