Visual communication via the design of food and beverage packaging.

A rapidly growing body of empirical research has recently started to emerge highlighting the connotative and/or semiotic meanings that consumers typically associate with specific abstract visual design features, such as colours (either when presented individually or in combination), simple shapes/curvilinearity, and the orientation and relative position of those design elements on product packaging. While certain of our affective responses to such basic visual design features appear almost innate, the majority are likely established via the internalization of the statistical regularities of the food and beverage marketplace (i.e. as a result of associative learning), as in the case of round typeface and sweet-tasting products. Researchers continue to document the wide range of crossmodal correspondences that underpin the links between individual visual packaging design features and specific properties of food and drink products (such as their taste, flavour, or healthfulness), and the ways in which marketers are now capitalizing on such understanding to increase sales. This narrative review highlights the further research that is still needed to establish the connotative or symbolic/semiotic meaning(s) of particular combinations of design features (such as coloured stripes in a specific orientation), as opposed to individual cues in national food markets and also, increasingly, cross-culturally in the case of international brands.

The visual appearance of beer: A review concerning visually-determined expectations and their consequences for perception.

This review critically evaluates the literature concerning the impact of visual appearance cues (including colour, foam, and cloudiness) on people's perception in the beer category. The authors assess both the sensory expectations that are elicited by the visual appearance of beer, and the extent to which those expectations carry-over to influence the actual tasting experience. Beer is a particularly intriguing category to study since the differing production rules in different countries mean that there is not always the same scope to modify the colour in order to meet perceived consumer demands. What is more, there is currently disagreement in the literature concerning the impact of beer colour and foam on people's expectations of beer prior to tasting, and their multisensory flavour perception on tasting. Given how much beer is consumed annually, it is surprising that more research has not been published that assesses the undoubtedly important role of visual appearance in this beverage category. Part of the reason for this may simply be that it is difficult to create consistent experimental stimuli given the rapid transition of the head of the beer post-serving.

Systema Temporis: A time-based dimensional framework for consciousness and cognition.

This study uses a combined categorical-dimensional approach to depict a hierarchical framework for consciousness similar to, and contiguous with, factorial models of cognition (cf., intelligence). On the basis of the longstanding definition of time consciousness, the analysis employs a dimension of temporal extension, in the same manner that psychology has temporally organised memory (i.e., short-term, long-term, and long-lasting memories). By defining temporal extension in terms of the structure of time perception at short timescales (<100 s), memory and time consciousness are proposed to fit along the same logarithmic dimension. This suggests that different forms of time consciousness (e.g., experience, wakefulness, and self-consciousness) are embedded within, or supported by, the ascending timescales of different modes of memory (i.e., short-term, long-term, etc.). A secondary dimension is also proposed to integrate higher-order forms of consciousness/emotion and memory/cognition. The resulting two-dimensional structure accords with existing theories of cognitive and emotional intelligence.

Time dilation and acceleration in depression.

BACKGROUND: A recent meta-analysis left open a significant question regarding altered time perception in depression: Why do depressed people overproduce short durations and under-produce longer durations if their present experience is that time flows slowly? Experience and judgement of time do not seem to accord with one another. ANALYSIS: By excluding two of the six studies on methodological grounds from a previous meta-analysis of medium-length interval productions, and re-analysing the remaining four studies, the present paper finds that subjective time accelerates from initial dilation within present experience (approximately 1 s duration) to subsequent acceleration within working memory (approximately 30 s duration) when depressed. PROPOSALS: It is proposed that depressive time dilation and acceleration refer to the default mode and central executive networks, respectively. The acceleration effect is suggested to occur due to mood congruency between long intervals, boredom, and depression. This mood congruency leads to the automatic recall of intrusive, negative, and non-specific autobiographical long-term memories used to judge intervals from previous experience. Acceleration in working memory then occurs according to the contextual change model of duration estimation. LIMITATIONS: The meta-analysis is limited to four studies only, but provides a potential link between time experience and judgement within the same explanatory model. CONCLUSIONS: Similarities between psychological time dilation/acceleration and physical time dilation/acceleration are discussed.

Bayes, time perception, and relativity: The central role of hopelessness.

Time judgement and time experience are distinct elements of time perception. It is known that time experience tends to be slow, or dilated, when depressed, but there is less certainty or clarity concerning how depression affects time judgement. Here, we use a Bayesian Prediction Error Minimisation (PEM) framework called 'distrusting the present' as an explanatory and predictive model of both aspects of time perception. An interval production task was designed to probe and modulate the relationship between time perception and depression. Results showed that hopelessness, a symptom of severe depression, was associated with the ordering of interval lengths, reduced overall error, and dilated time experience. We propose that 'distrusting the future' is accompanied by 'trusting the present', leading to the experiences of time dilation when depressed or hopeless. Evidence was also found to support a relative difference model of how hopelessness dilates, and arousal accelerates, the rate of experienced time.

Emotional Awareness and Decision-Making in the Context of Computer-Mediated Psychotherapy.

Emotional awareness has been previously investigated among clinicians. In this work, we bring to the fore of research the interest to uncover emotional awareness of clinicians during the tele-mental health session. The study reported here aimed at determining whether clinicians process their own emotions, as well as those of the client, in a computer-mediated context. Also, clinicians' decision-making process was assessed because such action appears to be related to the way they feel and recognise how those emotions may change their thinking and impact their interaction with clients. We estimated that such ability in clinicians' would be contrasted when the psychotherapy-session level is conducted via various technologies. Participant of the study were presented by stimuli in different modes of delivery (e.g. text, audio, and video). The experiment indicates that the ability to manage, perceive, and utilise emotions was as being satisfactory during all modes of delivery. In essence, the findings contribute to the field of remote therapy suggesting emotional awareness as a key cognitive factor in diagnosis.

Longitudinal association between social anxiety disorder and incident alcohol use disorder: results from two national samples of US adults.

This study assessed the association between subclinical social fears and a 12-month diagnosis of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) at baseline and the risk of incident Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) at follow-up, compared to those without subclinical social fears and a 12-month diagnosis of SAD. We performed an individual participant meta-analysis based on data from two national longitudinal surveys. Wave 1 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) was conducted in 2001-2002 in a sample of 43,093 adults and Wave 2 was conducted in 2004-2005 in 34,653 of the original respondents. Wave 1 of the National Comorbidity Survey was conducted in 1990-1992 in a sample of 8098 respondents and Wave 2 was conducted in 2001-2002 in 5001 of the original respondents. Binary logistic regression analyses were performed independently in each study and then the effect estimates were combined using random-effects meta-analysis. Neither subclinical social fears nor 12-month SAD at baseline were associated with incident AUD at follow-up. These findings conflict with reports of previous studies that a diagnosis of SAD is a risk factor for AUD in adults, and suggest that subclinical social fears are not associated with differential risk of incident AUD.

Netflix and Chill? What Sex Differences Can Tell Us About Mate Preferences in (Hypothetical) Booty-Call Relationships.

The booty-call relationship is defined by both sexual characteristics and emotional involvement. In the current study, men's and women's preferences for a booty-call mate were explored. Men and women were predicted to exhibit different mate preferences depending on whether they considered a booty-call relationship a short- or long-term relationship. Participants ( N = 559, 74% women) completed an anonymous online questionnaire, designing their ideal booty-call mate using the mate dollars paradigm. Both sexes considered the physical attractiveness and kindness of a booty-call mate a necessity, expressing both short- and long-term mate preferences. The current study highlights the need to explore mate preferences outside the dichotomy of short- and long-term relationships, providing evidence of a compromise relationship.

Down the rabbit hole: assessing the influence of schizotypy on the experience of the Barbie Doll Illusion.

INTRODUCTION: "Body swapping" illusions have been used to explore factors contributing to the experience of "owning" an artificial body. Preliminary research indicated that those people diagnosed with schizophrenia experience more vivid illusions of this kind than do "normal" individuals. OBJECTIVES: Here, we explored whether participants who rated themselves "high" on the cognitive-perceptual factor of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) experienced a more compelling sense of immersion in a variation of the body swapping illusion: The Barbie Doll Illusion. We also hypothesised that these individuals would experience a change in size perception when immersed in the illusion. METHOD: Forty-four participants wore a pair of Head-Mounted Display goggles connected to a video-camera, and thus a doll's body replaced their own body in their visual field. In two conditions, touch was either applied synchronously or asynchronously to the doll's and each participant's leg. After each condition, participants filled out a questionnaire relating to their experience in the illusion. When both conditions were completed, they filled out the SPQ. RESULTS: Our first hypothesis was confirmed, which suggested that people with higher cognitive-perceptual SPQ scores do indeed experience a more compelling Barbie Doll Illusion; however, our second hypothesis was not supported. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated, for the first time, that proneness to the positive and interpersonal factors of schizotypy in a normal population is sufficient to produce a compelling sense of swapping bodies.

Factor Structure of Teacher Ratings of the ODD Symptoms in Children.

This study used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to determine the best model for Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) symptoms in children aged 3 to 15 years, as presented in the Disruptive Behavior Rating Scale. Teachers' ratings of the ODD symptoms of 213 children from general community schools in Australia were obtained. The findings provided most support for a bifactor model based on Stringaris and Goodman's [1] three-factor model (primary factors for irritable, hurtful, and headstrong). The general factor, but not the group factors in the model, showed high omega hierarchical and explained common variance. Thus, only the general factor in this model can be meaningfully interpreted. Also, the general factor was supported with regard to external validity. Specifically, this factor, but not the group factors, correlated strongly with ADHD inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptom groups, and other measures of behavioural and emotional problems. The taxonomic, diagnostic, practical, and research implications of the findings are discussed.

Attenuated self-tickle sensation even under trajectory perturbation.

The efference copy account of the tickle effect (i.e., our inability to tickle ourselves) predicts no tickle effect (i.e., an ability to tickle ourselves) when the trajectory of a tactile stimulus is perturbed relative to the associated movement, and there is evidence in support of this. The active inference account, however, predicts the tickle effect should survive trajectory perturbation. We test these accounts of the tickle effect under the hypothesis that previous findings are due to attentional modulation, and that the tickle effect will be found in a paradigm with no conscious attention directed to the trajectory perturbation. We thus expected to find support for active inference. Our first experiment confirms this hypothesis, while our second seeks to explain previous findings in terms of the modulation of the tickle sensation when there is awareness of, and different degrees of attention to, the spatial tactile and kinesthetic trajectories.

Colour-temperature correspondences: when reactions to thermal stimuli are influenced by colour.

In our daily lives, information concerning temperature is often provided by means of colour cues, with red typically being associated with warm/hot, and blue with cold. While such correspondences have been known about for many years, they have primarily been studied using subjective report measures. Here we examined this correspondence using two more objective response measures. First, we used the Implicit Association Test (IAT), a test designed to assess the strength of automatic associations between different concepts in a given individual. Second, we used a priming task that involved speeded target discrimination in order to assess whether priming colour or thermal information could invoke the crossmodal association. The results of the IAT confirmed that the association exists at the level of response selection, thus indicating that a participant's responses to colour or thermal stimuli are influenced by the colour-temperature correspondence. The results of the priming experiment revealed that priming a colour affected thermal discrimination reaction times (RTs), but thermal cues did not influence colour discrimination responses. These results may therefore provide important clues as to the level of processing at which such colour-temperature correspondences are represented.

Can you tickle yourself if you swap bodies with someone else?

The effect of the body transfer illusion on the perceived strength of self- and externally-generated "tickle" sensations was investigated. As expected, externally generated movement produced significantly higher ratings of tickliness than those associated with self-generated movements. Surprisingly, the body transfer illusion had no influence on the ratings of tickliness, suggesting that highly surprising, and therefore hard to predict, experiences of body image and first-person perspective do not abolish the attenuation of tickle sensations. In addition, evidence was found that a version of the rubber hand illusion exists within the body transfer illusion. We situate our findings within the larger debate over sensory attenuation: (1) there is an attenuation of prediction errors that depends upon the context in which sensory input is predicted (i.e., efference copy), and (2) sensory attenuation is a necessary consequence of self-generated movement irrespective of context (i.e., active inference). The results support the notion of active inference.

Touch can be as accurate as passively-guided kinaesthesis in length perception.

Two experiments were designed to investigate the contribution of touch and kinaesthesis to haptic perception of the length of raised lines. Experiment 1 showed that judgements based on kinaesthetic information were not more accurate than those based on cutaneous information. Instead, kinaesthetic and cutaneous inputs appear to be weighted almost equally in the haptic percept, with haptic performance more closely approximated by cutaneous performance than by kinaesthetic. In Experiment 2 it was shown that effects attributed to condition (modality) were not due to the speed with which the stimulus or exploring finger moved. Our results challenge the view that kinaesthesis is more important than touch for identification of raised line drawings.

Capture of kinesthesis by a competing cutaneous input.

In four experiments, blindfolded participants were presented with pairs of stimuli simultaneously, one to each index finger. Participants moved one index finger, which was presented with cutaneous and/or kinesthetic stimuli, and this movement caused a raised line to move underneath the other, stationary index finger in a yoked manner. The stimuli were 180º rotations of each other (e.g., < and >), and thus when a < was traced with the moving finger, it caused a > to be felt at the stationary finger. When asked to report the experience, participants predominantly reported the cutaneous stimulus, seemingly being ignorant of the kinesthetic stimulus. This appears to be an intrahaptic capture phenomenon, which is of interest because it suggests that conflict between intrahaptic sensory stimuli can go unnoticed; sometimes we are unaware of how we moved, and sometimes we do not know what we touched. The results are interpreted in light of optimal integration, perceptual suppression, reafference suppression, and inattentional blindness.

Visual and haptic influence on perception of stimulus size.

In six experiments, subjects judged the sizes of squares that were presented visually and/or haptically, in unimodal or bimodal conditions. We were interested in which mode most affected size judgments in the bimodal condition when the squares presented to each mode actually differed in size. Three factors varied: whether haptic exploration was passive or active, whether the choice set from which the subjects selected their responses was visual or haptic, and whether cutaneous information was provided in addition to kinesthetic information. To match the task for each mode, visual presentations consisted of a cursor that moved along a square pathway to correspond to the haptic experience of successive segments revealed during exploration. We found that the visual influence on size judgments was greater than the influence of haptics when the haptic experience involved only kinesthesis, passive movement, and a visual choice set. However, when cutaneous input was added to kinesthetic information, size judgments were most influenced by the haptic mode. The results support hypotheses of sensory integration, rather than capture of one sense by the other.