Conscious Processing Research Articles

The environment and climate change as a primary stakeholder for accommodation suppliers: Stakeholder engagement for Koh Tao and Koh Phi Phi, Thailand

AbstractThis study investigates the potential recognition and engagement of the natural environment as an important factor in strategic investment decisions by accommodation suppliers in a small island context. The investigation, based on empirical data from two Thai islands, Koh Tao and Koh Phi Phi, contributes to the debate if the environment, by focusing on climate change, can be identified as a primary stakeholder for accommodation suppliers. The findings show that strategic investment decisions are influenced by impacts commonly associated with climate change, although a conscious recognition of climate change as a strategic stakeholder or important factor in strategic investment decisions could not be confirmed. Conversely, the element of unconsciousness in the process of recognising climate change in investment decisions sparks questions regarding the degree to which the recognition of business stakeholders requires being a conscious process and if the focus on investments could be another element for stakeholder identification frameworks for businesses.

Effects of spatially filtered fearful faces and awareness on amygdala activity in adults with autism spectrum disorder: A magnetoencephalography study

BackgroundThe amygdala is pivotal in emotional face processing. Spatial frequencies (SFs) of visual images are divided and processed via two visual pathways: low spatial frequency (LSF) information is conveyed by the magnocellular pathway, while the parvocellular pathway carries high spatial frequency information. We hypothesized that altered amygdala activity might underlie atypical social communication caused by changes in both conscious and non-conscious emotional face processing in the brain in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). MethodEighteen adults with ASD and 18 typically developing (TD) peers participated in this study. Spatially filtered fearful- and neutral-expression faces and object stimuli were presented under supraliminal or subliminal conditions, and neuromagnetic responses in the amygdala were measured using 306-channel whole-head magnetoencephalography. ResultsThe latency of the evoked responses at approximately 200 ms to unfiltered neutral face stimuli and object stimuli in the ASD group was shorter than that in the TD group in the unaware condition. Regarding emotional face processing, the evoked responses in the ASD group were larger than those in the TD group under the aware condition. The later positive shift during 200–500 ms (ARV) was larger than that in the TD group, regardless of awareness. Moreover, ARV to HSF face stimuli was larger than that to the other spatial filtered face stimuli in the aware condition. ConclusionRegardless of awareness, ARV might reflect atypical face information processing in the ASD brain.

Stable Polymer Formation Using Temperature as a Catalyst: A Comprehensive Study

Polymerization processes are crucial in the production of various materials with diverse applications. This study explores the innovative approach of utilizing temperature as a catalyst in polymer formation to enhance stability and control. The research aims to understand the challenges in traditional polymerization methods, define the problem, outline the study objectives, and present conclusions drawn from the investigation. This study explores temperature-driven polymerization as an innovative catalyst for stable polymer formation, aiming to replace traditional chemical catalysts. By investigating its feasibility, stability, control, and environmental impact, this research contributes to sustainable polymer synthesis. The findings reveal temperature's potential as a catalyst alternative for environmentally conscious polymerization processes.

Can masked gaze and arrow stimuli elicit overt orienting of attention? A registered report

Viewing an averted gaze can elicit saccades towards the corresponding location. Here, the automaticity of this gaze-following behaviour phenomenon was further tested by exploring whether such an effect can be detected in response to briefly-presented masked averted gazes. Participants completed an oculomotor interference task consisting of making leftward/rightward saccades according to a symbolic instruction cue. Crucially, either a task-irrelevant averted-gaze face or an arrow (i.e., a non-social control stimulus) was also presented in different blocks of trials. Faces and arrows were presented for either 1000 ms, or 8 ms and then backward-masked, to reduce the likelihood of conscious processing. Worse oculomotor performance emerged when the saccade direction did not match (vs match) that suggested by the task-irrelevant gaze/arrow stimuli in the unmasked condition. However, in the masked condition, no oculomotor interference occurred for any task-irrelevant stimulus. Results enrich knowledge about boundary conditions for gaze/arrow-driven orienting using ecological attention measures.

Psychometric validation of the Chinese version of the desire thinking questionnaire in adolescent mobile phone users

BackgroundDesire thinking is a conscious and voluntary cognitive process that is closely linked to levels of craving and addictive behaviors. The Desire Thinking Questionnaire (DTQ) can be used to measure desire thinking in all age groups as well as in addicts. This measurement has also been translated into several languages. This study aimed to test the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the DTQ (DTQ-C) among adolescent mobile phone users. MethodsOne thousand and ninety-seven adolescents who own a mobile phone and are younger than 18 years old completed the DTQ-C and a battery of questionnaires assessing the big five personality traits, negative affect, brooding, self-control, craving, and problematic mobile phone use (PMPU). The psychometric analyses of the DTQ-C were conducted, including exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), reliability, and validity analysis. ResultsThe EFA revealed a 10-item two-factor structure (i.e., verbal perseveration and imaginal prefiguration) that was confirmed by the CFA. The results of CFA showed fit indexes of χ2/df = 4.83, CFI = 0.967, TLI = 0.954, RMSEA = 0.059, SRMR = 0.032. The total scale had internal consistency reliabilities of 0.93, which demonstrated that DTQ-C presented good reliability. The two dimensions were correlated with PMPU (rverbal perseveration = 0.54; rimaginal prefiguration = 0.45), neuroticism (rverbal perseveration = 0.18; rimaginal prefiguration = 0.14), conscientiousness (rverbal perseveration = −0.19; rimaginal prefiguration = −0.18), depression (rverbal perseveration = 0.22; rimaginal prefiguration = 0.16), anxiety (rverbal perseveration = 0.26; rimaginal prefiguration = 0.22), stress (rverbal perseveration = 0.15; rimaginal prefiguration = 0.10) and self-control (rverbal perseveration = −0.29; rimaginal prefiguration = −0.26), which demonstrated that DTQ-C presented good concurrent validity. The two factors of DTQ-C correlated weakly with brooding (ranging from 0.08 to 0.10). The principal component factor analysis of the two dimensions of desire thinking and craving showed that craving and desire thinking belonged to different dimensions. Both of which showed good divergent validity of desire thinking. Additionally, an examination of incremental validity revealed that two factors were both positively associated with PMPU beyond demographic characteristics, big five personality traits, negative affect, and self-control (Bverbal perseveration = 0.49 and Bimaginal prefiguration = 0.13). ConclusionsIt has been found that the 10-item DTQ-C is a reliable and valid measure of desire thinking in Chinese adolescent mobile phone users.

Music Education of Feeling for the Construction of Emotion

많은 연구에서 감정은 지식처럼 뇌의 의식적인 인지 작용을 통해 개념으로서 구성된다는 것이 밝혀지고 있다. 음악교육에서는 감정과 관련하여 일찍이 느낌의 교육이 강조되어 왔는데, 느낌은 감정의 종류 중 하나이며 감정을 구성하는 기초 요소로 알려져 있다. 본 연구는 음악을 대상으로 감정을 효과적으로 구성하기 위해 음악교육에서 이러한 느낌이 어떻게 다루어져야 하는지 그 방법을 모색하는 데에 목적을 두었다. 이를 위해, 감정과 감정의 구성, 느낌과 그 표현에 대하여 다양한 문헌을 고찰해 보았고, 이를 기반으로 감정을 구성하는 느낌의 음악교육 방법을 탐색하였다. 연구 결과로서 느낌을 크게 정동적 느낌, 개념적 느낌, 지성적 느낌으로 나누고, 개념적 느낌은 다시 감각적 개념, 음악적 개념, 감정적 개념, 명제적 개념으로 분류하였다. 감정 구성을 위한 느낌의 음악교육을 위해 우선 느낌의 자유로운 표현활동을 제안하였고, 분류한 각 느낌에 대한 자세한 설명과 그 표현하는 방법 등을 사례와 함께 제시하였다. 음악교육에서 이러한 표현 활동들은 학습자가 대상인 음악에 대하여 다양한 느낌과 음악적 요소들을 통찰하고, 감정을 구성할 수 있는 매우 효과적인 방법이 될 수 있을 것으로 기대한다.Many studies have revealed that emotions, like knowledge, are constructed as concepts through conscious cognitive processes in the brain. In music education, the education of feeling has been emphasized early on, and feeling is one of the types of emotions and is known as a basic element that composes emotions. The purpose of this study was to find out how to deal with these feelings in music education in order to effectively construct emotions in music. To this end, I reviewed various literature on emotions and construction of emotions, feelings and their expressions, and based on this, I studied the music education method of feeling that construct emotions. As a result of the study, feelings were largely divided into affective feelings, conceptual feelings, and intellectual feelings, and conceptual feelings were further classified into sensory concepts, musical concepts, emotional concepts, and propositional concepts. For the music education of feeling for the construction of emotion, first of all, free expression activities of feeling were proposed, and a detailed explanation of each classified feeling and how to express it were presented along with examples. In music education, these expressive activities are expected to be a very effective way for learners to gain insight into various feelings and musical elements of music, and to construct emotions.

Four Problems of Mind and Body: Celebrating the 80th Birthday of Max Velmans

Inspired by the 'reflexive monism' of Max Velmans, this paper considers four problems of mind and body. (1) The traditional mind–body problem, including the 'easy' problem of identifying the neural correlates of consciousness, and the 'hard' problem of determining just how neural processes generate conscious states. (2) The distinction between automatic (unconscious) and controlled (conscious) processes, raising the question about the relative roles they play in experience, thought, and action, as well as the question of free will. (3) Psychosomatic effects, including the stress–disease connection, placebo effects, and hypnotic suggestion, in which beliefs appear to have consequences for bodily processes outside the nervous system. (4) Whether mind can exist in the absence of a bodily host, as exemplified by spiritualism and parapsychology. As challenging as the easy and hard problems are, psychology can advance as a science of mental life without ever solving them.

That looks easy! Evidence against the benefits of an easier criterion of success for enhancing motor learning

OPTIMAL theory predicts providing learners with a relatively easier criterion of success during practice enhances motor learning through increased self-efficacy, perceptions of competence, and intrinsic motivation. However, mixed results in the literature suggest this enhancement effect may be moderated by the number of successes achieved by learners practicing with the difficult criterion. To investigate this possibility, we manipulated quantity of practice to affect the absolute number of successes achieved by learners practicing with different success criteria. Eighty participants were divided into four groups and performed 50 or 100 trials of a mini-shuffleboard task. Groups practiced with either a large or a small zone of success surrounding the target. Learning was assessed 24 h after acquisition with retention and transfer tests. In terms of endpoint accuracy and precision, there were no learning or practice performance benefits of practicing with an easier criterion of success, regardless of the number of trials. This absence of a criterion of success effect was despite the efficacy of our manipulation in increasing the number of trials stopping within the zone of success, self-efficacy, perceptions of competence, and, for participants with 100 trials, intrinsic motivation. An equivalence test indicated that the effect of criterion of success was small, if existent. Moreover, at the individual level, intrinsic motivation did not predict posttest or acquisition performance. There were no benefits of easing the criterion of success on pressure, effort, accrual of explicit knowledge, or conscious processing. These data challenge key tenets of OPTIMAL theory and question the efficacy of easing criterion of success for motor learning.

Neural correlates of conscious processing of emotional faces: Evidence from event-related potentials

There is a theoretical debate between the early and late neural correlates of consciousness (NCCs). Previous studies using neutral face stimuli supported an early NCC and suggested that visual awareness negativity (VAN) is associated with consciousness, while late positivity (LP) reflects post-perceptual activity. However, emotional faces may help to examine the relationship between LP and consciousness due to the differences in late processing between emotional and neutral faces. To explore the effects of facial emotional information on NCCs, the present study manipulated consciousness with the inattentional blindness paradigm and used happy, fearful, and neutral faces as visual stimuli. The results showed that the conscious processing of emotional faces was correlated with VAN and LP, while the conscious processing of neutral faces was associated with VAN. First, the results suggest that VAN is an NCC, and the relationship between LP and consciousness is affected by facial emotional information. Second, VAN reflects the early perceptual experience of emotional faces, whereas LP may reflect the late conscious processing of emotional faces. Furthermore, source localization analysis showed that the LPs of emotional faces were mainly located in the frontal and parietal lobes, whereas those of neutral faces showed no significant activation. This suggests that facial emotional information may affect the brain regions associated with conscious processing. Time–frequency analysis showed that conscious processing is related to the enhancement of alpha and theta oscillation, indicating that conscious processing may be associated with the suppression of irrelevant stimuli. Overall, the present study suggests that the integration of the theories that support early and late NCCs helps explain the conscious processing of emotional faces.

Media multitasking is linked to attentional errors, mind wandering and automatised response to stimuli without full conscious processing

ABSTRACT Previous findings on media multitasking, sustained attention and inhibitory control have been mixed with some studies linking heavy media multitasking with impaired sustained attention and inhibitory control whereas others have failed to find any relationship. This study examined the relationships between these factors using a three-state attentional disengagement model that focuses on transient aspect of attention. A sample of 238 participants completed a media use questionnaire and a Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) with mind-wandering probes. They also completed the Barratt Impulsivity Scale and Boredom Proneness Scales. Heavier media multitasking was associated with higher rates of omission and commission errors and greater response variability in the SART. Heavier media multitaskers tended to mind wander more without awareness rather than with awareness, suggesting a more progressed form of attentional disengagement during the SART. They also made more anticipatory responses that suggest automatic responses to task stimuli without fully processing the stimuli. Higher media use scores were associated with greater self-reported attentional impulsivity and boredom proneness. Media multitasking was not linked to perceived difficulty or interestingness of the task. Taken together, these results provide evidence that heavy media multitasking is linked to poorer sustained attention and inhibitory control.

ТРАНСФОРМАЦІЯ ІНСТИТУЦІОНАЛЬНОГО СЕРЕДОВИЩА ЗАДЛЯ ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ КОНКУРЕНТОСПРОМОЖНОСТІ РЕГІОНУ

The article explores the prospects for transforming the institutional environment to ensure the competitiveness of the region. The digital economy is seen as a means of enhancing economic growth and increasing the competitiveness of regions and the country as a whole. It is concluded that at the national level it is important to adopt and strengthen the relevant institutional framework for digitalization. The organizational and economic mechanism for managing innovation activity in the region is considered as a system of interrelated elements that ensure the achievement of the goals of innovative development in the context of digitalization of the region's economy. It is presented in the work as a set of organizational and economic methods, methods, tools for influencing innovative activity in the region, based on a systematic approach to the large-scale introduction of digital technologies in regional management processes and technological processes of high-tech and knowledge-intensive enterprises in the region in order to increase the competitiveness of regional business and mass use digital technologies. Institutional transformation is considered in the work not just as a change, but as a transformation that affects the essential quality of the institution. The creation of a new institution in specific socio-economic conditions is considered as a multi-level process, at the highest level of which both conscious mental processes and the personal, collective unconscious are affected, as a result of the onset of a certain kind of events, information impulses are formed that reflect the need of a significant part of society in some institution. The proposed model for the transformation of the regional institutional environment contains such a specific mechanism as the mechanism of convergence, the application of which in practice will ensure the reduction of inter-regional and intra-regional inequality through the mechanisms of stimulating technological progress, the implementation of measures to develop innovative infrastructure in the region, etc. It is concluded that with a strategic focus on smoothing out interregional disparities and equalizing opportunities for access to digital assets, interregional and intercountry digital differences can be compensated through effective institutional measures taken by state, including regional, administration.

Influence of Athletes' Self-Consciousness on the Factor of Choking under Pressure

Previous studies have shown that self-consciousness traits are closely related to choking under pressure (Baumeister, 1984; Wang et al., 2004). However, it has not be distinguished between private and public self-consciousness. This study investigated the influence of private and public self-consciousness of athletes on the factors of choking under pressure. 281 subjects were asked to respond to a questionnaire on choking factors (Murayama and Sekiya, 2012) and a self-consciousness scale (Tsuji, 1993), and data from 253 subjects were analyzed. The results showed that higher private and public self-consciousness had more choking experience. Furthermore, we examined the influence of private and public self-consciousness on the factors of choking and found that private self-consciousness showed significant positive effects to be associated with changes in motor control, vicious circles, abnormal physical sensations, and conscious processing (attention to movement). In contrast, public self-consciousness showed significant positive effects on changes in motor control and vicious circles, perceptual and cognitive confusion, feelings of physical heaviness and weakness, passivity, and safety-oriented strategies. The results indicate that private and public self-consciousness affect different factors of choking under pressure.

WORKS OF D.M. BALASHOV AS A HISTORICAL SOURCE FOR THE STUDY OF SPIRITUAL QUEST IN THE RUSSIAN SOCIETY AT THE END OF THE XX CENTURY

The article deals with the cycle of historical novels by D.M. Balashov (1927-2000), Soviet and Russian writer, folklorist, public figure, as a historical source with a significant historic-informational potential for studying the processes in the public consciousness and spiritual quest in Russian society at the end of the 20th century.

Beyond good intentions

Sustainable Conservation are the processes of change through which the components of the inherited ecosystem from the past retain their value for present and future generations. As such, the value assessment is critical to recognise the values of heritage, not only by its aesthetical and historical values, but also by its contribution to a more sustainable future. Despite recent policies and standards highlighting the role of heritage for sustainability and encouraging urban conservation, sustainable conservation is not yet the most common practice. The behavioural dimension is intrinsic to the decision-making process; however, studies analysing designers’ decision behaviours regarding sustainability in built heritage are seldom found in recent literature. This research aims to increase the understanding of the gap in the implementation of best practices of sustainable conservation of built heritage, and to achieve solutions for behavioural change. It applies methods from psychology to analyse designers’ decisions behaviours, by eliciting common beliefs, challenges, and opportunities in the implementation of conservation intentions towards heritage buildings. The results demonstrate that design decisions result from conscious and unconscious processes, some of them socially driven, while others result from individual attitudes. Targeting the primary belief in the study population on the (in)compatibility between sustainability and heritage conservation, a building passport for sustainable conservation was developed aiming at raising awareness in the value of built heritage to sustainability. The results of this research can support the redesign of heritage buildings and demonstrate the importance of considering behavioural factors in the development of future sustainable conservation policies and tools.

Rapid Unconscious Acquisition of Conditioned Fear with Low-Spatial-Frequency but Emotionally Neutral Stimuli.

It has long been proposed that emotionally "prepared" (i.e., fear-related) stimuli are privileged in the unconscious acquisition of conditioned fear. However, as fear processing is suggested to highly depend on the coarse, low-spatial-frequency (LSF) components of the fear-related stimuli, it is plausible that LSF may play a unique role in the unconscious fear conditioning even with emotionally neutral stimuli. Here, we provided empirical evidence that, following classical fear conditioning, an invisible, emotionally neutral conditioned stimulus (CS+) with LSF, but not with high spatial frequency (HSF), can rapidly elicit stronger skin conductance responses (SCRs) and larger pupil diameters than its CS- counterpart. In comparison, consciously perceived emotionally neutral CS+ with LSF and HSF elicited comparable SCRs. Taken together, these results support that the unconscious fear conditioning does not necessarily entail emotionally prepared stimuli but prioritizes LSF information processing and highlight the crucial distinctions between the unconscious and the conscious fear learning. These findings not only coincide with the postulation that a rapid, spatial-frequency-dependent subcortical route is engaged in unconscious fear processing but also suggest the existence of multiple routes for conscious fear processing.

Supplemental Material for Conscious and Unconscious Processing of Ensemble Statistics Oppositely Modulate Perceptual Decision-Making

Supplemental Material for Conscious and Unconscious Processing of Ensemble Statistics Oppositely Modulate Perceptual Decision-Making

FORMATION OF ELITOLOGY OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND FACTORS AFFECTING IT

The article focuses on the dialectics of elite consciousness and social processes, the influence of elite education on personality formation, the social difference between the elite and the masses is analyzed as a separate function of elite consciousness, and it is based on the fact that the theory of "spiritual perfection" is an expression of elitology of consciousness. After all, the "spiritual world of man" is determined by his elite consciousness. The essence of "human being" is his ability to know the world. Therefore, the ratio of knowledge and knowledge and their use is the main factor of elite consciousness.

The Mental Diet: Choosing Beliefs to Improve Wellbeing

Acknowledging the established link between beliefs and wellbeing, this paper explores the concept of voluntary belief acquisition and modification as a conscious and impactful process. This is contrasted with passive belief acceptance, underlining the potential for self-directed improvement in wellbeing through deliberate belief restructuring. The concept of beliefs is approached from a multi-dimensional perspective, recognizing cognitive, affective, and social factors. The paper further explores the potential to nudge societal norms towards healthier belief systems through education and other mechanisms. Drawing on empirical evidence, cognitive science, and philosophical argumentation, it proposes a reframing of beliefs as dynamic constructs open to conscious manipulation, with profound implications for individual and societal wellbeing. This research underscores the importance of fostering critical awareness of personal beliefs: in the same way that we are aware of how diet affects our health, we should be mindful of how our beliefs -our mental diet- impact our wellbeing.

Дослідження феномена самовдосконалення в міждисциплінарному контексті

The presented article proves the relevance of the phenomenon of self-improvement as an essential personal and professional quality in the context of the globalization of the modern world, the integration of Ukrainian education into the European educational space, and transgressiveness of society in the XXIst century. The expediency of the analysis of self-improvement on the basis of an interdisciplinary methodology, which involves the consideration of certain objects, phenomena and processes as an interdisciplinary synthesis according to the phenomenology of various sciences, is substantiated. In the format of philosophy, the genesis of approaches to the interpretation of self-improvement, starting from antiquity, is analyzed. The social conditionality of the process of self-improvement is highlighted, the consideration of its basic forms is presented, namely: idealistic, materialistic and dialectical. The determination of the self-improvement of the individual by the goals and values of society is proven. Three main aspects of consideration of self-improvement in psychology are presented, namely: as a phenomenon that reveals the capabilities of a person, his essence; as phenomena of self-actualization of the individual; as a quality that contributes to the spiritual growth of the individual and reveals the possibilities of human consciousness and self-awareness. The connection between self-improvement and individual subjectivity is emphasized. It was found that the self-improvement of an individual depends on his own activity, goals, motives and beliefs. The pedagogical interpretation of self-improvement is related to its consideration as the highest form of personal self-development, which is a conscious process aimed at changing oneself and one's professional abilities, which meets external and internal requirements and universal human values. It was found that scientists sometimes identify the concept of “self-improvement” with such concepts as “self-actualization”, “self-development”, “self-education”, “self-realization”, “self-education”.

Computational Ghost Imaging with the Human Brain

Brain–computer interfaces are enabling a range of new possibilities and routes for augmenting human capability. Here, we propose brain–computer interfaces as a route towards forms of computation, i.e., computational imaging, that blend the brain with external silicon processing. We demonstrate ghost imaging of a hidden scene using the human visual system that is combined with an adaptive computational imaging scheme. This is achieved through a projection pattern “carving” technique that relies on real-time feedback from the brain to modify patterns at the light projector, thus enabling more efficient and higher-resolution imaging. This brain–computer connectivity demonstrates a form of augmented human computation that could, in the future, extend the sensing range of human vision and provide new approaches to the study of the neurophysics of human perception. As an example, we illustrate a simple experiment whereby image reconstruction quality is affected by simultaneous conscious processing and readout of the perceived light intensities.