scholarly journals Learning positive social information reduces racial bias as indexed by N400 response

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0260540
Author(s):  
Alessandra Brusa ◽  
Antonia Pesič ◽  
Alice Mado Proverbio
Keyword(s):  
Racial Bias ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Experimental Manipulation ◽  
Control Group ◽  
N400 Effect ◽  
Reading Task ◽  
Sentence Reading ◽  
Electrophysiological Signals ◽  
Animal Names ◽  
Experimental Group

The present study used EEG/ERPs to detect the activation of implicit stereotypical representations associated to other-race (OR) people and the modulation of such activation through the previous presentation of positive vs. neutral social information. Electrophysiological signals were recorded in 40 Italian Caucasian participants, unaware of the overall study’s purpose. They were presented with 285 sentences that could either violate, non-violate (e.g., “the Roma girl was involved in a robbery) or be neutral with regard to stereotypical concepts concerning other-race people (e.g. Asians, Africans, Arabic). ERPs were time-locked to the terminal words. Prior to the sentence reading task, participants were exposed to a 10 minutes colourful video documentary. While the experimental group was presented a video containing images picturing other-race characters involved in “prestigious” activities that violated stereotypical negative assumptions (e.g. a black neurosurgeon leading a surgery team), the control group viewed a neutral documentary about flora and fauna. EEG signals were then recorded during the sentence reading task to explore whether the previous exposure to the experimental video could modulate the detection of incongruence in the sentences violating stereotypes, as marked by the N400 response. A fictitious task was adopted, consisted in detecting rare animal names. Indeed, only the control group showed a greater N400 response (350–550 ms) to words incongruent with ethnic stereotypes compared to congruent and neutral ones, thus suggesting the presence of a racial bias. No N400 response was found for the experimental group, suggesting a lack of negative expectation for OR individuals. The swLORETA inverse solution, performed on the prejudice-related N400 showed that the Inferior Temporal and the Superior and Middle Frontal Gyri were the strongest N400 intra-cortical sources. Regardless of the experimental manipulation, Congruent terminal words evoked a greater P300 response (500–600 ms) compared to incongruent and neutral ones and a late frontal positivity (650–800 ms) was found to be larger to sentences involving OR than own-race characters (either congruent or incongruent with the prejudice) thus possibly indicating bias-free perceptual in-group/out-group categorization processes. The data showed how it is possible to modulate a pre-existing racial prejudice (as reflected by N400 effect) through exposure to positive media-driven information about OR people. Further follow-up studies should determine the duration in time, and across contexts, of this modulatory effect.

scholarly journals Effects of Depressive Symptoms, Feelings, and Interoception on Reward-Based Decision-Making: Investigation Using Reinforcement Learning Model

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 508
Author(s):  
Hiroyoshi Ogishima ◽  
Shunta Maeda ◽  
Yuki Tanaka ◽  
Hironori Shimada
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Reinforcement Learning ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Experimental Manipulation ◽  
Detection Task ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Experimental Group

Background: In this study, we examined the relationships between reward-based decision-making in terms of learning rate, memory rate, exploration rate, and depression-related subjective emotional experience, in terms of interoception and feelings, to understand how reward-based decision-making is impaired in depression. Methods: In all, 52 university students were randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control group. To manipulate interoception, the participants in the experimental group were instructed to tune their internal somatic sense to the skin-conductance-response waveform presented on a display. The participants in the control group were only instructed to stay relaxed. Before and after the manipulation, the participants completed a probabilistic reversal-learning task to assess reward-based decision-making using reinforcement learning modeling. Similarly, participants completed a probe-detection task, a heartbeat-detection task, and self-rated scales. Results: The experimental manipulation of interoception was not successful. In the baseline testing, reinforcement learning modeling indicated a marginally-significant correlation between the exploration rate and depressive symptoms. However, the exploration rate was significantly associated with lower interoceptive attention and higher depressive feeling. Conclusions: The findings suggest that situational characteristics may be closely involved in reward exploration and highlight the clinically-meaningful possibility that intervention for affective processes may impact reward-based decision-making in those with depression.

scholarly journals Visual Attentional Training Improves Reading Capabilities in Children with Dyslexia: An Eye Tracker Study During a Reading Task

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simona Caldani ◽  
Christophe-Loïc Gerard ◽  
Hugo Peyre ◽  
Maria Pia Bucci
Keyword(s):  
Reading Disabilities ◽  
Random Sequence ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Fixation Time ◽  
Reading Disorders ◽  
Eye Tracker ◽  
Reading Task ◽  
Attentional Training ◽  
Reading Abilities ◽  
Experimental Group

Dyslexia is a specific disorder in reading abilities. The aim of this study was to explore whether a short visual attentional training could improve reading capabilities in children with reading disorders by changing their oculomotor characteristics. Two groups (G1 and G2) of 25 children with reading disabilities and who are matched in IQ (intelligence quotient), sex, and age participated in the study. The allocation of a subject to a specific group (G1 = experimental group; G2 = control group) was generated in an unpredictable random sequence. The reading task was recorded twice for G1, i.e., before (T1) and after (T2) 10 min of visual attentional training. Training consisted of oculomotor tasks (saccades and pursuits movements) and searching tasks (three different exercises). For G2, the two reading tasks at T1 and T2 were done at an interval of 10 min instead. We found that at T1, oculomotor performances during reading were statistically similar for both groups of children with reading disabilities (G1 and G2). At T2, the group G1 only improved oculomotor capabilities significantly during reading; in particular, children read faster, and their fixation time was shortest. We conclude that short visual attentional training could improve the cortical mechanisms responsible for attention and reading capabilities. Further studies on a larger number of dyslexic children will be necessary in order to explore the effects of different training types on the visual attentional span given its important role on the orienting and focusing visuospatial attention and on the oculomotor performance in children with dyslexia.

Effects of Automatic Speech Recognition Software on Pronunciation for Adults With Different Learning Styles

2020 ◽  
pp. 073563312097201
Author(s):  
Katerina Evers ◽  
Sufen Chen
Keyword(s):  
Speech Recognition ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Automatic Speech Recognition ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Reading Task ◽  
Speech Recognition Software ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Group 2 ◽  
Experimental Group

This study investigated how learning styles (visual/verbal) and the use of Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) software affect English as a Second Language adult learners’ improvement during a 12-week course focusing on pronunciation. In the control group (n = 28), the teacher corrected and gave feedback on the adult learners’ pronunciation; experimental group 1 (n = 33) used dictation ASR along with peers’ correction; and experimental group 2 (n = 31) used dictation ASR alone. Their pre- and post-tests on pronunciation in reading tasks and live conversation were analyzed with their learning styles taken into account, using 2-way ANCOVA. The results suggest that learning styles made a significant difference in the pronunciation performance of the reading task in all groups. Visual style learners outperformed verbal style learners in the reading task. The combination of ASR and peer correction yielded the highest improvement in both reading tasks and live conversation.

scholarly journals Better once it's over, worse now: Prospective moral behaviors after the coronavirus epidemic and cyberchondria

Psihologija ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 33-33
Author(s):  
Alexandra Maftei ◽  
Andrei Holman
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Moral Identity ◽  
Health Anxiety ◽  
Experimental Manipulation ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Negative Behaviors ◽  
Positive Behaviors ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

The COVID-19 crisis might generate effects in what regards people's propensity to engage in moral and immoral actions, both during and after the pandemic. We used an experimental manipulation to explore the impact of the current lockdown on anticipated behaviors and its association with cyberchondria and moral identity. A convenience sample of 865 participants completed an online survey in which they were asked to rate the probability of engaging in certain morally positive and negative behaviors over the next week. The experimental group was required to imagine that the pandemic would be over by then, and all restrictions would be lifted, while the control groups did not receive this instruction. Participants' moral identity and cyberchondria were also measured. Results showed that participants in the experimental condition expressed higher intentions to perform positive behaviors and lower intentions to engage in negative actions. Furthermore, cyberchondria was positively associated both to intended negative behaviors in the control group, i.e., during the lockdown and to positive behaviors in the experimental group, i.e., after the lockdown. We discuss these results in relation to prospective moral licensing and cleansing, and to the role of health anxiety in shaping moral decisions.

The Experimental Manipulation of Death Attitudes: A Preliminary Investigation

1975 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bill D. Bell
Keyword(s):  
Preliminary Investigation ◽  
Death And Dying ◽  
Experimental Manipulation ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Death Attitudes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Southern University ◽  
Experimental Group

This study utilized an experimental format to examine the influence of a course on death and dying on the death attitudes of college students in a mid-southern university. The experimental group (N = 24) consisted of those who had pre-enrolled for the course in question. The control group (N = 50) was chosen at random from the student population. The experimental group was exposed to an 18-week course on the social aspects of death and dying. Pre- and post-test measures of death attitudes were obtained. The data indicate significant changes in the cognitive attitudinal component of those in the experimental group. These individuals entertained more frequent thoughts of death and manifested a greater amount of interest in death-related discussions than was true of the control group. Items constituting the affective dimension, however, were not appreciably changed by experimental procedures. Both groups indicated approximately the same degree of fear in relation to death, and expressed similar feelings toward discussing their own or a close friend's death with other persons.

Morphometric analysis of peroxisomes in hepatocytes of alcohol-fed rats

1989 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 1100-1101
Author(s):  
D.C. Dominguez ◽  
J.T. Ellzey
Keyword(s):  
Caloric Intake ◽  
Volume Density ◽  
Controlled Study ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Numerical Density ◽  
Cacodylate Buffer ◽  
Paired Control ◽  
Experimental Group ◽  
Liver Peroxisomes ◽  
Single Lesion

Peroxisomes which participate in 1ipid metabolism have been shown to be altered in several metabolic disorders and toxic conditions. In alcoholic liver disease, the single lesion most frequently found is lipid accumu1ation in hepatocytes. However, the mechanisms for this 1ipid accumu1ation are not clear. The occurrence of modifications of liver peroxisomes due to excess alcohol consumption has not been subjected to a controlled study. We utilized a combination of cytochemica1 and morphometrictechniques to study the size and number of liver peroxisomes in rats fed an alcohol-supplemented diet compared to those of matched-paired control animals.Male Sprague-Daw1ey rats (400-500 g) received a liquid diet. The experimental group (N = 5/group) was fed a diet containing 30% ethanol-derived calories (EDC) and the control group was fed an isocaloric diet to 30% EDC. A pair feeding procedure was employed to control for caloric intake. Small pieces of liver randomly selected, were fixed in 2.3% -glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M sodium cacodylate buffer, pH 7.2, incubated in a DAB medium and postfixed with. 2% aqueous osmium tetroxide. EM photographs were taken from sections of 3 tissue blocks from each sample (7,200X) with a Zeiss EM10-A (60 kV). With the use of a point counting method and a digital planimeter the volume density (Vv) and numerical density (Nv) were determined.

Values and intergroup perceptions of East Germans and West Germans in 1998 1This research was supported by a grant from the German Research Society (We 1106/3-1).

1999 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 263-272
Author(s):  
Jörg Doll ◽  
Michael Dick
Keyword(s):  
Research Society ◽  
Frame Of Reference ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Perceived Similarity ◽  
The West ◽  
Need For Uniqueness ◽  
German Research ◽  
East German ◽  
Experimental Group ◽  
East West

The studies reported here focus on similarities and dissimilarities between the terminal value hierarchies ( Rokeach, 1973 ) ascribed to different groups ( Schwartz & Struch, 1990 ). In Study 1, n = 65 East Germans and n = 110 West Germans mutually assess the respective ingroup and outgroup. In this intra-German comparison the West Germans, with a mean intraindividual correlation of rho = 0.609, perceive a significantly greater East-West similarity between the group-related value hierarchies than the East Germans, with a mean rho = 0.400. Study 2 gives East German subjects either a Swiss (n = 58) or Polish (n = 59) frame of reference in the comparison between the categories German and East German. Whereas the Swiss frame of reference should arouse a need for uniqueness, the Polish frame of reference should arouse a need for similarity. In accordance with expectations, the Swiss frame of reference significantly reduces the correlative similarity between German and East German from a mean rho = 0.703 in a control group (n = 59) to a mean rho = 0.518 in the experimental group. Contrary to expectations, the Polish frame of reference does not lead to an increase in perceived similarity (mean rho = 0.712).

Rorschach Characteristics in Adolescents with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

2006 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Santoantonio ◽  
L. Yazigi ◽  
E. I. Sato
Keyword(s):  
Lupus Erythematosus ◽  
Case Control Study ◽  
Activity Index ◽  
Disease Activity Index ◽  
Female Adolescents ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Intelligence Scale ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Experimental Group ◽  
Control Study

The purpose of this study was to investigate the personality characteristics in adolescents with SLE. The research design is a case-control study by means of the Rorschach Method and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale. Study group: 30 female adolescents with lupus, 12–17 years of age. The SLE Disease Activity Index was administered during the period of psychological evaluation. Control group: 32 nonpatient adolescents were matched for age, sex, and socioeconomic level. In the Wechsler Intelligence Scale the mean IQ of the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the control group (77 and 98, respectively, p < .001). In the Rorschach, the lupus patients showed greater difficulty in interpersonal interactions, although they displayed the resources to process affect and to cope with stressful situations. A positive moderate correlation (p = .069) between the activity index of the disease and the affect constriction proportion of the Rorschach was observed: the higher the SLEDAI score, the lower the capacity to process affect. There is a negative correlation between the activity index of the disease and the IQ (p = .001): with a higher activity index of the disease, less intellectual resources are available.

In a Working Mood?

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonard Reinecke ◽  
Sabine Trepte
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Prior Experience ◽  
Computer Game ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Mood Management ◽  
Management Processes ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Personal Media ◽  
Experimental Group ◽  
Subsequent Task

Abstract. This quasi-experimental study examined the effects of exposure to a computer game on arousal and subsequent task performance. After inducing a state of low arousal, participants were assigned to experimental or control conditions via self-selection. Members of the experimental group played a computer game for five minutes; subjects in the control group spent the same amount of time awaiting further instructions. Participants who were exposed to the computer game showed significantly higher levels of arousal and performed significantly better on a subsequent cognitive task. The pattern of results was not influenced by the participants' prior experience with the game. The findings indicate that mood-management processes associated with personal media use at the workplace go beyond the alteration of arousal and affect subsequent cognitive performance.

Impact of an educative program on dialysis patients’ knowledge and mental health: controlled before and after program

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 20204
Author(s):  
Laetitia Idier ◽  
Aurélie Untas ◽  
Nicole Rascle ◽  
Michèle Koleck ◽  
Maider Aguirrezabal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Vascular Access ◽  
Educational Program ◽  
Psychological State ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Dialysis Patients ◽  
Emotional Change ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

Introduction:Psychological impact of Therapeutic Patient Education (TPE) for dialysis patients is rarely evaluated since the focus of many studies is on medical variables (i.e., adherence).Objectives:The aims of this study were: 1) to estimate the impact of a TPE program on knowledge, depression and anxiety, 2) to examine change in knowledge as a mediator of the effects of a TPE program on mental health.Method:This study was conducted in three hemodialysis units and comprised two groups: an experimental group with education and a control group with routine care. The program was based of 5 educative sessions. Knowledge, depressive and anxious symptoms were assessed with self-reported outcomes measured before and 3 months after the program.Results:The sample comprised 125 patients. Knowledge about vascular access and nutrition (p < 0.01) and depressive symptoms increased in the experimental group (p < 0.01). Analysis of mediation showed that changes in knowledge about vascular access were a significant mediator of the effects of the program on depressive symptoms (F = 4.90;p = 0.01).Discussion:Knowledge acquired during an educational program could lead to an emotional change. Improving knowledge often leads to an awareness of the risks that can modify the psychological state of patients by reminding them of their vulnerability. This study shows that it is required to be attentive to the way of transmitting knowledge. It’s necessary adapting this transmission to the needs of patients and promoting the acquisition of psychosocial competence too.Conclusion:This study shows that knowledge acquired during an educational program can lead to an emotional change in the short term. A long-term follow-up of the population should be interesting to observe these emotional effects.

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