Social Information and Gender Differences in Competitive Preferences

This is an exploratory study that examines the effect of social information on gender differences in selection into a winner-take-all tournament, using a simple addition task. Participants perform this task in multiple rounds and then select into a competitive or non-competitive pay scheme. Prior to choosing payment schemes, participants are shown selected results about average performance and choices in a similar experiment. I find that the inclusion of social information eliminates any extant gender gap in competitive choices in every treatment. The reduction in the gender gap is not due to greater efficiency of choices by men or women, even though inefficient choices by low-performing individuals are mostly eliminated. Rather, the inclusion of feedback causes men and women to select into a competitive pay scheme in a similar manner, thereby removing the gender gap. Despite these results, the complexity of the social information intervention used leaves some results unexplained. JEL Codes: C9, J2, J16.

The Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT): normative data for the Italian population

The Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT) is a neuropsychological instrument designed to measure attention, working memory and speed of information processing in a complex manner. It is currently used to evaluate different neurological diseases. the purpose of this study was to establish PASAT normative data for the healthy Italian population using the standardized methodology of Equivalents Scores. the brief PASAT auditory version included in the Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite was administered to 146 healthy Italian participants, distributed for gender (70 men; 76 women), age (range 18-83) and education (8-19). We found that age and education, but not gender, were significant PASAT score predictors. PASAT normative Italian data may represent a useful application for clinicians and researchers to document mild executive deficits in different neurological populations.

Daytime Exposure to Short Wavelength-Enriched Light Improves Cognitive Performance in Sleep-Restricted College-Aged Adults

We tested the effect of daytime indoor light exposure with varying melanopic strength on cognitive performance in college-aged students who maintained an enforced nightly sleep opportunity of 7 h (i.e., nightly sleep duration no longer than 7 h) for 1 week immediately preceding the day of light exposure. Participants (n = 39; mean age ± SD = 24.5 ± 3.2 years; 21 F) were randomized to an 8 h daytime exposure to one of four white light conditions of equal photopic illuminance (~50 lux at eye level in the vertical plane) but different melanopic illuminance [24–45 melanopic-EDI lux (melEDI)] generated by varying correlated color temperatures [3000K (low-melEDI) or 5000K (high-melEDI)] and spectra [conventional or daylight-like]. Accuracy on a 2-min addition task was 5% better in the daylight-like high-melEDI condition (highest melEDI) compared to the conventional low-melEDI condition (lowest melEDI; p < 0.01). Performance speed on the motor sequence learning task was 3.2 times faster (p < 0.05) during the daylight-like high-melEDI condition compared to the conventional low-melEDI. Subjective sleepiness was 1.5 times lower in the conventional high-melEDI condition compared to the conventional low-melEDI condition, but levels were similar between conventional low- and daylight-like high-melEDI conditions. These results demonstrate that exposure to high-melanopic (short wavelength-enriched) white light improves processing speed, working memory, and procedural learning on a motor sequence task in modestly sleep restricted young adults, and have important implications for optimizing lighting conditions in schools, colleges, and other built environments.

Neural Signatures of Performance Feedback in the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT): An ERP Study

Research on cognitive control has sparked increasing interest in recent years, as it is an important prerequisite for goal oriented human behavior. The paced auditory serial addition task (PASAT) has been used to test and train cognitive control functions. This adaptive, challenging task includes continuous performance feedback. Therefore, additional cognitive control capacities are required to process this information along with the already high task-load. The underlying neural mechanisms, however, are still unclear. To explore the neural signatures of the PASAT and particularly the processing of distractive feedback information, feedback locked event-related potentials were derived from 24 healthy participants during an adaptive 2-back version of the PASAT. Larger neural activation after negative feedback was found for feedback related negativity (FRN), P300, and late positive potential (LPP). In early stages of feedback processing (i.e., FRN), a larger difference between positive and negative feedback responses was associated with poorer overall performance. This association was inverted in later stages (i.e., P300 and LPP). Together, our findings indicate stage-dependent associations between neural activation after negative information and cognitive functioning. Conceivably, increased early responses to negative feedback signify distraction, whereas higher activity at later stages reflects cognitive control processes to preserve ongoing performance.

Neural signatures of performance feedback in the paced auditory serial addition task (PASAT): an ERP study

Due to its importance for successful human behavior, research into cognitive control functioning has gained increasing interest. The paced auditory serial addition task (PASAT) has been used to test and train this fundamental function. It is a challenging task, requiring a high cognitive load in a stressful and frustrating environment. Its underlying neural mechanisms, however, are still unclear. To explore the neural signatures of the PASAT and their link to ongoing cognitive processing, feedback locked event-related potentials were derived from healthy participants during an adaptive 2-back version of the PASAT. Larger neural activation after negative feedback was found for feedback related negativity (FRN), P300 and late positive potential (LPP). In early stages of feedback processing (FRN), a larger difference between positive and negative feedback responses was associated with poorer overall performance, whereas this association was inverted for the later stages (P300 and LPP). This indicates stage-dependent associations of neural activation after negative information and cognitive functioning. Conceivably, increased early responses to negative feedback signify distraction whereas higher activity at later stages reflect cognitive control processes to preserve ongoing performance.

Positive airway pressure for sleep-disordered breathing in acute quadriplegia: a randomised controlled trial

RationaleHighly prevalent and severe sleep-disordered breathing caused by acute cervical spinal cord injury (quadriplegia) is associated with neurocognitive dysfunction and sleepiness and is likely to impair rehabilitation.ObjectiveTo determine whether 3 months of autotitrating CPAP would improve neurocognitive function, sleepiness, quality of life, anxiety and depression more than usual care in acute quadriplegia.Methods and measurementsMultinational, randomised controlled trial (11 centres) from July 2009 to October 2015. The primary outcome was neurocognitive (attention and information processing as measure with the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task). Daytime sleepiness (Karolinska Sleepiness Scale) was a priori identified as the most important secondary outcome.Main results1810 incident cases were screened. 332 underwent full, portable polysomnography, 273 of whom had an apnoea hypopnoea index greater than 10. 160 tolerated at least 4 hours of CPAP during a 3-day run-in and were randomised. 149 participants (134 men, age 46±34 years, 81±57 days postinjury) completed the trial. CPAP use averaged 2.9±2.3 hours per night with 21% fully ‘adherent’ (at least 4 hours use on 5 days per week). Intention-to-treat analyses revealed no significant differences between groups in the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (mean improvement of 2.28, 95% CI −7.09 to 11.6; p=0.63). Controlling for premorbid intelligence, age and obstructive sleep apnoea severity (group effect −1.15, 95% CI −10 to 7.7) did not alter this finding. Sleepiness was significantly improved by CPAP on intention-to-treat analysis (mean difference −1.26, 95% CI −2.2 to –0.32; p=0.01).ConclusionCPAP did not improve Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task scores but significantly reduced sleepiness after acute quadriplegia.Trial registration numberACTRN12605000799651.

Intentionality of a co-actor influences sensorimotor synchronisation with a virtual partner

Interpersonal sensorimotor synchronisation requires individuals to anticipate and adapt to their partner’s movement timing. Research has demonstrated that the intentionality of a co-actor affects joint action planning, however, less is known about whether co-actor intentionality affects sensorimotor synchronisation. Explicit and implicit knowledge of a synchronisation partner’s intentionality may influence coordination by modulating temporal anticipation and adaptation processes. We used a computer-controlled virtual partner (VP) consisting of tempo-changing auditory pacing sequences to simulate either an intentional or unintentional synchronisation partner. The VP was programmed to respond to the participant with low or moderate degrees of error correction, simulating a slightly or moderately adaptive human, respectively. In addition, task instructions were manipulated so that participants were told they were synchronising with either another person or a computer. Results indicated that synchronisation performance improved with the more adaptive VP. In addition, there was an influence of the explicit partner instruction, but this was dependent upon the degree of VP adaptivity and was modulated by subjective preferences for either the human or the computer partner. Beliefs about the intentionality of a synchronisation partner may thus influence interpersonal sensorimotor synchronisation in a manner that is modulated by preferences for interacting with intentional agents.

Culture-Independent Prerequisites for Early Arithmetic

In numerate societies, early arithmetic development is associated with visuospatial working memory, executive functions, nonverbal intelligence, and magnitude-comparison abilities. To what extent do these associations arise from cultural practices or general cognitive prerequisites? Here, we administered tests of these cognitive abilities (Corsi Blocks, Raven’s Colored Progressive Matrices, Porteus Maze) to indigenous children in remote northern Australia, whose culture contains few counting words or counting practices, and to nonindigenous children from an Australian city. The indigenous children completed a standard nonverbal addition task; the nonindigenous children completed a comparable single-digit addition task. The correlation matrices among variables in the indigenous and nonindigenous children showed similar patterns of relationships, and parallel regression analyses showed that visuospatial working memory was the main predictor of addition performance in both groups. Our findings support the hypothesis that the same cognitive capacities promote competence for learners in both numerate and nonnumerate societies.

Modality-Dependent or Modality-Independent Processing in Mental Arithmetic: Evidence From Unimpaired Auditory Multiplication for a Patient With Left Frontotemporal Stroke

Objectives: Mental arithmetic is essential to daily life. Researchers have explored the mechanisms that underlie mental arithmetic. Whether mental arithmetic fact retrieval is dependent on surface modality or knowledge format is still highly debated. Chinese individuals typically use a procedure strategy for addition; and they typically use a rote verbal strategy for multiplication. This provides a way to examine the effect of surface modality on different arithmetic operations. Methods: We used a series of neuropsychological tests (i.e., general cognitive, language processing, numerical processing, addition, and multiplication in visual and auditory conditions) for a patient who had experienced a left frontotemporal stroke. Results: The patient had language production impairment; but preserved verbal processing concerning basic numerical abilities. Moreover, the patient had preserved multiplication in the auditory presentation rather than in the visual presentation. The patient suffered from impairments in an addition task, regardless of visual or auditory presentation. Conclusions: The findings suggest that mental multiplication could be characterized as a form of modality-dependent processing, which was accessed through auditory input. The learning strategy of multiplication table recitation could shape the verbal memory of multiplication leading to persistence of the auditory module. (JINS, 2017, 23, 692–699)