Use of default option nudge and individual differences in everyday life decisions.

People often make inefficient decisions for themselves and the community (e.g. they underuse medical screenings or vaccines and they do not vote) also because of their individual characteristics, such as their level of avoidance or anxiety. In recent years, governments have successfully applied strategies, called "nudges", to help people maximizing their decisions in several fields; however, the role of individual characteristics has been poorly explored. The present study investigated whether one kind of nudge, the default option (automatic enrolment in a specific plan), can modulate the influence of such individual differences, promoting favourable decisions in different field, such as the medical and civic ones. One hundred and eighty-three participants completed the Trait Anxiety Inventory, the General Decision-Making Styles Inventory and scenarios about health and civic decisions. Participants have hypothetically been enrolled by default or not enrolled in specific plans and had to decide whether adhere or not to the plan proposed. Result showed that the default option drives anxious and avoidant individuals, who usually refuse to make a choice due to their overestimation of negative events' occurrence, to undergo medical screenings and vaccine and to vote more. Nudge confirmed its effectiveness in favouring better decisions among people according to their individual differences.

Neural networks underlying visual illusions: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis.

Visual illusions have long been used to study visual perception and contextual integration. Neuroimaging studies employ illusions to identify the brain regions involved in visual perception and how they interact. We conducted an Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) meta-analysis and meta-analytic connectivity modeling on fMRI studies using static and motion illusions to reveal the neural signatures of illusory processing and to investigate the degree to which different areas are commonly recruited in perceptual inference. The resulting networks encompass ventral and dorsal regions, including the inferior and middle occipital cortices bilaterally in both types of illusions. The static and motion illusion networks selectively included the right posterior parietal cortex and the ventral premotor cortex respectively. Overall, these results describe a network of areas crucially involved in perceptual inference relying on feed-back and feed-forward interactions between areas of the ventral and dorsal visual pathways. The same network is proposed to be involved in hallucinogenic symptoms characteristic of schizophrenia and other disorders, with crucial implications in the use of illusions as biomarkers.

Congenital lack and extraordinary ability in object and spatial imagery: An investigation on sub-types of aphantasia and hyperphantasia.

Studies that have shown a distinction between object and spatial imagery suggest more than one type of aphantasia and hyperphantasia, yet this has not been systematically investigated in studies on imagery ability extremes. Also, if the involuntary imagery is preserved in aphantasia and how this condition affects other skills is not fully clear. We collected data on spatial and object imagery, retrospective, and prospective memory, face recognition, and sense of direction (SOD), suggesting a distinction between two subtypes of aphantasia/hyperphantasia. Spatial aphantasia is associated with difficulties in visuo-spatial mental imagery and SOD. Instead, in object aphantasia there are difficulties in imaging single items and events - with no mental visualization of objects, out-of-focus, and black-and-white mental images more frequent than expected - in SOD and face recognition. Furthermore, associative involuntary imagery can be spared in aphantasia. The opposite pattern of performance was found in spatial and object hyperphantasia.

Divergent thinking in Italian elementary school children: the key role of probabilistic reasoning style.

Divergent thinking is widely recognised as an individual creative potential and an essential factor in fostering creativity since the early stages of life. Albeit previous research revealed that creativity could be pursued through controlled mental processes (e.g. reasoning), the debate about the impact of children's reasoning on divergent thinking and, ultimately, creativity is still open. The present study sought to deepen the relationships between probabilistic reasoning and divergent thinking in a sample of 106 Italian children (meanage = 8.64, SDage = 1.34; 58 F). The Beads Task was used to evaluate probabilistic reasoning, whereas the Alternative Uses Task was administered to assess divergent thinking. Results revealed that analytical, slow, and effortful forms of thought underpinned by high probabilistic competencies predict children's divergent production. These findings suggest that a higher score for divergence of thinking depends on a high involvement of reasoning style, which in this study relies on the ability to make probabilistic decisions in ambiguous situations. Future research directions were discussed.

Does spatial cognitive style affect how navigational strategy is planned?

People orient themselves in the environment using three different, hierarchically organized, spatial cognitive styles: landmark, route, and survey. Landmark style is based on a representation encompassing only visual information (terrain features); route style is based on a representation that connects landmarks and routes using an egocentric (body-centred) frame of reference; survey style is based on a global map-like representation that mainly involves an allocentric (world-centred) frame of reference. This study was aimed at investigating whether individual spatial cognitive style affected the way to plan a path when searching for a lost object. Participants with landmark, route, and survey style were assessed with an ecological navigational planning task (the Key Search Task), which required planning a strategy to search for the lost key in a hypothetical wide squared field. Results showed that spatial cognitive styles were associated to different navigational planning strategies, although the time to complete the Key Search Task was comparable across the styles. As revealed by the Key Search Task score, survey style individuals were the best navigational planners, route style individuals were less efficient and landmark style individuals were the least efficient. These results suggest that spatial cognitive style has effects on navigational planning. Implications for clinical settings, such as for developmental topographical disorientation, are discussed.

The format of mental imagery: from a critical review to an integrated embodied representation approach.

The issue of the format of mental imagery is still an open debate. The classical analogue (depictive)-propositional (descriptive) debate has not provided definitive conclusions. Over the years, the debate has shifted within the frame of the embodied cognition approach, which focuses on the interdependence of perception, cognition and action. Although the simulation approach still retains the concept of representation, the more radical line of the embodied cognition approach emphasizes the importance of action and clearly disregards the concept of representation. In particular, the enactive approach focuses on motor procedures that allow the body to interact with the environment, whereas the sensorimotor approach focuses on the possession and exercise of sensorimotor knowledge about how the sensory input changes as a function of movement. In this review, the embodied approaches are presented and critically discussed. Then, in an attempt to show that the format of mental imagery varies according to the ability and the strategy used to represent information, the role of individual differences in imagery ability (e.g., vividness and expertise) and imagery strategy (e.g., object vs. spatial imagers) is reviewed. Since vividness is mainly associated with perceptual information, reflecting the activation level of specific imagery systems, whereas the preferred strategy used is mainly associated with perceptual (e.g., object imagery) or amodal and motor information (e.g., spatial imagery), the format of mental imagery appears to be based on dynamic embodied representations, depending on imagery abilities and imagery strategies.

How would you describe a familiar route or put in order the landmarks along it? It depends on your cognitive style!

Cognitive style refers to the preference in perceiving, organizing and remembering information. Different cognitive styles have been identified across the years. Amongst others, field-dependence/independence cognitive style is the extent to which the person perceives part of a field as discrete from the surrounding environment as a whole, rather than embedded in the field. Instead, visualizer/verbalizer cognitive style involves the preference in processing visual versus verbal information. Both cognitive styles can influence navigational behaviour. The present study aimed at clarifying the extent to which field-dependence/independence and visualizer/verbalizer cognitive styles affect route-based navigational tasks. Therefore, 44 healthy participants from L'Aquila City were assessed for their cognitive styles and were asked to perform two different navigational tasks: reorder paths using a series of photos depicting landmarks from L'Aquila (visually presented task, visual path task-VisPT); orally describe specific paths of L'Aquila (verbally presented task, verbal path task-VerPT). Results showed that the field-independence cognitive style predicted response times of VisPT, whereas the visualizer/verbalizer cognitive style predicted the instructions given when performing the VerPT, namely, the number of metrical distance indicators provided by participants. By investigating two different cognitive styles, the study clarifies that field-dependence/independence and visualizer/verbalizer cognitive styles can play a different role in spatial navigation and suggests that the material by which a navigational task is presented affects its performance.

Verbal and visual divergent thinking in aging.

According to the peak and decline model divergent thinking declines at a specific age (in or after middle age). However, if divergent thinking declines steadily in aging still has to be clarified. In order to explore the age-related changes in verbal and visual divergent thinking, in the present study a sample of 159 participants was divided in five age groups: young adults (18-35 years), middle-aged adults (36-55), young old (56-74), old (75-85) and the oldest-old (86-98). Two divergent thinking tasks were administered: the alternative uses for cardboard boxes, aimed at assessing verbal ideational fluency, flexibility and originality; the completion drawing task, aimed at assessing visual ideational fluency, flexibility and originality. Results showed that after peaking in the young adult group (20-35 years) all components of verbal and visual divergent thinking stabilized in the middle-aged adult group (36-55 years) and then started declining in the young old group (56-75). Interestingly, all components were found to be preserved after declining. Yet, verbal and visual divergent thinking were found at the same extent across age groups, with the exception of visual ideational fluency, that was higher in the young old group, the old group and the oldest-old group than verbal ideational fluency. These results support the idea that divergent thinking does not decline steadily in the elderly. Given that older people can preserve to some extent verbal and visual divergent thinking, these findings have important implications for active aging, that is, divergent thinking might be fostered in aging in order to prevent the cognitive decline.

Mental imagery skills predict the ability in performing environmental directional judgements.

Mental imagery plays a crucial role in several cognitive processes, including human navigation. According to the Kosslyn's Model, mental imagery is subserved by three components: generation, inspection and transformation. The role of transformation, where by individuals recognise, from a different perspective, a place they have already visited, is no longer a matter of debate. However, the role of the other two components when recalling a map from different perspectives, has never been fully investigated. In the present study, we enrolled forty-nine college students and asked them to learn a schematic map and to provide directional judgements aligned or counter-aligned compared to the learnt map orientation. Their mental imagery generation, inspection and transformation skills were also investigated. Results demonstrated that all three visual mental imagery components negatively correlate with errors in providing directional judgements. Specifically, generation assumes a role in aligned directional judgements, while inspection and transformation predict the capability to provide counter-aligned directional judgements. Although all mental imagery components play a role in mentally recalling a map, only the proficiency in inspection and mental rotation can predict the accuracy in changing perspective.

Restructuring the navigational field: individual predisposition towards field independence predicts preferred navigational strategy.

To successfully navigate within an environment, individuals have to organize the spatial information in terms of salient landmarks, paths and general layout of the navigational environment. They may differ in the strategy they adopt to orientate themselves, with some individuals preferring to use salient landmarks (landmark spatial style, L-SS), others preferring to plan routes or paths through an egocentric strategy in which landmarks are connected with each other (route spatial style, R-SS) and others still create a global map-like configuration of the environment regardless of their own position in the environment (survey spatial style, S-SS). Here, we assessed whether Field independence (FI), that is the extent to which the individual perceives part of a field as discrete from the surrounding field rather than embedded in the field, predicted the individual's spatial style. We assessed the individual's spatial style using the spatial cognitive style test (SCST) and measured FI using the group embedded figure test (GEFT). We found that FI predicted general spatial ability, with a higher level of FI being associated with better performances on the SCST. Also, Field-independent individuals showed a marked preference for an S-SS. These results suggest that a higher level of FI is associated with better performance on higher level spatial tasks (i.e. R-SS and S-SS) that is tasks requiring individuals to restructure the "navigational field" according to the navigational goal. The results also suggest that a higher level of FI makes individuals more prone to use a global and complex map-like representation of the environment.

The attribution of intentionality: the role of skill and morality.

The present study contributes to the discussion on the different components which constitute the intentionality concept about an undesired side effect, focusing on the morality and the skill. Two hundred and forty participants were asked to read a brief story about a car accident, in which it was explained the motivation of the high speed and objective and subjective skill of the agent to drive the car, and to fill in six questions about intentionality, objective risk, mental representation of risk, risk acceptance and blameworthiness for the outcome. The principal results showed that when the motivation is morally negative, people judge the side effect more intentional, also because they make more severe judgments about risk and blameworthiness. Moreover, when people are objectively proficient to perform the action (objective skill) the side effect is considered less risky and intentional and, in the case of a negative outcome, they are judged less severely than if they have a poor ability. Finally, a self-assessment of low skill to make the action (subjective skill) leads people to assess higher risks and, consequently, more intentionality for the side effect. The results are discussed on the basis of the literature about some specific components that make up the intentionality concept.

Sex differences in visuospatial and navigational working memory: the role of mood induced by background music.

Sex differences in visuospatial abilities are long debated. Men generally outperform women, especially in wayfinding or learning a route or a sequence of places. These differences might depend on women's disadvantage in underlying spatial competences, such as mental rotation, and on the strategies used, as well as on emotions and on self-belief about navigational skills, not related to actual skill-levels. In the present study, sex differences in visuospatial and navigational working memory in emotional contexts were investigated. Participants' mood was manipulated by background music (positive, negative or neutral) while performing on the Corsi Block-tapping Task (CBT) and Walking Corsi (WalCT) test. In order to assess the effectiveness of mood manipulation, participants filled in the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule before and after carrying out the visuospatial tasks. Firstly, results showed that after mood induction, only the positive affect changed, whereas the negative affect remained unconfounded by mood and by sex. This finding is in line with the main effect of 'group' on all tests used: the positive music group scored significantly higher than other groups. Secondly, although men outperformed women in the CBT forward condition and in the WalCT forward and backward conditions, they scored higher than women only in the WalCT with the negative background music. This means that mood cannot fully explain sex differences in visuospatial and navigational working memory. Our results suggest that sex differences in the CBT and WalCT can be better explained by differences in spatial competences rather than by emotional contexts.

I believe I'm good at orienting myself But is that true?

The present study aimed to analyse beliefs that men and women have with respect to their sense of direction (SOD) and whether they correlate with spatial environmental task performance. Eighty-four students filled in the short version of the Familiarity and Spatial Cognitive Style Scale to evaluate beliefs on their SOD, knowledge of the city (TK), spatial ability (SA) and wayfinding (WA) and performed three spatial environmental tasks. Results showed that gender did not predict the performance on the spatial environmental tasks, whereas it can be predicted by participants' beliefs related to their SOD and TK. The findings point out the need to identify specific training aimed at improving women's metacognitive skills in order to delete or reduce gender differences in SA.

Situated navigational working memory: the role of positive mood.

The perspective of situated cognition assumes that cognition is not separated from the context. In the present study, the issue if visuospatial memory and navigational working memory are situated was explored by manipulating participants' mood (positive, negative and neutral) while performing two different tasks. College students were randomly assigned to the group of positive, negative or neutral music. Participants filled out the positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS) before and after carrying out the Corsi Test and the Walking Corsi Test. Both tasks were performed forward and backward. Music was played throughout the memory tasks. Firstly, comparing pre-mood induction PANAS scores to post-mood induction PANAS scores, results showed that only positive affects were manipulated: After mood induction, the Positive Music Group produced higher scores, whereas the Negative Music Group produced lower scores than before mood induction; the Neutral Music Group produced no effect. Secondly, the Positive Music Group produced higher scores than Negative and Neutral Music Groups both at the Corsi Test and at the Walking Corsi Test. These results show that situational contexts that induce a specific mood can affect visuospatial memory and navigational working memory, and open to the idea that positive emotions may play a crucial role in enhancing navigational strategies.

The Role of Sounds and Music in Emotion and Cognition.

It is widely agreed upon that both natural and man-made sounds, including music, profoundly impact our emotions and cognitive abilities, such as our attention, memory, problem-solving, decision-making, and creativity [...].

The Contribution of Internal and External Factors to Human Spatial Navigation.

Spatial navigation is a multifaceted cognitive function essential for planning and finding routes in one's environment [...].

Betting on Your Feelings: The Interplay between Emotion and Cognition in Gambling Affective Task.

Background: Gambling Disorder (GD) is a bio-psycho-social disorder resulting from the interaction of clinical, cognitive, and affective factors. Impulsivity is a crucial factor in addiction studies, as it is closely linked to cognitive distortions in GD by encompassing impulsive choices, motor responses, decision-making, and cognitive biases. Also, emotions, mood, temperament, and affective state are crucial in developing and maintaining GD. Gambling can be used as a maladaptive coping strategy to avoid or escape problems and distress. Methods: The aim of the present study is to explore differences in personality traits and emotion regulation of people suffering from GD, substance-dependent gamblers (SDGs), and healthy controls (HCs). Additionally, the study proposes a new experimental task: the "Gambling Affective Task" (GAT) to investigate the influence of affective priming on risk-taking behaviors. Results: Our findings indicate that participants placed lower bets following positive priming. Additionally, SDGs wagered significantly higher amounts than HCs, regardless of priming type. In general, participants exhibited longer response times after positive priming trials, compared to negative and neutral priming trials. These findings suggest that experiencing positive emotions can act as a protective factor by delaying and lengthening gambling behaviors. By comparing gamblers with and without substance comorbidity, we can gain insight into the exclusive factors of GD and improve our understanding of this disorder. Conclusions: By elucidating the impact of emotional states on risk-taking, the research also provides new insights into the prevention and treatment of GD.

Application of Virtual Reality in Spatial Memory.

In recent years, virtual reality (VR) has become a widely used tool with a plethora of applications in neuroscience [...].

The Effect of Sadness on Visual Artistic Creativity in Non-Artists.

The study of the relationships between mood and creativity is long-standing. In this study, the effects of mood states on artistic creativity were investigated in ninety non-artist participants. Mood states were induced by instructing participants to listen to self-selected happy, sad, or neutral music for ten minutes. Then, all participants were asked to make two artistic drawings. To check for mood manipulation, the Profile of Mood States (POMS) was administered before and after listening to the self-selected music. After the mood induction, the negative group reported higher scores than the other two groups in the 'depression' subscale and lower scores than the other two groups in the 'vigour' subscale of the POMS; the positive mood group showed more vigour than the negative mood group. Yet, three independent judges assigned higher ratings of creativity and emotionality to the drawings produced by participants in the negative mood group than drawings produced by participants in the other two groups. These results confirmed that specific negative mood states (e.g., sadness) positively affect artistic creativity, probably because participants are more likely to engage in mood-repairing. Limitations and future research directions are presented.

GPS Digital Nudge to Limit Road Crashes in Non-Expert Drivers.

Many automotive industries are developing technologies to assist human drivers in suggesting wiser choices to improve drivers' behaviour. The technology that makes use of this modality is defined as a "digital nudge". An example of a digital nudge is the GPS that is installed on smartphones. Some studies have demonstrated that the use of GPS negatively affects environmental learning because of the transformation of some spatial skills. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the use of the GPS nudge and its relationship with spatial ability, together with its function in supporting the driving behaviour of non-expert drivers, in order to reduce the number of road crashes. A total of 88 non-expert drivers (M age = 21 years) filled in questionnaires and carried out tasks to measure spatial abilities, sense of direction, driver behaviour, and six different real-life driving scenarios. The results reveal that the higher the spatial skills are, the greater the GPS use is, and that drivers who use GPS improve their sense of direction. Moreover, people with high visuospatial abilities use GPS more extensively. Finally, young drivers do not consider the GPS aid to be useful when they have no time pressure. The results are discussed by taking into account the familiarity-and-spatial-ability model.