scholarly journals Temptation shapes dishonesty and can alter working memory

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Pittarello ◽  
Marcella Fratescu ◽  
Sebastiaan Mathôt
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Prior Work ◽  
Behavioral Ethics ◽  
Important Constraint ◽  
High Reward ◽  
Target Digit ◽  
Circular Arrangement

AbstractThis study shows that participants tend to remember an ambiguous, directional cue as biased towards stimuli associated with a high reward that can be attained dishonestly. Participants saw eight digits presented in a circular arrangement. On some trials, they were asked to report the digit (“Target Digit”) indicated by a jittery cue that was slightly biased in the direction of another digit (“Second Cued Digit”), which was either higher or lower than the Target Digit. Participants were paid based on the reported digit (higher digits meant higher pay) and not based on the accuracy of their report. In this setting, they could make self-serving mistakes by dishonestly reporting the Second Cued Digit when it was higher than the Target Digit. Replicating prior work, participants frequently made such self-serving mistakes. On other trials, after the digits disappeared, participants were asked to reproduce the direction of the jittery cue, without receiving any pay. Results showed that that participants’ reports of the cue were more biased toward high-rewarding digits than low-rewarding digits. This research provides preliminary evidence of a link between attention, dishonesty, and memory, offering an important constraint for theories in behavioral ethics.

scholarly journals Temptation Shapes Dishonesty and can Alter Working Memory

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Pittarello ◽  
Marcella Fratescu ◽  
Sebastiaan Mathôt
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Prior Work ◽  
Behavioral Ethics ◽  
Important Constraint ◽  
High Reward ◽  
Target Digit ◽  
Circular Arrangement

This study shows that participants tend to remember an ambiguous, directional cue as biased towards stimuli associated with a high reward that can be attained dishonestly. Participants saw eight digits presented in a circular arrangement. On some trials, they were asked to report the digit (“Target Digit”) indicated by a jittery cue that was slightly biased in the direction of another digit (“Second Cued Digit”), which was either higher or lower than the Target Digit. Participants were paid based on the reported digit (higher digits meant higher pay) and not based on the accuracy of their report. In this setting, they could make self-serving mistakes by dishonestly reporting the Second Cued Digit when it was higher than the Target Digit. Replicating prior work, participants frequently made such self-serving mistakes. On other trials, after the digits disappeared, participants were asked to reproduce the direction of the jittery cue, without receiving any pay. Results showed that that participants’ reports of the cue were more biased toward high-rewarding digits than low-rewarding digits. This research provides preliminary evidence of a link between attention, dishonesty, and memory, offering an important constraint for theories in behavioral ethics.

scholarly journals We remember the past as more rewarding than it was: effects of temptation on cheating and visual working memory

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Pittarello ◽  
Maria Fratescu ◽  
Sebastiaan Mathot
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Prior Work ◽  
Behavioral Ethics ◽  
The Past ◽  
Important Constraint ◽  
High Reward ◽  
Target Digit ◽  
Circular Arrangement ◽  
Ambiguous Cue

Here we report that participants’ visual working memory of an ambiguous cue is biased towards stimuli that are associated with a high reward. Participants saw eight digits presented in a circular arrangement. On some trials, they were asked to report the digit (“Target Digit”) indicated by a jittery cue that was slightly biased in the direction of another digit (“Second Cued Digit”), which was either higher, or lower than the Target Digit. Participants were paid based on the reported digit (higher digits meant higher pay) and not based on the accuracy of their report. In this setting, they could make self-serving mistakes by dishonestly reporting the Second Cued Digit when it was higher than the Target Digit. Replicating prior work, we found that participants frequently made such self-serving mistakes. On other trials, after the digits disappeared, participants were asked to reproduce the direction of the jittery cue, without receiving any pay. This allowed us to test whether participants’ memory of the cue was biased toward high-rewarding digits, and our results showed that it was. We cautiously suggest that self-serving mistakes might result from automatic biases in working memory, which provides an important constraint for theories in behavioral ethics

In search of lost time: cognitive and arginine metabolic correlates of temporal dysfunction in the MIA rat model of schizophrenia risk

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Deane ◽  
Ping Liu ◽  
Reza Shoorangiz ◽  
Yu Jing ◽  
Ryan Ward
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Liquid Chromatography ◽  
Sustained Attention ◽  
Rat Model ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Late Gestation ◽  
Temporal Perception ◽  
Functional Consequences

Abnormal temporal perception is a hallmark characteristic of schizophrenia associated with cognitive impairment, however the relationship between these functions is yet to be characterised within translational models. Using the maternal immune activation (MIA) rat model, this study investigated the contribution of sustained attention and working memory capacity to temporal perception impairments via operant paradigms. In addition, we also investigated the involvement of L-arginine metabolites in timing and cognition via high performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. Principally, we identified that underestimation of interval durations (2-8 s) in MIA rats was related to attentional capacity. MIA rats were found to exhibit impaired working memory maintenance, however this was not related to temporal perception. In addition, we identified evidence of MIA impacting PFC L-arginine metabolites, L-citrulline and putrescine, which both correlated with working memory maintenance impairments. MIA also appeared to produce discrete differences in glutamate levels depending on whether inflammation was incited early or late in gestation (gestation day 10/18). Following late gestation MIA exposure, higher glutamate levels in PFC corresponded with poorer sustained attention capacity. These findings represent the first direct identification of a timing-attention relationship within rodents, and provide clues regarding the potential involvement of elevated dopamine in timing-cognition pathology in schizophrenia. Moreover, we present preliminary evidence that changes in L-arginine metabolism have functional consequences for cognition. These outcomes commend the MIA rat model as a tool for potential future investigations exploring the biological instantiation of timing deficits.

scholarly journals Attentional Fluctuations, Cognitive Flexibility, and Bilingualism in Kindergarteners

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie L. Haft ◽  
Olga Kepinska ◽  
Jocelyn N. Caballero ◽  
Manuel Carreiras ◽  
Fumiko Hoeft
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Kindergarten Children ◽  
Prior Work ◽  
Bilingual Advantage ◽  
Memory And Attention ◽  
Confounding Variables ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
The Relationship

The idea of a bilingual advantage in aspects of cognitive control—including cognitive flexibility, inhibition, working memory, and attention—is disputed. Using a sample of kindergarten children, the present study investigated associations between bilingualism and cognitive flexibility—a relationship that has shown mixed findings in prior literature. We also extend prior work by exploring relationships between bilingualism and attentional fluctuations, which represent consistency in attentional control and contribute to cognitive performance. To our knowledge, no previous study has explored this association. Theoretically, attentional fluctuations might mediate or moderate the relationship between bilingualism and cognitive flexibility. However, given evidence of null findings from extant literature when confounding variables are adequately controlled and tasks are standardized, we did not expect to find a bilingual advantage in either cognitive flexibility or attentional fluctuations. Our results supported this hypothesis when considering bilingualism both continuously and categorically. The importance of expanding upon mechanistic accounts connecting bilingualism to cognitive improvements is discussed.

Preliminary evidence that allelic variation in the LMX1A gene influences training-related working memory improvement

2011 ◽  
Vol 49 (7) ◽  
pp. 1938-1942 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Bellander ◽  
Yvonne Brehmer ◽  
Helena Westerberg ◽  
Sari Karlsson ◽  
Daniel Fürth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Allelic Variation ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Memory Improvement

scholarly journals EEG Correlates of Long-Distance Dependency Formation in Mandarin Wh-Questions

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chia-Wen Lo ◽  
Jonathan R. Brennan
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Prior Work ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
Anterior Negativity ◽  
With Memory

Event-related potential components are sensitive to the processes underlying how questions are understood. We use so-called “covert” wh-questions in Mandarin to probe how such components generalize across different kinds of constructions. This study shows that covert Mandarin wh-questions do not elicit anterior negativities associated with memory maintenance, even when such a dependency is unambiguously cued. N = 37 native speakers of Mandarin Chinese read Chinese questions and declarative sentences word-by-word during EEG recording. In contrast to prior studies, no sustained anterior negativity (SAN) was observed between the cue word, such as the question-embedding verb “wonder,” and the in-situ wh-filler. SANs have been linked with working memory maintenance, suggesting that grammatical features may not impose the same maintenance demands as the content words used in prior work.

A Working Memory Explanation for the Effects of Eye Movements in EMDR

2008 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 247-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Maxfield ◽  
William T. Melnyk ◽  
Gordon C. A. Hayman
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Mechanisms Of Action ◽  
Emotional Intensity ◽  
Attention Tasks ◽  
Memory Resources ◽  
Negative Memories

Research has consistently demonstrated that performance is degraded when participants engage in two simultaneous tasks that require the same working memory resources. This study tested predictions from working memory theory to investigate the effects of eye movement (EM) on the components of autobiographical memory. In two experiments, 24 and 36 participants, respectively, focused on negative memories while engaging in three dual-attention EM tasks of increasing complexity. Compared to No-EM, Slow-EM and Fast-EM produced significantly decreased ratings of image vividness, thought clarity, and emotional intensity, and the more difficult Fast-EM resulted in larger decreases than did Slow-EM. The effects on emotional intensity were not consistent, with some preliminary evidence that a focus on memory-related thought might maintain emotional intensity during simple dual-attention tasks (Slow-EM, No-EM). The findings of our experiments support a working memory explanation for the effects of EM dual-attention tasks on autobiographical memory. Implications for understanding the mechanisms of action in EMDR are discussed.

scholarly journals Capture and Control: Working Memory Modulates Attentional Capture by Reward-Related Stimuli

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (8) ◽  
pp. 1174-1185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Poppy Watson ◽  
Daniel Pearson ◽  
Michelle Chow ◽  
Jan Theeuwes ◽  
Reinout W. Wiers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Attentional Capture ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Control Processes ◽  
High Reward ◽  
Irrelevant Distractors ◽  
And Control

Physically salient but task-irrelevant distractors can capture attention in visual search, but resource-dependent, executive-control processes can help reduce this distraction. However, it is not only physically salient stimuli that grab our attention: Recent research has shown that reward history also influences the likelihood that stimuli will capture attention. Here, we investigated whether resource-dependent control processes modulate the effect of reward on attentional capture, much as for the effect of physical salience. To this end, we used eye tracking with a rewarded visual search task and compared performance under conditions of high and low working memory load. In two experiments, we demonstrated that oculomotor capture by high-reward distractor stimuli is enhanced under high memory load. These results highlight the role of executive-control processes in modulating distraction by reward-related stimuli. Our findings have implications for understanding the neurocognitive processes involved in real-life conditions in which reward-related stimuli may influence behavior, such as addiction.

Severity of Type 2 Diabetes, Cognitive Function, and Self-Care

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 540-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia K. Gatlin ◽  
K.C. Insel
Keyword(s):  
Type 2 Diabetes ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Self Care ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
The Self ◽  
Prescription Medications ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Cognitive Assessments

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with poorer performance on certain measures of cognitive function. However, little is known about the associations among working memory (WM), executive function (EF), and self-care in those with severe T2DM. This investigation explored these relationships among 67 middle-aged and older individuals with T2DM (mean age of 62.9 years). Severity of T2DM was measured with a health status composite (HSC) score from the Diabetes Care Profile, the number of prescribed medications, and the number of comorbid conditions. Cognitive assessments included the Working Memory Index and the Executive Interview 25 (EXIT 25). Self-care was measured using the Self-Care Inventory–Revised (SCI-R) and hemoglobin A1c (HgbA1c). WM was significantly correlated with all measures of severity of T2DM (HSC, r = .542, p < . 01; number of comorbidities, r = −.476, p < .01; and number of prescription medications, r = −.344, p < .01). EF was significantly correlated with all measures of severity of T2DM (HSC, r = −.504, p < .01; number of comorbidities, r = .492, p < .01; and number of prescription medications, r = .326, p < .01). The self-care measure HgbA1c was significantly correlated with WM ( r = −.352, p < .01) and EF ( r = .510, p < .01). The EXIT 25 score fully mediated the relationship between severity of T2DM and self-care as measured by HgbA1c (β = .431, p < .001). These findings provide preliminary evidence for the associations among severity of T2DM, WM, EF, and self-care.

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