Using "Wordle" to assess the effects of goal gradients and near-misses.

As individuals near a desired goal, they become more motivated, and happier. When thwarted in their goal pursuit, frustration and negative affect ensue. Slot-machine research indicates that near-misses (being one symbol away from a jackpot) are highly arousing, frustrating, yet motivating outcomes.

Force modulation: A behavioural marker of mind-wandering.

It is known that the Metronome Response Task (MRT)-one of the most used mind-wandering sampling paradigms, struggles to differentiate between spontaneous mind-wandering (wherein one's attention is uncontrollably shifted away from the task at hand) and deliberate mind-wandering (wherein one's attention is purposefully shifted away). Thus, we endeavoured to design and test a new mind-wandering measure, called the In Sync Task (IST), that can achieve such differentiation more readily. Unlike the MRT, which involves having participants click in sync (using a mouse) with rhythmically presented, auditory monotones, the IST requires participants to (1) click in sync with tone triplets that increase incrementally in loudness and (2) modulate their clicking force to the presented tone's loudness.

Single fluorophore melting curve analysis for detection of hypervirulent Clostridium difficile.

This study demonstrates a novel detection assay able to identify and subtype strains of Clostridium difficile. Primers carefully designed for melting curve analysis amplify DNA from three C. difficile genes, tcdB, tcdC and cdtB, during quantitative (q)PCR.