Search results for " Behavioral Sciences"
showing 10 items of 124 documents
Visual Strategies in Analogical Reasoning Development: A New Method for Classifying Scanpaths
2013
International audience; Development of analogical reasoning is often explained by general maturation of executive functions. A consequence of the involvement of executive functions would be that children and adults differ in the visual strategies they apply when solving analogical problems. Since visual strategies can be studied by means of eye-tracking, we compared the visual scanpaths of children and adults in three different analogical reasoning tasks. This comparison was done by means of a novel technique that combined a recently developed algorithm for computing a “distance” between any pair of scanpaths (Jarodzka, Holmqvist, & Nyström, 2010), multidimensional scaling (MDS), and a neur…
Effects of Socio-Structural Variables in the Theory of Planned Behavior: A Mediation Model in Multiple Samples and Behaviors
2020
Objective. Observed variation in health behavior may be attributable to socio-structural variables that represent inequality. We tested the hypothesis that variability related to socio-structural variables may be linked to variation in social cognition determinants of health behavior. A proposed model in which effects of socio-structural variables (age, education level, gender, income) on health behavior participation was mediated by social cognition constructs was tested. Design. Model effects were tested in correlational datasets (k=13) in different health behaviors, populations, and contexts. Samples included self-report measures of age, highest attained education level, gender, and net …
Effects of self-efficacy on healthy eating depends on normative support: a prospective study of long-haul truck drivers
2017
Purpose Fruit and vegetable intake (FV) is insufficient in industrialized nations and there is excess of discretionary food choices (DC; foods high in fat, sugar, and salt). Long-haul truck drivers are considered a particularly at-risk group given the limited food choices and normatively reinforced eating habits at truck rest-stops. Self-efficacy and normative support are key determinants of eating behavior yet the processes underlying their effects on behavior are not well understood. We tested the direct and interactive effects of self-efficacy and normative support on healthy eating behaviors in long-haul truck drivers in a prospective correlational study. Method Long-haul truck drivers …
Modulation of the Endocannabinoids N-Arachidonoylethanolamine (AEA) and 2-Arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) on Executive Functions in Human.
2013
Animal studies point to an implication of the endocannabinoid system on executive functions. In humans, several studies have suggested an association between acute or chronic use of exogenous cannabinoids (Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol) and executive impairments. However, to date, no published reports establish the relationship between endocannabinoids, as biomarkers of the cannabinoid neurotransmission system, and executive functioning in humans. The aim of the present study was to explore the association between circulating levels of plasma endocannabinoids N-arachidonoylethanolamine (AEA) and 2-Arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) and executive functions (decision making, response inhibition and cognit…
All-Possible-Couplings Approach to Measuring Probabilistic Context.
2013
From behavioral sciences to biology to quantum mechanics, one encounters situations where (i) a system outputs several random variables in response to several inputs, (ii) for each of these responses only some of the inputs may "directly" influence them, but (iii) other inputs provide a "context" for this response by influencing its probabilistic relations to other responses. These contextual influences are very different, say, in classical kinetic theory and in the entanglement paradigm of quantum mechanics, which are traditionally interpreted as representing different forms of physical determinism. One can mathematically construct systems with other types of contextuality, whether or not …
Might as well jump: Sound affects muscle activation in skateboarding
2014
The aim of the study is to reveal the role of sound in action anticipation and performance, and to test whether the level of precision in action planning and execution is related to the level of sensorimotor skills and experience that listeners possess about a specific action. Individuals ranging from 18 to 75 years of age - some of them without any skills in skateboarding and others experts in this sport - were compared in their ability to anticipate and simulate a skateboarding jump by listening to the sound it produces. Only skaters were able to modulate the forces underfoot and to apply muscle synergies that closely resembled the ones that a skater would use if actually jumping on a ska…
Preserved Crossmodal Integration of Emotional Signals in Binge Drinking
2017
Binge drinking is an alcohol consumption pattern with various psychological and cognitive consequences. As binge drinking showed qualitatively comparable cognitive impairments to those reported in alcohol-dependence, a continuum hypothesis suggests that this habit would be a first step toward alcohol-related disorders. Besides these cognitive impairments, alcohol-dependence is also characterized by large-scale deficits in emotional processing, particularly in crossmodal contexts, and these abilities have scarcely been explored in binge drinking. Emotional decoding, most often based on multiple modalities (e.g., facial expression, prosody or gesture), yet represents a crucial ability for eff…
Worsening of pre-existing psychiatric conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic
2020
This study anonymously examined 2,734 psychiatric patients worldwide for worsening of their pre-existing psychiatric condition during the COVID-19 pandemic. Valid responses mainly from 12 featured countries indicated self-reported worsening of psychiatric conditions in 2/3rd of the patients assessed that was validated through their significantly higher scores on scales for general psychological disturbance, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression. Female gender, feeling no control of the situation and reporting dissatisfaction with the response of the state during the COVID-19 pandemic, and reduced interaction with family and friends increased the worsening of pre-existing psychiatri…
Mental Health Impact of COVID-19: A global study of risk and resilience factors
2020
AbstractThis study anonymously screened 13,332 individuals worldwide for psychological symptoms related to Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic from March 29th to April 14th, 2020. A total of n=12,817 responses were considered valid with responses from 12 featured countries and five WHO regions. Female gender, pre-existing psychiatric condition, and prior exposure to trauma were identified as notable risk factors, whereas optimism, ability to share concerns with family and friends like usual, positive prediction about COVID-19, and daily exercise predicted fewer psychological symptoms. These results could aid in dynamic optimization of mental health services during and following CO…
Interhemispheric inhibition during mental actions of different complexity.
2013
International audience; Several investigations suggest that actual and mental actions trigger similar neural substrates. Yet, neurophysiological evidences on the nature of interhemispheric interactions during mental movements are still meagre. Here, we asked whether the content of mental images, investigated by task complexity, is finely represented in the inhibitory interactions between the two primary motor cortices (M1s). Subjects' left M1 was stimulated by means of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) while they were performing actual or mental movements of increasing complexity with their right hand and exerting a maximum isometric force with their left thumb and index. Thus, we sim…