Too beautiful to be fake: Attractive faces are less likely to be judged as artificially generated.

Technological advances render the distinction between artificial (e.g., computer-generated faces) and real stimuli increasingly difficult, yet the factors driving our beliefs regarding the nature of ambiguous stimuli remain largely unknown.

Self-reference and emotional reaction drive aesthetic judgment.

Traditional philosophical inquiry, and more recently neuroscientific studies, have investigated the sources of artworks' aesthetic appeal. A substantial effort has been made to isolate the objective features contributing to aesthetic appreciation. While variables such as contrast or symmetry have been shown to robustly impact aesthetic judgment, they only account for a small portion of the intersubjective variability in aesthetic ratings.

Check your outliers! An introduction to identifying statistical outliers in R with easystats.

Beyond the challenge of keeping up to date with current best practices regarding the diagnosis and treatment of outliers, an additional difficulty arises concerning the mathematical implementation of the recommended methods. Here, we provide an overview of current recommendations and best practices and demonstrate how they can easily and conveniently be implemented in the R statistical computing software, using the {performance} package of the easystats ecosystem. We cover univariate, multivariate, and model-based statistical outlier detection methods, their recommended threshold, standard output, and plotting methods.

Beyond empathy: Cognitive capabilities increase or curb altruism in middle childhood.

Altruistic behavior, which intentionally benefits a recipient without expectation of a reward or at a cost to the actor, is observed throughout the lifespan from everyday interactions to emergency situations. Empathy has long been considered a major driver of altruistic action, but the social information processing model supports the idea that other cognitive processes may also play a role in altruistic intention and behavior. Our aim was to investigate how visual analysis, attention, inhibitory control, and theory of mind capabilities uniquely contribute to predicting altruistic intention and behavior in a sample of 67 French children (35 girls and 32 boys; M = 9.

A novel visual illusion paradigm provides evidence for a general factor of illusion sensitivity and personality correlates.

Visual illusions are a gateway to understand how we construct our experience of reality. Unfortunately, important questions remain open, such as the hypothesis of a common factor underlying the sensitivity to different types of illusions, as well as of personality correlates of illusion sensitivity. In this study, we used a novel parametric framework for visual illusions to generate 10 different classic illusions (Delboeuf, Ebbinghaus, Rod and Frame, Vertical-Horizontal, Zöllner, White, Müller-Lyer, Ponzo, Poggendorff, Contrast) varying in strength, embedded in a perceptual discrimination task.

Movie editing influences spectators' time perception.

Filmmakers use different techniques (e.g., camera movements, editing) to shape viewers' experience.

The Structure of Chaos: An Empirical Comparison of Fractal Physiology Complexity Indices Using NeuroKit2.

Complexity quantification, through entropy, information theory and fractal dimension indices, is gaining a renewed traction in psychophsyiology, as new measures with promising qualities emerge from the computational and mathematical advances. Unfortunately, few studies compare the relationship and objective performance of the plethora of existing metrics, in turn hindering reproducibility, replicability, consistency, and clarity in the field. Using the NeuroKit2 Python software, we computed a list of 112 (predominantly used) complexity indices on signals varying in their characteristics (noise, length and frequency spectrum).

Brain entropy, fractal dimensions and predictability: A review of complexity measures for EEG in healthy and neuropsychiatric populations.

There has been an increasing trend towards the use of complexity analysis in quantifying neural activity measured by electroencephalography (EEG) signals. On top of revealing complex neuronal processes of the brain that may not be possible with linear approaches, EEG complexity measures have also demonstrated their potential as biomarkers of psychopathology such as depression and schizophrenia. Unfortunately, the opacity of algorithms and descriptions originating from mathematical concepts have made it difficult to understand what complexity is and how to draw consistent conclusions when applied within psychology and neuropsychiatry research.

A Parametric Framework to Generate Visual Illusions Using Python.

Visual illusions are fascinating phenomena that have been used and studied by artists and scientists for centuries, leading to important discoveries about the neurocognitive underpinnings of perception, consciousness, and neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia or autism. Surprisingly, despite their historical and theoretical importance as psychological stimuli, there is no dedicated software, nor consistent approach, to generate illusions in a systematic fashion. Instead, scientists have to craft them by hand in an idiosyncratic fashion, or use pre-made images not tailored for the specific needs of their studies.

Heart Rate Variability in Psychology: A Review of HRV Indices and an Analysis Tutorial.

The use of heart rate variability (HRV) in research has been greatly popularized over the past decades due to the ease and affordability of HRV collection, coupled with its clinical relevance and significant relationships with psychophysiological constructs and psychopathological disorders. Despite the wide use of electrocardiograms (ECG) in research and advancements in sensor technology, the analytical approach and steps applied to obtain HRV measures can be seen as complex. Thus, this poses a challenge to users who may not have the adequate background knowledge to obtain the HRV indices reliably.

Bored, distracted, and forgetful: The impact of mind wandering and boredom on memory encoding.

Mind wandering, defined as focusing attention towards task-unrelated thoughts, is a common mental state known to impair memory encoding. This phenomenon is closely linked to boredom. Very few studies, however, have tested the potential impact of boredom on memory encoding.

NeuroKit2: A Python toolbox for neurophysiological signal processing.

NeuroKit2 is an open-source, community-driven, and user-centered Python package for neurophysiological signal processing. It provides a comprehensive suite of processing routines for a variety of bodily signals (e.g.

In Medio Stat Virtus: intermediate levels of mind wandering improve episodic memory encoding in a virtual environment.

Episodic memory encoding is highly influenced by the availability of attentional resources. Mind wandering corresponds to a shift of attention toward task-unrelated thoughts. Few studies, however, have tested this link between memory encoding and mind wandering.

The impact of state and dispositional mindfulness on prospective memory: A virtual reality study.

Prospective memory (PM) consists of remembering to perform an action that was previously planned. The recovery and execution of these actions require attentional resources. Mindfulness, as a state or a dispositional trait, has been associated with better attentional abilities while mind wandering is linked with attentional failures.

Indices of Effect Existence and Significance in the Bayesian Framework.

Turmoil has engulfed psychological science. Causes and consequences of the reproducibility crisis are in dispute. With the hope of addressing some of its aspects, Bayesian methods are gaining increasing attention in psychological science.

The heart of cognitive control: Cardiac phase modulates processing speed and inhibition.

Bodily states are heavily intertwined with cognitive processes. A prominent communication channel between bodily signals and brain structures is provided by baroreceptors. Their phasic activity associated with the cardiac phase has been shown to modulate cognitive control in socio-emotional contexts.

Phenomenal, bodily and brain correlates of fictional reappraisal as an implicit emotion regulation strategy.

The ability to modulate our emotional experience, depending on our current goal and context, is of critical importance for adaptive behavior. This ability encompasses various emotion regulation strategies, such as fictional reappraisal, at stake whenever one engages in fictional works (e.g.

Dispositional mindfulness attenuates the emotional attentional blink.

Emotional stimuli have been shown to automatically hijack attention, hindering the detection of forthcoming targets. Mindfulness is defined as a present moment non-judgemental attentional stance that can be cultivated by meditation practices, but that may present interindividual variability in the general population. The mechanisms underlying modification in emotional reactivity linked to mindfulness are still a matter of debate.

Interaction between attentional systems and episodic memory encoding: the impact of conflict on binding of information.

Episodic memory (EM) is defined as a long-term memory system that stores information that can be retrieved along with details of the context of the original events (binding). Several studies have shown that manipulation of attention during encoding can impact subsequent memory performance. An influential model of attention distinguishes between three partially independent attentional networks: the alerting, the orienting and the executive or conflict resolution component.

"Being there" and remembering it: Presence improves memory encoding.

Few studies have investigated the link between episodic memory and presence: the feeling of "being there" and reacting to a stimulus as if it were real. We collected data from 244 participants after they had watched the movie Avengers: Age of Ultron. They answered questions about factual (details of the movie) and temporal memory (order of the scenes) about the movie, as well as their emotion experience and their sense of presence during the projection.

Meditation and successful aging: can meditative practices counteract age-related cognitive decline?

Life expectancy is constantly increasing in the developed countries due to medical, hygiene and socio-economic advances. Unfortunately, a longer life not always corresponds to a healthier life. Indeed, aging is associated with growing risk factors for illness associated with societal conditions (isolation, maltreatment), and neurodegenerative diseases.

The distinctive role of executive functions in implicit emotion regulation.

Several theoretical models stress the role of executive functions in emotion regulation (ER). However, most of the previous studies on ER employed explicit regulatory strategies that could have engaged executive functions, beyond regulatory processes per se. Recently, there has been renewed interest in implicit forms of ER, believed to be closer to daily-life requirements.

The protective role of long-term meditation on the decline of the executive component of attention in aging: a preliminary cross-sectional study.

Life expectancy is constantly increasing. However, a longer life not always corresponds to a healthier life. Indeed, even normal aging is associated with a decline in different cognitive functions.