Improved Perception of Aggression Under (un)Related Threat of Shock.

Anxiety shifts visual attention and perceptual mechanisms, preparing oneself to detect potentially threatening information more rapidly. Despite being demonstrated for threat-related social stimuli, such as fearful expressions, it remains unexplored if these effects encompass other social cues of danger, such as aggressive gestures/actions. To this end, we recruited a total of 65 participants and asked them to identify, as quickly and accurately as possible, potentially aggressive actions depicted by an agent. By introducing and manipulating the occurrence of electric shocks, we induced safe and threatening conditions. In addition, the association between electric shocks and aggression was also manipulated. Our result showed that participants have improved sensitivity, with no changes to criterion, when detecting aggressive gestures during threat compared to safe conditions. Furthermore, drift diffusion model analysis showed that under threat participants exhibited faster evidence accumulation toward the correct perceptual decision. Lastly, the relationship between threat source and aggression appeared to not impact any of the effects described above. Overall, our results indicate that the benefits gained from states of anxiety, such as increased sensitivity toward threat and greater evidence accumulation, are transposable to social stimuli capable of signaling danger other than facial expressions.

Initial tweet valence, abuse volume, and observer Dark Tetrad characteristics influence perceptions of female celebrity abuse on Twitter.

Research into relationships between victim-generated content, abuse received, and observer characteristics when considering Twitter abuse has been limited to male victims. We evaluated participant perceptions of female celebrity victims and abuse received on Twitter. We used a 3 (Initial Tweet Valence; negative, neutral, positive) × 2 (Abuse Volume; low, high) repeated measures design and online survey method. Participants were shown tweets generated by six female celebrities, counterbalanced such that each participant saw each celebrity in one Valence-Volume condition. Stimuli were presented across six 'lists' such that celebrity 'victims' could be rotated across Valence-Volume pairings. Participants rated-per target stimulus-the level of blame attributable to the victim and the perceived severity of the incident. Furthermore, participants were asked to complete a Dark Tetrad scale-measuring their Machiavellianism, Narcissism, Psychopathy, and Sadism. Analyses determined that victim-blaming was influenced by victim Initial Tweet Valence (greater victim-blaming associated with more-negative content) and observer Machiavellianism. Perceived severity was influenced by victim Initial Tweet Valence, Volume of Abuse received, and observer Machiavellianism. Results were consistent with previous research involving male celebrity victims. Further research is needed to understand the contributions of participants' hostile and benevolent sexism, as well as the role of victim attractiveness.

A multimodal interface for speech perception: the role of the left superior temporal sulcus in social cognition and autism.

Multimodal integration is crucial for human interaction, in particular for social communication, which relies on integrating information from various sensory modalities. Recently a third visual pathway specialized in social perception was proposed, which includes the right superior temporal sulcus (STS) playing a key role in processing socially relevant cues and high-level social perception. Importantly, it has also recently been proposed that the left STS contributes to audiovisual integration of speech processing. In this article, we propose that brain areas along the right STS that support multimodal integration for social perception and cognition can be considered homologs to those in the left, language-dominant hemisphere, sustaining multimodal integration of speech and semantic concepts fundamental for social communication. Emphasizing the significance of the left STS in multimodal integration and associated processes such as multimodal attention to socially relevant stimuli, we underscore its potential relevance in comprehending neurodevelopmental conditions characterized by challenges in social communication such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Further research into this left lateral processing stream holds the promise of enhancing our understanding of social communication in both typical development and ASD, which may lead to more effective interventions that could improve the quality of life for individuals with atypical neurodevelopment.

Is she still angry? Intact learning but no updating of facial expressions priors in autism.

Autistic people exhibit atypical use of prior information when processing simple perceptual stimuli; yet, it remains unclear whether and how these difficulties in using priors extend to complex social stimuli. Here, we compared autistic people without accompanying intellectual disability and nonautistic people in their ability to acquire an "emotional prior" of a facial expression and update this prior to a different facial expression of the same identity. Participants performed a two-interval same/different discrimination task between two facial expressions. To study the acquisition of the prior, we examined how discrimination was modified by the contraction of the perceived facial expressions toward the average of presented stimuli (i.e., regression to the mean). At first, facial expressions surrounded one average emotional prior (mostly sad or angry), and then the average switched (to mostly angry or sad, accordingly). Autistic people exhibited challenges in facial discrimination, and yet acquired the first prior, demonstrating typical regression-to-the-mean effects. However, unlike nonautistic people, autistic people did not update their perception to the second prior, suggesting they are less flexible in updating an acquired prior of emotional expressions. Our findings shed light on the perception of emotional expressions, one of the most pressing challenges in autism.

Cerebellum function: The chronometry of social perception.

The posterior cerebellum is emerging as a key structure for social cognition. A new study causally demonstrates its early involvement during emotion perception and functional connectivity with the posterior superior temporal sulcus, a cortical hub of the social brain.

Atypical neural encoding of faces in individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience pervasive difficulties in processing social information from faces. However, the behavioral and neural mechanisms underlying social trait judgments of faces in ASD remain largely unclear. Here, we comprehensively addressed this question by employing functional neuroimaging and parametrically generated faces that vary in facial trustworthiness and dominance. Behaviorally, participants with ASD exhibited reduced specificity but increased inter-rater variability in social trait judgments. Neurally, participants with ASD showed hypo-activation across broad face-processing areas. Multivariate analysis based on trial-by-trial face responses could discriminate participant groups in the majority of the face-processing areas. Encoding social traits in ASD engaged vastly different face-processing areas compared to controls, and encoding different social traits engaged different brain areas. Interestingly, the idiosyncratic brain areas encoding social traits in ASD were still flexible and context-dependent, similar to neurotypicals. Additionally, participants with ASD also showed an altered encoding of facial saliency features in the eyes and mouth. Together, our results provide a comprehensive understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying social trait judgments in ASD.

A Calf from a Tree-Trunk: From a Rustic Proverb to a Standard Scholastic Argument.

The paper deals with the expression "God is able to make a calf from a tree-trunk"-a very popular phrase in medieval treatises, especially in the context of God's omnipotence. Its attestations are thoroughly documented and considered, contexts discussed, and attributions examined. It is argued that the attribution to Anselm of Canterbury is false and late. It is claimed that the phrase goes back to a popular saying as attested by William of Conches, Peter Comestor, and ps.-Bonaventurian Ars concionandi. Thus, it is a rare example of a rustic proverb used in scholastic debates as a standard scholarly argument.

Impaired recognition of interactive intentions in adults with autism spectrum disorder not attributable to differences in visual attention or coordination via eye contact and joint attention.

Altered nonverbal communication patterns especially with regard to gaze interactions are commonly reported for persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this study we investigate and differentiate for the first time the interplay of attention allocation, the establishment of shared focus (eye contact and joint attention) and the recognition of intentions in gaze interactions in adults with ASD compared to control persons. Participants interacted via gaze with a virtual character (VC), who they believed was controlled by another person. Participants were instructed to ascertain whether their partner was trying to interact with them. In fact, the VC was fully algorithm-controlled and showed either interactive or non-interactive gaze behavior. Participants with ASD were specifically impaired in ascertaining whether their partner was trying to interact with them or not as compared to participants without ASD whereas neither the allocation of attention nor the ability to establish a shared focus were affected. Thus, perception and production of gaze cues seem preserved while the evaluation of gaze cues appeared to be impaired. An additional exploratory analysis suggests that especially the interpretation of contingencies between the interactants' actions are altered in ASD and should be investigated more closely.

Forming Evaluations of Moral Character: How Are Multiple Pieces of Information Prioritized and Integrated?

Evaluating other people's moral character is a crucial social cognitive task. However, the cognitive processes by which people seek out, prioritize, and integrate multiple pieces of character-relevant information have not been studied empirically. The first aim of this research was to examine which character traits are considered most important when forming an impression of a person's overall moral character. The second aim was to understand how differing levels of trait expression affect overall character judgments. Four preregistered studies and one supplemental study (total N = 720), using five different measures of importance and sampling undergraduates, online workers, and community members, found that our participants placed the most importance on the traits honest, helpful, compassionate, loyal, and responsible. Also, when integrating the information that they have learned, our participants seemed to engage in a simple averaging process in which all available, relevant information is combined in a linear fashion to form an overall evaluation of moral character. This research provides new insights into the cognitive processes by which evaluations of moral character are formed.

Gender-Ambiguous Voices and Social Disfluency.

Recently, gender-ambiguous (nonbinary) voices have been added to voice assistants to combat gender stereotypes and foster inclusion. However, if people react negatively to such voices, these laudable efforts may be counterproductive. In five preregistered studies (N = 3,684 adult participants) we found that people do react negatively, rating products described by narrators with gender-ambiguous voices less favorably than when they are described by clearly male or female narrators. The voices create a feeling of unease, or social disfluency, that affects evaluations of the products being described. These effects are best explained by low familiarity with voices that sound ambiguous. Thus, initial negative reactions can be overcome with more exposure.

The breakdown of social looking.

Individual differences in social looking are commonly believed to reflect one single heritable dimension tightly linked to autism. Yet, recent data suggest that in human infants, looking to eyes (rather than mouth) and preference for faces (versus non-social objects) reflect distinct genetic influences, and neither appear to have a clear-cut relation to autism.

First impressions from faces in dynamic approach-avoidance contexts.

Theoretical understanding of first impressions from faces has been closely associated with the proposal that rapid approach-avoidance decisions are needed during social interactions. Nevertheless, experimental work has rarely examined first impressions of people who are actually moving-instead extrapolating from photographic images. In six experiments, we describe the relationship between social attributions (dominance and trustworthiness) and the motion and apparent intent of a perceived person. We first show strong correspondence between judgments of photos and avatars of the same people (Experiment 1). Avatars were rated as more dominant and trustworthy when walking toward the viewer than when stationary (Experiment 2). Furthermore, avatars approaching the viewer were rated as more dominant than those avoiding (walking past) the viewer, or remaining stationary (Experiment 3). Trustworthiness was increased by movement, but not affected by approaching/avoiding paths. Surprisingly, dominance ratings increased both when avatars were approaching and being approached (Experiments 4-6), independently of agency. However, diverging movement (moving backward) reduced dominance ratings-again independently of agency (Experiment 6). These results demonstrate the close link between dominance judgments and approach and show the updatable nature of first impressions-their formation depended on the immediate dynamic context in a more subtle manner than previously suggested. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Neural Tracking of Perceived Parent, but Not Peer, Norms Is Associated with Longitudinal Changes in Adolescent Attitudes about Externalizing Behaviors.

Adolescents' perceptions of parent and peer norms about externalizing behaviors influence the extent to which they adopt similar attitudes, yet little is known about how the trajectories of perceived parent and peer norms are related to trajectories of personal attitudes across adolescence. Neural development of midline regions implicated in self-other processing may underlie developmental changes in parent and peer influence. Here, we examined whether neural processing of perceived parent and peer norms in midline regions during self-evaluations would be associated with trajectories of personal attitudes about externalizing behaviors. Trajectories of adolescents' perceived parent and peer norms were examined longitudinally with functional neuroimaging (n = 165; ages 11-16 years across three waves; 86 girls, 79 boys; 29.7% White, 21.8% Black, 35.8% Latinx, 12.7% other/multiracial). Behavioral results showed perceived parent norms were less permissive than adolescents' own attitudes about externalizing behaviors, whereas perceived peer norms were more permissive than adolescents' own attitudes, effects that increased from early to middle adolescence. Although younger adolescents reported less permissive attitudes when they spontaneously tracked perceived parent norms in the ventromedial and medial pFCs during self-evaluations, this effect weakened as they aged. No brain-behavior effects were found when tracking perceived peer norms. These findings elucidate how perceived parent and peer norms change in parallel with personal attitudes about externalizing behaviors from early to middle adolescence and underscore the importance of spontaneous neural tracking of perceived parent norms during self-evaluations for buffering permissive personal attitudes, particularly in early adolescence.

Intergroup processes and the happy face advantage: How social categories influence emotion categorization.

There is abundant evidence that emotion categorization is influenced by the social category membership of target faces, with target sex and target race modulating the ease with which perceivers can categorize happy and angry emotional expressions. However, theoretical interpretation of these findings is constrained by gender and race imbalances in both the participant samples and target faces typically used when demonstrating these effects (e.g., most participants have been White women and most Black targets have been men). Across seven experiments, the current research used gender-matched samples (Experiments 1a and 1b), gender- and racial identity-matched samples (Experiments 2a and 2b), and manipulations of social context (Experiments 3a, 3b, and 4) to establish whether emotion categorization is influenced by interactions between the social category membership of perceivers and target faces. Supporting this idea, we found the presence and size of the happy face advantage were influenced by interactions between perceivers and target social categories, with reliable happy face advantages in reaction times for ingroup targets but not necessarily for outgroup targets. White targets and female targets were the only categories associated with a reliable happy face advantage that was independent of perceiver category. The interactions between perceiver and target social category were eliminated when targets were blocked by social category (e.g., a block of all White female targets; Experiments 3a and 3b) and accentuated when targets were associated with additional category information (i.e., ingroup/outgroup nationality; Experiment 4). These findings support the possibility that contextually sensitive intergroup processes influence emotion categorization. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Using risk of crime detection to study change in mechanisms of decision making.

Perceptions of crime detection risk (e.g., risk of arrest) play an integral role in the criminal decision-making process. Yet, the sources of variation in those perceptions are not well understood. Do individuals respond to changes in legal policy or is perception of detection risk shaped like other perceptions-by experience, heuristics, and with biases? We applied a developmental perspective to study self-reported perception of detection risk. We test four hypotheses against data from the Dunedin Longitudinal Study (analytic sample of N = 985 New Zealanders), a study that spans 20 years of development (Ages 18-38, years 1990-2011). We reach four conclusions: (1) people form their perception of detection risk early in the life course; (2) perception of detection risk may be general rather than unique to each crime type; (3) population-level perceptions are stable between adolescence and adulthood; but (4) people update their perceptions when their life circumstances change. The importance of these findings for future theoretical and policy work is considered. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Judging robot ability: How people form implicit and explicit impressions of robot competence.

Robots' proliferation throughout society offers many opportunities and conveniences. However, our ability to effectively employ these machines relies heavily on our perceptions of their competence. In six studies (N = 2,660), participants played a competitive game with a robot to learn about its capabilities. After the learning experience, we measured explicit and implicit competence impressions to investigate how they reflected the learning experience. We observed two distinct dissociations between people's implicit and explicit competence impressions. Firstly, explicit impressions were uniquely sensitive to oddball behaviors. Implicit impressions only incorporated unexpected behaviors when they were moderately prevalent. Secondly, after forming a strong initial impression, explicit, but not implicit, impression updating demonstrated a positivity bias (i.e., an overvaluation of competence information). These findings suggest that the same learning experience with a robot is expressed differently at the implicit versus explicit level. We discuss implications from a social cognitive perspective, and how this work may inform emerging work on psychology toward robots. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Assessing multimodal emotion recognition in multiple sclerosis with a clinically accessible measure.

BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) negatively impacts cognition and has been associated with deficits in social cognition, including emotion recognition. There is a lack of research examining emotion recognition from multiple modalities in MS. The present study aimed to employ a clinically available measure to assess multimodal emotion recognition abilities among individuals with MS. METHOD: Thirty-one people with MS and 21 control participants completed the Advanced Clinical Solutions Social Perceptions Subtest (ACS-SP), BICAMS, and measures of premorbid functioning, mood, and fatigue. ANCOVAs examined group differences in all outcomes while controlling for education. Correlational analyses examined potential correlates of emotion recognition in both groups. RESULTS: The MS group performed significantly worse on the ACS-SP than the control group, F(1, 49) = 5.32, p = .025. Significant relationships between emotion recognition and cognitive functions were found only in the MS group, namely for information processing speed (r = 0.59, p < .001), verbal learning (r = 0.52, p = .003) and memory (r = 0.65, p < 0.001), and visuospatial learning (r = 0.62, p < 0.001) and memory (r = 0.52, p = .003). Emotion recognition did not correlate with premorbid functioning, mood, or fatigue in either group. CONCLUSIONS: This study was the first to employ the ACS-SP to assess emotion recognition in MS. The results suggest that emotion recognition is impacted in MS and is related to other cognitive processes, such as information processing speed. The results provide information for clinicians amidst calls to include social cognition measures in standard MS assessments.

Integrating Emotion Perception in Rehabilitation Programs for Cochlear Implant Users: A Call for a More Comprehensive Approach.

PURPOSE: Postoperative rehabilitation programs for cochlear implant (CI) recipients primarily emphasize enhancing speech perception. However, effective communication in everyday social interactions necessitates consideration of diverse verbal social cues to facilitate language comprehension. Failure to discern emotional expressions may lead to maladjusted social behavior, underscoring the importance of integrating social cues perception into rehabilitation initiatives to enhance CI users' well-being. After conventional rehabilitation, CI users demonstrate varying levels of emotion perception abilities. This disparity notably impacts young CI users, whose emotion perception deficit can extend to social functioning, encompassing coping strategies and social competence, even when relying on nonauditory cues such as facial expressions. Knowing that emotion perception abilities generally decrease with age, acknowledging emotion perception impairments in aging CI users is crucial, especially since a direct correlation between quality-of-life scores and vocal emotion recognition abilities has been observed in adult CI users. After briefly reviewing the scope of CI rehabilitation programs and summarizing the mounting evidence on CI users' emotion perception deficits and their impact, we will present our recommendations for embedding emotional training as part of enriched and standardized evaluation/rehabilitation programs that can improve CI users' social integration and quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Evaluating all aspects, including emotion perception, in CI rehabilitation programs is crucial because it ensures a comprehensive approach that enhances speech comprehension and the emotional dimension of communication, potentially improving CI users' social interaction and overall well-being. The development of emotion perception training holds promises for CI users and individuals grappling with various forms of hearing loss and sensory deficits. Ultimately, adopting such a comprehensive approach has the potential to significantly elevate the overall quality of life for a broad spectrum of patients.

Choosing Among Undesirable Options: Children Consider Desirability of Available Choices in Evaluation of Socially Mindful Actions.

Previous studies show that adults and children evaluate the act of leaving a choice for others as prosocial, and have termed such actions as socially mindful actions. The current study investigates how the desirability of the available options (i.e., whether the available options are desirable or not) may influence adults' and children's evaluation of socially mindful actions. Children (N = 120, 4- to 6-year-olds) and adults (N = 124) were asked to evaluate characters selecting items for themselves from a set of three items-two identical items and one unique item-in a way that either leaves a choice (two diverse items) or leaves no choice (two identical items) for the next person (i.e., the beneficiary). We manipulated whether the available options were either desirable or undesirable (i.e., damaged). We found that adults' and 6-year-olds' evaluation of socially mindful actions is moderated by the desirability of the options. Although they evaluate the act of leaving a choice for others as nicer than the act of leaving no choice both when the choosing options are desirable and when they are undesirable, the discrepancy in the evaluation becomes significantly smaller when the choosing options are undesirable. We also found that inference of the beneficiary's feeling underlies social evaluation of the actor leaving a choice (or not). These findings suggest that children consider both the diversity of options left and the desirability of the available options in understanding and evaluating socially mindful acts.