Perception of Danger Signals: The Role of Control

Author(s):  
Jochen Brandtstädter ◽  
Andreas Voss ◽  
Klaus Rothermund

Abstract. How does the perceptual system process stimuli that signal aversive outcomes or dangers? Considering the functional links between perception, attention, and action regulation, we posit that when people can avoid the aversive consequences, sensitivity of the perceptual system to danger signals should be enhanced, whereas it should be reduced when there is no such option. To test this prediction, we used a search task in which tachistoscopically presented conjunctions of features had to be detected. Parameters of sensitivity and response bias were analyzed drawing on procedures from signal detection theory. Although the experimental procedure rewarded correct responses, the predicted asymmetry emerged. For stimuli that were linked to a negative consequence (loss of points in the experimental game), perceptual sensitivity was enhanced when participants had the opportunity to neutralize the loss in a second task; an opposite pattern emerged when they had no such opportunity.




2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 551-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Lira Yoon ◽  
Jae-Won Yang ◽  
Sang Chul Chong ◽  
Kyung Ja Oh


1991 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eyal M. Reingold ◽  
Philip M. Merikle


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuong-Van Vu ◽  
Catrin Finkenauer ◽  
Lydia Krabbendam

Collectivistic orientation, which entails interdependent self-construal and concern for interpersonal harmony and social adjustment, has been suggested to be associated with detecting emotional expressions that signal social threat than individualistic orientation, which entails independent self-construal. The present research tested if this detection is a result of enhanced perceptual sensitivity or of response bias. We used country as proxy of individualism and collectivism (Country IC), measured IC of individuals with a questionnaire (Individual IC) and manipulated IC with culture priming (Situational IC). Dutch participants in the Netherlands (n = 143) and Chinese participants in China (n = 151) performed a social threat detection task where they had to categorize ambiguous facial expressions as “angry” or “not angry”. As the stimuli varied in degrees of scowling and frequency of presentation, we were able to measure the participants' perceptual sensitivity and response bias following the principles of the Signal Detection Theory. On the Country IC level, the results indicated that individualism-representative Dutch participants had higher perceptual sensitivity than collectivism-representative Chinese participants; whereas, Chinese participants were more biased towards categorizing a scowling face as “angry” than the Dutch (i.e. stronger liberal bias). In both groups, collectivism on the Individual IC was associated with a bias towards recognizing a scowling face as “not angry” (i.e. stronger conservative bias). Culture priming (Situational IC) affected neither perceptual sensitivity nor response bias. Our data suggested that cultural differences were in the form of behavioral tendency and IC entails multiple constructs linked to different outcomes in social threat detection.



This article discusses the augmenting influence of Artesunate (ART) in combination with β-lactams (amoxicillin/clavulanic acid) antibiotic in sepsis mice models infected by a lethal challenge dose of live coagulase positive enterotoxigenic (Sec) MRSA that was isolated from a case of chronic bovine mastitis. The main goal is to find an appropriate treatment to overcome resistance mechanism of MRSA towards β-lactams antibiotic. Fifty healthy adult Swiss mice divided into 5 equal groups were used in the experimental procedure. The infected group that treated with both ART and β-lactams (amoxicillin/clavulanic acid) antibiotic revealed complete inhibition of MRSA count with complete normal macroscopic and histopathological features. We suggest that ART can potentiate the antibacterial action of β-lactams (amoxicillin/Clavulanic) acid against MRSA infection. The combination of ART and antibiotic can overcome MRSA resistance mechanism and so could be considered a novel candidate to overcome mastitis and/or sepsis caused by MRSA.



Author(s):  
John Paul Plummer ◽  
Anastasia Diamond ◽  
Alex Chaparro ◽  
Rui Ni

Hazard perception (HP) is an important aspect of driving performance and is associated with crash risk. In the current study, we investigate the effect of roadway environment (city vs. highway) and expertise on HP. HP was measured using HP clips that evaluated response lag (defined as the time from the participant’s response to the end of the clip) and fuzzy signal detection theory metrics of response criterion and sensitivity. Forty videos were used: 20 from highway environments and 20 from city environments. Forty-eight participants with a range of driving experience as assessed by the years since obtaining a license (less than 1 year to 24 years) completed the study. There were differences between city and highway environments in response lag and response bias; participants responded earlier to the hazards in the highway environment and exhibited a more liberal response bias. Driving experience was significantly correlated to response lag. When the video clips were categorized by environment, driving experience was only significantly correlated with performance for the city environment.



2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 185-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Laurie Rose ◽  
Laura Bennett Murphy ◽  
Lynn Byard ◽  
Katherina Nikzad

Using the five‐factor personality model, the present study explored the influence of personality factors on sustained attention and perceived workload. Ninety‐six college‐aged participants were administered a 12 minute vigilance fast event rate task. Following the vigil, participants were asked to first, rate their perceived workload of the task using the NASA‐TLX, and then second, complete the NEO‐PI‐R personality inventory. Traditional measures of hits, false alarms, and reaction times were examined as well as the signal detection indices of perceptual sensitivity and response bias. Extraversion correlated with false alarms (r = 0.181; eta2 = 0.055) and conscientiousness correlated with both false alarms (r = −0.275, eta2 = 0.097) and perceptual sensitivity (r = 0.227, eta2 = 0.052). With regard to perceived workload, neuroticism was related to perceived frustration (r = 0.238, eta2 = 0.057). The findings are discussed in terms of theoretical implications, impact of task parameters, and practical applications. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.



2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 1331-1342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Kübler ◽  
Veronica Dixon ◽  
Hugh Garavan

The ability to exert control over automatic behavior is of particular importance as it allows us to interrupt our behavior when the automatic response is no longer adequate or even dangerous. However, despite the literature that exists on the effects of practice on brain activation, little is known about the neuroanatomy involved in reestablishing executive control over previously automatized behavior. We present a visual search task that enabled participants to automatize according to defined criteria within about 3 hr of practice and then required them to reassert control without changing the stimulus set. We found widespread cortical activation early in practice. Activation in all frontal areas and in the inferior parietal lobule decreased significantly with practice. Only selected prefrontal (Brodmann's areas [BAs] 9/46/8) and parietal areas (BAs 39/40) were specifically reactivated when executive control was required, underlining the crucial role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in executive control to guide our behavior.



Development ◽  
1971 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 481-495
Author(s):  
Par Elisabeth Houssaint ◽  
Nicole Le Douarin

Cholinesterases in the chick liver. The role of the endoderm in the appearance of the activity of cholinesterases in the hepatic mesenchyme The histochemical method of Koelle & Friedenwald (1949), as modified by Gerebtzoff (1953), has been used to investigate the distribution of cholinesterases in the chick embryonic and adult liver. Non-specific cholinesterases and, in a lower proportion acetylcholinesterase, have been detected in the endothelial cells of blood sinusoids of both adult and embryonic hepatic tissue. The hepatocytes do not show any cholinesterase activity. Cholinesterases appear precociously in the liver mesenchyme, since they already occur in the septum transversum of the 3-day-old chick embryo. An experimental procedure preventing the invasion of the hepatic mesenchymal Anlage by the endodermic cords has been used. The experimentally isolated hepatic mesenchyme shows an important cholinesterase activity; therefore this activity does not depend on the presence of the hepatocytes. The grafting of the determined hepatic endodern in the somatopleura of the 3-day-old chick embryo results in the development of hepatic tissue in the body wall. In this experimentally produced liver, cholinesterase activities are present in the endothelial cells which have arisen from somatopleura mesenchymal cells, though normally somatopleural mesenchyme does not possess these enzymes. The role of the endoderm in the appearance of this enzymic activity in the somatopleural mesenchyme is discussed.



2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Seungju Hyun ◽  
Xyle Ku

Although the relationship between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism and psychological health is widely accepted, little is known about whether and how coping strategies explain this relationship. We examined the mediating role of proactive coping in this relationship, with a sample of 280 participants from five colleges in Korea. We used four parallel multiple mediation models, and controlled for the indirect effects of coping flexibility, self-esteem, and covariates (age and gender). Results show that grandiose narcissism predicted higher life satisfaction and lower perceived stress, whereas vulnerable narcissism exhibited the opposite pattern, and all of these relationships were mediated by proactive coping. Overall, our results highlight the critical role of proactive coping in the prediction of psychological health among narcissists.



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