Mind-theory

What does it take to have a creative mind? Theories of creative cognition assert that the quantity of automatic associations places fundamental constraints on the probability of reaching creative solutions. Due to the difficulties inherent in isolating automated associative responses from cognitive control, the neural basis underlying this faculty remains unknown. Here we acquired fMRI data in an incidental-viewing paradigm in which subjects performed an attention-demanding task whilst viewing task-irrelevant objects...

It has been strongly argued that atypical cognitive processes in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) contribute to the expression of behavioural symptoms. Comprehensive investigation of these claims has been limited by small and unrepresentative sample sizes and the absence of wide-ranging task batteries. The current study investigated the cognitive abilities of 100 adolescents with ASD (mean age = 15 years 6 months), using 10 tasks to measure the domains of theory of mind (ToM) and executive function (EF). We used structural equation modelling as a statistically robust way of exploring the associations between cognition and parent-reported measures of social communication and restricted and repetitive behaviours (RRBs)...

Consuming coffee without (or with less) sugar may help people lower their daily calorie intake without restrictive dieting. We tested two theory-based interventions to help people do so. One involved gradually reducing sugar over time, and the other was based on mindfulness theory. These interventions were compared to a repeated exposure (to sugar-free coffee) group. Participants in all conditions had significant increases in consumption of sugar-free coffee that lasted 6 months. The mindfulness group had a larger increase than the others...

Forgetting can be either a source of great frustration or one of great relief, depending on whether the memories in question are relevant to one's immediate goals. Adopting an appropriate strategy or memory mode can help achieve these goals. But do efforts to control memory engender unintended side effects? Presently, we expand on a theoretical perspective of memory control, wherein efforts to suppress episodic encoding or retrieval result in the systemic downregulation of the hippocampal memory system. We review evidence from multiple methodologies, highlighting a non-invasive means of inducing amnesia that casts a shadow over memory for unrelated events...

We propose a Green Mind Theory (GMT) to link the human mind with the brain and body, and connect the body into natural and social environments. The processes are reciprocal: environments shape bodies, brains, and minds; minds change body behaviours that shape the external environment. GMT offers routes to improved individual well-being whilst building towards greener economies. It builds upon research on green exercise and nature-based therapies, and draws on understanding derived from neuroscience and brain plasticity, spiritual and wisdom traditions, the lifeways of original cultures, and material consumption behaviours...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

It is often a good strategy to "stand in the other person's shoes" to see a situation from a different perspective. People frequently attempt to infer what someone else would recommend when no advisor is available to help with a decision. Such situations commonly concern intertemporal or risky choices, and the usual assumption is that lay people make such decisions differently than experts do. The aim of our study was to determine what intertemporal and risky decisions people make when they take their own perspective, the perspective of a peer, and the perspectives of an expert or an entrepreneur...

A longstanding question for attachment theory and research is whether genetically based characteristics of the child influence the development of attachment security and its stability over time. This study attempted to replicate and extend recent findings indicating that the developmental stability of attachment security is moderated by oxytocin receptor (OXTR) genetic variants. Using longitudinal data from over 550 individuals, there was no evidence that OXTR rs53576 moderated the association between attachment security during early childhood and overall coherence of mind ("security") during the Adult Attachment Interview at age 18 years...

'Getting a joke' always requires resolving an apparent incongruity, but the particular cognitive operations called upon vary depending on the nature of the joke itself. Previous research has identified the primary neural correlates of the cognitive and affective processes called upon to respond to humor generally, but little work has been done on the substrates underlying the distinct cognitive operations required to comprehend particular joke types. This study explored the neural correlates of the cognitive processes required to successfully comprehend three joke types: bridging-inference jokes (BJs), exaggeration jokes (EJs), and ambiguity jokes (AJs)...

Trait anxiety, a personality dimension, has been characterized by functional consequences such as increased distractibility, attentional bias in favor of threat-related information and hyper-responsive amygdala. However, literature on the association between resting state brain functional connectivity, as studied using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), and reported anxiety levels in the sub-clinical population is limited. In the present study, we employed rs-fMRI to investigate the possible alterations in the functional integrity of Resting State Networks (RSNs) associated with trait anxiety of the healthy subjects (15 high anxious and 14 low anxious)...

OBJECTIVES: Nurses and health care workers are under increasing scrutiny from the general public and other professionals over their capacity for compassion. For example, in the UK, recruitment of nurses includes assessment of compassion through 'Values Based Recruitment'. However, compassionate care can be hindered when working in very challenging and pressurised environments. The study aimed to explore the experiences of managing work pressures in front-line NHS staff caring for older adults with dementia...

BACKGROUND: People with callous-unemotional traits and also those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) display sociocognitive difficulties. However, the frequency and neurocognitive correlates of callous-unemotional traits within individuals with ASD are unknown. AIMS: To determine the prevalence of callous-unemotional traits in individuals with ASD and test their association with behavioural and cognitive measures. METHOD: Parents of 92 adolescents with ASD completed the Antisocial Processes Screening Device (APSD) for callous-unemotional traits...

The cognitive basis of utterance interpretation is an area that continues to provoke intense theoretical debate among pragmatists. That utterance interpretation involves some type of mind-reading or theory of mind (ToM) is indisputable. However, theorists are divided on the exact nature of this ToM-based mechanism. In this paper, it is argued that the only type of ToM-based mechanism that can adequately represent the cognitive basis of utterance interpretation is one which reflects the rational, intentional, holistic character of interpretation...

Although borderline personality disorder (BPD) and schizophrenia (SZ) are notably different mental disorders, they share problems in social cognition-or understanding the feelings, intentions and thoughts of other people. To date no studies have directly compared the social cognitive abilities of individuals with these two disorders. In this study, the social cognitive subdomain theory of mind was investigated in women with BPD (n = 25), women with SZ (n = 25) and healthy women (n = 25). An ecologically valid video-based measure (Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition) was used...

Internal working models (IWMs) of attachment can moderate the effect of maternal depression on mother-child interactions and child development. Clinical depression pre-dating birthgiving has been found to predict incoherent and less sensitive caregiving. Dysfunctional patterns observed, included interactive modes linked to feeding behaviors which may interfere with hunger-satiation, biological rhythms, and the establishment of children's autonomy and individuation. Feeding interactions between depressed mothers and their children seem to be characterized by repetitive interactive failures: children refuse food through oppositional behavior or negativity...

The Global Workspace Theory and Information Integration Theory are two of the most currently accepted consciousness models; however, these models do not address many aspects of conscious experience. We compare these models to our previously proposed consciousness model in which the thalamus fills-in processed sensory information from corticothalamic feedback loops within a proposed 3D default space, resulting in the recreation of the internal and external worlds within the mind. This 3D default space is composed of all cells of the body, which communicate via gap junctions and electrical potentials to create this unified space...

This article examines the interrelations between psychology and feminism in the work of feminist psychologists and radical feminists in Toronto in the early 1970s. For Canadian feminist psychology as well as for second-wave activism, Toronto was a particular hotspot. It was the academic home of some of the first Canadian feminist psychologists, and was the site of a lively scene of feminists working in established women's organizations along with younger socialist and radical feminists. This article analyzes the interrelations of academic feminist psychology and feminist activism by focusing on consciousness-raising, a practice that promised to bridge tensions between the personal and the political, psychological and social liberation, everyday knowledge and institutionalized knowledge production, theory and practice, as well as the women's movement and other spheres of women's lives...

The Theory of Mind Inventory is an informant measure designed to evaluate children's theory of mind competence. We describe the translation and cultural adaptation of the inventory by the following process: (1) translation from English to Spanish by two independent certified translators; (2) production of an agreed version by a multidisciplinary committee of experts; (3) back-translation to English of the agreed version by an independent translator; (4) discussion of the semantic, idiomatic, and cultural equivalence of the final version; (5) elaboration of the final test; (6) pilot test on 24 representatives of the autism spectrum disorders population and 24 representatives of typically developing children...

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this discursive paper is to explore the question 'has biological science reconciled mind and body?'. BACKGROUND: This paper has been inspired by the recognition that bioscience has a historical reputation for privileging the body over the mind. The disregard for the mind (emotions and behaviour) cast bioscience within a 'mind-body problem' paradigm. It has also led to inherent limitations in its capacity to contribute to understanding the complex nature of health...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Sleep problems are frequent in young children; however, children vary in the degree to which they are affected by poor sleep quality. We investigated whether a polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene, which is linked to emotional function, is a potential moderator of the influences of sleep duration on infant temperament using longitudinal data. METHODS: We examined the interactive effects of average sleep duration between 6 and 36 months of age and the 5-HTTLPR genotype on negative emotionality/behavioral dysregulation at 36 months in 209 children recruited into a longitudinal birth cohort study...