Erroneous Cognitions Research Articles

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. We used the popular game Wordle to illustrate goal gradient and near-miss effects. In Wordle, an individual tries to guess a five-letter word in six attempts. Wordle gives feedback — letters turn green, orange, or grey depending on how closely guesses match the target word. By analyzing feedback across guesses, players can gauge whether they are approaching or thwarted in their goal pursuit. Wordle also contains near-misses (guesses only one letter away from the target). When feedback indicated players were approaching their goal, positive affect and motivation significantly increased compared to thwarted outcomes which increased frustration. Near-misses were significantly more subjectively arousing than other outcomes. The first appearance of a near-miss (an “approaching” outcome) led to higher motivation and positive affect and less frustration than if the next guess revealed the same four green letters (a “thwarted” near-miss). These findings shed new light on erroneous cognitions among slot-machine players who misinterpret slots games as having goal gradient properties.

Factors influencing gender stereotypes and discrimination and their relationship to gender oppositions

With society developing at a rapid pace and higher education opportunities for the public, more and more individuals realize the potential for gender stereotypes and discrimination in our daily lives, especially for women. Even some media utilize this situation to construct gender opposites in order to catch a specific target. According to this phenomenon, this paper is supposed to search for the factors that cause gender inequality in order to relieve this situation and analyze the relationship between gender stereotypes, discrimination, and gender opposites. The approach for this paper is to search considerable literature and related database to prove the viewpoint and list three main factors that influence an individual’s erroneous cognition. Moreover, this paper concludes that the one reason some individuals have gender oppositional psychology is because of gender stereotypes and discrimination. Therefore, this paper comes up with suggestions to improve it from the education aspect, the society aspect, and the media aspect.

МОДУСНАЯ КАТЕГОРИЗАЦИЯ ОШИБОЧНЫХ ДЕЙСТВИЙ В АНГЛОЯЗЫЧНОЙ КАРТИНЕ МИРА

The study discusses linguistic categorization of erroneous cognitions verbalized by linguistic units like mistake, make a mistake, error, blunder, make a blunder, gaffe, make a gaffe, wrong, get something wrong, make a wrongdoing, wrongness. Of central concern in the research is the issue of the modus (interpretative) character of the concept MISTAKE that serves as the conceptual basis of the modus category of erroneous cognitions. The paper highlights the issue that the concept MISTAKE as a conceptually complex knowledge structure activates two types of knowledge representation: the primary knowledge representation of the events in the physical world (Тelling him the truth)) and the secondary evaluative representation of the knowledge once verbalized (was a mistake). The paper focuses on the interpretative function of negative evaluative interpretation that serves as the conceptual basis of the modus category of erroneous cognitions. The author comes to the conclusion that the modus category of erroneous cognitions serves to interpret the secondary representation of knowledge from the perspective of the negative evaluation conceptualized as ‘an action that produces a result that is not intended.’ The modus function of the negative evaluative interpretation serves as the conceptual basis of the modus category of erroneous cognitions. The findings obtained may be helpful for further study of the processes of evaluative interpretation and evaluative categorization as an integral part of human cognition.

Lying awake in forensic hospitals: a multicenter, cross-sectional study on the prevalence of insomnia and contributing factors in forensic psychiatric patients

ABSTRACT Insomnia has a negative impact on mental health and is a potential risk factor for impulsive and problematic behavior. This multicenter, cross-sectional study investigated the prevalence of insomnia and underlying and maintaining factors in a group of forensic psychiatric inpatients (N = 281). Insomnia severity, subjective sleep quality, sleep hygiene and erroneous cognitions about sleep were measured with the Insomnia Severity Index, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Sleep Hygiene questionnaire and Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about Sleep, respectively. Impulsivity was derived from risk assessment instruments routinely completed by trained professionals. Almost half of the patients (48.7%) appeared to suffer from insomnia. Particularly moderate-severe insomnia (26.7%) was significantly associated with worse sleep quality, poorer sleep hygiene, stronger endorsement of dysfunctional sleep cognitions and higher impulsivity scores. It can be concluded that insomnia is rather common in forensic psychiatric patients. Insomnia appears related to various sleep hygiene behaviors and sleep-related cognitions, and probably also to diverse situational and environmental factors as well as a lack of autonomy. Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, with some adjustments specific for this population, may be an effective intervention, ameliorating sleep problems and possibly also emotional and behavioral dysregulation.

The Design of Adolescents' Physical Health Prediction System Based on Deep Reinforcement Learning.

According to the general recognition in the first half of the last century, hypertension was not considered a kind of disease, but was regarded as a compensatory response commonly seen in the elderly, and it would not occur to younger people. Because of this erroneous cognition, many young patients fail to pay attention to their own hypertension, fail to take correct and standardized treatment, and suffer from a series of complications caused by hypertension. This article summarizes the relevant factors that affect the patient's future blood pressure from three directions: the basic characteristics of adolescent patients, the way they lower blood pressure, and the impact of the external environment. In order to make the model better fit the continuous data in the feature set of adolescents with hypertension, the structure of the internal components of the deep confidence network is optimized. Gaussian noise is introduced into the visible and hidden layers of the internal components of the network so that the stored information of the network changes from discrete to continuous during operation and improves the prediction accuracy of the blood pressure prediction model for adolescents with hypertension.

Vulvodynia-It Is Time to Accept a New Understanding from a Neurobiological Perspective.

Vulvodynia is one the most common causes of pain during sexual intercourse in premenopausal women. The burden of vulvodynia in a woman’s life can be devastating due to its consequences in the couple’s sexuality and intimacy, in activities of daily living, and psychological well-being. In recent decades, there has been considerable progress in the understanding of vulvar pain. The most significant change has been the differentiation of vulvar pain secondary to pathology or disease from vulvodynia. However, although it is currently proposed that vulvodynia should be considered as a primary chronic pain condition and, therefore, without an obvious identifiable cause, it is still believed that different inflammatory, genetic, hormonal, muscular factors, etc. may be involved in its development. Advances in pain neuroscience and the central sensitization paradigm have led to a new approach to vulvodynia from a neurobiological perspective. It is proposed that vulvodynia should be understood as complex pain without relevant nociception. Different clinical identifiers of vulvodynia are presented from a neurobiological and psychosocial perspective. In this case, strategies to modulate altered central pain processing is necessary, changing the patient’s erroneous cognitions about their pain, and also reducing fear avoidance-behaviors and the disability of the patient.

Moderating Influence of Predictive Control on the Near-Miss Effect-Gambling Intention Association in Nigerian Polytechnic Students

Empirical evidence supports the association of near-miss effect with gambling. However, erroneous cognitions may either amplify or attenuate this association. The present study examined the ability of predictive control to moderate the association between near-miss and gambling intention of polytechnic students recruited from a federal polytechnic in southern Nigeria (N = 407). Self-report measures of predictive control, gambling near-miss, and gambling intention were administered. The Hayes’ regression-based PROCESS module for moderation analysis was used to analyze the data. Result showed that near-miss was positively associated with gambling intention. Increased predictive control was associated with decreased gambling intention. Predictive control significantly moderated the association between near-miss and gambling intention such that late-miss was associated with decreased gambling intentions for participants with high and moderate predictive control, but associated with increased gambling intention for those with low predictive control. Our findings lend credence to the cognitive models of gambling therapies and treatment.

Predictors of Problem Gambling for Sports and Non-sports Gamblers: A Stochastic Search Variable Selection Analysis.

Differences in the psychological characteristics and gambling behaviors of sports bettors and non-sports bettors were examined with a view to identifying predictors of problem gambling severity. A survey was completed by 1,280 participants, 596 of whom had placed bets on a sporting event in the last year. We found that sports bettors are at greater risk of problem gambling due to differences in attitudes towards gambling, personality traits, thinking styles, erroneous cognitions, and gambling motivations. Moreover, our findings suggest that the difference between individuals who bet on sports and those who do not is more quantitative than qualitative. A stratified stochastic search variable selection analysis by type of bettor revealed similar important predictors of problem gambling for both sports bettors and non-sports bettors; however, the association between the predictors and problem gambling was stronger for sports bettors. Overall, the findings of this study suggest that preventative methods and interventions for problem gambling should be targeted as a function of whether individuals bet on sports.

Anxiety Disorders - Assessment and Management in General Practice

Anxiety is a normal physiological response to a threat. Anxiety disorders occur when this normal physiological response is associated with high levels of autonomic arousal, erroneous cognitions and dysfunctional coping strategies. Anxiety disorders are highly prevalent and present commonly to general practice. Anxiety disorders are often comorbid with other psychiatric and medical disorders and may be associated with significant morbidity.This article describes the diagnosis, assessment and management of anxiety disorders in the general practice setting.Assessment in patients presenting with anxiety symptoms involves excluding a medical cause, identifying features of specific anxiety disorders as well as other coexisting psychiatric disorders, and assessing the degree of distress. Management options include psychoeducation, psychological treatments (particularly cognitive behaviour therapy) and pharmacological treatments. Patients with a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder can access Medicare funded psychological care under a number of Australian government initiatives. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors are the first line pharmacological agents used to treat anxiety disorders. Regular review is vital to monitor for clinical improvement and more complex presentations may require specialist psychological or psychiatric referral.

Association of Near-Miss with Two Erroneous Gambling Cognitions and Betting Intention: Evidence from Nigerian Adolescents.

Evidences show increase of positive attitudes of Nigerian adolescents towards gambling in the past decade. Nigerian adolescents have been shown to spend significant part of their academic time and resources on Soccer bets. This behaviour could act as a predisposing factor for poor academic performances and problem gambling at adulthood. The present study drew from the cognitive distortion model to examine the mediational role of near-miss in the erroneous cognition-betting intention association through a survey study design. Male adolescents (N = 237; Mean age = 17.37years; SD = 4.13) of public schools in Nigeria who engage in Soccer betting took part in the study. They completed self-report measures of erroneous cognition, near-miss and betting intention. Results revealed that interpretative bias was not associated with near-miss while it was positively associated with betting intention. Illusion of control was positively associated with near-miss and betting intention. Near-miss was positively associated with betting intention and mediated the associations between interpretative bias and betting intention (negative mediation) and illusion of control, and betting intention (positive mediation). The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

A Study of the Advaita Vedāntic Critique of <i>Anyathākhyātivāda</i>

We usually discuss the question of determining the logical meaning of error and that of finding out the psychological conditions under which error is made possible. It is important to consider the general implications of those judgments regarding the ontological status of an illusory object. Unlike their Western counterpart, the investigation of an erroneous cognition has drawn the special attention of ancient philosophers of India. As a result, in Indian philosophy there are different theories of error which are propounded by different philosophers in accordance with the ontological schemes of their schools of philosophy. This paper is an attempt to critically discuss the Naiyāyikas’ view of error called <i>Anyathākhyātivāda </i>with special attention to the Advaita Vedāntic critique of it. It is interesting to analyze different new arguments that have been developed by the later philosophers of these schools. The investigation of an erroneous cognition by the philosophers of Advaita Vedānta has been continuing from Śākarācarya to the modern Indian philosophers who refute the Nyāya position with new arguments. In what follows we propose to discuss critically some of these arguments.

Training gamblers to re-think their gambling choices: How contextual analytical thinking may be useful in promoting safer gambling

Background and aimsHarmful gambling has been associated with the endorsement of fallacious cognitions that promote excessive consumption. These types of beliefs stem from intuitively derived assumptions about gambling that are fostered by fast-thinking and a lack of objective, critical thought. The current paper details an experiment designed to test whether a four-week online intervention to strengthen contextual analytical thinking in gamblers is effective in changing gamblers cognitions and encouraging safer gambling consumption.Methods Ninety-four regular gamblers who reported experiencing gambling-related harm were randomly allocated to either an experimental ( n = 46) or control condition ( n = 48), including 45 males, ranging from 19 to 65 years of age ( M = 36.61; SD = 9.76 ). Following baseline measurement of gambling beliefs and prior week gambling consumption, participants in the experimental condition were required to complete an adaption of the Gamblers Fallacy Questionnaire designed to promote analytical thinking by educating participants on common judgement errors specific to gambling once a week for four weeks. Post-intervention measures of beliefs and gambling consumption were captured in week five. ResultsThe experimental condition reported significantly fewer erroneous cognitions, greater endorsement of protective cognitions, and reduced time spent gambling post-intervention compared to baseline. The control group also reported a reduction in cognitions relating to predicting and controlling gambling outcomes.ConclusionCognitive interventions that encourage gamblers to challenge gambling beliefs by reflecting on gambling involvement and promoting critical thinking may be an effective tool for reducing the time people invest in gambling activities.

Training gamblers to re-think their gambling choices: How contextual analytical thinking may be useful in promoting safer gambling.

Harmful gambling has been associated with the endorsement of fallacious cognitions that promote excessive consumption. These types of beliefs stem from intuitively derived assumptions about gambling that are fostered by fast-thinking and a lack of objective, critical thought. The current paper details an experiment designed to test whether a four-week online intervention to strengthen contextual analytical thinking in gamblers is effective in changing gamblers cognitions and encouraging safer gambling consumption. Ninety-four regular gamblers who reported experiencing gambling-related harm were randomly allocated to either an experimental (n = 46) or control condition (n = 48), including 45 males, ranging from 19 to 65 years of age (M = 36.61; SD = 9.76). Following baseline measurement of gambling beliefs and prior week gambling consumption, participants in the experimental condition were required to complete an adaption of the Gamblers Fallacy Questionnaire designed to promote analytical thinking by educating participants on common judgement errors specific to gambling once a week for four weeks. Post-intervention measures of beliefs and gambling consumption were captured in week five. The experimental condition reported significantly fewer erroneous cognitions, greater endorsement of protective cognitions, and reduced time spent gambling post-intervention compared to baseline. The control group also reported a reduction in cognitions relating to predicting and controlling gambling outcomes. Cognitive interventions that encourage gamblers to challenge gambling beliefs by reflecting on gambling involvement and promoting critical thinking may be an effective tool for reducing the time people invest in gambling activities.

Impostor Phenomenon and Psychological Well-Being: The Moderating Roles of John Henryism and School Racial Composition Among Black College Students.

The impostor phenomenon (IP), or erroneous cognitions of intellectual incompetence, is a risk factor for poor psychological adjustment among Black emerging adults. Grounded in Lazarus and Folkman's Stress and Coping Framework, the current study investigated John Henryism's active coping and institutional racial composition as moderators of the association between IP and indicators of psychological well-being among 266 Black students (77% women; M age = 19.87) attending predominately White institutions (PWIs) and historically Black colleges/universities (HBCUs). Hierarchical moderation regression analyses revealed that IP was associated with decreases in well-being indicators among students attending PWIs and HBCUs. Moreover, students who attended PWIs and reported higher levels of John Henryism (+1 SD) were most vulnerable to increases in social anxiety, particularly at higher levels of IP. Results suggest that the interaction between IP, John Henrysim, and institutional racial composition may negatively influence psychological well-being. We discuss how these findings can be used to inform clinical and educational practices to best support Black college students.

Proximal and Distal Risk Factors for Gambling Problems Specifically Associated with Electronic Gaming Machines.

Electronic gaming machines (EGMs) are widely used and the gambling product most commonly associated with harmful gambling. Understanding factors that increase the risk of problematic EGM play is therefore important. Previous studies into risk factors for EGM gambling have used measures of problem gambling based on an individual's total gambling activity, which therefore do not distinguish harmful gambling specifically associated with EGMs. This study used an EGM-specific measure (PGSI-EGM) to achieve its aim of identifying risk factors specifically associated with problematic EGM play. By removing nuisance effects from other gambling forms that higher-risk gamblers typically engage in, this approach provides a more accurate assessment of the determinants of EGM-related problems. An online survey was completed by 1932 at-least monthly EGM players in Australia. It measured demographics, EGM gambling behaviour, motivations, gambling urges, gambling fallacies, trait self-control, alcohol misuse, and the PGSI-EGM. A penalised regression model identified the most important proximal predictors of higher-risk EGM gambling as: higher gambling urges, higher levels of erroneous cognitions, playing EGMs more frequently, higher session expenditure, longer sessions, usually playing EGMs alone, and playing EGMs in more venues. Lower trait self control was the strongest distal determinant. Higher-risk EGM players tended to be younger, male, more educated, never married, to have higher (although still modest) incomes, and be more likely to have alcohol problems. These findings can inform interventions such as treatment, consumer education and venue interventions.

Return-to-Player Percentage in Gaming Machines: Impact of Informative Materials on Player Understanding.

The addictive potential of electronic gaming machines (EGMs) is currently explained within a cognitive-behavioural framework. This framework explains that various erroneous cognitions regarding players' likelihood of winning contribute to persistent EGM gambling behaviour. Related to these cognitions is the pervasive misunderstanding among players regarding the operation of EGMs. However, little research has focussed specifically on player understanding of the theoretical proportion returned to players over the lifetime of a machine; return to player percentage. This study aimed to investigate the extent to which players understand the concept return to player percentage presented in different educative formats. A sample of 112 university students were randomly allocated to one of four conditions pertaining to a different mode of information delivery; infographic, vignette, brochure, or mandated legislation (control). Participants completed post-intervention measures to determine changes in knowledge. As predicted, participants exhibited a lack of understanding of the concept of return to player at baseline. However, contrary to predictions, exposure to any of the experimental conditions did not result in a greater understanding of return to player than controls. The study findings emphasise the difficulty individuals have in understanding complex concepts related to return to player percentages when presented in current formats and content. Treatment and responsible gambling policies need to adopt strategies to effectively improve knowledge of this aspect of the structural characteristics of gaming machines.

Risk Factors for Gambling Problems Specifically Associated with Sports Betting.

Studies examining risk factors for problem gambling amongst sports bettors have used screens that assess gambling problems in general. Because people experiencing gambling-related problems tend to gamble on multiple forms, it is unclear whether problems identified amongst sports bettors are due to sports betting itself. The present study examined a range of distal and proximal demographic, behavioural and psychological risk factors using a modified version of the Problem Gambling Severity Index which respondents answered only in relation to their sports betting. In general, those at risk were younger, spoke a language other than English, were more engaged sports bettors and gamblers, and tended not to watch the event they had bet on. They particularly endorsed money-oriented motivations, and had higher erroneous cognitions, gambling urges, and were more likely to experience alcohol issues. Higher-risk sports bettors were also more likely to apportion less responsibility for their gambling to themselves, and to have lower self control. A penalised model found that key predictors were money motivations, gambling urges and erroneous cognitions, alcohol issues and lower self-control, but not sports betting behaviour. These findings suggest that one's psychological relationship to sports betting is a primary driver of gambling-related problems, rather than just betting behaviour. As sports betting expands through new products and legalisation in additional jurisdictions, understanding who is most at risk from this form of gambling is important to inform legislation as well as harm reduction and treatment measures.

‘I’ll Just Pay the Rent Next Month’: an Exploratory Study Examining Facilitatory Cognitions Among EGM Problem Gamblers

Clinical studies of problem gamblers (PGs) highlight the role of erroneous cognitions during problematic gambling, yet little is known about the role of cognitions in the maintenance of gambling problems. Twenty-nine electronic gaming machine (EGM) PGs engaged in focus groups and in-depth interviews, with a focus on understanding the relapse process in EGM gambling. Three themes and nine subthemes related to facilitatory cognitions were described; (i) creating available money (paying only essential bills, pokies money is not real money), (ii) minimising gambling as a problem (pseudo-control, ignoring harms), and (iii) struggling with overwhelming emotions. This paper expands our understanding of gambling cognitions and argues cognitions activated during problem gambling are more complicated than considered to date. These findings inform current cognitive therapy approaches by identifying a more comprehensive suite of erroneous cognitions. Addressing these cognitions may assist gamblers to maintain critical thinking about their decision to gamble, thus reducing their risk of relapse.

Near-Misses and Stop Buttons in Slot Machine Play: An Investigation of How They Affect Players, and May Foster Erroneous Cognitions

In modern casinos, multiline slot machines are becoming increasingly popular compared to traditional, three-reel slot machines. A paucity of research has examined how the unique presentation of near-misses and the use of a stop button in multiline slot machines impact erroneous cognitions related to the perception of skill and agency during play. Our goal therefore was to determine the prevalence of erroneous cognitions pertaining to near-miss outcomes and the usage of a stop button and then to see whether the stop button affected players’ experiences of winning, losing and near-miss outcomes. We recruited 132 gamblers from a casino in Ontario. They played two versions of a slot machine simulator: one with a stop button and one without a stop button. We measured player’s arousal [skin conductance responses (SCRs), pressure on the spin-button), and behavioural responses (post-reinforcement pauses (PRPs)] to wins, losses and near-misses during play. We predicted more robust physiological SCRs and longer PRPs to wins in the stop button game. We also predicted that near-misses encountered in the stop button game would trigger greater levels of arousal and frustration in players, as indexed by larger SCRs, and greater force applied to the spin button to initiate the next spin. Erroneous cognitions pertaining to the stop button and near-misses respectively were assessed following play. Results showed that a small but meaningful percentage of players held erroneous cognitions about the stop button (13.6%) and near-misses (16%). Players depressed the spin button harder, and had larger SCRs for all outcomes when using the stop button. Players also paused longer for near-misses in the game involving the stop button. Our findings converge to suggest that the stop button encourages an erroneous perception of skill in some players, and consequentially impacts how such players perceive their outcomes in multiline slot machines.

Disordered Gambling: The Effects of a Brief, Online Cognitive Intervention in an Australian Sample

Cognitive processes, in particular, erroneous beliefs surrounding gambling outcomes and abilities, are thought to play an important role in the development and maintenance of disordered gambling behaviours. The current study investigated the impact of erroneous gambling-related cognitions on gambling severity and intentions to gamble, trialling a brief, online cognitive intervention designed to reduce gambling-related cognitions and intentions to gamble. One hundred and twenty one participants were randomly allocated to either an educational intervention condition or an alternative intervention (control condition). Participants in the educational intervention condition showed larger reductions in gambling-related cognitions than did participants in the control condition. The educational intervention significantly reduced erroneous cognitions from pre to post treatment, with effectiveness of the intervention increasing in those exhibiting more severe gambling behaviours.