Neural Responses to Mandatory and Voluntary Donation Impact Charitable Giving Decisions: An Event-Related Potentials Study

The present study aimed to explore the influence of donation amounts on donation decisions in different donation contexts and to reveal the psychological mechanisms. Furthermore, we focused on how to enhance individuals’ intention to donate voluntarily. We designed an experiment on donation decisions, employing event-related potentials (ERPs) to probe the effect of psychological mechanisms on donation decisions by detecting the neural basis of donation decision-making. Based on S-O-R (stimulus-organism-response) theory, we used donation contexts and donation amounts (stimuli) to induce psychological activity in the participants (organism) and then influence individual donation decision behaviors (response). Moreover, we applied psychological reactance (PR) theory to discuss the effect of donation context on decisions and the corresponding psychological process. The behavioral results showed that donation contexts (mandatory vs. voluntary) were significantly related to the donation amounts (i.e., less vs. more money that the charity received than money that the participants donated). At the ERP level, compared with mandatory donation, voluntary donation evoked a larger P2 amplitude when the charity received less money. In addition, a larger mean amplitude of LPP was elicited by voluntary donation compared to mandatory donation. This study provides practical implications for charity organizers to guide people to donate voluntarily.

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Frequency Sensitivity of Neural Responses to English Verb Argument Structure Violations

Collabra Psychology ◽

10.1525/collabra.87 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jona Sassenhagen ◽

Ryan Blything ◽

Elena V. M. Lieven ◽

Ben Ambridge

Keyword(s):

Statistical Learning ◽

High Frequency ◽

Argument Structure ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Neural Responses ◽

Online Processing ◽

Verb Argument Structure ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Intransitive Verbs

How are verb-argument structure preferences acquired? Children typically receive very little negative evidence, raising the question of how they come to understand the restrictions on grammatical constructions. Statistical learning theories propose stochastic patterns in the input contain sufficient clues. For example, if a verb is very common, but never observed in transitive constructions, this would indicate that transitive usage of that verb is illegal. Ambridge et al. (2008) have shown that in offline grammaticality judgements of intransitive verbs used in transitive constructions, low-frequency verbs elicit higher acceptability ratings than high-frequency verbs, as predicted if relative frequency is a cue during statistical learning. Here, we investigate if the same pattern also emerges in on-line processing of English sentences. EEG was recorded while healthy adults listened to sentences featuring transitive uses of semantically matched verb pairs of differing frequencies. We replicate the finding of higher acceptabilities of transitive uses of low- vs. high-frequency intransitive verbs. Event-Related Potentials indicate a similar result: early electrophysiological signals distinguish between misuse of high- vs low-frequency verbs. This indicates online processing shows a similar sensitivity to frequency as off-line judgements, consistent with a parser that reflects an original acquisition of grammatical constructions via statistical cues. However, the nature of the observed neural responses was not of the expected, or an easily interpretable, form, motivating further work into neural correlates of online processing of syntactic constructions.

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Abnormal Neural Basis of Emotional Conflict Control in Treatment-Resistant Depression

Clinical EEG and Neuroscience ◽

10.1177/1550059416631658 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 48 (2) ◽

pp. 103-110 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Song Xue ◽

Shanshan Wang ◽

Xia Kong ◽

Jiang Qiu

Keyword(s):

Stroop Task ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Frontal Region ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Treatment Resistant Depression ◽

Treatment Resistant ◽

Neural Basis ◽

Emotional Conflict ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Resistant Depression

Emotional conflict has received increased attention as a research topic. The objective of this study is to confirm that the processing of emotional conflict is impaired in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). We compared the event-related potentials of 17 patients with TRD and 17 healthy controls during the face-word Stroop task, which is an effective way of assessing the effects of emotional conflict directly. Compared with healthy controls, the accuracy scores of the TRD patients were lower in both “congruent stimuli” and “incongruent stimuli” conditions, and their response times were longer. The TRD patients also had larger N2 amplitudes over the frontal region, regardless of stimulus condition, which might reflect that TRD patients pay more attention to emotional information. A larger P3 amplitude over the frontal region for “incongruent stimuli minus congruent stimuli” was also found among patients with TRD, which indicates interference effects in the Stroop task. The results of this study provide novel behavioral and neurophysiological evidence of anomalies in cognitive inhibition among patients with TRD using the word-face task. These findings not only improve our understanding of deficient inhibition in TRD, but also pave the way for a cognitive neuropsychiatric model of depression.

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Request framing moderates the influence of affective images on charitable giving

10.31234/osf.io/s458p ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Alexander Genevsky ◽

Brian Knutson ◽

Carolyn Yoon

Keyword(s):

Positive Affect ◽

Charitable Giving ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Interactive Effect ◽

Matching Effect ◽

Psychological Mechanisms ◽

Negative Images ◽

Donation Behavior ◽

The Impact ◽

Practical Implications

AbstractFundraising organizations face difficult decisions regarding how to construct solicitations for donations. While these aid requests often include multiple salient features, their interactive effect on donation behavior and the psychological mechanisms that underlie their combined influence remain unclear. In six studies utilizing online and laboratory samples, as well as hypothetical and real incentives, we examine whether and how request framing moderates the impact of positive and negative images on charitable giving. Across all studies and in a single-paper meta-analysis, the influence of affective images on giving was moderated by the valence of request framing, such that affectively matched features most effectively elicited donations. Further, donors’ experienced positive affect could account for this matching effect – even in cases of matched negative features. These findings suggest that organizations can increase the effectiveness of aid requests by focusing on the affective match of request features. This work integrates previously discrepant findings on the impact of affect on donations and holds both conceptual implications for how affect can influence giving and practical implications for organizations seeking to design optimally effective requests for aid.

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A Neurophysiological Study of Semantic Processing in Parkinson’s Disease

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society ◽

10.1017/s1355617716000953 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 78-89 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Anthony J. Angwin ◽

Nadeeka N.W. Dissanayaka ◽

Alison Moorcroft ◽

Katie L. McMahon ◽

Peter A. Silburn ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Semantic Processing ◽

Time Course ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Mean Amplitude ◽

Repetition Effects ◽

Related Potentials ◽

The Mean ◽

Written Word

AbstractObjectives: Cognitive-linguistic impairments in Parkinson’s disease (PD) have been well documented; however, few studies have explored the neurophysiological underpinnings of semantic deficits in PD. This study investigated semantic function in PD using event-related potentials. Methods: Eighteen people with PD and 18 healthy controls performed a semantic judgement task on written word pairs that were either congruent or incongruent. Results: The mean amplitude of the N400 for new incongruent word pairs was similar for both groups, however the onset latency was delayed in the PD group. Further analysis of the data revealed that both groups demonstrated attenuation of the N400 for repeated incongruent trials, as well as attenuation of the P600 component for repeated congruent trials. Conclusions: The presence of N400 congruity and N400 repetition effects in the PD group suggests that semantic processing is generally intact, but with a slower time course as evidenced by the delayed N400. Additional research will be required to determine whether N400 and P600 repetition effects are sensitive to further cognitive decline in PD. (JINS, 2017, 23, 78–89)

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Reduced influence of perceptual context in schizophrenia: behavioral and neurophysiological evidence

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291719003751 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 1-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Victor J. Pokorny ◽

Timothy J. Lano ◽

Michael-Paul Schallmo ◽

Cheryl A. Olman ◽

Scott R. Sponheim

Keyword(s):

Event Related Potentials ◽

Contour Integration ◽

Contour Detection ◽

Group Differences ◽

Neural Responses ◽

Contour Perception ◽

Accurate Perception ◽

Visual Contour ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Intermediate Performance

Abstract Background Accurate perception of visual contours is essential for seeing and differentiating objects in the environment. Both the ability to detect visual contours and the influence of perceptual context created by surrounding stimuli are diminished in people with schizophrenia (SCZ). The central aim of the present study was to better understand the biological underpinnings of impaired contour integration and weakened effects of perceptual context. Additionally, we sought to determine whether visual perceptual abnormalities reflect genetic factors in SCZ and are present in other severe mental disorders. Methods We examined behavioral data and event-related potentials (ERPs) collected during the perception of simple linear contours embedded in similar background stimuli in 27 patients with SCZ, 23 patients with bipolar disorder (BP), 23 first-degree relatives of SCZ, and 37 controls. Results SCZ exhibited impaired visual contour detection while BP exhibited intermediate performance. The orientation of neighboring stimuli (i.e. flankers) relative to the contour modulated perception across all groups, but SCZ exhibited weakened suppression by the perceptual context created by flankers. Late visual (occipital P2) and cognitive (centroparietal P3) neural responses showed group differences and flanker orientation effects, unlike earlier ERPs (occipital P1 and N1). Moreover, behavioral effects of flanker context on contour perception were correlated with modulation in P2 & P3 amplitudes. Conclusion In addition to replicating and extending findings of abnormal contour integration and visual context modulation in SCZ, we provide novel evidence that the abnormal use of perceptual context is associated with higher-order sensory and cognitive processes.

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Risk and Resilience in an Acute Stress Paradigm: Evidence From Salivary Cortisol and Time-Frequency Analysis of the Reward Positivity

Clinical Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/2167702620917463 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (5) ◽

pp. 872-889 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Paige Ethridge ◽

Nida Ali ◽

Sarah E. Racine ◽

Jens C. Pruessner ◽

Anna Weinberg

Keyword(s):

Frequency Band ◽

Acute Stress ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Risk And Resilience ◽

Neural Responses ◽

Time Frequency ◽

Reward Positivity ◽

Before And After ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Reward Responsivity

Both abnormal stress and reward responsivity are consistently linked to multiple forms of psychopathology; however, the nature of the associations between stress and reward sensitivity remains poorly understood. In the present study, we examined associations between the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-axis stress response and event-related potentials sensitive to the receipt of reward-related feedback in a pre–post experimental paradigm. Neural responses were recorded while male participants completed a simple monetary-reward guessing task before and after the Montreal Imaging Stress Task. Results demonstrated that acute psychosocial stress significantly reduced the magnitude of neural responses to feedback in the reward-sensitive delta-frequency band but not the loss-sensitive theta-frequency band. In addition, a larger delta-frequency response to rewards at baseline predicted reduced overall cortisol response in the stress condition. These findings suggest, therefore, that neural reward circuitry may be associated with both risk for and resilience to stress-related psychopathology.

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How Social Power Affects the Processing of Angry Expressions: Evidence From Behavioral and Electrophysiological Data

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2020.626522 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Author(s):

Entao Zhang ◽

Xueling Ma ◽

Ruiwen Tao ◽

Tao Suo ◽

Huang Gu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Low Power ◽

High Power ◽

Late Stage ◽

Social Power ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Oddball Paradigm ◽

Neural Responses ◽

Target Power ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Electroencephalogram Eeg

With the help of event-related potentials (ERPs), the present study used an oddball paradigm to investigate how both individual and target power modulate neural responses to angry expressions. Specifically, participants were assigned into a high-power or low-power condition. Then, they were asked to detect a deviant angry expression from a high-power or low-power target among a series of neutral expressions, while behavioral responses and electroencephalogram (EEG) were recorded. The behavioral results showed that high-power individuals responded faster to detect angry expressions than low-power individuals. The ERP analysis showed that high-power individuals showed larger P3 amplitudes in response to angry expressions than low-power individuals did. Target power increased the amplitudes of the P1, VPP, N3, and P3 in response to angry expressions did, but decreased the amplitudes of the N1 and N170 in response to angry expressions. The present study extended previous studies by showing that having more power could enhance individuals’ neural responses to angry expressions in the late-stage processes, and individuals could show stronger neural responses to angry expressions from high-power persons in both the early‐ and late-stage processes.

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The processing of intimately familiar and unfamiliar voices: Specific neural responses of speaker recognition and identification

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0250214 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. e0250214

Author(s):

Julien Plante-Hébert ◽

Victor J. Boucher ◽

Boutheina Jemel

Keyword(s):

Speaker Recognition ◽

Time Window ◽

Speaker Identification ◽

Early Recognition ◽

Voice Recognition ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Neural Responses ◽

Speech Stimuli ◽

Related Potentials ◽

Post Onset

Research has repeatedly shown that familiar and unfamiliar voices elicit different neural responses. But it has also been suggested that different neural correlates associate with the feeling of having heard a voice and knowing who the voice represents. The terminology used to designate these varying responses remains vague, creating a degree of confusion in the literature. Additionally, terms serving to designate tasks of voice discrimination, voice recognition, and speaker identification are often inconsistent creating further ambiguities. The present study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to clarify the difference between responses to 1) unknown voices, 2) trained-to-familiar voices as speech stimuli are repeatedly presented, and 3) intimately familiar voices. In an experiment, 13 participants listened to repeated utterances recorded from 12 speakers. Only one of the 12 voices was intimately familiar to a participant, whereas the remaining 11 voices were unfamiliar. The frequency of presentation of these 11 unfamiliar voices varied with only one being frequently presented (the trained-to-familiar voice). ERP analyses revealed different responses for intimately familiar and unfamiliar voices in two distinct time windows (P2 between 200–250 ms and a late positive component, LPC, between 450–850 ms post-onset) with late responses occurring only for intimately familiar voices. The LPC present sustained shifts, and short-time ERP components appear to reflect an early recognition stage. The trained voice equally elicited distinct responses, compared to rarely heard voices, but these occurred in a third time window (N250 between 300–350 ms post-onset). Overall, the timing of responses suggests that the processing of intimately familiar voices operates in two distinct steps of voice recognition, marked by a P2 on right centro-frontal sites, and speaker identification marked by an LPC component. The recognition of frequently heard voices entails an independent recognition process marked by a differential N250. Based on the present results and previous observations, it is proposed that there is a need to distinguish between processes of voice “recognition” and “identification”. The present study also specifies test conditions serving to reveal this distinction in neural responses, one of which bears on the length of speech stimuli given the late responses associated with voice identification.

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Neural Basis of Semantically Dependent and Independent Cross-Modal Boosts on the Attentional Blink

Cerebral Cortex ◽

10.1093/cercor/bhaa362 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Song Zhao ◽

Chengzhi Feng ◽

Xinyin Huang ◽

Yijun Wang ◽

Wenfeng Feng

Keyword(s):

Object Recognition ◽

Attentional Blink ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Recognition Task ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Visual Object ◽

Visual Object Recognition ◽

Neural Basis ◽

Related Potentials ◽

The Cross

Abstract The present study recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) in a visual object-recognition task under the attentional blink paradigm to explore the temporal dynamics of the cross-modal boost on attentional blink and whether this auditory benefit would be modulated by semantic congruency between T2 and the simultaneous sound. Behaviorally, the present study showed that not only a semantically congruent but also a semantically incongruent sound improved T2 discrimination during the attentional blink interval, whereas the enhancement was larger for the congruent sound. The ERP results revealed that the behavioral improvements induced by both the semantically congruent and incongruent sounds were closely associated with an early cross-modal interaction on the occipital N195 (192–228 ms). In contrast, the lower T2 accuracy for the incongruent than congruent condition was accompanied by a larger late occurring cento-parietal N440 (424–448 ms). These findings suggest that the cross-modal boost on attentional blink is hierarchical: the task-irrelevant but simultaneous sound, irrespective of its semantic relevance, firstly enables T2 to escape the attentional blink via cross-modally strengthening the early stage of visual object-recognition processing, whereas the semantic conflict of the sound begins to interfere with visual awareness only at a later stage when the representation of visual object is extracted.

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