Neural Correlates and Perceived Attractiveness of Male and Female Shoulder-to-Hip Ratio in Men and Women: An EEG Study.

While there are studies regarding the neural correlates of human facial attractiveness, there are few investigations considering neural responses for body form attractiveness. The most prominent physical feature defining men's attractiveness is their physical fitness and upper body strength. Shoulder-to-hip ratio (SHR), a sexually dimorphic trait in humans, is an indicator of men's attractiveness for both men and women. The current study is the first to report on the neurophysiological responses to male and female body forms varying in SHR in healthy heterosexual men and women observers. Electroencephalographic (EEG) signals were acquired while participants completed an oddball task as well as a subsequent attractiveness judgement task. Behavioral results showed larger SHRs were considered more attractive than smaller SHRs, regardless of stimuli and participants' sex. The electrophysiological results for both the oddball task and the explicit judgement of attractiveness showed that brain activity related to male SHR body stimuli differed depending on the specific ratios, both at early and late processing stages. For female avatars, SHR did not modulate neural activity. Collectively the data implicate posterior brain regions in the perception of body forms that differ in attractiveness vis-a-vis variation of SHR, and frontal brain regions when such perceptions are rated explicitly.

Instructional control in choice tasks: The relation between type of schedule and relative expected values.

The present work aims improve our understanding of the boundaries of instructional control. It does so by solving contradictory results obtained on two different fields: Three studies conducted on the description-experience gap field, showing that instructions are neglected when personal experience is available, and several others conducted on the experimental analysis of behavior paradigm getting to the opposite conclusion. Two factors were studied: the type of schedule, and the relative expected values between options. The present work showed that (1) positive evidence of instructional control was found in a choice task with probability schedules and different expected values between options; (2) negative evidence of instructional control was found in a choice task with VI schedules and similar expected values between options; and (3) these results, together with previous research, suggest that relative expected values are a fundamental factor on understanding the presence of instructional control in choice tasks. We conclude that the relevance of this factor relies on its capacity to make participants' decisions easier: all else being equal, adding descriptions enables participants to better discriminate optimal behavior in choice tasks.

A dual-process approach to prosocial behavior under COVID-19 uncertainty.

Uncertainty has been shown to reduce the willingness to cooperate in various social dilemmas and negatively affect prosocial behavior. However, some studies showed that uncertainty does not always decrease prosocial behavior, depending on the type of uncertainty. More specifically, recent research has shown that prosocial behavior tends to increase under impact uncertainty-uncertainty about the consequences for others if they become infected. In addition, researchers have argued that intuition favors prosocial behavior while deliberation leads to selfish behavior. Our study explored how intuitive (time pressure) or deliberate mental processing, under outcome, or impact uncertainty affect prosocial behavior in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our sample consists of 496 participants, and we used a 4 (COVID-19 scenario: Control vs. Impact Uncertainty vs. Worst-Case vs. Indirect Transmission) by 2 (decision time: time delay vs. time pressure) between-subjects design. Results suggest that participants are more inclined to stay at home (prosocial intention) when forced to make their decisions intuitively rather than deliberately. Additionally, we found that uncertainty does not always decrease prosocial behavior. It seems that uncertainty does not affect the prosocial intention in a scenario with a real infectious disease. These findings suggest that the distinction between outcome and impact uncertainty may be due to the realism of experimental stimuli interventions.

A dual-process approach to cooperative decision-making under uncertainty.

Cooperative behaviors are typically investigated using social dilemmas inserted into scenarios with well-known characteristics. Nonetheless, in real life, group members may be uncertain about what others will decide (social uncertainty) and the characteristics of the dilemma itself (environmental uncertainty). Previous studies have shown that uncertainty reduces the willingness to cooperate. Dual-process approaches to cooperation have given rise to two different views. Some authors argue that deliberation is needed to overrule selfish motives, whereas others argue that intuition favors cooperation. In this work, our goal was to investigate the role of intuitive mental processing on cooperation in a prisoner's dilemma game involving uncertainty. Our results showed that participants cooperated less with their counterparts as the number of rounds progressed, suggesting a learning process and that intuitive mental processing in the first 50 rounds appears to favor cooperation under both deterministic and stochastic conditions. These results may help clarify the literature's mixed effects regarding cognitive processing manipulation on cooperation. Developing a better understanding of these effects may improve strategies in social problems involving cooperation under uncertainty and cognitive constraints.

Predicting COVID-19 Vaccination Intention: The Determinants of Vaccine Hesitancy.

Do people want to be vaccinated against COVID-19? Herd immunity is dependent on individuals' willingness to be vaccinated since vaccination is not mandatory. Our main goal was to investigate people's intention to be vaccinated and their intentions to vaccinate their children. Moreover, we were interested in understanding the role of the personal characteristics, psychological factors, and the lockdown context on that decision. Therefore, we conducted an online survey during the lockdown in Portugal (15 January 2021 until 14 March 2021). Participants completed a socio-demographic questionnaire, questions about their intentions of being vaccinated, concerns about the vaccine, a COVID-19 attitudes and beliefs scale, a COVID-19 vaccine attitudes and beliefs scale, and the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking (DOSPERT) Scale. Our results showed that from the 649 participants, 63% of the participants reported being very likely to have the vaccine, while 60% reported being very likely to vaccinate their children. We conducted two linear regression models, explaining 65% of the variance for personal vaccination and 56% of the variance for children vaccination. We found that the COVID-19 vaccine general beliefs and attitudes were the main determinants of vaccination intention. Additionally, our proposed artificial neural network model was able to predict with 85% accuracy vaccination intention. Thus, our results suggest that psychological factors are an essential determinant of vaccination intention. Thus, public policy decision makers may use these insights for predicting vaccine hesitancy and designing effective vaccination communication strategies.

"Time Slows Down Whenever You Are Around" for Women but Not for Men.

What happens when we unexpectedly see an attractive potential partner? Previous studies in laboratory settings suggest that the visualization of attractive and unattractive photographs influences the perception of time. The major aim of this research is to study time perception and attraction in a realistic social scenario, by investigating if changes in subjective time measured during a speed dating are associated with attraction. The duration of the dates was variable and participants had to estimate the time that passed. Among other measures, participants also rated the potential partners in terms of their physical attractiveness before and after the dates and reported if they would like to exchange contact with them. Results showed that, in a real speed dating situation, when there is a perception of the partner as being physically more attractive, women tend to overestimate the duration of that meeting, whereas men tend to underestimate its duration. Such changes may reflect evolutionary adaptations which make the human cognitive system more responsive in situations related to reproductive fitness.

The description-experience gap: A meta-analysis / La brecha descripción-experiencia: un metanálisis

Choice behavior differs depending on how the information about options is presented to the subjects, via either descriptions or experience (1), a phenomenon called the description-experience gap. Cumulative Prospect Theory (2) implies overweighting of rare events, but when options are experienced instead of described, the opposite result is found: rare events are underweighted (1,3). Our meta-analysis studied three important factors on the description-experience gap related to Cumulative Prospect Theory: the over- and under-weighting of rare events in description- and experience-based tasks, the task domain and the probability of the rare event. Aside from these three elements, another three additional factors were studied: the existence of a certain option, the description task paradigm and the experience task paradigm. Recently, a meta-analysis on this topic was published (4), which focused on one specific type of experience task paradigm called sampling. In the present meta-analysis, we focused on the other major experience task paradigm -feedback paradigm- and the combination of both paradigms, to see if we could find differential effects between their meta-analytical approach and ours. However, this was not the case, as we found similar results, being the effect consistent across factors and methods. We conclude that the fact that the reference model (2) is a descriptive one, and that the factor most frequently evoked to explain the description-experience gap is sampling biases in the experience-based tasks - which are part of the methodology of the task itself - suggests that the description-experience gap is an irreducible psychological phenomenon (i.e. a phenomenon that does not rely on other psychological mechanisms, but solely on the methodology of the task)

La conducta de elección difiere según cómo se presente la información de las opciones a los sujetos, via descripciones o experiencia(1), un fenómeno llamado la brecha descripción-experiencia. La Teoría de los Prospectos(2) apunta una sobre-ponderación de eventos raros; pero cuando se experimentan opciones en lugar de describirse, se encuentra el resultado opuesto: los eventos raros se infravaloran (1,3). Nuestro meta-análisis estudió tres factores importantes sobre la brecha descripción-experiencia relacionada con la teoría de la perspectiva acumulativa: la sobrevaloración y la subestimación de eventos raros en tareas basadas en la descripción y la experiencia, el dominio de la tarea y la probabilidad del evento raro. Además de estos tres elementos, se estudiaron otros tres factores adicionales: la existencia de una opción determinada, el paradigma de la tarea de descripción y el paradigma de la tarea de experiencia. Recientemente, se publicó un metaanálisis sobre este tema(4), que se centró en un tipo específico de paradigma de tarea de experiencia llamado muestreo. En el presente meta-análisis, nos centramos en el otro paradigma de la tarea de experiencia principal, el paradigma de retroalimentación, y la combinación de ambos paradigmas, para ver si podíamos encontrar efectos diferenciales entre su enfoque meta-analítico y el nuestro. Sin embargo, éste no fue el caso, ya que encontramos resultados similares: el efecto es consistente en todos los factores y métodos. Concluimos que el hecho de que el modelo de referencia(2) es descriptivo y que el factor más frecuentemente evocado para explicar la brecha entre la descripción y la experiencia sean los sesgos de muestreo en las tareas basadas en la experiencia, que son parte de la metodología de la tarea misma, sugiere que la brecha descripción-experiencia es un fenómeno psicológico irreducible (es decir, un fenómeno que no se basa en otros mecanismos psicológicos, sino únicamente en la metodología de la tarea)

Brain metastases from breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer (BC) is one of the commonest causes of brain metastases (BM): approximately 10-16 % of patients diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer will eventually develop BM during the course of their disease, however, certain subtypes have a higher risk of this event. The aim of this analysis was therefore to evaluate the prognosis and the pattern and imaging features of BM according to different BC subtypes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the case records of patients with breast cancer and evidence of brain metastases from the database of IPO Porto between 2014-2018. The data obtained were statistically analysed. RESULTS: We analysed 147 patients with BM from BC. The triple-negative subtype had the shortest overall survival (OS) after BM, besides a short period of time between BC and BM. HER2 overexpressing tumors had the longest OS. The estrogen-receptor positive group had the greatest interval between initial BC diagnosis and diagnosis of BM. Larger lesions showed a heterogeneous contrast enhancement and were heterogeneous pn T2WI sequences; a hyposignal on T2*WI was also associated with larger lesions. Triple-negative BC tended to have more heterogeneous lesions on T1WI. We noticed that the hippocampus is rarely affected by metastatic lesions. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the BC subtype it is possible to make a prediction about the prognosis of the disease and some imaging features of the BM, but not about their pattern of distribution. These data support further research concerning prevention, early detection, and treatment of BM from BC.

Becoming sexy: Contrapposto pose increases attractiveness ratings and modulates observers' brain activity.

Previous neurophysiological studies have revealed the neural correlates of human body form perception, as well as those related to the perception of attractive body sizes. In the current study we aimed to extend the neurophysiological studies regarding body perception by investigating the perception of human body posture to provide insights into the cognitive mechanisms responsive to bodily form, and the processing of its attractiveness. To achieve these aims, we used the contrapposto posture which creates an exaggeration of low waist to hip ratio (WHR), an indicator of women's attractiveness. Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals were recorded while participants completed both (i) an oddball task presenting female body forms differing in pose (contrapposto vs. standing) and viewing angle (anterior vs. posterior), and (ii) a subsequent active attractiveness judgement task. Behavioral results showed that a contrapposto pose is considered more attractive than a neutral standing pose. Results at the neural level showed that body posture modulates the visual information processing in early ERP components, indicating attentional variations depending on human body posture; as well as in late components, indicating further differences in attention and attractiveness judgement of stimuli varying in body pose. Furthermore, the LORETA results identified the middle temporal gyrus as well as angular gyrus as the key brain regions activated in association with the perception and attractiveness judgment of females' bodies with different body poses. Overall, the current paper suggests the evolutionary adaptive preference for lower WHRs as in the contrapposto pose activating brain regions associated with visual perception and attractiveness judgement.

Waist-to-Hip Ratio as Supernormal Stimuli: Effect of Contrapposto Pose and Viewing Angle.

In women, the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is an indicator of attractiveness, health, youthfulness, and reproductive potential. In the current study, we hypothesized that viewing angle and body postures influence the attractiveness of these forms based on the view dependency of WHR stimuli (vdWHR). Using eye tracking, we quantified the number of fixations and dwell time on 3D images of a female avatar in two different poses (standing and contrapposto) from eight viewing angles incrementing in 45 degrees of rotation. A total of 68 heterosexual individuals (25 men and 43 women) participated in the study. Results showed that the contrapposto pose was perceived as more attractive than the standing pose and that lower vdWHR sides of the stimuli attracted more first fixation, total fixations, and dwell time. Overall, the results supported that WHR is view-dependent and vdWHRs lower than optimal WHRs are supernormal stimuli that may generate peak shifts in responding. Results are discussed in terms of the attractiveness of women's movements (gaits and dance) and augmented artistic presentations.

The effect of height and shoulder-to-hip ratio on interpersonal space in virtual environment.

Previous research has associated men's physical features such as height and Shoulder-to-Hip Ratio (SHR) with dominance. Proxemics literature has suggested that the interpersonal space (comfort distance) increases in threatening and uncomfortable situations and decreases in unthreatening and comfortable situations. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the effect of different heights and SHRs on comfortable interpersonal distance by systematic manipulation of virtual confederates bodily features. More specifically, participants determined their comfort distances from virtual male confederates with different heights and SHRs in a virtual environment. We hypothesized that a virtual confederate's height and SHR influences the perception of interpersonal dominance; and consequently interpersonal space increases for taller and broader confederates as a result of increased interpersonal dominance. Results showed that comfortable interpersonal distance was positively associated with height for male participants, but not for female participants. No effect was found for shoulder width, neither for male nor female participants. Results were discussed in terms of the importance of height as a signal of dominance and fighting ability.

Extradyadic Behaviors and Gender: How Do They Relate With Sexual Desire, Relationship Quality, and Attractiveness.

Recent years have seen an increasing number of studies on relationship extradyadic behaviors (Pinto and Arantes, 2016; Pazhoohi et al., 2017; Silva et al., 2017; Fisher, 2018). However, much is still to learn about the impact of these extradyadic behaviors on subsequent relationships that an individual may have. Our main goal was to study the association between past extradyadic behaviors - inflicted and suffered - and current relationship quality, sexual desire and attractiveness. Specifically, we aimed to: (i) Understand if past extradyadic behaviors are related to current relationship quality, sexual desire, and self-perceived and partner's attractiveness; (ii) Identify possible gender differences in these variables. For that, 364 participants (251 females and 113 males) were recruited through personal and institutional e-mails, online social networks (e.g., Facebook), and the website of the Evolutionary Psychology Group from the University of Minho. All participants completed a demographic and relationship questionnaire, followed by questions related to extradyadic behaviors and self-perceived attractiveness, the Perceived Relationship Quality Components (PRQC) Inventory, the Sex Drive Scale (SDQ), and the Importance of Partner's Physical Attractiveness Scale (IPPAS). For those currently involved in a relationship, results suggested that extradyadic behaviors (both suffered or inflicted) are linked with current low relationship quality and high sexual desire in the present. In addition, individuals who perceived themselves as being more attractive tended to have a higher sexual desire and higher relationship quality. Overall, men reported higher levels of extradyadic behaviors and sexual desire, gave more importance to physical attractiveness, and perceived their current relationship as having less quality than women. These results add to the literature by focusing on different variables that play an important role in romantic relationships, and have important implications.

Production of false memories in collaborative memory tasks using the DRM paradigm / La producción de falsos recuerdos en tareas de memoria de colaboración utilizando el paradigma DRM

Studies on collaborative memory have revealed an interesting phenomenon called collaborative inhibition (CI) (i.e., nominal groups recall more information than collaborative groups). However, the results of studies on false memories in collaborative memory tasks are controversial. This study aimed to understand the production of false memories in collaborative memory tasks by applying the turn-taking method to the DRM paradigm. Experiment 1 aimed to analyse the production of false memories in collaborative memory tasks by controlling for the backward associative strength (BAS) of the presented word lists. In Experiment 2, we intended to define the limits of the collaborative inhibition effect when the nominal recall task followed the turn-taking method. The results of both experiments revealed that, in addition to the existence of the collaborative inhibition effect, collaborative recall produced significantly fewer false memories than nominal recall. However, collaborative inhibition was not affected by the turn-taking method of retrieval (AU)

Los estudios sobre el recuerdo en grupo revelaron un fenómeno interesante llamado inhibición de colaboración, i.e., mayor recuerdo en un grupo nominal que en un grupo de colaboración. Sin embargo, en cuanto a los estudios sobre los recuerdos falsos en tareas de memoria de colaboración se refiere, los resultados han sido objeto de controversia. La finalidad de este estudio era comprender la producción de memorias falsas en tareas de memoria colaborativa, empleándose para ello el método de la alternancia de turnos en el paradigma DRM. En el Experimento 1 estudiamos la influencia de la fuerza asociativa inversa en la producción de falsos recuerdos en contexto de colaboración. El Experimento 2 intentó definir los límites de la inhibición de colaboración cuando la tarea de recuerdo nominal es del tipo alternancia de turnos. Los resultados de ambos experimentos revelaron que, además de la existencia de inhibición de colaboración, el recuerdo en colaboración ha producido significativamente menos falsos recuerdos que el recuerdo nominal. Además, no se observaron efectos del método alternancia de turnos en la eliminación de inhibición de colaboración (AU)

Elimination of collaborative inhibition effect using the method of Loci / Eliminación del efecto de inhibición de colaboración usando el Método de Loci

BACKGROUND: The disruption of retrieval strategies hypothesis (Basden, Basden, Bryner, & Thomas, 1997) has been identified as the main reason for the occurrence of the collaborative inhibition effect. This study aims to test this hypothesis applying the same retrieval strategy to all participants. METHOD: To accomplish this, we compared nominal and collaborative (pairs) performance in a serial recall task in two conditions: use of own strategy vs. use of the method of loci, in a classic experimental paradigm of collaborative memory. RESULTS: Results revealed that endowing participants with the same strategy of coding and retrieval of information eliminates the collaborative inhibition effect. CONCLUSIONS: This result provides evidence for the hypothesis of the retrieval strategies disruption. The method of loci proved to be an effective mnemonic by increasing the amount of recalled information, both in the nominal and collaborative recall, when the information has to be recalled in the order that was presented

ANTECEDENTES: la hipótesis de la interrupción de las estrategias de recuperación (Basden, Basden, Bryner y Thomas, 1997) ha sido identificada como la principal explicación del efecto de inhibición de colaboración. El objetivo del presente estudio era poner a prueba esta hipótesis, para lo cual se instruyó a todos los participantes a emplear una misma estrategia de recuperación. MÉTODO: concretamente, se compararon el rendimiento nominal y de colaboración (pares) en una tarea de recuerdo serial en dos condiciones (uso de la estrategia espontánea vs. uso del Método de Loci), en un paradigma clásico experimental de la memoria de colaboración. RESULTADOS: los resultados revelaron que dotar a los participantes de la misma estrategia de codificación y recuperación de información elimina el efecto de inhibición de colaboración. CONCLUSIONES: este resultado es consistente con la hipótesis de la interrupción de las estrategias de recuperación. Al parecer, cuando la información tiene que ser recordada en el orden en el que ha sido presentada, el Método de Loci aumenta la cantidad de información que se recuerda, tanto en el recuerdo nominal como en el recuerdo en colaboración

Elimination of collaborative inhibition effect using the Method of Loci.

BACKGROUND: The disruption of retrieval strategies hypothesis (Basden, Basden, Bryner, & Thomas, 1997) has been identified as the main reason for the occurrence of the collaborative inhibition effect. This study aims to test this hypothesis applying the same retrieval strategy to all participants. METHOD: To accomplish this, we compared nominal and collaborative (pairs) performance in a serial recall task in two conditions: use of own strategy vs. use of the method of loci, in a classic experimental paradigm of collaborative memory. RESULTS: Results revealed that endowing participants with the same strategy of coding and retrieval of information eliminates the collaborative inhibition effect. CONCLUSIONS: This result provides evidence for the hypothesis of the retrieval strategies disruption. The method of loci proved to be an effective mnemonic by increasing the amount of recalled information, both in the nominal and collaborative recall, when the information has to be recalled in the order that was presented.

Custos e Benefícios de Recordar em Colaboração: Breve Revisão da Literatura / Costs and Benefits of Remembering in Collaboration: A Brief Literature Review

RESUMO Após anos de pesquisa sobre o funcionamento da memória humana como um processo de armazenamento e recordação individual de informação, surgem cada vez mais estudos focados na compreensão da memória como um processo também vivido em grupo: a memória colaborativa. Nesse sentido, o presente artigo pretendeu, através de uma revisão da literatura, sintetizar algumas das questões mais relevantes do estudo da memória colaborativa. Para tal, apresentamos o paradigma experimental mais usado nesse tipo de estudos, bem como os custos e benefícios que resultam da partilha e recordação de informação em grupo. A redação deste artigo permitiu-nos concluir que, apesar do número crescente de estudos nessa área, ainda existem algumas lacunas, nomeadamente no que se refere à produção de falsas memórias, bem como acerca da real implicação prática do uso de diferentes tarefas de memória.

ABSTRACT After years of research on the functioning of human memory as an individual process of retention and retrieval of information, currently an increasing number of studies is appearing focused on the understanding of memory as a group process - collaborative memory. This paper aims, by means of a literature review, to summarize some of the most relevant issues raised about the study of collaborative memory. To accomplish this aim we present the most frequently used experimental paradigm in collaborative memory studies, as well the costs and benefits that arise from sharing and retrieving information in group. The redaction of this article has enabled us to conclude that despite the growing number of studies in this area there are still some gaps, particularly with regard to the production of false memories, and in relation to the actual practical implications of using this type of tasks.

Always on My Mind? Recognition of Attractive Faces May Not Depend on Attention.

Little research has examined what happens to attention and memory as a whole when humans see someone attractive. Hence, we investigated whether attractive stimuli gather more attention and are better remembered than unattractive stimuli. Participants took part in an attention task - in which matrices containing attractive and unattractive male naturalistic photographs were presented to 54 females, and measures of eye-gaze location and fixation duration using an eye-tracker were taken - followed by a recognition task. Eye-gaze was higher for the attractive stimuli compared to unattractive stimuli. Also, attractive photographs produced more hits and false recognitions than unattractive photographs which may indicate that regardless of attention allocation, attractive photographs produce more correct but also more false recognitions. We present an evolutionary explanation for this, as attending to more attractive faces but not always remembering them accurately and differentially compared with unseen attractive faces, may help females secure mates with higher reproductive value.

Press freedom, oil exports, and risk for natural disasters: a challenge for climato-economic theory?

Does the interaction between climactic demands, monetary resources, and freedom suggest a more general relationship between the environmental challenges that human societies face and their resources to meet those challenges? Using data on press freedom (Van de Vliert 2011a), we found no evidence of a similar interaction with natural resources (as measured by oil exports) or risk for natural disasters.