scholarly journals Individual concerns modulate Pavlovian-instrumental transfer for sexual outcomes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoann Stussi ◽  
Vanessa Sennwald ◽  
eva pool ◽  
Sylvain Delplanque ◽  
Tobias Brosch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
Sexual Stimuli ◽  
Reward Seeking ◽  
Sexual Outcomes ◽  
Sexual Concerns ◽  
Instrumental Action ◽  
Current Concerns ◽  
Insight Into

Pavlovian and instrumental conditioning are fundamental processes helping organisms learn about stimuli that predict rewards in the environment and actions that lead to their obtainment. The interplay between these two forms of learning notably exerts a strong impact on reward-seeking behaviors. However, mechanisms modulating this impact are not well elucidated. Here, we examined whether the influence of Pavlovian cues on instrumental action for sexual rewards is determined by their relevance to the individual’s sexual concerns in humans. In two experiments, we manipulated the relevance of sexual outcomes in a Pavlovian-instrumental transfer paradigm by recruiting heterosexual and homosexual men and selecting sexual stimuli for each sexual orientation. Results showed that Pavlovian-instrumental transfer effects were enhanced in response to the cue that was associated with the most relevant sexual outcome to participants’ sexual orientation compared to the cue associated with the less relevant sexual outcome, thereby reflecting that inter-individual differences in sexual concerns modulated these effects. These findings suggest that motivational control of reward-related instrumental action triggered by Pavlovian stimuli in humans relies on inter-individual differences in current concerns and can extend beyond homeostatic needs such as hunger or thirst. This fosters further insight into the mechanisms underlying human reward-seeking behaviors.

Self-Reported Sense of Smell Predicts Disgust Sensitivity and Disgust Reactivity

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 191-195
Author(s):  
Nicholas J. Kelley ◽  
Adrienne L. Crowell
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Individual Difference ◽  
Olfactory Stimulus ◽  
Disgust Sensitivity ◽  
Sense Of Smell ◽  
Olfactory Ability ◽  
Good Proxy ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract. Two studies tested the hypothesis that self-reported sense of smell (i.e., metacognitive insight into one’s olfactory ability) predicts disgust sensitivity and disgust reactivity. Consistent with our predictions two studies demonstrated that disgust correlates with self-reported sense of smell. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated, from an individual difference perspective, that trait-like differences in disgust relate to self-reported sense of smell. Physical forms of disgust (i.e., sexual and pathogen disgust) drove this association. However, the association between self-reported sense of smell and disgust sensitivity is small, suggesting that it is likely not a good proxy for disgust sensitivity. The results of Study 2 extended this finding by demonstrating that individual differences in self-reported sense of smell influence how individuals react to a disgusting olfactory stimulus. Those who reported having a better sense of smell (or better insight into their olfactory ability) found a disgusting smell significantly more noxious as compared to participants reporting having a poor sense of smell (or poor insight into their olfactory ability). The current findings suggest that a one-item measure of self-reported sense of smell may be an effective tool in disgust research.

scholarly journals Sex Attracts: Investigating Individual Differences in Attentional Bias to Sexual Stimuli

PLoS ONE ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. e107795 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine Kagerer ◽  
Sina Wehrum ◽  
Tim Klucken ◽  
Bertram Walter ◽  
Dieter Vaitl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Attentional Bias ◽  
Sexual Stimuli

scholarly journals A selective effect of dopamine on information-seeking

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Vellani ◽  
Lianne P de Vries ◽  
Anne Gaule ◽  
Tali Sharot
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Selective Effect ◽  
Reward Seeking ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Primary Reward

Humans are motivated to seek information from their environment. How the brain motivates this behavior is unknown. One speculation is that the brain employs neuromodulatory systems implicated in primary reward-seeking, in particular dopamine, to instruct information-seeking. However, there has been no causal test for the role of dopamine in information-seeking. Here, we show that administration of a drug that enhances dopamine function (dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine; L-DOPA) reduces the impact of valence on information-seeking. Specifically, while participants under Placebo sought more information about potential gains than losses, under L-DOPA this difference was not observed. The results provide new insight into the neurobiology of information-seeking and generates the prediction that abnormal dopaminergic function (such as in Parkinson’s disease) will result in valence-dependent changes to information-seeking.

Why Don't You Act Your Age?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Green
Keyword(s):  
Search Engines ◽  
Text Comprehension ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Search Behavior ◽  
Random Forest Classifier ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
Online Search ◽  
Concrete Operational ◽  
Direct Feedback ◽  
Insight Into

Online search engines for children are known to filter retrieved resources based on page complexity, and offer specialized functionality meant to address gaps in search literacy according to a user's age or grade. However, not every searcher grouped by these identifiers displays the same level of text comprehension, or requires the same aid with search. Furthermore, these search engines typically rely on direct feedback to ascertain these identifiers. This reliance on self identification may cause users to accidentally misrepresent themselves. We therefore seek to recognize users from skill based signals rather than utilizing age or grade identifiers, as skill dictates appropriate aid and resources. Therefore, in this thesis we propose a strategy that automatically recognizes users on the fly by analyzing search behavior found in search sessions. In particular, our efforts focus on recognizing the stereotypical 8 to 12 year old searcher, who we posit exhibits skills defined by developmental stages that have a strong impact on language development (Piaget's concrete operational stage) and search literacy (digital competency's first level). This strategy analyzes user-generated text extracted from queries and patterns of search interactions in order to infer features that are leveraged by a random forest classifier in order to determine whether or not a user is a part of this specific segment of searchers. The outcomes from this thesis lay the groundwork for enabling search engines to recognize users based on their search skills and provides further insight into the search behavior of youths.

The Hospitable Aesthetics of Alison Bechdel

2019 ◽  
pp. 3-21
Author(s):  
Vanessa Lauber
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Queer Studies ◽  
Academic Discipline ◽  
Constitutive Relationship ◽  
History Of ◽  
Identity Based ◽  
Formal Innovation ◽  
Market Capitalism ◽  
Insight Into

The birth of queer studies as an academic discipline is defined by its break from LGBT politics, with the goals of marriage and military service pitted against radical queer liberation. In broad strokes, LGBT studies produces sexual orientation as a category, while queer studies seeks to upend categorical thought. Alison Bechdel’s unique insight into that tension arises from her complex and nuanced attempts to represent marginalized identities in a form that has been itself marginalized. Her politics of the outsider cannot be cast off in a dismissive reading of her popularity in the cultural imagination, nor hewn from the longer history of her formal innovation. Taken as a whole, the paradoxical and yet co-constitutive relationship between the queerness of her forms and the mainstream popularity of her texts performs a sort of queer world-building. To the extent that her work cultivates empathy or community, it does so not only, perhaps, in the service of identity-based movements or bald market capitalism, but also by modeling a more radical, relational aesthetic that illuminates the ongoing power of queer critique.

Oh Darling, This Too Shall Pass: Cyclic Perceptions of Change Keep You in Romantic Relationships Longer During Difficult Times

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (9) ◽  
pp. 1075-1090
Author(s):  
Emily K. Hong ◽  
Incheol Choi
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
Central Feature ◽  
Holistic Thinking ◽  
Relational Transgressions ◽  
Break Up ◽  
Difficult Times ◽  
Longitudinal Examination ◽  
Insight Into

The present research explored how individual differences in perceptions of change (cyclic vs. linear) influence relational decisions. Three studies examined whether cyclic perceptions of change, a central feature of holistic thinking, keep people in romantic relationships longer due to the belief that hardships too shall pass. Study 1 found that cyclic perceivers reported greater endurance against relational transgressions than linear perceivers. In Studies 2a and 2b, cyclic perceivers reported fewer breakups in romantic relationships (Study 2a) and showed less willingness to break up (Study 2b) than linear perceivers due to their stronger relational endurance. Through a longitudinal examination, Study 3 evidenced that cyclic perceivers were more likely to remain in romantic relationships than linear perceivers over 1 year. The current studies provide new insight into how individual differences in perceptions of change contribute to decision-making in romantic relationships.

Diversity in the Workplace

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Regine Bendl ◽  
Astrid Hainzl ◽  
Heike Mensi-Klarbach
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Diversity Management ◽  
Business Case ◽  
Central Focus ◽  
Marginalized Groups ◽  
Moral Case ◽  
Diversity In The Workplace

Diversity in the workplace, with a central focus on gender, sexual orientation, age, ethnicity, (dis)ability, and religious belief, has become a major issue in organizations worldwide since the 1990s. How these different diversity dimensions are defined and constructed, as well as by whom and in what context, determines organizational practices. In turn, this determines the transformation of organizations from exclusive to inclusive ones. The workplace is one context of social interaction, in which dimensions of diversity become highly relevant and visible. Depending on the organization’s perspective toward diversity in a managerial context, individual differences between employees can create value and foster innovation and creativity, or can lead to conflict. How diversity is constructed and reproduced within diversity management and inclusion determines how employees feel accepted and included and, thus, how they are able to realize their potential and to contribute to the organization’s vision and aims. However, legitimizing initiatives that foster diversity in the workplace only with potential profits it might generate – called the business case for diversity – and forgetting its roots in the moral case, has shortcomings and potential drawbacks on the aims of diversity management and inclusion. Research on diversity in the workplace can be found in different forms. Generally, there are two main groups. Mainstream diversity literature works within the positivist research tradition and focuses mostly on the performance aspects of diverse workforces by conducting quantitative empirical studies. Critical diversity literature aims at promoting social justice by deeply understanding, criticizing and developing possible solutions. Both research streams have contributed to comprehend diversity in the workplace, realize its potentials and support marginalized groups.

ORIGINAL RESEARCH—ANATOMY/PHYSIOLOGY: Assessment of Sexual Orientation Using the Hemodynamic Brain Response to Visual Sexual Stimuli

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 1628-1634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Ponseti ◽  
Oliver Granert ◽  
Olav Jansen ◽  
Stephan Wolff ◽  
Hubertus Mehdorn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Brain Response ◽  
Sexual Stimuli ◽  
Visual Sexual Stimuli

Qualitative Methods in Rehabilitation Research and their Relevance to Rehabilitation Counselling Practice

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross Crisp
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Qualitative Methods ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Research Methodologies ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Insight Into

This paper discusses the potential limitations, and barriers to acceptance, of qualitative research methodologies. Qualitative research has been dismissed for consisting of small unrepresentative samples that limit the generalisability of findings, for lacking reliability and validity, for providing analyses that mask the individual differences that it purports to highlight, and for being too subjective. It was argued that these criticisms have to be considered against a different set of criteria to those applied to quantitative research. Moreover, the rationale behind qualitative research can provide rehabilitation counsellors with a better understanding of living with disability. This paper seeks to encourage rehabilitation counsellors to (a) gain insight into the different perspectives of persons with disabilities; (b) develop their clinical or knowledge base; and (c) be self-reflexive and critically self-examine their interaction with clients.

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