Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Memory experts’ beliefs about repressed memory: Significantly more sceptical about repressed memory compared to practitioners, students and the public

Memory experts’ beliefs about repressed memory. Lawrence Patihis, Lavina Y. Ho, Elizabeth F. Loftus & Mario E. Herrera. Memory, https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2018.1532521

ABSTRACT: What we believe about how memory works affects the decisions we make in many aspects of life. In Patihis, Ho et al. [Patihis, L., Ho, L. Y., Tingen, I. W., Lilienfeld, S. O., & Loftus, E. F. (2014). Are the “memory wars” over? A scientist–practitioner gap in beliefs about repressed memory. Psychological Science, 25, 519–530.], we documented several group's beliefs on repressed memories and other aspects of how memory works. Here, we present previously unreported data on the beliefs of perhaps the most credible minority in our dataset: memory experts. We provide the statistics and written responses of the beliefs for 17 memory experts. Although memory experts held similarly sceptical beliefs about repressed memory as other research-focused groups, they were significantly more sceptical about repressed memory compared to practitioners, students and the public. Although a minority of memory experts wrote that they maintained an open mind about repressed memories – citing research such as retrieval inhibition – all of the memory experts emphasised the dangers of memory distortion.

KEYWORDS: Memory beliefs, repressed memory, memory experts, clinical psychology, law

In a mobbing game, subjects frequently coordinate on selecting a victim, even for modest gains; higher gains make mobbing more likely; no evidence that fear of becoming the victim explains mobbing; ingroup members are less likely to be victims

How To Choose Your Victim. Klaus Abbink, Gönül Doğan. Games and Economic Behavior, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geb.2018.10.006

Abstract: We introduce the experimental mobbing game. Each player in a group has the option to nominate one of the other players or to nominate no one. If the same person is nominated by all other players, he loses his payoff and the mob gains. We conduct three sets of experiments to study the effects of monetary gains, fear of being mobbed, and different types of focality. In the repeated mobbing game, we find that subjects frequently coordinate on selecting a victim, even for modest gains. Higher gains make mobbing more likely. We find no evidence that fear of becoming the victim explains mobbing. Richer and poorer players are equally focal. Pity plays no role in mobbing decisions. Ingroup members – introduced by colours – are less likely to be victims, and both payoff difference and colour difference serve as strong coordination devices. Commonly employed social preference theories do not explain our findings.


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The labels [M,T, G, P] are also a hidden homage to the inmates Mather, Travers, Greenhill and Pearce, who escaped from a Tasmanian prison camp in a group of eight in 1822, only to get lost in the forest. When food ran out, the four conspired to apply the Custom of the Sea to the others. When no-one else was left, they turned to killing and eating one another, until only Pearce survived. All victims were chosen in decidedly non-random ways. This story is one of the great Australian foundation myths, and it was an inspiration for this study (for a dramatic reconstruction, see Van Diemen’s Land (2009)). We are confident that none of our Northern European subjects made that connection.

Trait of appreciation of beauty: Many networks of the brain are involved in mental acts of appreciating beauty, but the medial orbital front cortex is implicated across all four channels; & women may appreciate beauty somewhat more than men in many cultures & nations

Diessner, R., Pohling, R., Stacy, S., & Güsewell, A. (2018). Trait appreciation of beauty: A story of love, transcendence, and inquiry. Review of General Psychology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/gpr0000166

Abstract: This review of the trait of appreciation of beauty (AoB) draws from the literature in personality psychology, philosophy, religion, neuroscience, neuro-aesthetics, evolutionary psychology, and the psychology of morality. We demonstrate that AoB can be mapped onto a definition of appreciation that includes perceptual, cognitive, emotional, trait, virtue, and valuing elements. A classic component of defining beauty, unity-in-diversity, is described based on the works of a variety of major philosophers. We next describe that there are at least four channels of appreciation of beauty: natural beauty, artistic beauty, moral beauty, and beautiful ideas. Examining the neuro-aesthetics research indicates that many networks of the brain are involved in mental acts of appreciating beauty, but the medial orbital front cortex (mOFC) is implicated across all four channels of beauty. We then explain how the trait of AoB is a member of three different families of traits: traits of love, traits of transcendence, and traits of inquiry. Next we briefly explain why Kant may have been more correct than Hegel concerning beauty and the good soul. We then present evidence that women may appreciate beauty somewhat more than men. Data from many cultures and nations consistently indicate this. After that we claim AoB leads to individual and collective flourishing. We examine and summarize studies that indicate appreciation of natural beauty leads to a wide variety of positive outcomes; we focus on the importance of open-mindedness that accompanies engagement with artistic beauty; and we summarize studies regarding the moral emotion of elevation and appreciation of moral beauty. Suggested future directions for research are embedded in each subsection of the paper.

Browsing social media: Little evidence of robust positive or negative effects, suggesting instead that the primary effect is a lessening of arousal; people tend to wind down - feel more relaxed, sleepy, bored and so on - not wind up

People Tend to Wind Down, Not Up, When They Browse Social Media. Galen Panger. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction - CSCW archive, Volume 2 Issue CSCW, November 2018, Article No. 133, doi 10.1145/3274402

Abstract: Researchers have focused intensively on the emotional effects of browsing social media, with many emphasizing possible negative effects and others suggesting the positive emotions in status updates are contagious. Despite this focus, however, very few studies have investigated the actual emotional experience of browsing social media in the moment, and none with more than a few emotions, making it difficult to understand the effects research should endeavor to explain. To address this gap, I use experience sampling with diverse samples of Facebook (N = 362) and Twitter (N = 416) users, assessing the browsing experience across a wide range of emotions. Surprisingly, results provide little evidence of robust positive or negative effects, suggesting instead that the primary effect of browsing social media is a lessening of arousal. That is, contrary to stereotype, people tend to wind down - feel more relaxed, sleepy, bored and so on - not wind up.