Symmetrical choices and biased confidence during uncertain personality trait judgments.

While great methodological strides have been made in the area of decision making research, decisions that rely on subjective stimuli, such as personality traits, still pose a challenge for researchers, partly because it is difficult to define a standard of accuracy for such choices-they lack a "ground truth". In studies on value-based decisions, this same problem has been circumvented by comparing uncertain subjective decisions against a separately assessed judgment of value-a "standard". Here we apply this method in a task of verbal personality trait judgment, and show how a separately assessed standard judgment can be used to precisely control stimulus presentation and analyze subjective personality choices via the method of reverse correlation.

Internal and external self-affirmation resources: validation and assessment of psychometric properties of the spontaneous self-affirmation measure using structural equation modeling.

Introduction: People use coping strategies such as self-affirmation to manage threats to their self-esteem. In empirical research, self-affirmation often involves recalling personal values, strengths, or relationships to restore moral integrity. Research shows it improves attitude adjustment, resolves cognitive dissonance, and enhances well-being.

Validation of the factor structure of the Experiences Questionnaire using Exploratory Graph Analysis.

Introduction: Decentering describes the ability to shift the focus away from one's subjective experience onto the experience itself. The Experiences Questionnaire (EQ) is a self-report measure that was developed to systematically assess changes in Decentering ability. Although several studies show the validity of the questionnaire, there are discrepancies between the factorial structure of the Decentering scale of the EQ (EQ-D) found in the initial study (one factor) and other studies (two factors).

Using photographs for rating severity degrees of clinical appearance in research mice enables valid discrimination of extreme but not mild and moderate conditions: A pilot study.

To ensure good animal welfare in laboratory research and in stockbreeding severity ratings of the animals´ wellbeing are essential. The current study investigated how valid raters can evaluate different severity degrees of clinical appearance and how ratings might be influenced by factors other than the severity itself. Ninety-seven people rated the severity degree (none, mild, moderate, or severe) of the clinical appearance of mice seen in eight different images.

An English list of trait words including valence, social desirability, and observability ratings.

To enable flexible and controlled research on personality, information processing, and interactions in socio-emotional contexts, the availability of highly controlled stimulus material, especially trait words and related attributes, is indispensable. Existing word databases contain mainly nouns and rating dimensions, and their role in studies within socio-emotional contexts are limited. This study aimed to create an English list of traits (ELoT), a database containing 500 trait adjectives rated by a large sample (n = 822, 57.

A Microanalysis of Mood and Self-Reported Functionality in Stroke Patients Using Ecological Momentary Assessment.

Post-stroke depression has been repeatedly associated with the degree of functional and cognitive impairment. The present study aimed to conduct a microanalysis on this association and examined the association between mood and self-reported functionality in 20 stroke patients (6 females, age: = 59.9, = 5.

Dissociation of structural and functional connectomic coherence in glioma patients.

With diffuse infiltrative glioma being increasingly recognized as a systemic brain disorder, the macroscopically apparent tumor lesion is suggested to impact on cerebral functional and structural integrity beyond the apparent lesion site. We investigated resting-state functional connectivity (FC) and diffusion-MRI-based structural connectivity (SC) (comprising edge-weight (EW) and fractional anisotropy (FA)) in isodehydrogenase mutated (IDHmut) and wildtype (IDHwt) patients and healthy controls. SC and FC were determined for whole-brain and the Default-Mode Network (DMN), mean intra- and interhemispheric SC and FC were compared across groups, and partial correlations were analyzed intra- and intermodally.

Self-referential processing and perspective taking in patients with a borderline personality disorder.

Divergent self- and other-referential processes play a particular role in the development and maintenance of borderline personality disorder (BPD). This study investigated self-referential processes in patients with BPD and age-matched controls. Participants performed a trait-judgment task, taking their own and the perspective of a close other person.

Asymmetric tumor-related alterations of network-specific intrinsic functional connectivity in glioma patients.

Resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) allows mapping temporally coherent brain networks, and intra- and inter-network alterations have been described in different diseases. This prospective study investigated hemispheric resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) differences in the default-mode network (DMN) and fronto-parietal network (FPN) between patients with left- and right-hemispheric gliomas (LH PAT, RH PAT), addressing asymmetry effects the tumor might have on network-specific intrinsic functional connectivity under consideration of the prognostically relevant isocitrate-dehydrogenase (IDH) mutation status. Twenty-seven patients (16 LH PAT, 12 IDH-wildtype) and 27 healthy controls underwent anatomical and rs-fMRI as well as neuropsychological assessment.

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Has No Specific Effect on Self-referential Processes.

The processing of self-referential information can be influenced by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). The present randomized controlled study investigated whether similar effects can be elicited through the application of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) regarding the "self-serving bias" (SSB) and the "mnemic neglect effect" (MNE). Seventy-five healthy males ( = 25; SD = 4.

Ecological Momentary Assessment in Patients With an Acquired Brain Injury: A Pilot Study on Compliance and Fluctuations.

Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) promises to be a suitable method for capturing the dynamics in self-assessments through repeated measurements in naturalistic environments using common mobile devices. Therefore, EMA could increase the power of neuropsychological assessment by obtaining a more fine-grained picture of symptoms, limitations, and strengths in patients with an acquired brain injury (ABI) in real-life situations. The present study examined 15 patients with an ABI with cognitive and motor impairments.

Elated or sad mood induction affects the attention of patients with a bipolar disorder less than that of patients with a depressive disorder.

The role of acute mood states as mediating factors in cognitive impairment in patients with mania or depression is not sufficiently clear. Similarly, the extent to which cognitive impairment is trait or state-specific remains an open question. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a mood-induction on attention in patients with an affective disorder.

Diffusion Tensor Imaging Reveals Microstructural Heterogeneity of Normal-Appearing White Matter and Related Cognitive Dysfunction in Glioma Patients.

Immunohistochemical data based on isocitrate-dehydrogenase (IDH) mutation status have redefined glioma as a whole-brain disease, while occult tumor cell invasion along white matter fibers is inapparent in conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The functional and prognostic impact of focal glioma may however relate to the extent of white matter involvement. We used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to investigate microstructural characteristics of whole-brain normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) in relation to cognitive functions as potential surrogates for occult white matter involvement in glioma.

How females think about themselves and how they assume that significant others think about them: The influence of perspective taking on self-referential processing.

People maintain a positive self-concept through positive self-appraisals (Self-Serving Bias Effect, SSBE) and a diminished memory for self-threatening information (Mnemic-Neglect Effect, MNE). Other people also influence a person's self-concept. This study investigated SSBE and MNE in 60 females by using a trait-judgment paradigm applying two perspectives (self- and third-person appraisals) and a recall task.

The Aachen List of Trait Words.

In this study, we present the Aachen List of Trait Words (ALoT), including a total of 606 German adjectives with English translations, describing personality traits. The lack of ratings regarding the social desirability of traits led us to create a German trait database. Ratings of valence and social desirability were obtained from 100 participants.

Strategies of selective changing: Preparatory neural processes seem to be responsible for differences in complex inhibition.

Selective inhibition describes the stopping of an action while other actions are further executed. It can be differentiated between two strategies to stop selectively: the fast but global stop all, then discriminate strategy and the slower but more selective first discriminate, then stop strategy. It is assumed that the first discriminate, then stop strategy is especially used when information regarding which action might have to be stopped is already available beforehand.

Stopping Speed in the Stop-Change Task: Experimental Design Matters!

Previous research comparing the speed of inhibiting a motor response in no-foreknowledge vs. foreknowledge conditions revealed inconsistent findings. While some studies found stopping to be faster in the no-foreknowledge condition, others reported that it was faster in the foreknowledge condition.

A reaction-time adjusted PSI method for estimating performance in the stop-signal task.

A central experimental task in executive control research is the Stop-signal task, which allows measuring the ability to inhibit dominant responses. A crucial aspect of this task consists of varying the delay between the Go- and Stop-signal. Since the time necessary to administer the task can be long, a method of optimal delay choice was recently proposed: the PSI method.

Learning by heart-the relationship between resting vagal tone and metacognitive judgments: a pilot study.

Metacognitive awareness and resting vagally mediated heart rate variability (HRV) as a physiological trait marker of cognitive inhibitory control capacities are both associated with better well-being and seem to share a common neural basis. Executive functioning which is considered a prerequisite for delivering prospective metacognitive judgments has been found to be correlated with HRV. This pilot study addresses the question, whether metacognitive awareness and resting vagally mediated HRV are positively associated.

Development and initial psychometric properties of the 'ICIQ-Cog': a new assessment tool to measure the disease-related impact and care effort associated with incontinence in cognitively impaired adults.

Objectives: To develop a new assessment tool, the ICIQ-Cog, to measure the disease-related impact of incontinence in cognitively impaired adults and the effort associated with the care of this population, and to present the initial psychometric properties of this tool and outline the possible clinical implications.

Participants And Methods: The ICIQ-Cog consists of two scales: a 12-item scale measuring disease-specific bother (ICIQ-Cog-P) and a four-item scale assessing efforts associated with care of people with incontinence and cognitive impairment (ICIQ-Cog-C). Data on 60 nursing home residents with incontinence and cognitive impairment were obtained in a test-retest research design.

Development of a short scale for assessing economic environmental aspects in patients with spinal diseases using Rasch analysis.

Background: Economic environmental factors represent important barriers to participation and have deleterious effects on quality of life (QOL) in persons with spinal diseases (SpD). While economic factors are anchored in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, their influence on QOL and participation from patients' perspectives is an infrequent focus of research. The aim of the present research is to calibrate a culturally adapted Rasch-based questionnaire assessing economic QOL in patients with SpD.

Exploring the relationship of decentering to health related concepts and cognitive and metacognitive processes in a student sample.

Background: Decentering, a central change strategy of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, is a process of stepping outside of one's own mental events leading to an objective and non-judging stance towards the self. The study aimed at investigating associated mechanisms of decentering.

Method: The present study investigated the relation of decentering, operationalized by means of the German Version of the Experiences Questionnaire, to severity of depressive symptoms, assessed by the adaptive Rasch-based depression screening, and self-focussed attention, assessed by the Questionnaire of Dysfunctional and Functional Self-Consciousness.