Third-party punishers do not compete to be chosen as partners in an experimental game

Third-party punishment is thought to act as an honest signal of cooperative intent and such signals might escalate when competing to be chosen as a partner. Here, we investigate whether partner choice competition prompts escalating investment in third-party punishment. We also consider the case of signalling via helpful acts to provide a direct test of the relative strength of the two types of signals. Individuals invested more in third-party helping than third-party punishment and invested more in both signals when observed compared to when investments would be unseen. We found no clear effect of partner choice (over and above mere observation) on investments in either punishment or helping. Third-parties who invested more than a partner were preferentially chosen for a subsequent Trust Game although the preference to interact with the higher investor was more pronounced in the help than in the punishment condition. Third-parties who invested more were entrusted with more money and investments in third-party punishment or helping reliably signalled trustworthiness. Individuals who did not invest in third-party helping were more likely to be untrustworthy than those who did not invest in third-party punishment. This supports the conception of punishment as a more ambiguous signal of cooperative intent compared to help.

Differences in Reward Sensitivity between High and Low Problematic Smartphone Use Adolescents: An ERP Study

Background: Problematic smartphone use is highly prevalent in adolescent populations compared to other age groups (e.g., adults and young children). Previous studies suggested that higher levels of reward sensitivity were associated with problematic smartphone use. Therefore, the current study investigated the neural processing of monetary and social reward and punishment feedbacks between high and low problematic smartphone use adolescents. Methods: 46 adolescents participated in the current study and they were categorized into two groups based on their level of problematic smartphone use: those who obtained low scores on the measure of problematic smartphone use were categorized as Low Problematic Smartphone Use (LPSU), and those who obtained high scores on the measure of problematic smartphone use were categorized as High Problematic Smartphone Use (HPSU). Electrocortical activities were recorded during the processing of monetary and social reward and punishment feedback. Results: (1) LPSUs evoked larger P3 in the social punishment condition than in the monetary punishment condition. HPSUs evoked larger P3 in the social reward condition than in the monetary condition. (2) The feedback-related negativity (FRN) amplitudes in the reward condition were significantly larger than those in the punishment condition. (3) HPSUs induced larger reward positivity in social feedback conditions than in monetary feedback conditions, while there were no significant differences between the two types of conditions in the LPSUs. Discussion: The results provide neural underpinning evidence that high sensitivity to social rewards may be related to problematic smartphone use in adolescence.

Mediating role of attenuated physiological arousal on the association between psychopathic traits and fairness norm violation

The low-fear model of primary psychopathy has been supported by empirical findings such as attenuated physiological arousal in anticipation of threatening stimuli. The somatic marker hypothesis proposes that salient changes in the bodily state are processed as signals of whether a situation is good or bad and guide an individual to avoid potential adverse consequences. The present study aimed to elucidate the role that attenuated physiological arousal plays in the relationship between primary psychopathy and fairness norm violations both under the threat of punishment and under no potential for punishment. Primary psychopathy was associated with an attenuated skin conductance response prior to the choice of unfair monetary offers to another person, regardless of the potential for punishment. Attenuated skin conductance mediated the association between primary psychopathy and the choice of an unfair offer, especially in the no-punishment condition. However, in the punishment condition, primary psychopathy significantly predicted the choice of unfair offers even after controlling for the magnitude of skin conductance. The bodily response may have only a marginal effect on interpersonal decision-making under a threat of punishment. The present results suggest that the low-fear account of social norm violations as a function of primary psychopathy should be re-discussed.

The Social Implications of Punishing Unethical Behavior: Observers' Cognitive and Affective Reactions

This experiment investigated how punishment of varying severity (no punishment, appropriate punishment, and harsh punishment) in response to unethical organizational behavior influenced observers' outcome expectancies, justice evaluations, and emotional responses. Results suggested that only the harshest disciplinary response influenced outcome expectancies. In addition, observers' justice evaluations and emotional responses were generally most positive in the harshest vicarious punishment condition. Implications for future research and management practice are discussed.

Vicarious Punishment: An Investigation of Timing

The effect of varying the temporal locus of vicarious and directly experienced punishment was investigated. Boys 5 to 8 yr. old ( n = 10 per cell) in the direct experienced conditions received either early, late or no punishment. Those in the vicarious conditions observed models receiving either early, late or no punishment. It was hypothesized that subjects in the direct early-punishment condition would emit more resistance than those receiving direct late punishment and that the vicarious early-punishment condition would elicit more resistance to temptation than vicarious late punishment. It was also hypothesized that there would be no differences between direct experience and vicarious conditions when temporal locus was constant. All hypotheses were confirmed on three behavioral dependent measures.

Effects of Punishment on Learning by Aphasic Subjects

Effects of three types of punishment on learning a paired-associate visual-matching task by aphasic Ss were investigated. Ss matched response buttons with stimulus patterns in three punishment conditions—time-out, when E inactivated the pushbuttons and refrained from presenting a stimulus card for a period of 15 sec.; response-cost, when E took a penny from S for every incorrect response; and presentation of an aversive stimulus, during which 95 dB SPL of noise was presented for 0.75 sec. contingent upon an incorrect response. Each punishment condition lasted either until criterion (10 correct responses in 10 trials) was reached, or until 10 min. had elapsed. All aphasic Ss learned the task under at least one type of punishment condition; types of punishment had differential effects for individual Ss, and Ss learned more rapidly when positive reinforcement and punishment were combined.