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Performance on heuristics and bias tasks has been shown to be susceptible to bias. In turn, susceptibility to bias varies as a function of individual differences in cognitive abilities (e.g., intelligence) and thinking styles (e.g., propensity for reflection). Using a classic task (i.e., lawyer–engineer problem), we conducted two experiments to examine the differential contributions of cognitive abilities versus thinking styles to performance. The results of Experiment 1 demonstrated that the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT)—a well-established measure of reflective thinking—predicted performance on conflict problems (where base rates and intuition point in opposite directions), whereas STM predicted performance on nonconflict problems. Experiment 2 conducted in the fMRI scanner replicated this behavioral dissociation and enabled us to probe their neural correlates. As predicted, conflict problems were associated with greater activation in the ACC—a key region for conflict detection—even in cases when participants responded stereotypically. In participants with higher CRT scores, conflict problems were associated with greater activation in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and activation in PCC covaried in relation to CRT scores during conflict problems. Also, CRT scores predicted activation in PCC in conflict problems (over and above nonconflict problems). Our results suggest that individual differences in reflective thinking as measured by CRT are related to brain activation in PCC—a region involved in regulating attention between external and internal foci. We discuss the implications of our findings in terms of PCC's possible involvement in switching from intuitive to analytic mode of thought.

There is considerable evidence to suggest that aesthetic experiences engage a distributed set of structures in the brain, and likely emerge from the interactions of multiple neural systems. In addition, aside from an external (i.e., object-focused) orientation, aesthetic experiences also involve an internal (i.e., person-focused) orientation. This internal orientation appears to have two dissociable neural components: one component involves the processing of visceral feeling states (i.e., interoception) and primarily engages the insula, whereas the other involves the processing of self-referential, autobiographical, and narrative information, and is represented by activation in the default mode network. Evidence supporting this neural dissociation has provided insights into processes that can lead to deep and moving aesthetic experiences.

Humans rely on topographical memory to encode information about spatial aspects of environments. However, even though people adopt different strategies when learning new maps, little is known about the impact of those strategies on topographical memory, and their neural correlates. To examine that issue, we presented participants with 40 unfamiliar maps, each of which displayed one major route and three landmarks. Half were instructed to memorize the maps by focusing on the route, whereas the other half memorized the maps by focusing on the landmarks. One day later, the participants were tested on their ability to distinguish previously studied 'old' maps from completely unfamiliar 'new' maps under conditions of high and low working memory load in the functional MRI scanner. Viewing old versus new maps was associated with relatively greater activation in a distributed set of regions including bilateral inferior temporal gyrus - an important region for recognizing visual objects. Critically, whereas the performance of participants who had followed a route-based strategy dropped to chance level under high working memory load, participants who had followed a landmark-based strategy performed at above chance levels under both high and low working memory load - reflected by relatively greater activation in the left inferior parietal lobule (i.e. rostral part of the supramarginal gyrus known as area PFt). Our findings suggest that landmark-based learning may buffer against the effects of working memory load during recognition, and that this effect is represented by the greater involvement of a brain region implicated in both topographical and working memory.

Task switching is a ubiquitous feature of many human activities that involve multitasking. In addition, owing to occupational demands, many individuals are required to engage in task switching under various levels of sleep deprivation, such as those who work in military and medical contexts. Nevertheless, little is known about the effects that sleep loss has on the neural bases of task switching. To address this shortcoming, we administered a cued switching task to participants following a night of normal sleep and also following a night of total sleep deprivation - in counterbalanced order. The behavioral results demonstrated a cost (i.e. longer reaction time) both as a function of sleep deprivation and task switching. Sleep deprivation resulted in greater activation in the frontoparietal network, whereas task switching was correlated with greater activation in the thalamus and superior temporal gyrus. However, despite increases in fatigue and sleepiness and a reduction in cognitive effectiveness (computed from actigraphic data), the reaction time cost associated with switching (i.e. switch cost) was not exacerbated by sleep deprivation. The results are discussed in terms of the involvement of executive functions in mitigating the effects of sleep deprivation on task switching.

Contrary to earlier approaches that focused on the contributions of isolated brain regions to the emergence of creativity, there is now growing consensus that creative thought emerges from the interaction of multiple brain regions, often embedded within larger brain networks. Specifically, recent evidence from studies of divergent thinking suggests that kernel ideas emerge in posterior brain regions residing within the semantic system and/or the default mode network (DMN), and that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) regions within the executive control network (ECN) constrain those ideas for generating outputs that meet task demands. However, despite knowing that regions within these networks exhibit interaction, to date the direction of the relationship has not been tested directly. By applying Dynamic Causal Modeling (DCM) to fMRI data collected during a divergent thinking task, we tested the hypothesis that the PFC exerts unidirectional control over the middle temporal gyrus (MTG) and the inferior parietal lobule (IPL), vs. the hypothesis that these two sets of regions exert bidirectional control over each other (in the form of feedback loops). The data were consistent with the former model by demonstrating that the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) exerts unidirectional control over MTG and IPL, although the evidence was somewhat stronger in the case of the MTG than the IPL. Our findings highlight potential causal pathways that could underlie the neural bases of divergent thinking.

We examined the effects of ceiling height and perceived enclosure—defined as perceived visual and locomotive permeability—on aesthetic judgments and approach-avoidance decisions in architectural design. Furthermore, to gain traction on the mechanisms driving the observed effects, we employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore their neural correlates. Rooms with higher ceilings were more likely to be judged as beautiful, and activated structures involved in visuospatial exploration and attention in the dorsal stream. Open rooms were more likely to be judged as beautiful, and activated structures underlying perceived visual motion. Additionally, enclosed rooms were more likely to elicit exit decisions and activated the anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC)—the region within the cingulate gyrus with direct projections from the amygdala. This suggests that a reduction in perceived visual and locomotive permeability characteristic of enclosed spaces might elicit an emotional reaction that accompanies exit decisions.

Background A convenient biosensor for real-time measurement of biomarkers for in-field psychophysiological stress research and military operations is desirable. We evaluated a hand-held device for measuring salivary amylase as a stress marker in medical technicians undergoing combat casualty care training using two different modalities in operating room and field settings. Methods Salivary amylase activity was measured by two biosensor methods: directly sampling saliva with a test strip placed under the tongue or pipetting a fixed volume of precollected saliva onto the test strip, followed by analyzing the sample on the strip using a biosensor. The two methods were compared for their accuracy and sensitivity to detect the stress response using an enzyme assay method as a standard. Results The measurements from the under-the-tongue method were not as consistent with those from the standard assay method as the values obtained from the pipetting method. The under-the-tongue method did not detect any significant increase in the amylase activity due to stress in the operating room (P > 0.1), in contrast to the significant increases observed using the pipetting method and assay method with a significance level less than 0.05 and 0.1, respectively. Furthermore, the under-the-tongue method showed no increased amylase activity in the field testing, while both the pipetting method and assay method showed increased amylase activity in the same group (P < 0.1). Conclusion The accuracy and consistency of the biosensors need to be improved when used to directly measure salivary amylase activity under the tongue for stress assessment in military medical training.

Openness/Intellect (i.e., openness to experience) is the Big Five personality factor most consistently associated with individual differences in creativity. Recent psychometric evidence has demonstrated that this factor consists of two distinct aspects-Intellect and Openness. Whereas Intellect reflects perceived intelligence and intellectual engagement, Openness reflects engagement with fantasy, perception, and aesthetics. We investigated the extent to which Openness and Intellect are associated with variations in brain structure as measured by cortical thickness, area, and volume (N = 185). Our results demonstrated that Openness was correlated inversely with cortical thickness and volume in left middle frontal gyrus (BA 6), middle temporal gyrus (MTG, BA 21), and superior temporal gyrus (BA 41), and exclusively with cortical thickness in left inferior parietal lobule (BA 40), right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG, BA 45), and MTG (BA 37). When age and sex were statistically controlled for, the inverse correlations between Openness and cortical thickness remained statistically significant for all regions except left MTG, whereas the correlations involving cortical volume remained statistically significant only for left middle frontal gyrus. There was no statistically significant correlation between Openness and cortical area, and no statistically significant correlation between Intellect and cortical thickness, area, or volume. Our results demonstrate that individual differences in Openness are correlated with variation in brain structure-particularly as indexed by cortical thickness. Given the involvement of the above regions in processes related to memory and cognitive control, we discuss the implications of our findings for the possible contribution of personality to creative cognition.

Background The physiological consequences of severe energy deficit include hypogonadism and the loss of fat-free mass. Prolonged energy deficit also impacts physical performance, mood, attentiveness, and decision-making capabilities. This study will determine whether maintaining a eugonadal state during severe, sustained energy deficit attenuates physiological decrements and maintains mental performance. This study will also assess the effects of normalizing testosterone levels during severe energy deficit and recovery on gut health and appetite regulation. Methods Fifty physically active men will participate in a 3-phase, randomized, placebo-controlled study. After completing a 14-d, energy-adequate, diet acclimation phase (protein: 1.6 g ∙ kg− 1 ∙ d− 1; fat: 30% total energy intake), participants will be randomized to undergo a 28-d, 55% energy deficit phase with (DEF + TEST: 200 mg testosterone enanthate per week) or without (DEF) exogenous testosterone. Diet and physical activity will be rigorously controlled. Recovery from the energy deficit (ad libitum diet, no testosterone) will be assessed until body mass has been recovered within ± 2.5% of initial body mass. Body composition, stable isotope methodologies, proteomics, muscle biopsies, whole-room calorimetry, molecular biology, activity/sleep monitoring, personality and cognitive function assessments, functional MRI, and comprehensive biochemistries will be used to assess physiological and psychological responses to energy restriction and recovery feeding while volunteers are in an expected hypogonadal versus eugonadal state. Discussion The Optimizing Performance for Soldiers (OPS) study aims to determine whether preventing hypogonadism will mitigate declines in physical and mental function that typically occur during prolonged energy deficit, and the efficacy of testosterone replacement on recovery from severe underfeeding. Trial Registration: NCT02734238 .

Categorization is fundamental to cognition, and evidence suggests that categorizing emotional stimuli holds a privileged position in human information processing. According to theories on embodied emotion, the subjective emotional feeling elicited by a stimulus plays a causal role in its categorization. Using functional MRI, we tested the hypothesis that categorizing emotional stimuli in terms of valence would activate structures involved in valence-specific experience of emotion. On each trial, two pictures from the International Affective Picture System were presented successively. Upon viewing the second picture, participants categorized it as belonging to the same valence category as or a different valence category from the first picture. Categorization activated an exclusively left-lateralized set of regions implicated in taxonomic categorization (i.e. judging whether two items are of the same kind) including the middle temporal gyrus and precuneus, as well as the posterior cingulate cortex. Critically, for negative pictures categorization activated structures that underlie the experience of negative emotions (anterior insula, left orbitofrontal cortex), whereas for positive pictures categorization activated structures that underlie the experience of positive emotions (dorsomedial and ventromedial prefrontal cortex). Consistent with predictions derived from theories on embodied emotion, these results suggest that experience of emotion contributes to categorizing emotional valence.

Many studies involving functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have exposed participants to paintings under varying task demands. To isolate neural systems that are activated reliably across fMRI studies in response to viewing paintings regardless of variation in task demands, a quantitative meta-analysis of fifteen experiments using the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) method was conducted. As predicted, viewing paintings was correlated with activation in a distributed system including the occipital lobes, temporal lobe structures in the ventral stream involved in object (fusiform gyrus) and scene (parahippocampal gyrus) perception, and the anterior insula-a key structure in experience of emotion. In addition, we also observed activation in the posterior cingulate cortex bilaterally-part of the brain's default network. These results suggest that viewing paintings engages not only systems involved in visual representation and object recognition, but also structures underlying emotions and internalized cognitions.

Objective: The objective was to investigate the interaction between the mode of performance outcome feedback and task difficulty on timing decisions (i.e., when to act). Background: Feedback is widely acknowledged to affect task performance. However, the extent to which feedback display mode and its impact on timing decisions is moderated by task difficulty remains largely unknown. Method: Participants repeatedly engaged a zero-sum game involving silent duels with a computerized opponent and were given visual performance feedback after each engagement. They were sequentially tested on three different levels of task difficulty (low, intermediate, and high) in counterbalanced order. Half received relatively simple “inside view” binary outcome feedback, and the other half received complex “outside view” hit rate probability feedback. The key dependent variables were response time (i.e., time taken to make a decision) and survival outcome. Results: When task difficulty was low to moderate, participants were more likely to learn and perform better from hit rate probability feedback than binary outcome feedback. However, better performance with hit rate feedback exacted a higher cognitive cost manifested by higher decision response time. Conclusion: The beneficial effect of hit rate probability feedback on timing decisions is partially moderated by task difficulty. Application: Performance feedback mode should be judiciously chosen in relation to task difficulty for optimal performance in tasks involving timing decisions.

The objective of this study was to gain an understanding of workers' experiences with returning to work, the challenges they experienced, and the supports they found most beneficial when returning to work after a workplace electrical injury. Thirteen semistructured qualitative telephone interviews were conducted with individuals who experienced an electrical injury at the workplace. Participants were recruited from specialized burns rehabilitation programs in Ontario, Canada. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis used to analyze the qualitative interviews. Data regarding workers' demographics, injury events, and occupational categories were also gathered to characterize the sample.Participants identified three distinct categories of challenges: 1) physical, cognitive, and psychosocial impairments and their effects on their work performance; 2) feelings of guilt, blame, and responsibility for the injury; and 3) having to return to the workplace or worksite where the injury took place. The most beneficial supports identified by the injured workers included: 1) support from family, friends, and coworkers; and 2) the receipt of rehabilitation services specialized in electrical injury. The most common advice to others after electrical injuries included: 1) avoiding electrical injury; 2) feeling ready to return to work; 3) filing a Workplace Safety and Insurance Board injury/claims report;4) proactive self-advocacy; and 5) garnering the assistance of individuals who understood electrical injuries to advocate on their behalf. Immediate and persistent physical, cognitive, psychosocial, and support factors can affect individuals' abilities to successfully return to work after an electrical injury. Specialized services and advocacy were viewed as beneficial to successful return to work. Language: en

In the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), Conduct After Capture (CAC) training is a 4-day captivity survival course during which soldiers are exposed to increasing stress, and evaluated on their ability to accomplish military objectives. We hypothesized that: (a) compared to baseline, CAC training would cause significant, reversible perturbations in measures of psychological functioning and serum and salivary stress hormone levels relevant to models of stress hardiness and vulnerability; and (b) deviations from baseline would be maximal at the time point of most intense stress during training. CAF personnel were assessed at baseline, twice during training (immediately prior to a less challenging interrogation role-play scenario and again following another much more intense interrogation role-play scenario), and after completion of training. At each occasion, mood, fatigue, dissociation, PTSD symptoms, short-term and working memory, and salivary cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) were assessed. As predicted, scores on all measures were degraded during CAC but recovered after completion of training, and almost all measures were most degraded at the more intense interrogation role-play scenario. Unexpectedly, memory performance was unaffected by training, suggesting that a short duration of intense stress might be insufficient for degrading it. Another unexpected finding was that mood assessed prior to training predicted successful completion of training, which bears important practical implications for increasing the success rate of training in similar environments. These results demonstrate that despite its relative brevity, CAC training nevertheless induces significant but reversible effects on psychological and physiological function—necessary preconditions for stress inoculation training.

Do tired minds have tired ideas? In two studies, we explored the role of insomnia and personality in divergent thinking, everyday creative behavior, and creative achievement. Using a well-validated measure of insomnia—the Bergen Insomnia Scale—the present work explored the differential effects of nighttime and daytime insomnia symptoms. Structural equation models found a moderate effect of a global insomnia factor on divergent thinking (β = .19). Further analysis showed time-of-day effects: nighttime sleep disturbances positively predicted divergent thinking more strongly (β = .15) than daytime disturbances (β = .03). A similar pattern emerged regarding everyday creative behavior: nighttime impairments showed a positive effect (β = .15) and daytime impairments showed a negative effect (β = −.15). Global insomnia and the time-of-day variables had small and negative effects on creative achievement. The present research highlights the importance of taking a nuanced approach to the study of insomnia and creativity.

Recent literature suggests that lying may be revealed by elevated cognitive effort. A functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment using a match-mismatch detection task was conducted that found support for this hypothesis in two ways. First, compared to truthful reporting, lying (i.e., responding that matches were mismatches or vice versa) triggered greater activation of the working memory network in the brain. This was especially true for lying about a match, where activation in the WM network was found to be greater than when lying about a mismatch. Lying also activated the right rostrolateral prefrontal cortex (BA 10)-a key cognitive control region that regulates the interplay between stimulus-oriented and internally-generated schemas. Second, activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus (BA 44) - a brain region underpinning inhibition - predicted lying skill. The findings show that the neural correlates of cognitive effort and control can be used to detect lying, and that a specific neural marker of inhibition can predict how well one lies.

BACKGROUND: Work-related traumatic brain injury (wrTBI) comprises up to 24% of TBIs, yet relatively little is known about it even though wrTBI incurs high costs to employers, insurers, and injured. OBJECTIVES: To compare demographic, clinical, and occupation-related factors following mild-to-moderate TBI of those who successfully returned to work (RTW) versus those who did not, and to determine perceived facilitators of and barriers to RTW. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study from a consecutive sample of persons with TBI seen in an outpatient assessment clinic. Surveys were mailed to eligible potential participants. Consenting participants were interviewed by telephone or returned a completed survey via mail. RESULTS: Fifty of 116 eligible individuals participated in the study. Half of the participants returned to work. Participants in this group were significantly younger and had more years of education than the no-RTW group. The most common factors perceived to assist the RTW group were support of family and friends (92%) and of treatment providers (80%), and employers who provided accommodations (76%). Difficulty thinking and concentrating (94%) and fatigue (94%) were the most common barriers to RTW. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the importance of support from family, friends and employers as RTW facilitators. These factors merit further investigation in TBI rehabilitation studies. Language: en

As an emerging area of research, the neuroscience of creativity has made significant strides over the last decade by beginning to elucidate the brain bases of creative cognition (Vartanian, Bristol, & Kaufman, 2013). Among researchers and practitioners of creativity, the contributions of this new area are deemed valuable to the extent that they shed light on the key mechanisms and processes that underlie creativity. In this sense, rather than merely confirming what is already known about creativity using a new set of metrics, the true worth of neuroscientific data will involve the quality of the tools and ideas it offers for testing the “joints in the system” (Goel, 2005, p. 268; see also Shallice, 1988). In turn, as better mechanistic accounts of brain function in relation to creativity emerge, neuroscientifically informed interventions to facilitate this mode of thinking in educational, professional, and applied settings can be developed. As noted by Goel (2005) in relation to another high-order process – reasoning – the contribution neuroscience can make to our understanding of cognition includes but also extends beyond elucidating mechanisms. Specifically, and more immediately, neuroscientific data have been a great source of knowledge regarding dissociation of cognitive functions. For example, Miller and Tippet (1996) administered Guilford's (1967) classic Match Problems task to patients with focal brain lesions and normal controls. Critically, two types of problems were administered to the participants: one set of problems involved straightforward match removal for solution, whereas another set of problems required “set shifting” to arrive at correct solutions. In the problem solving literature a set shift is defined as the ability to overcome the conceptual and/or perceptual constraints that define the problem space. Set shift problems are typically measured using perseverative errors in the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (Grant & Berg, 1948), given that they demonstrate the participant's inability to revise the card sorting strategy following a rule change. Miller and Tippett (1996) reported that patients with focal right prefrontal cortex (PFC) lesions were impaired specifically on those match problems that required set shifts, but not otherwise. In addition, this selective impairment in performance on set-shift problems was especially apparent in patients with lesions to right ventral (as opposed to dorsal) PFC. Importantly, no such selective impairment on set-shift problems was observed in patients with temporal-occipital, parietal, central, or left frontal lesions.

Recently, studies have demonstrated that negative valence reduces the magnitude of the belief-bias effect in syllogistic reasoning. This effect has been localized in the reasoning stage, in the form of increased deliberation on trials where validity and conclusion believability are incongruent. Here, using signal detection theory, we show that the attenuation of belief bias observed when valence was negative can also be evoked by a liberal response bias at the decision stage. Indeed, when valence was negative participants adopted a more liberal criterion for judging syllogisms as "valid," and were overconfident in their judgments. They also displayed less sensitivity in distinguishing between valid and invalid syllogisms. Our findings dovetail with recent evidence from memory research suggesting that negative valence can evoke a liberal response bias without improving performance. Our novel contribution is the demonstration that the attenuating effect of negative valence on belief bias can take multiples routes--by influencing the decision stage as was the case here, the reasoning stage as has been demonstrated elsewhere, and potentially both stages.

Research has demonstrated high levels of consensus and self-other agreement for extraversion and conscientiousness. However, the mechanisms whereby these assessments contribute to accuracy in behavioral predictions remain unclear. In this study, two judges rated targets on Big Five personality factors, and predicted their compliance to offer help in response to a fabricated emergency. Whereas one judge interacted directly with the target, the other judge only observed the interaction. There was consensus and self-other agreement on conscientiousness for both judges. Critically, self-reported conscientiousness fully mediated the effect of judged conscientiousness on compliance to offer help, regardless of the nature of the judge–target interaction. These results demonstrate a mechanism whereby judged personality can predict a specific behavioral outcome in initially unacquainted persons

Right lateral prefrontal cortex (rlPFC) has previously been implicated in logical reasoning under conditions of conflict. A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study was conducted to explore its role in conflict more precisely. Specifically, we distinguished between belief-logic conflict and belief-content conflict, and examined the role of rlPFC under each condition. The results demonstrated that a specific region of rlPFC is consistently activated under both types of conflict. Moreover, the results of a parametric analysis demonstrated that the same region was modulated by the level of conflict contained in reasoning arguments. This supports the idea that this specific region is engaged to resolve conflict, including during deductive reasoning. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "The Cognitive Neuroscience of Thought".

Aesthetic evaluations are appraisals that influence choices in important domains of human activity, including mate selection, consumer behavior, art appreciation, and possibly even moral judgment. The nascent field of neuroaesthetics is advancing our understanding of the role of aesthetic evaluations by examining their biological bases. Here, we conduct a selective review of the literature on neuroaesthetics to demonstrate that aesthetic experiences likely emerge from the interaction between emotion-valuation, sensory-motor, and meaning-knowledge neural systems. This tripartite model can in turn be evoked to explain phenomena central to aesthetics, such as context effects on preferences. Indeed, context-dependent appraisals that focus on objects rather than on outcomes could be an important factor distinguishing aesthetic experiences from other kinds of evaluations.

We commend Menninghaus et al. for tackling the role of negative emotions in art reception. However, their model suffers from shortcomings that reduce its applicability to empirical studies of the arts: poor use of evidence, lack of integration with other models, and limited derivation of testable hypotheses. We argue that theories about art experiences should be based on empirical evidence.

Two recent reviews of the neuroimaging literature on creativity have pointed to inconsistent findings across studies, calling into question the usefulness of the theoretical constructs motivating the search for its neural bases. However, it is argued that consistent patterns of neural activation do emerge when the cognitive process and the neuroimaging method are kept uniform across studies. To demonstrate this empirically, the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) method was used to conduct quantitative meta-analyses of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments of analogy and metaphor - two processes related to creativity and included in the recent reviews. The results demonstrated that analogy and metaphor reliably activate consistent but dissociable brain regions across fMRI studies. The implications of the findings for cognitive theories of analogy and metaphor are discussed. Furthermore, these results demonstrate that to the extent that creativity has heterogeneous sources, its neural instantiation will vary as a function of the underlying cognitive processes.

One line of research indicates that people are more aggressive when they are insulted publicly rather than privately, whereas another indicates that subclinical narcissism predicts aggression. Drawing on these lines of research, we predicted that aggression would be increased among participants who scored higher on narcissism (as opposed to lower), received negative (as opposed to positive) self-relevant feedback, and did so in public (as opposed to private). The findings supported that prediction and further confirmed that narcissism was only predictive of aggression in the negative-public condition. The findings thus indicate that aggression is influenced by the interaction of situational and dispositional factors. Copyright © 2011 Crown in the right of Canada. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Despite robust evidence from behavioral decision making demonstrating context effects on choice, most neural studies on choice under risk and uncertainty have involved monetary gambles. We instructed participants to make choices under uncertainty in life and cash domains. Participants exhibited greater risk aversion, conflict, and sensitivity to negative feedback in the life domain, which we attribute to valuation of human lives. Supporting this assertion, choices to save lives activated the dorsal striatum, consistent with its role in context-sensitive reward processing. In contrast, choices to save cash activated the posterior insula, which we attribute to its role in probability signaling and risk prediction. Our findings highlight dissociable and context-dependent neural systems underlying choice under uncertainty.

A field experiment examined the tactical peacekeeping behaviors of military-officer teams undergoing training as United Nations military observers. Teams encountered a simulated human-rights violation where two civilians were being abused. Proximity of the female civilian to the team leader was manipulated and significantly influenced teams' commitment to saving the civilians' lives. Proximity increased the frequency of behaviors that were specifically oriented toward saving the civilians' lives and did not increase confrontational behavior. Finally, trainees' performance assessments were lower if they intervened but failed to save lives than if they did little to intervene and also failed to save lives.

Contingency is an important cue to causation. Research shows that people unequally weight the cells of a 2 × 2 contingency table as follows: cause-present/effect-present (A) > cause-present/effect-absent (B) > cause-absent/effect-present (C) > cause-absent/effect-absent (D). Although some models of causal judgement can accommodate that fact, most of them assume that the weighting of information is invariant as a function of whether one is assessing a hypothesized generative versus preventive relationship. An experiment was conducted that tested the hypothesis-independence assumption against the predictions of a novel weighted-positive-test-strategy account, which predicts hypothesis dependence in cell weighting. Supporting that account, judgements of hypothesized generative causes showed the standard A > B > C > D inequality, but judgements of hypothesized preventive causes showed the predicted B > A > D > C inequality. The findings reveal that cell weighting in causal judgement is both unequal and hypothesis dependent.

When we view visual images in everyday life, our perception is oriented toward object identification. In contrast, when viewing visual images as artworks, we also tend to experience subjective reactions to their stylistic and structural properties. This experiment sought to determine how cognitive control and perceptual facilitation contribute to aesthetic perception along with the experience of emotion. Using functional MRI, we show that aesthetic perception activated bilateral insula which we attribute to the experience of emotion. Moreover, while adopting the aesthetic orientation activated the left lateral prefrontal cortex, paintings that facilitated visuospatial exploration activated the left superior parietal lobule. The results suggest that aesthetic experience is a function of the interaction between top-down orienting of attention and bottom-up perceptual facilitation.

Although patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are known to exhibit a wide range of cognitive and personality difficulties, some evidence suggests that there may be a degree of selectivity in their reasoning impairments. Based on a recent review of the neuroimaging literature on reasoning, the authors hypothesized that the presence or absence of familiar content may have a selective impact on the reasoning abilities of patients with FTD. Specifically, the authors predicted that patients with frontal-variant FTD would be more impaired when reasoning about transitive arguments involving familiar spatial environments than when reasoning about identical logical arguments involving unfamiliar spatial environments. As predicted, patients with FTD were less accurate than normal controls only when the content of arguments involved familiar spatial environments. These results indicate a degree of selectivity in the cognitive deficits of this patient population and suggest that the frontal-temporal lobe system may play a necessary role in reasoning about familiar material.

We hypothesized that differential focusing of attention mediates the relationship between creative potential and speed of information processing. Supporting our predictions, we found that the greater a person’s creative potential the faster his or her reaction times were on a simple task not involving interference (concept verification task), but the slower his or her reaction times were on a task requiring the inhibition of interfering information (negative priming). Our results replicate with Russian high school students of both sexes findings by Vartanian, Martindale, and Kwiatkowski (2007) for American male college students.

Despite the conceptual overlap between intelligence and creativity, little systematic work exists on the link between creativity and speed of information processing. We hypothesized that differential focusing of attention determines the relationship between creative potential and speed of information processing. Supporting our predictions, we found negative correlations between creative potential and reaction time on tasks not involving interference (Hick Task, Concept Verification Task), but positive correlations between creative potential and reaction time on tasks requiring the inhibition of interfering information (Negative Priming, Global Precedence). This pattern of results suggests that the relation between creative potential and reaction time is a function of the differential focusing of attention.

Historically, cognitivists considered moral choices to be determined by analytic processes. Recent theories, however, have emphasized the role of intuitive processes in determining moral choices. We propose that the engagement of analytic and intuitive processes is contingent on the type of tradeoff being considered. Specifically, when a tradeoff necessarily violates a moral principle no matter what choice is made, as in tragic tradeoffs, its resolution should result in greater moral conflict and less confidence in choice than when the tradeoff offers a moral escape route, as in taboo tradeoffs. We manipulated tradeoff type in between subjects design and confirmed the prediction that tragic tradeoffs prompt more conflict and less confidence than taboo tradeoffs. The findings further revealed that moral conflict mediated the effect of tradeoff type on confidence. The study sheds light on the manner in which human minds resolve moral problems involving social agents.

Primary objective: To explore how individuals with work-related mild traumatic brain injury (wrMTBI) experience return-to-work (RTW) processes when returning to the workplace where the injury occurred.Design: RTW experiences were explored using in-depth interviews and an inductive analytic approach. Qualitative analysis guided by the research question moved through phases of line-by-line and thematic coding through which categories and the interaction between categories emerged.Participants: Twelve workers diagnosed with a wrMTBI reported on their RTW experiences following wrMTBIs that occurred 3-5 years prior to the time of the interview.Main outcomes and results: Participants perceived employer and workers compensation factors as profoundly influencing their RTW experiences. Participants consistently reported that employers and workers compensation representatives had an inadequate understanding of wrMTBI sequelae. Six of 12 participants were re-injured following their wrMTBI, with three of these injuries occurring at work.Conclusion: Employers, co-workers and workers compensation representatives should be aware of wrMTBI sequelae so injured workers can receive appropriate supports and both stigmatization and re-injury can be mitigated. Greater attention to the structural and social elements of workplace and compensation environments could inform strategies to break down barriers to successful return-to-work following a wrMTBI.

Cognitive (brain) training has been a major focus of study in recent years. In applied settings, the excitement regarding this research programme emanates from its prospects for far transfer—defined as observing performance benefits in outcome measures that are contextually, structurally or superficially dissimilar to the trained task (Perkins and Salomon, 1994). By and large, researchers have focused on training working memory (WM). This is not surprising, given the ubiquity of WM requirements for thinking (Baddeley, 2003). Currently, much evidence suggests that adaptive training on WM tasks can increase WM skills. In contrast, consistent evidence regarding far transfer is lacking (see Melby-Lervag and Hulme, 2013), although there is evidence to suggest that when the training modality is visuospatial, the likelihood of transfer and the long-term stability of its benefits are enhanced (Melby-Lervag and Hulme, 2013; Stephenson and Halpern, 2013). Theoretically, there is reason to suspect that interventions that increase WM skills and/or capacity could improve deductive reasoning. This prediction stems from the observation that individual differences in WM capacity predict deductive reasoning performance on conflict problems where the believability of conclusions conflicts with logical validity (e.g., Newstead et al., 2004). Conflict problems require WM resources because their correct solution depends on the suppression of the heuristic system (System I) in favor of responding in accordance with the analytic system (System II). Evidence for this interpretation was provided by De Neys (2006), who presented participants with conflict and non-conflict syllogisms while also burdening their executive resources with a secondary task. Specifically, the between-subjects manipulation of WM load consisted of presenting a 3 × 3 matrix prior to each syllogism, wherein the matrix was filled with a complex four-dot pattern (high load) or with three dots on a horizontal line (low load)1. After making a validity judgment, participants reproduced the matrix pattern. This experimental design required them to maintain the matrix pattern in WM while reasoning. Whereas the high load condition impaired performance on conflict problems, there was no effect of load on non-conflict problems. This demonstrates that overcoming belief-logic conflict is limited by WM capacity. WM training could also lead to improvement in deductive reasoning via its effect on fluid intelligence—typically measured using matrix reasoning tasks. Specifically, much evidence suggests that general cognitive ability and deductive reasoning are positively correlated (Stanovich and West, 2000). In addition, a recent meta-analysis demonstrated that training specifically on the n-back family of WM tasks leads to a small but positive effect on fluid intelligence (Au et al., 2014). Therefore, theoretically, increases in fluid intelligence could mediate the link between n-back training and deductive reasoning, offering an indirect route for improving the latter (Figure ​(Figure11). Figure 1 Two possible routes for improving deductive reasoning by working memory training. The solid arrow depicts a direct effect. The dashed arrows depict an indirect effect. Recently, Aries et al. (2014) investigated the combined effect of reasoning strategy and WM training on school performance. The participants for Experiment 1 were enrolled in lower-level Higher Secondary Education history classes. During the 6-week intervention period, participants in the control condition were taught using a “conservative” method that involved the introduction of new subjects in new paragraphs, and the answering of reasoning questions from the textbook. In contrast, for participants in the experimental condition the same material was embedded within two WM training tasks: n-back and the Odd One Out. This approach ensured that training was contextualized within the subject matter of the history class. For example, on each trial of the Odd One Out four historical words or pictures were presented successively on the screen, three of which were related (e.g., were drawn from agrarian civilizations) whereas the fourth was not (i.e., was a depiction of hunter-gatherer civilization). The participant had to maintain all four stimuli in WM to select the odd one out. In the n-back task, nouns (e.g., farming) and pictures (e.g., hieroglyphics) drawn from the content of the history class were used as stimuli. In addition, the experimenters trained reasoning strategies using a modification of the IMPROVE method (see Mevarech and Kramarski, 2003). This intervention is designed to teach the structure of reasoning, and works by testing understanding of the problems, highlighting similarities between problems, applying strategies for solving problems, and prompting reflection on the reasoning process. Compared to the control condition, students in the experimental condition exhibited significant gains in performance on reasoning questions in official school tests that necessitate inference making—a difference that remained significant 16 weeks after the termination of training. Subsequently, participants in Experiment 2 who were enrolled in higher-level Higher Secondary Education history classes received either WM or reasoning strategy training. On its own, reasoning strategy but not WM training improved school test performance. The results of Aries et al. (2014) suggest that for students of relatively lower ability, the combination of WM and reasoning strategy training can be a successful recipe for improving reasoning. This is likely because whereas the former enhances WM skills, the latter facilitates the acquisition of the cognitive tools for logic. For students of higher ability there might be less room for improving WM (i.e., a ceiling effect), such that learning the structure of reasoning becomes a relatively more important factor for improving performance. Although the results of the two experiments are not directly comparable because of differences in the composition of the samples and intervention strategies, they do suggest that differences in baseline ability must be taken into account while assessing transfer effects (see Jaeggi et al., 2014). In conclusion, it appears useful to pursue the possibility that WM training could benefit deductive reasoning directly by increasing WM skills, or indirectly by increasing fluid intelligence. Critically, Aries et al.'s successful intervention consisted of embedding WM training with domain-relevant material. It has yet to be demonstrated whether a domain-general intervention to train WM will exhibit a similar transfer profile in the context of deductive reasoning. In addition, the extent to which successful transfer to deductive reasoning will require supplementing WM training with strategy training remains an open question.

The present study was conducted to investigate whether the calming effect induced by viewing traditional Chinese landscape paintings would make disengagement from that mental state more difficult, as measured by performance on a cognitive control task. In Experiment 1 we examined the subjective experience of viewing traditional Chinese landscape paintings vs. realistic oil landscape paintings in a behavioral study. Our results confirmed that, as predicted, traditional Chinese landscape paintings induce greater levels of relaxation and mind wandering and lower levels of object-oriented absorption and recognition, compared to realistic oil landscape paintings. In Experiment 2 we used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to explore the behavioural and neural effects of viewing traditional Chinese landscape paintings on a task requiring cognitive control (i.e., the flanker task)—administered immediately following exposure to paintings. Contrary to our prediction, the behavioural data demonstrated that compared to realistic oil landscape paintings, exposure to traditional Chinese landscape paintings had no effect on performance on the flanker task. However, the neural data demonstrated an interaction effect such that there was greater activation in the inferior parietal cortex (IPC) and the superior frontal gyrus (SFG) on incongruent compared with congruent flanker trials when participants switched from viewing traditional Chinese landscape paintings to the flanker task than when they switched from realistic oil landscape paintings. These results suggest that switching from traditional Chinese landscape paintings placed greater demands on the brain’s attention and working memory networks during the flanker task than did switching from realistic oil landscape paintings.