Violent and prosocial music: Evidence for the impact of lyrics and musical tone on aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Although there is a large research base on the psychological impacts of violent and prosocial visual media, there is little research addressing the impacts of violent and prosocial music, and which facets of the music have the greatest impact. Four experiments tested the impact of lyrics and/or musical tone on aggressive and prosocial behavior, and on underlying psychological processes, using purpose-built songs to avoid the effect of music-related confounds. In study one, where mildly aggressive, overtly aggressive and violent lyrics were compared to neutral lyrics, any level of lyrical aggression caused an increase in behavioral aggression, which plateaued for all three aggression conditions. Violent lyrics were better recalled than other lyrics one week later. In studies two-three no significant effects of lyrics, or of aggressive versus nonaggressive musical tone, were found on aggressive or prosocial behavior. In terms of internal states, violent lyrics increased hostility/hostile cognitions in all studies, and negatively impacted affective state in three studies. Prosocial lyrics decreased hostility/hostile cognitions in three studies, but always in tandem with another factor. Aggressive musical tone increased physiological arousal in two studies and increased negative affect in one. In study four those who listened to violent lyrics drove more aggressively on a simulated drive that included triggers for aggression. Overall, violent lyrics consistently elicited hostility/hostile cognitions and negative affect, but these did not always translate to aggressive behavior. Violent music seems more likely to elicit behavioral aggression when there are aggression triggers and a clear way to aggress. Implications are discussed.

Counterfactual thinking induces different neural patterns of memory modification in anxious individuals.

Episodic counterfactual thinking (eCFT) is the process of mentally simulating alternate versions of experiences, which confers new phenomenological properties to the original memory and may be a useful therapeutic target for trait anxiety. However, it remains unclear how the neural representations of a memory change during eCFT. We hypothesized that eCFT-induced memory modification is associated with changes to the neural pattern of a memory primarily within the default mode network, moderated by dispositional anxiety levels. We tested this proposal by examining the representational dynamics of eCFT for 39 participants varying in trait anxiety. During eCFT, lateral parietal regions showed progressively more distinct activity patterns, whereas medial frontal neural activity patterns became more similar to those of the original memory. Neural pattern similarity in many default mode network regions was moderated by trait anxiety, where highly anxious individuals exhibited more generalized representations for upward eCFT (better counterfactual outcomes), but more distinct representations for downward eCFT (worse counterfactual outcomes). Our findings illustrate the efficacy of examining eCFT-based memory modification via neural pattern similarity, as well as the intricate interplay between trait anxiety and eCFT generation.

The vmPFC-IPL functional connectivity as the neural basis of future self-continuity impacted procrastination: the mediating role of anticipated positive outcomes.

Procrastination is universally acknowledged as a problematic behavior with wide-ranging consequences impacting various facets of individuals' lives, including academic achievement, social accomplishments, and mental health. Although previous research has indicated that future self-continuity is robustly negatively correlated with procrastination, it remains unknown about the neural mechanisms underlying the impact of future self-continuity on procrastination. To address this issue, we employed a free construction approach to collect individuals' episodic future thinking (EFT) thoughts regarding specific procrastination tasks. Next, we conducted voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) analysis to explore the neural substrates underlying future self-continuity. Behavior results revealed that future self-continuity was significantly negatively correlated with procrastination, and positively correlated with anticipated positive outcome. The VBM analysis showed a positive association between future self-continuity and gray matter volumes in the right ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). Furthermore, the RSFC results indicated that the functional connectivity between the right vmPFC and the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL) was positively correlated with future self-continuity. More importantly, the mediation analysis demonstrated that anticipated positive outcome can completely mediate the relationship between the vmPFC-IPL functional connectivity and procrastination. These findings suggested that vmPFC-IPL functional connectivity might prompt anticipated positive outcome about the task and thereby reduce procrastination, which provides a new perspective to understand the relationship between future self-continuity and procrastination.

Elucidating the difference between mind-wandering and day-dreaming terms.

Self-generated thoughts have been widely investigated in recent years, while the terms "mind-wandering" and "day-dreaming" are usually used interchangeably. But are these terms equivalent? To test this, online study participants were presented with situations of a protagonist engaged in self-generated thoughts. The scenarios differed with regard to type of situation, the activity in which the protagonist was engaged in, and the properties of the self-generated thoughts. Two different groups evaluated the same situations; one group evaluated the extent to which the protagonist mind-wandered and another the extent to which the protagonist day-dreamt. Our key findings were that the situations were perceived differently with regard to mind-wandering and day-dreaming, depending on whether self-generated thoughts occurred when the protagonist was busy with another activity and the type of self-generated thoughts. In particular, while planning, worrying, and ruminating thoughts were perceived more as mind-wandering in situations involving another activity/task, the situations without another activity/task involving recalling past events and fantasizing thoughts were perceived more as day-dreaming. In the additional experiment, we investigated laypeople's reasons for classifying the situation as mind-wandering or day-dreaming. Our results altogether indicate that mind-wandering and day-dreaming might not be fully equivalent terms.

Be curious: Strategic curiosity drives creativity.

Ivancovsky et al. provide a compelling argument for the role of curiosity in creative thinking. We argue that (a) trait-like curiosity is necessary to engage in creative actions and (b) state-like curiosity might be effectively and strategically induced during interventions. Thus, we posit that curiosity works in an agentic and strategic way in strengthening creativity.

Long-lasting negativity in the left motoric brain structures during word memory inhibition in the Think/No-Think paradigm.

In this study, we investigated the electrical brain responses in a high-density EEG array (64 electrodes) elicited specifically by the word memory cue in the Think/No-Think paradigm in 46 participants. In a first step, we corroborated previous findings demonstrating sustained and reduced brain electrical frontal and parietal late potentials elicited by memory cues following the No-Think (NT) instructions as compared to the Think (T) instructions. The topographical analysis revealed that such reduction was significant 1000 ms after memory cue onset and that it was long-lasting for 1000 ms. In a second step, we estimated the underlying brain generators with a distributed method (swLORETA) which does not preconceive any localization in the gray matter. This method revealed that the cognitive process related to the inhibition of memory retrieval involved classical motoric cerebral structures with the left primary motor cortex (M1, BA4), thalamus, and premotor cortex (BA6). Also, the right frontal-polar cortex was involved in the T condition which we interpreted as an indication of its role in the maintaining of a cognitive set during remembering, by the selection of one cognitive mode of processing, Think, over the other, No-Think, across extended periods of time, as it might be necessary for the successful execution of the Think/No-Think task.

Multiple paths to rumination within a network analytical framework.

Theories of rumination have proposed different psychological factors to place one at risk for repetitive negative thinking. A comprehensive empirical test that captures the most relevant contributors to rumination is lacking. Building on influential self-regulatory and metacognitive frameworks, we modeled how key constructs in this context relate to ruminative thinking. 498 participants completed online questionnaires including indicators of rumination, metacognition, promotion goal orientation, effortful control, and depression. We estimated regularized partial correlation networks to investigate unique associations between the different constructs and followed these analyses up with directed acyclic graphs to identify potential pathways towards rumination. Results demonstrated that: (1) both self-regulatory and metacognitive factors were directly linked to rumination, amongst these were (2) positive beliefs, negative beliefs about uncontrollability and harm, cognitive self-consciousness, depression, effortful control, perfectionism, and (lack of) cognitive confidence, and (3) we identified multiple directed pathways, suggesting three direct contributors to rumination while controlling for the influence of all other variables: diminished effortful control, positive beliefs, and cognitive self-consciousness. This study is the first to comprehensively assess metacognitive and self-regulatory frameworks of rumination in a data-driven manner. Our findings suggest that there are multiple pathways towards rumination, which should be incorporated in clinical case conceptualization of rumination and related disorders.

The implicit power of positive thinking: The effect of positive episodic simulation on implicit future expectancies.

Previous research demonstrating that positive episodic simulation enhances future expectancies has relied on explicit expectancy measures. The current study investigated the effects of episodic simulation on implicit expectancies. Using the Future Thinking Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (FT-IRAP), participants made true/false decisions to indicate whether or not they expected positive/negative outcomes after adopting orientations consistent or inconsistent with an optimistic disposition. The outcome measure, DIRAP, was based on response time differences between consistent and inconsistent blocks. Participants then engaged in either positive simulation training, in which they imagined positive future events, or a neutral visualisation task before repeating the FT-IRAP twice following 10-minute intervals. Positive simulation training increased DIRAP scores for don't-expect-negative trials-boosting participants' readiness to affirm that negative events were unlikely to happen to them. Although findings did not generalise across all trial types, they show potential for positive simulation training to enhance implicit future expectancies.

Alignment of learning objectives, assessments, and active learning to promote critical thinking in a first-year medical physiology course: lessons learned.

Medical students must be adept at critical thinking to successfully meet the learning objectives of their preclinical coursework. To encourage student success on assessments, the course director of a first-year medical physiology course emphasized the use of learning objectives that were explicitly aligned with formative assessments in class. The course director introduced the physiology discipline, learning objectives, and evidence-based methods of studying to students on the first day of class. Thereafter, class sessions started with a review of the learning objectives for that session and included active learning opportunities such as retrieval practice. The instructor provided short answer formative assessments aligned with the learning objectives, intended to help the students apply and integrate the concepts. Midsemester, students received a link to an online survey with questions on studying habits, class attendance, and student engagement. After finals, students were invited to participate in focus groups about their class experience. A qualitative researcher moderated focus groups, recorded responses, and analyzed the narrative data. Of 175 students, 95 submitted anonymous online surveys. Student engagement was significantly correlated with in-person class attendance (r = 0.26, T = 2.5, P = 0.01) and the completion of open-ended formative assessments (r = 0.33, T = 3.3, P = 0.001). Focus groups were held via videoconference. From the class, 14 students participated in 4 focus groups; focus group participants were mostly women (11 of 14) and mostly in-class attendees (13 of 14). The students in this sample valued critical thinking but misunderstood expectations on exams and few students used learning objectives to study.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We introduced formative assessments and study techniques to first-year medical students in a physiology course. Mastery of learning objectives was emphasized as the key to success. We asked how they studied physiology through an anonymous online survey and focus group interviews. The students enjoyed physiology but had difficulty with exam expectations. Helping students use learning objectives to guide their study may lead to improved exam scores. It may also help administrators meet their curriculum goals.

Taking time to compose thoughts with prefrontal schemata.

Under what conditions can prefrontal cortex direct the composition of brain states, to generate coherent streams of thoughts? Using a simplified Potts model of cortical dynamics, crudely differentiated into two halves, we show that once activity levels are regulated, so as to disambiguate a single temporal sequence, whether the contents of the sequence are mainly determined by the frontal or by the posterior half, or by neither, depends on statistical parameters that describe its microcircuits. The frontal cortex tends to lead if it has more local attractors, longer lasting and stronger ones, in order of increasing importance. Its guidance is particularly effective to the extent that posterior cortices do not tend to transition from state to state on their own. The result may be related to prefrontal cortex enforcing its temporally-oriented schemata driving coherent sequences of brain states, unlike the atemporal "context" contributed by the hippocampus. Modelling a mild prefrontal (vs. posterior) lesion offers an account of mind-wandering and event construction deficits observed in prefrontal patients.

Compulsive rituals in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - A qualitative exploration of thoughts, feelings and behavioral patterns.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Rituals are common among healthy individuals and across cultures and often serve adaptive purposes. In individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), rituals become compulsive, time-consuming and distressing, and may lead to functional impairment. Previous research has examined the functions and characteristics of compulsive rituals, but there is paucity of in-depth, first-person reports about this topic. METHOD: We used a qualitative approach to explore thoughts, feelings, and behavioral patterns that characterize OCD rituals. Ten individuals with OCD participated in a semi-structured interview that focused on their most prominent compulsive ritual. The interviews were subjected to a thematic analysis. RESULTS: Eight themes emerged from the analysis and were organized in two main categories: Micro Level perspective, comprising triggers, attention, emotional changes, and stopping criteria; and Macro Level perspective, comprising feelings and perceptions, change over time, motives, and inhibitors. The findings shed light on the role of fixed rules and feelings of "completeness" in OCD rituals, the nature of emotional and attentional characteristics during rituals performance, and the evolution of compulsive rituals over time. LIMITATIONS: This study used a qualitative approach based on a small number of participants, which limits the generalizability of the findings. CONCLUSION: Our results, if replicated, may have clinical implications. The reported patterns of anxiety reduction during ritual performance may contribute to the fine-tuning of CBT for OCD. The findings concerning the nature of attention during ritual performance and the development of rituals over time may be important for understanding the mechanisms that maintain compulsive rituals.

Thinking computationally in translational psychiatry. A commentary on Neville et al. (2024).

There is a growing focus on the computational aspects of psychiatric disorders in humans. This idea also is gaining traction in nonhuman animal studies. Commenting on a new comprehensive overview of the benefits of applying this approach in translational research by Neville et al. (Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience 1-14, 2024), we discuss the implications for translational model validity within this framework. We argue that thinking computationally in translational psychiatry calls for a change in the way that we evaluate animal models of human psychiatric processes, with a shift in focus towards symptom-producing computations rather than the symptoms themselves. Further, in line with Neville et al.'s adoption of the reinforcement learning framework to model animal behaviour, we illustrate how this approach can be applied beyond simple decision-making paradigms to model more naturalistic behaviours.

Daily worry, rumination, and sleep in late life.

OBJECTIVE: Perseverative thinking (e.g., worry/rumination) is a common response to stress, and can be detrimental to well-being. Sleep may represent an important mechanism by which perseverative thinking is disrupted or amplified from day to day. This study examined the associations between older adults' everyday worry, rumination, and sleep. METHODS: Older adults (N = 270) aged 65-89 completed a baseline interview and morning and evening assessments each day for 5-6 days. Every morning, they indicated their worry toward the day and their sleep duration and disturbances the prior night. Every evening, they rated worry and rumination experienced that day. RESULTS: Multilevel models showed that perseverative thinking predicted worse sleep (i.e., fewer hours of sleep) at the between-person level (B = -0.29, p = .004) but better sleep (i.e., fewer sleep disturbances) at the within-person level (Bs < -0.18, ps < .003). At the within-person level, more hours of sleep (B = -0.06, p = .04) and fewer sleep disturbances (B = 0.10, p < .001) predicted less worry the next morning. Prior night's worry predicted greater next morning's worry, but this association was significant only when older adults reported fewer-than-usual hours of sleep (B = 0.24, p < .001), not when they reported more-than-usual hours of sleep (B = 0.04, p = .61). CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that worry and rumination are intimately linked with sleep and highlight the protective role that better sleep may play in reducing older adults' everyday perseverative thinking.

Investigation of divergent thinking among surgeons and surgeon trainees in Canada (IDEAS): a mixed-methods study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the creative potential of surgeons and surgeon trainees, as measured by divergent thinking. The secondary objectives were to identify factors associated with divergent thinking, assess confidence in creative problem-solving and the perceived effect of surgical training on creative potential, and explore the value of creativity in surgery. DESIGN: We used a mixed-methods design, conducting a survey of divergent thinking ability using a validated questionnaire followed by two semi-structured interviews with top-scoring participants. PARTICIPANTS & SETTING: Surgeons and surgeon trainees in the Department of Surgery at McMaster University. OUTCOMES: The primary outcome was divergent thinking, assessed with the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults. Participants also self-assessed their confidence in creative problem-solving and the effect of surgical training on their creative potential. We performed descriptive analyses and multivariable linear regression to identify factors associated with divergent thinking. We conducted a thematic analysis of the interview responses. RESULTS: 82 surgeons and surgeon trainees were surveyed; 43 were junior trainees and 28 were senior trainees. General surgery, orthopaedic surgery and plastic surgery represented 71.9% of the participants. The median participant age was 28 years (range 24-73), 51.2% of whom were female. Participants demonstrated levels of divergent thinking that were higher but not meaningfully different from the adult norm (62.39 (95% CI 61.25, 63.53), p<0.001). While participants scored significantly higher than the average adult on fluency (the ability to produce quantities of ideas) and flexibility (the ability to process information in different ways) (p<0.001 for both), they scored below average on originality (the ability to produce uncommon, new or unique ideas) (p<0.001). Regression analysis identified higher divergent thinking scores among females (estimated ß=-3.58 (95% CI -6.25 to -0.90), p=0.010). CONCLUSIONS: The divergent thinking ability among surgeons and surgeon trainees was not meaningfully different from the adult normative score; however, their ability to generate original ideas was below average.

Teleological reasoning bias is predicted by pupil dynamics: Evidence for the extensive integration account of bias in reasoning.

Teleological reasoning is the tendency for humans to see purpose and intentionality in natural phenomena when there is none. In this study, we assess three competing theories on how bias in reasoning arises by examining performance on a teleological reasoning task while measuring pupil size and response times. We replicate that humans (N = 45) are prone to accept false teleological explanations. Further, we show that errors on the teleological reasoning task are associated with slower response times, smaller baseline pupil size, and larger pupil dilations. The results are in line with the single-process extensive integration account and directly oppose predictions from dual-processing accounts. Lastly, by modeling responses with a drift-diffusion model, we find that larger baseline pupil size is associated with lower decision threshold and higher drift rate, whereas larger pupil dilations are associated with higher decision threshold and lower drift rate. The results highlight the role of neural gain and the Locus Coeruleus-Norepinephrine system in modulating evidence integration and bias in reasoning. Thus, teleological reasoning and susceptibility to bias likely arise due to extensive processing rather than through fast and effortless processing.

The impact of problem domain on Bayesian inferences: A systematic investigation.

Sparse (and occasionally contradictory) evidence exists regarding the impact of domain on probabilistic updating, some of which suggests that Bayesian word problems with medical content may be especially challenging. The present research aims to address this gap in knowledge through three pre-registered online studies, which involved a total of 2,238 participants. Bayesian word problems were related to one of three domains: medical, daily-life, and abstract. In the first two cases, problems presented realistic content and plausible numerical information, while in the latter, problems contained explicitly imaginary elements. Problems across domains were matched in terms of all relevant statistical values and, as much as possible, wording. Studies 1 and 2 utilized the same set of problems, but different response elicitation methods (i.e., an open-ended and a multiple-choice question, respectively). Study 3 involved a larger number of participants per condition and a smaller set of problems to more thoroughly investigate the magnitude of differences between the domains. There was a generally low rate of correct responses (17.2%, 17.4%, and 14.3% in Studies 1, 2, and 3, respectively), consistent with accuracy levels commonly observed in the literature for this specific task with online samples. Nonetheless, a small but significant difference between domains was observed: participants' accuracy did not differ between medical and daily-life problems, while it was significantly higher in corresponding abstract problems. These results suggest that medical problems are not inherently more difficult to solve, but rather that performance is improved with abstract problems for which participants cannot draw from their background knowledge.

Effects of task type on spontaneous alternations of attentional states.

Mind wandering is a common occurrence that can have serious consequences, but estimating when mind wandering occurs is a challenging research question. Previous research has shown that during meditation, people may spontaneously alternate between task-oriented and mind-wandering states without awareness (Zukosky & Wang, 2021, Cognition, 212, Article 104689). However, under what conditions such alternations occur is not clear. The present study examined the effects of task type on spontaneous alternations between task focus and mind wandering. In addition to a meditation task, participants performed either a scene-categorization-based CPT or a visual detection task while attentional orientation was assessed via self-monitoring and intermittent probes. The three tasks differ in the extent of their reliance on continuous monitoring (less required in the detection than meditation and CPT tasks) and attentional orientation (oriented internally in meditation task and externally in CPT and detection tasks). To overcome prior methodological challenges, we applied a technique designed to detect spontaneous alternations between focused and mind-wandering states without awareness, based on how the proportion of "focused" responses/ratings to intermittent probes changes during a focus-to-mind-wandering interval (i.e., the period from one self-report of mind wandering to the subsequent self-report). Our results showed that the proportion of "focused" responses to intermittent probes remained constant with increasing interprobe interval during meditation (consistent with previous work), but declined significantly in the CPT and detection tasks. These findings support the hypothesis that spontaneous alternations of attentional states without self-awareness occur during tasks emphasizing internally but not externally oriented attention.

Ruminative response scale for eating disorders: bifactor model and measurement invariance in a Portuguese community sample.

The Ruminative Response Scale for Eating Disorders (RRS-ED) measures ruminative thought content specifically related to eating disordered themes, assessing two domains of rumination, brooding and reflection. This study aims to examine the factor structure of the RRS-ED in a Portuguese community sample, using correlated two-factor models, unifactorial and bifactor models and test for invariance across sex. A sample of 535 adults (179 male; 356 female) filled out the RRS-ED. A subsample (n=347) answered additional measures of repetitive negative thinking and eating psychopathology. The bifactor model of the RRS-ED provided the best fit, demonstrating a reliable general rumination factor. Also, the bifactor model of the RRS-ED was invariant across sex. RRS-ED showed moderate to strong correlations with negative perseverative thinking and eating psychopathology. Both domain-specific factors of RRS-ED were associated with higher levels of eating psychopathology. Findings indicate that RRS-ED is a reliable and valid measure to assess the ruminative response from the general population in Portugal, showing initial evidence that supports the use of a total score of RRS-ED as an overall measure of rumination, while specific factor scores should be reported with caution. Future studies are needed to replicate the findings and further corroborate the unidimensionality of the RRS-ED.

Effects of task context on EEG correlates of mind-wandering.

This study was designed to examine how mind-wandering and its neural correlates vary across tasks with different attentional demands, motivated by the context regulation hypothesis of mind-wandering. Participants (n = 59 undergraduates) completed the sustained attention to response task (SART) and the Stroop selective attention task in counterbalanced order while EEG was recorded. The tasks included experience-sampling probes to identify self-reported episodes of mind-wandering, along with retrospective reports. Participants reported more mind-wandering during the SART than the Stroop and during whichever task was presented second during the session, compared with first. Replicating previous findings, EEG data (n = 37 usable participants) indicated increased alpha oscillations during episodes of mind-wandering, compared with on-task episodes, for both the SART and Stroop tasks. ERP data, focused on the P2 component reflecting perceptual processing, found that mind-wandering was associated with increased P2 amplitudes during the Stroop task, counter to predictions from the perceptual decoupling theory. Overall, the study found that self-report and neural correlates of mind-wandering are sensitive to task context. This line of research can further the understanding of how mechanisms of mind-wandering are adapted to varied tasks and situations.