1
|
Rodrigues J, Müller S, Paelecke M, Wang Y, Hewig J. Exploration of the influence of the quantification method and reference scheme on feedback-related negativity and standardized measurement error of feedback-related negativity amplitudes in a trust game. Cortex 2024; 175:106-123. [PMID: 38519410 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2024.02.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2022] [Revised: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/08/2024] [Indexed: 03/24/2024]
Abstract
Various approaches have been taken over the years to quantify event-related potential (ERP) responses and these approaches may vary in their utility connecting empirical research and scientific claims. In this work we compared different quantification methods as well as the influence of three reference methods (linked mastoids, average reference, and current source density) on the resulting ERP amplitude. We use the experimental effects and effect sizes (Cohen's d) to evaluate the different methodological variants and we calculate intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). In addition, the bootstrapped standard error of the means (SME, Luck et al., 2021), which was recently suggested as a quality criterion for ERP research, is used for this purpose. Our example for an ERP is the feedback-related negativity (FRN) to feedback about trustee behavior in a trust game with participants in the trustor position. We found that the quantification methods concerning the FRN influenced the absolute value of condition effects in the experimental paradigm. Yet, the patterns of effects were detected by all chosen methods, except for the 'individual difference wave'-based peak window approach. In addition, our findings stress the importance of checking the reference electrodes concerning effects of the experimental conditions. Furthermore, interactions of topographical distribution and reference choice should be considered. Finally, we were able to show that the SME is lower for more datapoints that are given in the quantification period of the FRN, and higher for more negative FRN amplitudes. These biases may lead to divergence of SME and effect size detection. Therefore, if the SME was used to compare different processing choices one should consider controlling for these important aspects of the data and possibly include other quality criteria like effect sizes.
Collapse
|
2
|
Yang L, Gao Y, Ao L, Wang H, Zhou S, Liu Y. Context Modulates Perceived Fairness in Altruistic Punishment: Neural Signatures from ERPs and EEG Oscillations. Brain Topogr 2024:10.1007/s10548-024-01039-1. [PMID: 38448713 DOI: 10.1007/s10548-024-01039-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2023] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
Social norms and altruistic punitive behaviours are both based on the integration of information from multiple contexts. Individual behavioural performance can be altered by loss and gain contexts, which produce different mental states and subjective perceptions. In this study, we used event-related potential and time-frequency techniques to examine performance on a third-party punishment task and to explore the neural mechanisms underlying context-dependent differences in punishment decisions. The results indicated that individuals were more likely to reject unfairness in the context of loss (vs. gain) and to increase punishment as unfairness increased. In contrast, fairness appeared to cause an early increase in cognitive control signal enhancement, as indicated by the P2 amplitude and theta oscillations, and a later increase in emotional and motivational salience during decision-making in gain vs. loss contexts, as indicated by the medial frontal negativity and beta oscillations. In summary, individuals were more willing to sanction violations of social norms in the loss context than in the gain context and rejecting unfair losses induced more equity-related cognitive conflict than accepting unfair gains, highlighting the importance of context (i.e., gain vs. loss) in equity-related social decision-making processes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lei Yang
- School of Psychology and Mental Health, North China University of Science and Technology, 21 Bohai avenue, Caofeidian district, Tangshan, Hebei province, China
| | - Yuan Gao
- School of Psychology and Mental Health, North China University of Science and Technology, 21 Bohai avenue, Caofeidian district, Tangshan, Hebei province, China
| | - Lihong Ao
- School of Psychology and Mental Health, North China University of Science and Technology, 21 Bohai avenue, Caofeidian district, Tangshan, Hebei province, China
| | - He Wang
- School of Psychology and Mental Health, North China University of Science and Technology, 21 Bohai avenue, Caofeidian district, Tangshan, Hebei province, China
| | - Shuhang Zhou
- Meta Platform, Inc, 121 S Magnolia Ave, Apt 1, Millbrae, CA, 94030, USA
| | - Yingjie Liu
- School of Psychology and Mental Health, North China University of Science and Technology, 21 Bohai avenue, Caofeidian district, Tangshan, Hebei province, China.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Meng Y, Jia S, Liu J, Zhang C, Wang H, Liu Y. The shorter a man is, the more he defends fairness: relative height disadvantage promoting third-party punishment-evidence from inter-brain synchronization. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhae048. [PMID: 38342691 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2023] [Revised: 01/23/2024] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 02/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Third-party punishment occurs in interpersonal interactions to sustain social norms, and is strongly influenced by the characteristics of the interacting individuals. During social interactions, height is the striking physical appearance features first observed, height disadvantage may critically influence men's behavior and mental health. Herein, we explored the influence of height disadvantage on third-party punishment through time-frequency analysis and electroencephalography hyperscanning. Two participants were randomly designated as the recipient and third party after height comparison and instructed to complete third-party punishment task. Compared with when the third party's height is higher than the recipient's height, when the third party's height is lower, the punishment rate and transfer amount were significantly higher. Only for highly unfair offers, the theta power was significantly greater when the third party's height was lower. The inter-brain synchronization between the recipient and the third party was significantly stronger when the third party's height was lower. Compared with the fair and medium unfair offers, the inter-brain synchronization was strongest for highly unfair offers. Our findings indicate that the height disadvantage-induced anger and reputation concern promote third-party punishment and inter-brain synchronization. This study enriches research perspective and expands the application of the theory of Napoleon complex.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yujia Meng
- School of Psychology and Mental Health, North China University of Science and Technology, 21 Bohai avenue, Caofeidian district, Tangshan 063000, Hebei province, China
| | - Shuyu Jia
- School of Psychology and Mental Health, North China University of Science and Technology, 21 Bohai avenue, Caofeidian district, Tangshan 063000, Hebei province, China
| | - Jingyue Liu
- School of Psychology and Mental Health, North China University of Science and Technology, 21 Bohai avenue, Caofeidian district, Tangshan 063000, Hebei province, China
| | - Chenyu Zhang
- School of Psychology and Mental Health, North China University of Science and Technology, 21 Bohai avenue, Caofeidian district, Tangshan 063000, Hebei province, China
| | - He Wang
- School of Psychology and Mental Health, North China University of Science and Technology, 21 Bohai avenue, Caofeidian district, Tangshan 063000, Hebei province, China
- School of Public Health, North China University of Science and Technology, 21 Bohai avenue, Caofeidian district,Tangshan 063000, Hebei province, China
| | - Yingjie Liu
- School of Psychology and Mental Health, North China University of Science and Technology, 21 Bohai avenue, Caofeidian district, Tangshan 063000, Hebei province, China
- School of Public Health, North China University of Science and Technology, 21 Bohai avenue, Caofeidian district,Tangshan 063000, Hebei province, China
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Ao L, Gao Y, Yang L, Du X, Wang H, Liu Y. Group environment modulates how third parties assess unfairly shared losses and unfairly shared gains: neural signatures from ERPs and EEG oscillations. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 2023; 45:840-854. [PMID: 38341877 DOI: 10.1080/13803395.2024.2313258] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2023] [Indexed: 02/13/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Through its long-term evolution and development, human society has gradually formed stable and effective norms to maintain normal social production and social activities. Altruistic punishment is indispensable in maintaining social norms. Altruistic punishment includes second-party and third-party punishment, and third-party punishment refers to punishing violators by unbiased bystanders who have not suffered damage to their interests. Cooperation is an important form of human social interaction. Third parties play an essential role in maintaining social cooperation. Third parties' behaviors in maintaining cooperative norms may be related to their social environment. METHOD We used the prisoner's dilemma (PD) game and distinguished between the gain and loss contexts of the economy to explore how the group environment modulates the cognitive neural mechanisms and psychological processing of the third-party punishment decision. Twenty-six college students (Mage = 19.88 ± 1.58) participated in the experiment; data from four participants were excluded from analyses of the EEG data due to large artifacts. RESULTS The behavioral results show that the degree of punishment from the third party in a loss context was greater than in a gain context. ERP analysis results show that the third party applied a lower P300 in the loss context. The loss context induced a greater N100 than the gain context in the individual environment. At the same time, alpha-band power activated by the individual environment was greater than that activated by the group environment under the gain context. CONCLUSION These results suggest that a third party maintaining the norms of social cooperation in different contexts will adjust punishment decisions according to the environment, and this process is mainly dominated by the negative emotions caused by environment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lihong Ao
- School of Psychology and Mental Health, North China University of Science and Technology. Pu`er University Tangshan, Tangshan, China
- Pu`er University, Pu`er, Yunnan, China
| | - Yuan Gao
- School of Psychology and Mental Health, North China University of Science and Technology. Pu`er University Tangshan, Tangshan, China
| | - Lei Yang
- School of Psychology and Mental Health, North China University of Science and Technology. Pu`er University Tangshan, Tangshan, China
| | - XinYu Du
- School of Psychology and Mental Health, North China University of Science and Technology. Pu`er University Tangshan, Tangshan, China
| | - He Wang
- School of Psychology and Mental Health, North China University of Science and Technology. Pu`er University Tangshan, Tangshan, China
- School of Public Health, School of Psychology and Mental Health, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, China
| | - Yingjie Liu
- School of Psychology and Mental Health, North China University of Science and Technology. Pu`er University Tangshan, Tangshan, China
- School of Public Health, School of Psychology and Mental Health, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, China
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Ziebell P, Rodrigues J, Forster A, Sanguinetti JL, Allen JJ, Hewig J. Inhibition of midfrontal theta with transcranial ultrasound explains greater approach versus withdrawal behavior in humans. Brain Stimul 2023; 16:1278-1288. [PMID: 37611659 DOI: 10.1016/j.brs.2023.08.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2023] [Revised: 07/11/2023] [Accepted: 08/16/2023] [Indexed: 08/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent reviews highlighted low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound (TUS) as a promising new tool for non-invasive neuromodulation in basic and applied sciences. Our preregistered double-blind within-subjects study (N = 152) utilized TUS targeting the right prefrontal cortex, which, in earlier work, was found to positively enhance self-reported global mood, decrease negative states of self-reported emotional conflict (anxiety/worrying), and modulate related midfrontal functional magnetic resonance imaging activity in affect regulation brain networks. To further explore TUS effects on objective physiological and behavioral variables, we used a virtual T-maze task that has been established in prior studies to measure motivational conflicts regarding whether participants execute approach versus withdrawal behavior (with free-choice responses via continuous joystick movements) while allowing to record related electroencephalographic data such as midfrontal theta activity (MFT). MFT, a reliable marker of conflict representation on a neuronal level, was of particular interest to us since it has repeatedly been shown to explain related behavior, with relatively low MFT typically preceding approach-like risky behavior and relatively high MFT typically preceding withdrawal-like risk aversion. Our central hypothesis is that TUS decreases MFT in T-maze conflict situations and thereby increases approach and reduces withdrawal. Results indicate that TUS led to significant MFT decreases, which significantly explained increases in approach behavior and decreases in withdrawal behavior. This study expands TUS evidence on a physiological and behavioral level with a large sample size of human subjects, suggesting the promise of further research based on this distinct TUS-MFT-behavior link to influence conflict monitoring and its behavioral consequences. Ultimately, this can serve as a foundation for future clinical work to establish TUS interventions for emotional and motivational mental health.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Philipp Ziebell
- University of Würzburg, Department of Psychology I, Marcusstr. 9-11, 97070 Würzburg, Germany.
| | - Johannes Rodrigues
- University of Würzburg, Department of Psychology I, Marcusstr. 9-11, 97070 Würzburg, Germany.
| | - André Forster
- University of Würzburg, Department of Psychology I, Marcusstr. 9-11, 97070 Würzburg, Germany.
| | - Joseph L Sanguinetti
- University of Arizona, Department of Psychology, 1503 E. University Blvd. (Building 68), Tucson (AZ) 85721, USA.
| | - John Jb Allen
- University of Arizona, Department of Psychology, 1503 E. University Blvd. (Building 68), Tucson (AZ) 85721, USA.
| | - Johannes Hewig
- University of Würzburg, Department of Psychology I, Marcusstr. 9-11, 97070 Würzburg, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Weiß M, Saulin A, Iotzov V, Hewig J, Hein G. Can monetary incentives overturn fairness-based decisions? ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:211983. [PMID: 37351499 PMCID: PMC10282581 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2022] [Accepted: 06/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/24/2023]
Abstract
Fairness norms and resulting behaviours are an important prerequisite for cooperation in human societies. At the same time, financial incentives are commonly used to motivate social behaviours, yet it remains unclear how financial incentives affect fairness-based behaviours. Combining a decision paradigm from behavioural economics with hierarchical drift-diffusion modelling, we investigated the effect of different financial incentives on two types of fairness-based decisions in four experimental groups. In two groups, participants divided points between themselves and a disadvantaged person, inciting fairness-based compensation behaviour, in two other groups they divided points between themselves and a fairness violator, inciting fairness-based punishment behaviour. In addition, each group received financial incentives that were either aligned or in conflict with the respective fairness-based behaviour. This design allowed us to directly investigate how different incentives shape the cognitive mechanism of fairness-based decisions and whether these effects are comparable across different fairness domains (fairness-based punishment versus fairness-based compensation). Results showed that offering conflicting incentives diminished fairness-congruent decision behaviour and rendered the fairness-congruent decision process less efficient. These findings demonstrate that financial incentives can undermine fairness-based behaviour, and thus are relevant for the development of incentive schemes aimed at fostering cooperative behaviour.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Martin Weiß
- University Hospital Würzburg, Center of Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Translational Social Neuroscience Unit, Margarete-Höppel-Platz 1, Würzburg, 97080, Germany
| | - Anne Saulin
- University Hospital Würzburg, Center of Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Translational Social Neuroscience Unit, Margarete-Höppel-Platz 1, Würzburg, 97080, Germany
| | - Vassil Iotzov
- University Hospital Würzburg, Center of Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Translational Social Neuroscience Unit, Margarete-Höppel-Platz 1, Würzburg, 97080, Germany
| | - Johannes Hewig
- University of Würzburg, Institute of Psychology, Department of Psychology I: Differential Psychology, Personality Psychology and Psychological Diagnostics, Marcusstr. 9–11, Würzburg, 97070, Germany
| | - Grit Hein
- University Hospital Würzburg, Center of Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Translational Social Neuroscience Unit, Margarete-Höppel-Platz 1, Würzburg, 97080, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Chen T, Tang R, Yang X, Peng M, Cai M. Moral transgression modulates fairness considerations in the ultimatum game: Evidence from ERP and EEG data. Int J Psychophysiol 2023; 188:1-11. [PMID: 36889599 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2023.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2022] [Revised: 02/22/2023] [Accepted: 03/01/2023] [Indexed: 03/08/2023]
Abstract
People tend to dislike and punish unfair behaviors in social interactions, and this disposition may be moderated by the characteristics of their interaction partner. We used a modified ultimatum game (UG) to investigate players' responses to fair and unfair offers from proposers described as having performed either a moral transgression or a neutral behavior, and recorded an electroencephalogram. The participants' behavior in the UG suggests that people quickly demand more fairness from proposers who have committed moral transgressions rather than neutral behavior. Event-related potentials (ERPs) revealed a significant effect of offer type and of proposer type on P300 activity. The prestimulus α-oscillation power in the neutral behavior condition was significantly lower than that in the moral transgression condition. The post-stimulus β-event-related synchronization (β-ERS) was larger for the moral transgression condition than the neutral behavior condition in response to the least fair offers, and larger for neutral behavior than the moral transgression condition in response to the fairest offers. In summary, β-ERS was influenced by both proposer type and offer type, which revealed different neural responses to the offer from either a morally transgressive or a neutral behavior proposer.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tianlong Chen
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior of the Ministry of Education and School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China; School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
| | - Rui Tang
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior of the Ministry of Education and School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China; School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
| | - Xiaoying Yang
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior of the Ministry of Education and School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China; School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
| | - Ming Peng
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior of the Ministry of Education and School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China; School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China; Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, Wuhan 430079, China.
| | - Mengfei Cai
- Department of Psychology, Manhattanville College, New York, NY, USA
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Harris MW, Byrne KA, Liu Y, Ghaiumy Anaraky R. The Cost of Giving: Examining the Relationship between Narcissistic, Self-Sacrificing, and Empathetic Traits on Effortful versus Effortless Prosocial Behavior. JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN PERSONALITY 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jrp.2022.104320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
|
9
|
Rodrigues J, Weiß M, Mussel P, Hewig J. On second thought … the influence of a second stage in the ultimatum game on decision behavior, electro-cortical correlates and their trait interrelation. Psychophysiology 2022; 59:e14023. [PMID: 35174881 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2021] [Revised: 12/02/2021] [Accepted: 01/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Previous EEG research only investigated one stage ultimatum games (UGs). We investigated the influence of a second bargaining stage in an UG concerning behavioral responses, electro-cortical correlates and their moderations by the traits altruism, anger, anxiety, and greed in 92 participants. We found that an additional stage led to more rejection in the 2-stage UG (2SUG) and that increasing offers in the second stage compared to the first stage led to more acceptance. The FRN during a trial was linked to expectance evaluation concerning the fairness of the offers, while midfrontal theta was a marker for the needed cognitive control to overcome the respective default behavioral pattern. The FRN responses to unfair offers were more negative for either low or high altruism in the UG, while high trait anxiety led to more negative FRN responses in the first stage of 2SUG, indicating higher sensitivity to unfairness. Accordingly, the mean FRN response, representing the trait-like general electrocortical reactivity to unfairness, predicted rejection in the first stage of 2SUG. Additionally, we found that high trait anger led to more rejections for unfair offer in 2SUG in general, while trait altruism led to more rejection of unimproving unfair offers in the second stage of 2SUG. In contrast, trait anxiety led to more acceptance in the second stage of 2SUG, while trait greed even led to more acceptance if the offer was worse than in the stage before. These findings suggest, that 2SUG creates a trait activation situation compared to the UG.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Johannes Rodrigues
- Department of Psychology I: Differential Psychology, Personality Psychology and Psychological Diagnostics, Julius-Maximilians-University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Martin Weiß
- Department of Translational Social Neuroscience, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Patrick Mussel
- Division for Personality Psychology and Psychological Assessment, Free University Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Johannes Hewig
- Department of Psychology I: Differential Psychology, Personality Psychology and Psychological Diagnostics, Julius-Maximilians-University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
You get what you deserve! Reactance, greed and altruism in the dictator game with offer suggestions by the receiver. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2021.111271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
|
11
|
Mussel P, Weiß M, Rodrigues J, Heekeren H, Hewig J. Neural Correlates of Successful Costly Punishment in the Ultimatum Game on a Trial-by-Trial Basis. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2022; 17:590-597. [PMID: 35077566 PMCID: PMC9164204 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsab126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2021] [Revised: 09/20/2021] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Costly punishment describes decisions of an interaction partner to punish an opponent for violating rules of fairness at the expense of personal costs. Here, we extend the interaction process by investigating the impact of a socio-emotional reaction of the opponent in response to the punishment that indicates whether punishment was successful or not. In a modified Ultimatum game, emotional facial expressions of the proposer in response to the decision of the responder served as feedback stimuli. We found that both honored reward following acceptance of an offer (smiling compared to neutral facial expression) and successful punishment (sad compared to neutral facial expression) elicited a reward positivity, indicating that punishment was the intended outcome. By comparing the pattern of results with a probabilistic learning task, we show that the reward positivity on sad facial expressions was specific for the context of costly punishment. Additionally, acceptance rates on a trial-by-trial basis were altered according to P3 amplitudes in response to the emotional facial reaction of the proposer. Our results are in line with the concept of costly punishment as an intentional act following norm-violating behavior. Socio-emotional stimuli have an important influence on the perception and behavior in economic bargaining.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Mussel
- Correspondence should be addressed to Patrick Mussel, Department of Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Habelschwerdter Allee 45, Berlin 14195, Germany. E-mail:
| | - Martin Weiß
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg 97080, Germany
| | - Johannes Rodrigues
- Department of Psychology I, Julius Maximilians University Würzburg, Würzburg 97070, Germany
| | - Hauke Heekeren
- Department of Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin 14195, Germany
| | - Johannes Hewig
- Department of Psychology I, Julius Maximilians University Würzburg, Würzburg 97070, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Heim B, Peball M, Saft C, von Hein SM, Piater JM, Ellmerer P, Seppi K, Djamshidian-Tehrani A. Tit for tat: costly punishment in manifest Huntington's disease. NEURODEGENER DIS 2021; 21:74-78. [PMID: 34706364 DOI: 10.1159/000520303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE We aimed to investigate costly punishment in patients with HD. BACKGROUND Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease with motor, cognitive, and psychiatric symptoms. As neuropsychiatric abnormalities often precede motor symptoms, we wanted to assess whether costly punishment is part of the neuropsychological profile of patients with HD. METHODS A total of 40 non demented subjects were prospectively enrolled in this study with a between-subject design comparing manifest HD patients (n=18) to healthy controls (HC; n=22). All participants performed eight rounds of a costly punishment task, in which money was shared unevenly in 5 rounds or in a fair manner in the remaining three rounds. Participants then had to decide whether they wanted to punish the trustee. Furthermore, all participants underwent neuropsychological background tasks. RESULTS HD patients performed worse in the neuropsychological background tests compared to HC (all p-values<0.05). Moreover, HD patients punished more often in fair (Wald x2=5.03, p=0.025) but not in unfair rounds (Wald x2=1.63, p=0.202). CONCLUSIONS Our results demonstrate increased costly punishment during fair conditions in HD patients. Whether this behaviour is due to a lack of recognition of social norms, an impairment in top-down inhibition, or an effect of anti-dopaminergic medication remains unclear.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Beatrice Heim
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Marina Peball
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Carsten Saft
- Department of Neurology, St. Josef-Hospital, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Sarah M von Hein
- Department of Neurology, St. Josef-Hospital, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Johanna M Piater
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Philipp Ellmerer
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Klaus Seppi
- Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | | |
Collapse
|
13
|
Windmann S, Binder L, Schultze M. Constructing the Facets of Altruistic Behaviors (FAB) Scale. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1027/1864-9335/a000460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Abstract. Behavior is effectively altruistic to the degree that it is costly for the actor while benefiting others. In a series of preregistered studies, we constructed a 15-item self-report scale assessing three different facets of altruistic behavioral traits: help-giving, moral courage, and peer punishment. Item selection was performed with the help of Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) procedures as implemented in the stuart package for R. Confirmatory factor analysis of the three-factor measurement model showed excellent fit, outperforming classical item selection procedures. The scale was structure-validated in a second sample using a multiple group model that showed full measurement and structural invariance. A pilot study shows correlations of the subscales with economic game decisions. We discuss the scale structure and potential applications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sabine Windmann
- Department of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Lucie Binder
- Department of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Martin Schultze
- Department of Psychology, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Li M, Shangguan C, Shi H, Lu J. "Watching Eyes" Triggers Third-Party Punishment: The Role of Emotion Within the Eyes. Front Psychol 2021; 12:681664. [PMID: 34335395 PMCID: PMC8320698 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.681664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Third-party punishment refers to a behavioral phenomenon whereby people punish wrongdoers even if their sanction incurs personal costs but yields no direct benefits. Given the eye cues demonstrated ability to convey signals of being observed, its effect on third-party punishment, driven by virtue of its effects on others' perceptions, was investigated. In addition, emotional message featured in the eye region is crucial in social interaction, whether the emotion within the eyes serves this effect with varying degrees of influence has rarely considered. The present study aimed at exploring (a) the watching eyes effect on the third-party punishment and (b) whether this effect varies from negative eyes to positive eyes. By two experiments using a modified Third-Party Dictator Game, we displayed either eye images or control images above the question on whether to punish the dictators or not. There was no emotional diversity of eye cues in Experiment 1, and most participants tended to punish for unfair offer. However, the appearance of eye images increased the punishment relative to control images. In Experiment 2, the eye cues were subdivided into positive and negative. The effect of watching eyes on the third-party punishment was significantly stronger when the eyes were negative than positive. Results revealed that eye cues play a role in promoting the third-party punishment and offer a potential insight into the mixed findings, such that the emotion within the eyes, especially the negative expression in the eyes, may influence the watching eyes effect.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mingping Li
- Department of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Chenyu Shangguan
- College of Education Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunictions, Nanjing, China
| | - Huqing Shi
- Department of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jiamei Lu
- Department of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Rodrigues J, Weiß M, Hewig J, Allen JJB. EPOS: EEG Processing Open-Source Scripts. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:660449. [PMID: 34163321 PMCID: PMC8215552 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.660449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Accepted: 05/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Since the replication crisis, standardization has become even more important in psychological science and neuroscience. As a result, many methods are being reconsidered, and researchers’ degrees of freedom in these methods are being discussed as a potential source of inconsistencies across studies. New Method With the aim of addressing these subjectivity issues, we have been working on a tutorial-like EEG (pre-)processing pipeline to achieve an automated method based on the semi-automated analysis proposed by Delorme and Makeig. Results Two scripts are presented and explained step-by-step to perform basic, informed ERP and frequency-domain analyses, including data export to statistical programs and visual representations of the data. The open-source software EEGlab in MATLAB is used as the data handling platform, but scripts based on code provided by Mike Cohen (2014) are also included. Comparison with existing methods This accompanying tutorial-like article explains and shows how the processing of our automated pipeline affects the data and addresses, especially beginners in EEG-analysis, as other (pre)-processing chains are mostly targeting rather informed users in specialized areas or only parts of a complete procedure. In this context, we compared our pipeline with a selection of existing approaches. Conclusion The need for standardization and replication is evident, yet it is equally important to control the plausibility of the suggested solution by data exploration. Here, we provide the community with a tool to enhance the understanding and capability of EEG-analysis. We aim to contribute to comprehensive and reliable analyses for neuro-scientific research.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Johannes Rodrigues
- Department of Psychology I: Differential Psychology, Personality Psychology and Psychological Diagnostics, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Martin Weiß
- Department of Psychology I: Differential Psychology, Personality Psychology and Psychological Diagnostics, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Johannes Hewig
- Department of Psychology I: Differential Psychology, Personality Psychology and Psychological Diagnostics, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - John J B Allen
- Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Ouyang H, Yu J, Duan J, Zheng L, Li L, Guo X. Empathy-based tolerance towards poor norm violators in third-party punishment. Exp Brain Res 2021; 239:2171-2180. [PMID: 33978785 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-021-06128-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2021] [Accepted: 04/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Third-party punishment (TPP) plays an important role in fairness norm enforcement. This study investigated how the economic status of proposers could modulate third parties' behavioural and neural responses to unfairness. Participants played a TPP game as third parties deciding whether to punish proposers after observing the offers from proposers while behavioural and electroencephalogram (EEG) data were recorded. The proposers were of either high economic status or low economic status, and the recipients were middle class. The behavioural results indicated that participants reported decreased punishment for poor-proposed unfair offers compared to rich-proposed unfair offers, and this effect was stronger for highly unfair offers. Neurally, greater P200, a component involved in empathy processing, was observed in response to highly unfair offers (i.e. 90:10 and 80:20) proposed by the poor, suggesting that when the targets of severe punishments were poor proposers, participants showed greater empathy for poor norm violators in highly unfair trials. Taken together, these findings help to elucidate that the third-parties tend to tolerate the norm-violating behaviours conducted by the poor and provided further neuroscience evidence for the influence of economic status of proposers on TPP.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hui Ouyang
- School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | | | - Jipeng Duan
- School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Li Zheng
- School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China. .,Shanghai Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance, School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China. .,Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China. .,National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
| | - Lin Li
- School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China. .,National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
| | - Xiuyan Guo
- School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance, School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.,Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.,National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| |
Collapse
|