Cognitive, motivational, social, and environmental influences on children's food choices

This study tested the applicability of a cognitive-motivational model of health behavior to children's food choices. A sample of 107 elementary schoolchildren provided ratings of 15 foods in terms of possible choice criteria (e.g., how tasty or healthful specific foods were) and social or environmental influences (e.g., whether foods were eaten by friends or were easy to get). Several measures of food consumption were taken, and cognitive-developmental level was assessed. Within-person correlations were calculated between food choices and each choice criterion and social/environmental factor. These "correlational indices" of influences on food choice subsequently were used to identify five distinct subgroups in the sample. Children at the operational level of cognitive development tended to be in one of three groups characterized by health orientation in food choice, taste orientation, or multiple-motive orientation. Dietary quality was poorest in the taste-oriented group. Children at the preoperational level tended to have one of two undifferentiated patterns of values across the correlational indices. Results provide evidence of: the viability of cognitive-motivational models to explain children's food choices, the promise of within-person research methodology, and the potential for enhanced health behavior-change programs by use of population segmentation and tailored interventions.     

Delving into brand anthropomorphisation strategies in the experiential context of name-brand voice assistants

Consumers' increasing use of voice-activated artificial intelligence technologies is stimulating the development of a new line of research in the field of marketing aiming to analyse the branding implications in this innovative experiential context. The spread of so-called name-brand voice assistants (NBVAs) is creating interesting opportunities in terms of brand anthropomorphism. The brand anthropomorphisation strategies adopted by companies are poorly studied in the academic literature, and only one contribution has been made in the experiential field of NBVAs. Therefore, the objective of our work is to begin to fill this gap by investigating the pillars of brand anthropomorphisation strategies (i.e., activities and branding outcomes) in the specific NBVA context by adopting a managerial perspective. Therefore, we followed an exploratory qualitative approach based on in-depth personal interviews with practitioners engaged in these strategies in the automotive sector. The resulting cognitive map reveals the following three levels of strategic pillars: drivers (i.e., designing a human-like brand voice and human-like consumer-brand dialogue), intermediate outcomes (i.e., brand personality and the strength of consumer-brand relationships), and final outcomes (i.e., multidimensional brand loyalty). Our study enriches both the literature concerning brand anthropomorphisation strategies and the nascent stream on NBVAs and provides managerial guidelines in the new in-car NBVA context.     

Adolescent Smoking Behavior and the Recognition of Cigarette Advertisements1

In a study designed to assess the relationship between smoking status and correct identification of cigarette brands, junior high school students from two schools viewed cigarette and automobile advertisements with brand and model identification deleted. Results showed that adolescents with higher ad recognition scores were more likely to smoke cigarettes. In addition, a relationship was found between age and correct identification of cigarette advertisements, with older students identifying more ads correctly than younger students. No significant effects emerged for identification of automobile advertisements except for sex, with boys identifying more advertisements than girls. Additional findings indicated that even “experimental” smokers, who smoked as little as once per year, recognized significantly more cigarette advertisements than nonsmokers. These and other results are discussed in terms of their implications for prevention and policy issues. It is argued that society's allowance of printed cigarette advertising overlooks adolescents' heightened vulnerability to the kinds of appeals used in cigarette advertisements. Present policy also overlooks adolescents' relative unresponsiveness to the health risk information required in cigarette advertisements.     

Correction to: Autism,autistic traits and creativity: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Cognitive Processing - In the original publication of the article, the first and last names of the authors are interchanged and published incorrectly. The correct author names are given below:...     

Phenomenology of imagining and the pragmatics of fictional language

Continental Philosophy Review - This paper focuses on the performative character of fictional language. While assuming that all speaking is a form of acting, it aims to shed light on the nature of...     

Repeatability of mae-geri-keage in traditional karate: a three-dimensional analysis with black-belt karateka

In karate, performance also depends on a correct body shape, and the repeatability of standardized movements conditions the effectiveness of techniques. The execution of mae-geri-keage (frontal snap kick) was studied in 13 karateka (1st-5th dan). The 3D trajectories of 13 body landmarks were analyzed by an optoelectronic instrument while each karateka performed 10 repetitions of the movement. For each karateka and repetition, the standard deviations of the spatial coordinates x, y, z for each landmark were computed. A total standard deviation of the single participant was also calculated. Two experienced karateka performed with the best repeatability (smaller standard deviation) while executing the studied kick. Generally, the best repeatability was observed in the horizontal plane. The lower variability was observed in hips and head. Ankle and knee of the dominant limb had the worse. The method could detect athletes particularly gifted for the discipline. Moreover, it could help in the identification of those parts of body that do not repeat the movement with the desired precision.     

Comprehending Semantic and Grammatical Violations in Italian. N400 and P600 Comparison with Visual and Auditory Stimuli

Arguments about the existence of language-specific neural systems and specifically about the independence of syntactic and semantic processing have focused on the event-related brain measures (ERPs) as tool to monitoring moment-by-moment the cognitive processes underlaid. In the present experiments, the available evidence indicates that the ERP response to semantic anomalies is at least partially distinct from the ERP response to syntactic anomalies and that two distinct processes are activated in sentences comprehension. ERPs were recorded from 10 electrodes while subjects read (Experiment 1) or listened (Experiment 2) to sentences containing semantic or syntactic violations. Final-words that were inconsistent with the sentence context elicited a negative-going wave at about 400 ms poststimulus, whereas penultimate-word incongruous with the grammatical structure (subject–verb non-agreement) elicited a positive-going wave about 600 ms poststimulus. No differences based on the perceptual modality of the stimulus (visual or auditory) nor different ERP correlates as a function of task-relevance (explicit/implicit task induction) were found. The implications of our results for Italian language are explained.     

Lesions of orbitofrontal cortex and basolateral amygdala complex disrupt acquisition of odor-guided discriminations and reversals

Recent work indicates that both orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the basolateral complex of the amygdala (ABL) are involved in processes by which cues are associated with predicted outcomes. To examine the respective roles of these structures in discrimination learning, rats with bilateral sham or neurotoxic lesions of either OFC or ABL were trained on a series of four 2-odor discrimination problems in a thirst-motivated go, no-go task. After acquisition of the series of odor problems, the rats were trained on serial reversals of the final odor problem. Performance on each problem was assessed by monitoring accuracy of choice behavior, and also by measuring latency to respond for fluid outcomes after odor sampling. During discrimination learning, rats in both lesioned groups had similar deficits, failing to show normal changes in response latency during learning, while at the same time exhibiting normal choice behavior relative to controls. Choice behavior was affected only during the reversal phase of training, in which OFC and ABL lesions produced distinctive deficits. Rats with ABL lesions were impaired on the first reversal (S1−/S2+), but were unimpaired at acquiring a reversal back to the original odor-outcome contigencies (S1+/S2−), whereas rats with OFC lesions were impaired on both types of reversals. These findings suggest that OFC and ABL serve partially overlapping roles in the use of incentive information that supports normal discrimination performance.     

Perceived Neighborhood Social Resources as Determinants of Prosocial Behavior in Early Adolescence

The present study aims to develop an integrative model that links neighborhood behavioral opportunities and social resources (neighborhood cohesion, neighborhood friendship and neighborhood attachment) to prosocial (sharing, helping, empathic) behavior in early adolescence, taking into account the potential mediating role of perceived support of friends. Path analysis was used to test the proposed theoretical model in a sample of 1,145 Italian early adolescents (6th through 8th graders). More perceived opportunities and social resources in the neighborhood are related to higher levels of adolescent prosocial behavior, and this relationship is partially mediated by perceived social support from friends. The results offer promising implications for future research and intervention programs that aim to modify social systems to improve child and adolescent social competencies.     

BIS and BAS correlates with psychophysiological and cortical response systems during aversive and appetitive emotional stimuli processing

The present research intended first to confirm psychophysiological and cortical responses to valence- and arousal-manipulated stimuli and second to show how the BIS and BAS (Behavioural Inhibition and Activation System) personality characteristics correlated with these psychophysiological and cortical responses. Multiple measures were recorded, such as psychophysiological (skin conductance response, heart rate, and electromyography) and ERPs (event-related potentials) responses, during viewing IAPS figures, that varied in terms of pleasantness (appetitive vs. aversive) and arousing power (high vs. low intensity). Autonomic variables and two ERP positive deflections (P3 and LPP ERP effects) were found to be modulated by valence and arousal rating, with an increased response for high arousing and negative or positive stimuli in comparison with low arousing and neutral stimuli. Moreover, high BAS subjects were more responsive to positive than negative emotions, whereas high BIS subjects responded in greater measure to negative and arousing emotions. Findings were discussed in light of biphasic model of emotion comprehension.