scholarly journals Do animated triangles reveal a marked difficulty among autistic people with reading minds?

Autism ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 136236132198915
Author(s):  
Alexander C Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Effect Size ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
General Information ◽  
Medium Effect ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Social Challenges ◽  
Autistic People ◽  
The Social ◽  
Small Effect Size ◽  
The Difference

This meta-analysis tested whether autistic people show a marked, isolated difficulty with mentalising when assessed using the Frith -Happé Animations, an advanced test of mentalising (or ‘theory of mind’). Effect sizes were aggregated in multivariate meta-analysis from 33 papers reporting data for over 3000 autistic and non-autistic people. Relative to non-autistic individuals, autistic people underperformed, with a small effect size on the non-mentalising control conditions and a medium effect size on the mentalising condition. This indicates that studies have reliably found mentalising to be an area of challenge for autistic people, although the group differences were not large. It remains to be seen how important mentalising difficulties are in accounting for the social difficulties diagnostic of autism. As autistic people underperformed on the control conditions as well as the mentalising condition, it is likely that group differences on the test are partly due to domain-general information processing differences. Finally, there was evidence of publication bias, suggesting that true effects on the Frith -Happé Animations may be somewhat smaller than reported in the literature. Lay abstract Autistic people are thought to have difficulty with mentalising (our drive to track and understand the minds of other people). Mentalising is often measured by the Frith -Happé Animations task, where individuals need to interpret the interactions of abstract shapes. This review article collated results from over 3000 people to assess how autistic people performed on the task. Analysis showed that autistic people tended to underperform compared to non-autistic people on the task, although the scale of the difference was moderate rather than large. Also, autistic people showed some difficulty with the non-mentalising as well as mentalising aspects of the task. These results raise questions about the scale and specificity of mentalising difficulties in autism. It also remains unclear how well mentalising difficulties account for the social challenges diagnostic of autism.

scholarly journals Transdiagnostic comparison of visual working memory capacity in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine V. Barnes-Scheufler ◽  
Caroline Passow ◽  
Lara Rösler ◽  
Jutta S. Mayer ◽  
Viola Oertel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Disorder ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Medium Effect ◽  
Full Spectrum ◽  
Small Effect Size ◽  
The Difference

Abstract Background Impaired working memory is a core cognitive deficit in both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Its study might yield crucial insights into the underpinnings of both disorders on the cognitive and neurophysiological level. Visual working memory capacity is a particularly promising construct for such translational studies. However, it has not yet been investigated across the full spectrum of both disorders. The aim of our study was to compare the degree of reductions of visual working memory capacity in patients with bipolar disorder (PBD) and patients with schizophrenia (PSZ) using a paradigm well established in cognitive neuroscience. Methods 62 PBD, 64 PSZ, and 70 healthy controls (HC) completed a canonical visual change detection task. Participants had to encode the color of four circles and indicate after a short delay whether the color of one of the circles had changed or not. We estimated working memory capacity using Pashler’s K. Results Working memory capacity was significantly reduced in both PBD and PSZ compared to HC. We observed a small effect size (r = .202) for the difference between HC and PBD and a medium effect size (r = .370) for the difference between HC and PSZ. Working memory capacity in PSZ was also significantly reduced compared to PBD with a small effect size (r = .201). Thus, PBD showed an intermediate level of impairment. Conclusions These findings provide evidence for a gradient of reduced working memory capacity in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, with PSZ showing the strongest degree of impairment. This underscores the importance of disturbed information processing for both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Our results are compatible with the cognitive manifestation of a neurodevelopmental gradient affecting bipolar disorder to a lesser degree than schizophrenia. They also highlight the relevance of visual working memory capacity for the development of both behavior- and brain-based transdiagnostic biomarkers.

scholarly journals Transdiagnostic Comparison of Visual Working Memory Capacity in Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Barnes-Scheufler ◽  
Caroline Passow ◽  
Lara Rösler ◽  
Jutta Mayer ◽  
Viola Oertel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bipolar Disorder ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Medium Effect ◽  
Full Spectrum ◽  
Small Effect Size ◽  
The Difference

Abstract BackgroundImpaired working memory is a core cognitive deficit in both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Its study might yield crucial insights into the underpinnings of both disorders on the cognitive and neurophysiological level. Visual working memory capacity is a particularly promising construct for such translational studies. However, it has not yet been investigated across the full spectrum of both disorders. The aim of our study was to compare the degree of reductions of visual working memory capacity in patients with bipolar disorder (PBD) and patients with schizophrenia (PSZ) using a paradigm well established in cognitive neuroscience. Methods62 PBD, 64 PSZ, and 70 healthy controls (HC) completed a canonical visual change detection task. Participants had to encode the color of four circles and indicate after a short delay whether the color of one of the circles had changed or not. We estimated working memory capacity using Pashler’s K. ResultsWorking memory capacity was significantly reduced in both PBD and PSZ compared to HC. We observed a small effect size (r = .202) for the difference between HC and PBD and a medium effect size (r = .370) for the difference between HC and PSZ. Working memory capacity in PSZ was also significantly reduced compared to PBD with a small effect size (r = .201). Thus, PBD showed an intermediate level of impairment. ConclusionsThese findings provide evidence for a gradient of reduced working memory capacity in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, with PSZ showing the strongest degree of impairment. This underscores the importance of disturbed information processing for both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Our results are compatible with the cognitive manifestation of a neurodevelopmental gradient affecting bipolar disorder to a lesser degree than schizophrenia. They also highlight the relevance of visual working memory capacity for the development of both behavior- and brain-based transdiagnostic biomarkers.

A Meta-Analysis of Facebook-Assisted Learning Outcomes and Their Gender Differences

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 63-82
Author(s):  
*Zhonggen Yu ◽  
Liheng Yu
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Medium Effect ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Small Effect Size ◽  
Medium Effect Size ◽  
Media Applications

Social media applications such as Facebook have received wide attention in their use in education. However, it is still hard to arrive at a conclusion regarding whether a Facebook-assisted approach is effective in education and whether there are any significant gender differences in the learning outcomes. Based on rigid inclusion criteria, this study included 21 peer-reviewed high-quality journal articles. Through a meta-analysis using Reviewer Manager 5.3, the authors concluded that a Facebook-assisted approach could obtain significantly higher learning outcomes than the non-Facebook-assisted one with a medium effect size (d = 0.42) and that females could achieve significantly better learning outcomes than males with a very small effect size (d = -0.21) in the Facebook-assisted education. Future research could examine the effect of educational use of other social media applications, as well as in sociological, psychological, or educational dimensions.

scholarly journals An Exploratory Meta-Analytic Review on the Empirical Evidence of Differential Learning as an Enhanced Motor Learning Method

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Tassignon ◽  
Jo Verschueren ◽  
Jean-Pierre Baeyens ◽  
Anne Benjaminse ◽  
Alli Gokeler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Learning ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Risk Of Bias ◽  
Acquisition Phase ◽  
Medium Effect ◽  
Learning Method ◽  
Learning Methods ◽  
Differential Learning ◽  
Small Effect Size

Background: Differential learning (DL) is a motor learning method characterized by high amounts of variability during practice and is claimed to provide the learner with a higher learning rate than other methods. However, some controversy surrounds DL theory, and to date, no overview exists that compares the effects of DL to other motor learning methods.Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of DL in comparison to other motor learning methods in the acquisition and retention phase.Design: Systematic review and exploratory meta-analysis.Methods: PubMed (MEDLINE), Web of Science, and Google Scholar were searched until February 3, 2020. To be included, (1) studies had to be experiments where the DL group was compared to a control group engaged in a different motor learning method (lack of practice was not eligible), (2) studies had to describe the effects on one or more measures of performance in a skill or movement task, and (3) the study report had to be published as a full paper in a journal or as a book chapter.Results: Twenty-seven studies encompassing 31 experiments were included. Overall heterogeneity for the acquisition phase (post-pre; I2 = 77%) as well as for the retention phase (retention-pre; I2 = 79%) was large, and risk of bias was high. The meta-analysis showed an overall small effect size of 0.26 [0.10, 0.42] in the acquisition phase for participants in the DL group compared to other motor learning methods. In the retention phase, an overall medium effect size of 0.61 [0.30, 0.91] was observed for participants in the DL group compared to other motor learning methods.Discussion/Conclusion: Given the large amount of heterogeneity, limited number of studies, low sample sizes, low statistical power, possible publication bias, and high risk of bias in general, inferences about the effectiveness of DL would be premature. Even though DL shows potential to result in greater average improvements between pre- and post/retention test compared to non-variability-based motor learning methods, more high-quality research is needed before issuing such a statement. For robust comparisons on the relative effectiveness of DL to different variability-based motor learning methods, scarce and inconclusive evidence was found.

A Meta-Analysis on the Efficacy of Exposure-Based Treatment in Anxiety Disorders: Implications for Disgust

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 31-49
Author(s):  
Simona A. PASCAL ◽  
Ioana R. PODINA ◽  
Cătălin NEDELCEA
Keyword(s):  
Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Emotional Distress ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Medium Effect ◽  
Small Effect Size ◽  
Medium Effect Size ◽  
Exposure Sessions ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Meta Analyses

Despite of several meta-analyses indicating that exposure-based treatments (EBT) are successful in addressing anxiety and fear symptoms, less is known whether this is also the case for disgust, which also accompanies anxiety disorders. Therefore, the aim of the current meta-analysis was to compare the efficacy of EBT on disgust and anxiety (emotional distress), against control condition. This meta-analysis included a total of eight studies. Overall, there was a medium effect size (g = .57, 95% CI: .26 to .88, p < .001) for emotional distress; a medium effect size for anxiety (g = .79, 95% CI: .24 to 1.34, p = .005), yet a small effect size for disgust (g = .36, 95% CI: .05 to .68, p = .024). These findings prompt that current EBT are not tailored to address disgust symptoms accompanying many forms of anxiety disorders, although literature points more and more to a need in this respect. We also examined potential moderator variables (the year of publication, the number of exposure sessions, age of the sample, and gender composition). Additionally, we discussed several strengths and limitations, one of the most important being the small number of studies regarding the subject and their heterogeneity.

Effectiveness of a freely available computerised cognitive behavioural therapy programme (MoodGYM) for depression: Meta-analysis

2016 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 260-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Conal Twomey ◽  
Gary O’Reilly
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Confidence Interval ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Behavioural Therapy ◽  
Medium Effect ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Small Effect Size ◽  
General Psychological Distress ◽  
Randomised Controlled

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of a freely available computerised cognitive behavioural therapy programme (MoodGYM) for depression (primary outcome), anxiety and general psychological distress in adults. Method: We searched PsycINFO, CINAHL Plus, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Social Science Citation Index and references from identified papers. To assess MoodGYM’s effectiveness, we conducted random effects meta-analysis of identified randomised controlled trials. Results: Comparisons from 11 studies demonstrated MoodGYM’s effectiveness for depression symptoms at post-intervention, with a small effect size ( g = 0.36, 95% confidence interval: 0.17–0.56; I2 = 78%). Removing the lowest quality studies ( k = 3) had minimal impact; however, adjusting for publication bias reduced the effect size to a non-significant level ( g = 0.17, 95% confidence interval: −0.01 to 0.38). Comparisons from six studies demonstrated MoodGYM’s effectiveness for anxiety symptoms at post-intervention, with a medium effect size ( g = 0.57, 95% confidence interval: 0.20–0.94; I2 = 85%). Although comparisons from six studies did not yield significance for MoodGYM’s effectiveness for general psychological distress symptoms, the small effect size approached significance ( g = 0.34, 95% confidence interval: −0.04 to 0.68; I2 = 79%). Both the type of setting (clinical vs non-clinical) and MoodGYM-developer authorship in randomised controlled trials had no meaningful influence on results; however, the results were confounded by the type of control deployed, level of clinician guidance, international region of trial and adherence to MoodGYM. Conclusions: The confounding influence of several variables, and presence of publication bias, means that the results of this meta-analysis should be interpreted with caution. Tentative support is provided for MoodGYM’s effectiveness for symptoms of depression and general psychological distress. The programme’s medium effect on anxiety symptoms demonstrates its utility for people with this difficulty. MoodGYM benefits from its free accessibility over the Internet, but adherence rates can be problematic and at the extreme can fall below 10%. We conclude that MoodGYM is best placed as a population-level intervention that is likely to benefit a sizeable minority of its users.

Exploring the Morning Morality Effect in the context of moral utilitarianism: a post-hoc analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bastien Trémolière ◽  
Corentin J Gosling
Keyword(s):  
Effect Size ◽  
Autonomous Vehicles ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Individual Study ◽  
Post Hoc Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Reflection ◽  
Confounding Variables ◽  
Small Effect Size ◽  
Large Heterogeneity ◽  
Post Hoc

Recent research has shown mixed evidence for the morning morality effect (i.e., the observation that individuals are less immoral in the morning than in the afternoon). In the present research, we target the morning morality effect in the context of moral utilitarianism, by reanalyzing observational data previously collected by our lab. These data include different tasks capturing moral utilitarianism (i.e., standard sacrificial dilemmas, an ecological utilitarian scale, and/or dilemmas involving the morality of autonomous vehicles). We report a meta-analysis of 6 studies which showed that participants became less utilitarian as the day goes on, but with a small effect size (r = -0.14) and a large heterogeneity. Exploration of this heterogeneity showed that such a conclusion was statistically significant for classic sacrificial dilemmas only. Notably, even when restricting the analysis to the classic sacrificial dilemmas, a moderate inconsistency remained. Post-hoc analysis of an individual study showed that this small effect did not survive the inclusion of potentially confounding variables, such as psychopathy trait and cognitive reflection. Implications and limitations are discussed.

The magnitude of neurocognitive impairment is overestimated in depression: the role of motivation, debilitating momentary influences, and the overreliance on mean differences

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Steffen Moritz ◽  
Jingyuan Xie ◽  
Danielle Penney ◽  
Lisa Bihl ◽  
Niklas Hlubek ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Effect Size ◽  
Neurocognitive Impairment ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Medium Effect ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Neurocognitive Deficits ◽  
Performance Deficits ◽  
Impact Performance ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Performance Scale

Abstract Background Meta-analyses agree that depression is characterized by neurocognitive dysfunctions relative to nonclinical controls. These deficits allegedly stem from impairments in functionally corresponding brain areas. Increasingly, studies suggest that some performance deficits are in part caused by negative task-taking attitudes such as poor motivation or the presence of distracting symptoms. A pilot study confirmed that these factors mediate neurocognitive deficits in depression. The validity of these results is however questionable given they were based solely on self-report measures. The present study addresses this caveat by having examiners assess influences during a neurocognitive examination, which were concurrently tested for their predictive value on performance. Methods Thirty-three patients with depression and 36 healthy controls were assessed on a battery of neurocognitive tests. The examiner completed the Impact on Performance Scale, a questionnaire evaluating mediating influences that may impact performance. Results On average, patients performed worse than controls at a large effect size. When the total score of the Impact on Performance Scale was accounted for by mediation analysis and analyses of covariance, group differences were reduced to a medium effect size. A total of 30% of patients showed impairments of at least one standard deviation below the mean. Conclusions This study confirms that neurocognitive impairment in depression is likely overestimated; future studies should consider fair test-taking conditions. We advise researchers to report percentages of patients showing performance deficits rather than relying solely on overall group differences. This prevents fostering the impression that the majority of patients exert deficits, when in fact deficits are only true for a subgroup.

scholarly journals Effect size: a statistical basis for clinical practice

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
José Valladares-Neto
Keyword(s):  
Effect Size ◽  
Risk Estimation ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
P Value ◽  
Conceptual Basis ◽  
Statistical Measure ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Strength Of Association ◽  
Calculate Sample Size

OBJECTIVE: Effect size (ES) is the statistical measure which quantifies the strength of a phenomenon and is commonly applied to observational and interventional studies. The aim of this review was to describe the conceptual basis of this measure, including its application, calculation and interpretation.RESULTS: As well as being used to detect the magnitude of the difference between groups, to verify the strength of association between predictor and outcome variables, to calculate sample size and power, ES is also used in meta-analysis. ES formulas can be divided into these categories: I – Difference between groups, II – Strength of association, III – Risk estimation, and IV – Multivariate data. The d value was originally considered small (0.20 > d ≤ 0.49), medium (0.50 > d≤ 0.79) or large (d ≥ 0.80); however, these cut-off limits are not consensual and could be contextualized according to a specific field of knowledge. In general, a larger score implies that a larger difference was detected.CONCLUSION: The ES report, in conjunction with the confidence interval and P value, aims to strengthen interpretation and prevent the misinterpretation of data, and thus leads to clinical decisions being based on scientific evidence studies.

Effectiveness of Hydrodilatation in Adhesive Capsulitis of Shoulder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 107 (4) ◽  
pp. 285-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Saltychev ◽  
K. Laimi ◽  
P. Virolainen ◽  
M. Fredericson
Keyword(s):  
Confidence Interval ◽  
Effect Size ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Adhesive Capsulitis ◽  
Treatment Method ◽  
Pain Severity ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Number Needed To Treat ◽  
Small Effect Size ◽  
Shoulder Motion

Background and Aims: Even though hydrodilatation has been used for 50 years, the evidence on its effectiveness is not clear. Only one earlier review has strictly focused on this treatment method. The aims of this study are to evaluate the evidence on the effectiveness of hydrodilatation in treatment of adhesive capsulitis and, if appropriate, to assess the correlation between the effects of this procedure and the amount of fluid injected. Materials and Methods: A literature search on MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Central, Web of Science, and CINAHL databases was done; random-effects meta-analysis and meta-regression were employed; and cost-effectiveness and safeness analyses were left outside the scope of the review. Results: Of the 270 records identified through search, 12 studies were included in qualitative and quantitative analysis and seven were included in a meta-analysis. The lower 95% confidence interval for the effect of hydrodilatation on pain severity was 0.12 indicating small effect size and mean number needed to treat 12. The pooled effect of hydrodilatation on disability level was insignificant 0.2 (95% confidence interval: −0.04 to 0.44). The lower 95% confidence interval for the effect of hydrodilatation on the range of shoulder motion was close to zero (0.07) indicating small effect size with mean number needed to treat 12. The amount of injected solution did not have a substantial effect on pain severity or range of shoulder motion. The heterogeneity level I2 was acceptable from 0% to 60%. Conclusion: According to current evidence, hydrodilatation has only a small, clinically insignificant effect when treating adhesive capsulitis.

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