Preprint: Perception of Communal Motives in Couples: Accuracy, Bias, and their Associations with Relationship Length

Can romantic partners accurately perceive each other’s communal motives, or are these perceptions biased by their own motivational hopes and fears? This study used datafrom N = 1,905 partnered participants to examine the extent to which partnerperceptions of communal motives correspond to targets’ (accuracy) and perceivers’(motivational bias) explicit and implicit communal motives. Our results indicate thatexplicit communal motives and implicit communal approach motives can be (a)accurately inferred and (b) positively bias communal motive perception. Furthermore,there was no evidence for moderation of either accuracy or motivational bias byrelationship length. These findings point to the early visibility of both implicit andexplicit motives in couples, as well as their persistent biasing effects on partnerperception.

Reinforcement meta-learning optimizes visuomotor learning

Reinforcement learning enables the brain to learn optimal action selection, such as go or not go, by forming state-action and action-outcome associations. Does this mechanism also optimize the brain’s willingness to learn, such as learn or not learn? Learning to learn by rewards, i.e., reinforcement meta-learning, is a crucial mechanism for machines to develop flexibility in learning, which is also considered in the brain without empirical examinations. Here, we show that humans learn to learn or not learn to maximize rewards in visuomotor learning tasks. We also show that this regulation of learning is not a motivational bias but is a result of an instrumental, active process, which takes into account the learning-outcome structure. Our results thus demonstrate the existence of reinforcement meta-learning in the human brain. Because motor learning is a process of minimizing sensory errors, our findings uncover an essential mechanism of interaction between reward and error.

Lying and Self-Deception

Given the definitions of lying and self-deception, it would be wrong to understand self-deception as lying to oneself. It seems, however, that any definition of self-deception gives rise to two paradoxes. According to the ‘static paradox’, self-deception involves believing ‘p and not-p’ at the same time. According to the ‘dynamic paradox’, self-deception involves the intention to deceive oneself. If both claims were true, self-deception would seem to be impossible. ‘Divisionists’ try to solve the first paradox by arguing that the human mind is divided into several subsystems such that the self-deceiver consciously believes that p while unconsciously believing that not-p. ‘Non-intentionalists’ try to solve the second paradox by arguing that self-deception is based on a ‘motivational bias’. Since both explanations fall short of accounting for the blameworthiness of self-deception, a third approach examines the phenomenon from the perspective of virtue theory, claiming that self-deceivers have not yet succeeded in developing the virtue of accuracy.

The Dark Side of Morality: Prioritizing Sanctity Over Care Motivates Denial of Mind and Prejudice Toward Sexual Out-Groups (Monroe & Plant, in press)

Moral values bind communities together and foster cooperation; yet, these same values can lead to the derogation and marginalization of outgroups. Five studies test a theoretical framework proposing that preferentially endorsing moral values of sanctity versus care (the sanctity-care tradeoff) produces a motivational bias whereby people perceive sexual outgroup members as less human. This denial of mind, in turn, legitimizes expressions of prejudice and discrimination toward sexual outgroups. Study 1 showed that natural variations in people’s moral values predicted denial of mind and prejudice. Study 2 replicated this pattern, examining political liberals and conservatives, and demonstrating that moral values and denial of mind help explain the relationship between personal politics and prejudice. Study 3 measured people’s moral values by examining people’s willingness to tradeoff a moral value for money and used this measure to predict denial of mind, prejudice, and decreased willingness to help transgender individuals. Study 4 used religion to boost sanctity values and found a corresponding increase in denial of mind and prejudice. Finally, Study 5 reduced denial of mind and prejudice by intensifying concerns about care. Together, these studies demonstrate that moral values importantly influence how people decide who possesses a mind and is entitled to moral rights, and who is mindless and allowed to be hurt or neglected.

Social Psychological Skill and Its Correlates

In six studies (N = 1,143), we investigated social psychological skill – lay individuals’ skill at predicting social psychological phenomena (e.g., social loafing, attribution effects). Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated reliable individual differences in social psychological skill. In Studies 2, 3, and 4, attributes associated with decreased cognitive and motivational bias – cognitive ability, cognitive curiosity, and melancholy and introversion – predicted social psychological skill. Studies 4 and 5 confirmed that social psychological skill is distinct from other skills (e.g., test-taking skills, intuitive physics), and relates directly to reduced motivational bias (i.e., self-deception). In Study 6, social psychological skill related to appreciating the situational causes of another individual’s behavior – reduced fundamental attribution error. Theoretical and applied implications are considered.

Activation of serotonin neurons promotes active exploitation in a probabilistic foraging task

The neuromodulator serotonin (5-HT) has been implicated in a variety of functions that involve patience or impulse control. For example, activation of 5-HT neurons promotes waiting for delayed rewards. Many of these effects are consistent with a long-standing theory that 5-HT promotes behavioral inhibition, a motivational bias favoring passive over active behaviors. To further test this idea, we studied the impact of 5-HT in a probabilistic foraging task, in which mice must learn the statistics of the environment and infer when to leave a depleted foraging site for the next. Critically, mice were required to actively nose poke in order to exploit a given site. We found that optogenetic activation of 5-HT neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus increased the willingness of mice to actively attempt to exploit a reward site before giving up. These results indicate that behavioral inhibition is not an adequate description of 5-HT function and suggest that a unified account must be based on a higher-order function.