Applying the Ethical Principle of Social Benefits in Nursing Research in Developing Countries: the Case of Jordan

Journal of Academic Ethics - Research on human subjects is ethically justified when its anticipated results would ultimately benefit the society or public and not only the individuals participating...     

The Effect of Expected Value on Attraction Effect Preference Reversals

The attraction effect shows that adding a third alternative to a choice set can alter preference between the original two options. For over 30 years, this simple demonstration of context dependence has been taken as strong evidence against a class of parsimonious value‐maximising models that evaluate alternatives independently from one another. Significantly, however, in previous demonstrations of the attraction effect alternatives are approximately equally valuable, so there was little consequence to the decision maker irrespective of which alternative was selected. Here we vary the difference in expected value between alternatives and provide the first demonstration that, although extinguished with large differences, this theoretically important effect persists when choice between alternatives has a consequence. We use this result to clarify the implications of the attraction effect, arguing that although it robustly violates the assumptions of value‐maximising models, it does not eliminate the possibility that human decision making is optimal. © 2016 The Authors Journal of Behavioral Decision Making Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Ethical Concepts and Future Challenges of Neuroimaging: An Islamic Perspective

Neuroscience is advancing at a rapid pace, with new technologies and approaches that are creating ethical challenges not easily addressed by current ethical frameworks and guidelines. One fascinating technology is neuroimaging, especially functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Although still in its infancy, fMRI is breaking new ground in neuroscience, potentially offering increased understanding of brain function. Different populations and faith traditions will likely have different reactions to these new technologies and the ethical challenges they bring with them. Muslims are approximately one-fifth of world population and they have a specific and highly regulated ethical and moral code, which helps them deal with scientific advances and decision making processes in an Islamically ethical manner. From this ethical perspective, in light of the relevant tenets of Islam, neuroimaging poses various challenges. The privacy of spirituality and the thought process, the requirement to put community interest before individual interest, and emphasis on conscious confession in legal situations are Islamic concepts that can pose a challenge for the use of something intrusive such as an fMRI. Muslim moral concepts such as There shall be no harm inflicted or reciprocated in Islam and Necessities overrule prohibitions are some of the criteria that might appropriately be used to guide advancing neuroscience. Neuroscientists should be particularly prudent and well prepared in implementing neuroscience advances that are breaking new scientific and ethical ground. Neuroscientists should also be prepared to assist in setting the ethical frameworks in place in advance of what might be perceived as runaway applications of technology.     

Attentional modulation of visual-evoked potentials by threat: investigating the effect of evolutionary relevance

In dot-probe tasks, threatening cues facilitate attention to targets and enhance the amplitude of the target P1 peak of the visual-evoked potential. While theories have suggested that evolutionarily relevant threats should obtain preferential neural processing, this has not been examined empirically. In this study we examined the effects of evolutionarily relevant (e.g. spiders and snakes) and irrelevant (e.g. knifes and syringes) threatening cues. Non-predictive threatening cues (in left or right visual field) were paired with non-threatening cues and were followed by neutral targets in the same or opposite location. The amplitude of the target P1 was increased in contralateral electrodes when the target followed in the same location as the threatening cues. This effect did not interact with evolutionary relevance. Both evolutionary relevant and evolutionary irrelevant threats led to increased P1 amplitude, although the effect was stronger for modern threats. We conclude that the threat-superiority effect is robust and largely independent of the type of threatening stimulus.     

When believing is seeing: the role of predictions in shaping visual perception

The study investigated the influence of predictions on perception-in particular, how strong but erroneous prediction coupled with poor sensory data can trigger misperceptions. Using signal detection, we tested whether predictions induced by a semantic cue change the recognition threshold (criterion) or the subjectively perceived differences between stimuli (sensitivity). In a series of 3 experiments, participants observed pictures of (a) real objects distorted to various extents (targets), (b) noise with elements corresponding to meaningful objects (foils), or (c) nonsense images (noise). Stimuli were preceded either by a semantic cue or by a blank screen with equal probability. Presence of the cue resulted in a more liberal criterion, but only for targets and foils. The cue decreased sensitivity between the distorted targets, but increased sensitivity between the targets and noise-that is, the cue increased between-class differences, but decreased within-class differences. When there was no correspondence between prediction and the sensory input, prediction actually increased the chances of correctly rejecting noise. The influence of the cue was strongest for the moderately distorted targets and foils-when uncertainty related to the bottom-up input was the highest.     

Optimism facilitates the utilisation of prior cues

It has been shown that optimists tend to rely more on their prior expectations than sensory input when making decisions of an intense nature (Geers & Lassiter, 2002). We investigated the degree to which this tendency persists over a range of discrepancies between prior cues and actual stimuli. Eighty‐seven participants were shown a subset of happy, sad and fearful pictures drawn from the Ekman facial expressions of emotion (Ekman & Oster, 1979). Each picture was preceded by a verbal cue indicating the impending emotional expression and intensity. The displayed pictures were either in agreement, slightly discrepant or very discrepant with the cue. Participants rated the extent to which they agreed/disagreed with the expectation cue. Probit signal detection models were used to produce acquiescence for each subject at each level of discrepancy. Correlation analysis was performed on acquiescence and dispositional optimism scores. There was a significant correlation between all acquiescence scores for levels of discrepancies and dispositional optimism. Optimism appears to be a trait associated with acquiescence. The apparent tendency of optimists to comply may be due to a cognitive style that relies on expectations, such that it takes them longer to recognise the extent of discrepancy between expectations and incoming information. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Good vibrations: Global processing can increase the pleasantness of touch

Visual–tactile carry-over effects of global/local processing (attention to the whole, versus the details) have been reported under active touch conditions. We investigated whether carry-over effects of global/local processing also occur for passive touch and whether global/local processing has differential effects on affective and discriminative aspects of touch. Participants completed two tactile tasks involving pleasantness rating and discrimination of a set of tactile vibrations before and after completing a version of the Navon task that encouraged a focus on the global (n?=?30), local (n?=?30), or both (n?=?30) features of a series of visual stimuli. In line with previous research suggesting a link between global processing and positive emotion, global processing increased pleasantness ratings of high-frequency (but not low-frequency) tactile vibrations. Local processing did not improve the ability to discriminate between vibrations of different frequencies, however. There was some evidence of a tactile–visual carry-over effect; prior local processing of tactile vibrations reduced global precedence during the Navon task in the control group. We have shown carry-over effects of global versus local processing on passive touch perception. These findings provide further evidence suggesting that a common perceptual mechanism determines processing level across modalities and show for the first time that prior global processing affects the pleasantness of touch.     

Perceptions of Challenges Affecting Research Ethics Committees’ Members at Medical and Health Science Colleges in Omani and Jordanian Universities

Journal of Academic Ethics - In recent years there has been an increase in research conducted in the Middle East, with a corresponding increase in the challenges faced by members of the Research...     

Delay discounting as emotional processing: An electrophysiological study

Both theoretical models and functional imaging studies implicate the involvement of emotions within the delay discounting process. However, defining this role has been difficult to establish with neuroimaging techniques given the automaticity of emotional responses. To address this, the current study examined electrophysiological correlates involved in the detection and evaluation of immediate and delayed monetary outcomes. Our results showed that modulation of both early and later ERP components previously associated with affective stimuli processing are sensitive to the signalling of delayed rewards. Together with behavioural reaction times that favoured immediacy, we demonstrated, for the first time, that time delays modify the incentive value of monetary rewards via mechanisms of emotional bias and selective visual attention. Furthermore, our data are consistent with the hypothesis that delayed and thus intangible rewards are perceived less saliently, and rely on emotion as a common currency within decision making. This study provides a new approach to delay discounting and highlights a potential novel route through which delay discounting may be investigated.