Adam Qureshi

Why are there limits on theory of mind use? Evidence from adults' ability to follow instructions from an ignorant speaker

Keysar et al. (Keysar, Barr, Balin, & Brauner, 2000; Keysar, Lin, & Barr, 2003) report that adults frequently failed to use their conceptual competence for theory of mind (ToM) in an online communication game where they needed to take account of a speakers perspective. The current research reports 3 experiments investigating the cognitive processes contributing to adults’ errors. In Experiments 1 and 2 the frequency of adults’ failure to use ToM was unaffected by perspective switching. In Experiment 3 adults made more errors when interpreting instructions according to the speakers perspective than according to an arbitrary rule. We suggest that adults are efficient at switching perspectives, but that actually using what another person knows to interpret what they say is relatively inefficient, giving rise to egocentric errors during communication.

I have no clue what I drunk last night using Smartphone technology to compare in-vivo and retrospective self-reports of alcohol consumption.

Aim This research compared real-time measurements of alcohol consumption with retrospective accounts of alcohol consumption to examine possible discrepancies between, and contextual influences on, the different accounts. Method Building on previous investigations, a specifically designed Smartphone technology was utilized to measure alcohol consumption and contextual influences in de facto real-time. Real-time data (a total of 10,560 data points relating to type and number of drinks and current social / environmental context) were compared with daily and weekly retrospective accounts of alcohol consumption. Results Participants reported consuming more alcoholic drinks during real-time assessment than retrospectively. For daily accounts a higher number of drinks consumed in real-time was related to a higher discrepancy between real-time and retrospective accounts. This effect was found across all drink types but was not shaped by social and environmental contexts. Higher in-vivo alcohol consumption appeared to be related to a higher discrepancy in retrospectively reported weekly consumption for alcohol beverage types other than wine. When including contextual factors into the statistical models, being with two or more friends (as opposed to being alone) decreased the discrepancy between real-time and retrospective reports, whilst being in the pub (relative to being at home) was associated with greater discrepancies. Conclusions Overall, retrospective accounts may underestimate the amount of actual, real-time alcohol consumed. Increased consumption may also exacerbate differences between real-time and retrospective accounts. Nonetheless, this is not a global effect as environmental and social contexts interact with the type of alcohol consumed and the time frame given for reporting (weekly vs. daily retrospective). A degree of caution therefore appears warranted with regards to the use of retrospective self-report methods of recording alcohol consumption. Whilst real-time sampling is unlikely to be completely error free, it may be better able to account for social and environmental influences on self-reported consumption.

Graphics for Serious Games: A head movement propensity model for animating gaze shifts and blinks of virtual characters

An automatic model is presented for animating gaze shifts of virtual characters towards target locations in a virtual environment. Two connected components are described: an eye-head controller and a blinking controller. The gaze control model is based on results from neuroscience, and dictates the contributions of the eyes and head to a gaze shift according to an individuals head movement propensity; that is, their tendency to recruit their head when making gaze motions under different conditions. The blink controller simulates gaze-evoked blinking, a specific category of behaviours that accompany gaze shifts. The probability of occurrence of such blinks, and their amplitude, is related to the gaze shift. The model forms the basis for a number of experiments investigating the impact of blinking, eye-head ratio and direction of head movements on user perception. In addition to other application domains, the findings are of significance to serious games environments, where the perceived quality of a characters gaze may affect engagement, immersion and learning outcomes.

The work and social adjustment scale: Reliability, sensitivity and value

Abstract Objective. To investigate the psychometric properties of the Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS) as an outcome measure for the Improving Access to Psychological Therapy programme, assessing its value as an addition to the Patient Health (PHQ-9) and Generalised Anxiety Disorder questionnaires (GAD-7). Little research has investigated these properties to date. Methods. Reliability and responsiveness to change were assessed using data from 4,835 patients. Principal components analysis was used to determine whether the WSAS measures a factor distinct from the PHQ-9 and GAD-7. Results. The WSAS measures a distinct social functioning factor, has high internal reliability, and is sensitive to treatment effects. Conclusions. The WSAS, PHQ-9 and GAD-7 perform comparably on measures of reliability and sensitivity. The WSAS also measures a distinct social functioning component suggesting it has potential as an additional outcome measure.

Smells like inhibition: The effects of olfactory and visual alcohol cues on inhibitory control

RationaleHow the smell of alcohol impacts alcohol-related thoughts and behaviours is unclear, though it is well-documented that alcohol-related stimuli and environments may trigger these.ObjectivesThe current study, therefore, aimed to investigate the priming effects of both visual and olfactory alcohol cues on inhibitory control.MethodForty individuals (M age = 23.65, SD = 6.52) completed a go/no-go association task (GNAT) which measured reaction times, response accuracy and false alarm rates whilst being exposed to alcohol-related (or neutral) olfactory and visual cues.ResultsAlcohol-related visual cues elicited lower false alarm rates, slower reaction times and higher accuracy rates relative to neutral pictorial cues. False alarm rates were significantly higher for those exposed to alcohol as opposed to neutral olfactory cues.ConclusionsBy highlighting that exposure to alcohol-related olfactory cues may impede response inhibition, the results indicate that exposure to such stimuli may contribute to the activation of cognitive responses which may drive consumption.

The self-esteem of adults diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): a systematic review of the literature

Individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often grow up with negative messages surrounding their abilities and may experience adverse outcomes throughout their lives. Despite this, by adulthood, those with ADHD often find that they are left without adequate support from services. This review explores the relationship between self-esteem and ADHD in adulthood with a view to outlining needs and potential opportunities in terms of service provision. Twelve databases were searched for relevant literature published between 1980 and 2013 using terms relating to self-esteem, ADHD and adulthood. The resulting 13 articles comprised both cross-sectional and intervention studies. Despite a limited number of studies and methodological concerns, there is evidence to suggest that ADHD is associated with lower self-esteem in adulthood and that self-esteem difficulties can be remedied, to at least some extent, by psychotherapeutic work. It is recommended that future research focuses on the evaluation of therapy that specifically targets difficulties in self-esteem in this population.

Levels of interaction (loi): a model for scaffolding learner engagement in an immersive environment

In this paper we present a theoretical framework describing an original method for the design of intelligent tutoring environments, building upon the notion of shared attention This framework is defined as the Levels of Interaction (LoI) approach It is applicable to applications where the learner/player is immersed in a 3D virtual environment, interacting and exchanging knowledge with an adaptive crowd of conversational agents.

Evaluating the perception of group emotion from full body movements in the context of virtual crowds

Simulating the behavior of crowds of artificial entities that have humanoid embodiments has become an important element in computer graphics and special effects. However, many important questions remain in relation to the perception of social behavior and expression of emotions in virtual crowds. Specifically, few studies have considered the role of background context on the perception of the full-body emotion expressed by sub-constituents of the crowd i.e. individuals and small groups. In this paper, we present the results of perceptual studies in which animated scenes of expressive virtual crowd behavior were rated in terms of their valence by participants. The behaviors of a task-irrelevant crowd in the background were altered between neutral, happy and sad in order to investigate effects on the perception of emotion from task-relevant individuals in the foreground. Effects of the task irrelevant background on ratings of foreground characters were found, including cases that accompanied negatively valenced stimuli.

The effect of flow and context on in-vivo positive mood in digital gaming.

Abstract Although research extols the positive effects of social gaming, the dynamic processes underlying these effects remain unclear. In a hitherto unused approach in this field, we utilised a Smartphone App to model the effect of in-vivo flow and gaming context on positive mood. We also explored individual-level factors including demographic gaming variables (average hours per week playing, gamer-type, preferred type of play) and Big-5 personality traits. Data was obtained from 41 gamers producing a total of 2796 data-points. Multi-level modelling revealed positive mood was associated with in-vivo reports of flow in gameplay, current context and individual-level variance in the number of hours typically spent engaged in playing per week. Specifically, in-vivo positive mood was higher for players when playing online with friends (relative to those playing solo). Higher reports of flow were, nonetheless, associated with decreases in positive mood. Finally, players who indicated playing less frequently experienced higher positive mood, relative to those who played more. These findings support and extend previous work which explores the emotional affordances of gaming and highlight the importance of obtaining situated measures of experiences. They demonstrate that positive mood in gaming is not static, but changeable depending on ones current gaming environment and flow.

The influence of groups and alcohol consumption on individual risk-taking

BACKGROUND Research addressing the influence of alcohol and groups on risky behaviour has yielded contradictory findings regarding the extent to which intoxicated groups exaggerate or minimise risk-taking. Previous work has examined the effect of intoxication on risk-taking focusing on collective group decision-making, and to date the influence of alcohol consumption and groups on individual risk-taking has yet to be explored experimentally. The current study therefore examined the impact of intoxication and groups on individual risk-taking. METHODS In a mixed design, 99 social drinkers (62 female) attended an experimental session individually (N=48) or in groups of three (N=51). Individuals completed the study in isolation while groups were tested in the same room. Participants completed two behavioural measures of risk-taking: Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) and Stoplight Task (SLT), both before and following consumption of an alcoholic (0.6g/kg males, 0.5g/kg females) or a placebo beverage. RESULTS Those who participated in groups took significantly more risks in both tasks than those in isolation. Alcohol did not increase risk-taking on either risk-taking tasks. However, those who consumed placebo were significantly less risky on the SLT, compared to baseline. No interactions were found between context and beverage on risk-taking. CONCLUSION The findings do not support a combined effect of alcohol and groups on individual risk-taking. Rather, results indicate that risk-taking behaviour is influenced by peer presence regardless of alcohol consumption. Targeting the influence of groups (above those of alcohol) may hold promise for reducing risk-taking behaviours in drinking environments.