Conflict Paradigm Research Articles

How is variability in physiological responses to social stress related to punishment and reward sensitivities? Preliminary findings from the revised reinforcement sensitivity theory of personality perspective

ABSTRACT Objective: Although personality traits are assumed to have biological/physiological foundations, research has yielded mixed evidence regarding the relationship between personality and physiological stress responses. Moreover, the field has often overlooked the contemporary neuroscience-based personality approach, known as the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) of Personality, in stress research. Method: The present study examined the relationship between the revised RST's personality dimensions and heart rate and skin conductance level (SCL) in response to the Trier Social Stress Test in a sample of 61 healthy university students. Results: Piecewise latent growth curve analysis controlling for the participants’ current life stress, smoking use, and caffeine intake revealed that individuals with higher behavioral inhibition exhibited higher physiological reactivity, whereas those with high reward sensitivity showed smaller heart rate reactivity. The behavioral disengagement facet of the behavioral inhibition scale was associated with reduced sympathetic arousal during the stress task. Additionally, reward interest was associated with a larger recovery of SCL. Conclusion: Results were generally in line with the revised theory. The study findings were discussed within the paradigm of the approach-avoidance conflict and highlighted the importance of reward sensitivity in stress resilience.

Keynes and the drunkard under the lamp post: Making sense of Palley

In a recent article, Tom Palley begins his critique of Keynesian economics with the wellknown story of a drunkard who, when searching for his lost keys, looks not in the darkness of the nearby lawn where he misplaced them, but instead under the light cone of a lamp post because, when asked, he replies that’s where the light is. This story serves as a metaphor for the field of economics attempting to understand the workings of the capitalist economy solely through the lens of Keynesian economics. However, this endeavor is ultimately futile as comprehending capitalism requires a different analytical approach: acknowledging social conflict as an essential component of capitalism’s nature better addressed by Kaleckian macroeconomics. We attempt to illustrate that Palley is accurate in emphasizing the paradigmatic differences and even incommensurabilities between Keynes’ monetary production paradigm and the Marxian-Kaleckian social conflict paradigm. This suggests that any classification under the umbrella term “post-Keynesianism” is misleading. However, Palley is mistaken in his assertion that this distinction aligns Keynes’ economics with neoclassical (mainstream) economics, as the acceptance or rejection of social conflict is not the only fault line in terms of ontology. There are other ontological divisions that can exist. Or, to use our metaphor, the lamp post can be moved to different areas of the lawn, indicating different ontological perspectives.

The Possibility of Development: On Politics amid a Military Conflict

None of the basic elements of the modern European paradigm of military conflict―a clear dividing line between the state of war and peace, the possibility and central role of a battle leading to victory, and, finally, the world order as a result of the ability to come to agreement―exists anymore.

Automatic imitation in children: Age-related change and comparison to adults.

Automatic imitation, in which one person's movement is affected by the observation of another person's movements, has been widely reported. However, it remains unclear how automatic imitation changes over a wide age range, particularly during childhood. In this study, we examined the differences in the tendency for automatic imitation between adults and children and the cross-sectional age-related changes in children aged 5-12 years, using a stimulus-response conflict paradigm. In this task, participants perform a choice-reactive finger movement corresponding to a given response stimulus while observing another participant's compatible or incompatible movement stimuli. The tendency for automatic imitation was assessed based on the reaction time, correct rate, and inverse efficiency score. The results showed that the degree of automatic imitation was weak until the children were 7 years old. Interestingly, our results show that the tendency for automatic imitation during childhood changed to an inverted U-shape, indicating nonlinear changes in automatic imitation during childhood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Концепция “захвата земли”: глобальный и национальный аспекты

The correct understanding of the current world political agenda associated with changes in the global agrifood system is accompanied by the development of new analytical models. The present work is also devoted to the study of the “Land Grabbing” concept as one of innovative tools of the theoretical apparatus of political science. Using the method of historical and logical unity, the author evaluates the role of the “Land Grabbing” strategy, in comparison with “Double Movement” theory and the typology of international food regimes. In particular, the article is devoted to the study of the stages of emergence and evolution of this concept, unfamiliar to the Russian academic community. Based on a comparative analysis, all theories used to describe the expropriation of ecosystem resources are compared. As a result of the procedure, the compilation feature of all related concepts is diagnosed, and the hidden discursive disagreement is eliminated. Using the method of critical analysis, the author develops a “Two-phase model of the occupation of control”, which emphasizes the dominant position of the Conflict paradigm – the semantic module of the idea of “Land Grabbing”. In the experimental part of the article, the effectiveness of the “Land Grabbing” concept is verified on a specific example – the agricultural sector of the Russian Federation. Via the method of statistical observation, the author analyzes the dynamics of property rights and systematizes the register of commercial contracts concluded with agricultural land in the period from 2000 to 2023. It is proved that foreign corporations are the ultimate beneficiaries in more than 90% of cases of all land transactions. Relying on the method of secondary data analysis, the author identifies the largest commercial owners of agricultural land and the leading countries in offshore exploitation of the general domestic ecosystem resource. By the visualization method, a “Tree-factor model of Land Grabbing” is constructed, the indicators of which are the processes of Corporatization, Foreignization and Catastrophization. In the final part of the work, the author simulates a predictive scenario for the transformation of the global food system based on a retrospective analysis of international food regimes. At the same time, a legal examination of the strategy for national security of the Russian Federation is conducted. Drawing on the analysis performed, the author formulates recommendations relevant to the current geopolitical situation.

Tackling Costly Fearful Avoidance Using Pavlovian Counterconditioning

Avoidance behavior constitutes a major transdiagnostic symptom that exacerbates anxiety. It hampers fear extinction and predicts poor therapy-outcome. Pavlovian counterconditioning with a reward could alleviate avoidance better than traditional extinction by reducing negative valence of the feared situation. However, previous studies are scarce and did not consider that pathological avoidance is often costly and typically evolves from an approach-avoidance conflict. Therefore, we used an approach-avoidance conflict paradigm to model effects of counterconditioning on costly avoidance (i.e., avoidance that leads to missing out on rewards). Results from our preregistered Bayesian Mixed Model analyses in 51 healthy participants (43 females) indicated that counterconditioning was more effective in reducing negative valuation and decreasing costly avoidance than traditional extinction. This study supports application of a simple counterconditioning technique, shows that its efficacy transfers to more complex avoidance situations, and suggests treatment may benefit from increasing reward drive in combination with extinction to overcome avoidance. Application in a clinical sample is a necessary next step to assess clinical utility of counterconditioning.

Satirical Elements Juxtaposed: Paradigm of Contemporary Conflict in the Novel of Salman Rushie ‘Quichotte’

Satirical Elements Juxtaposed: Paradigm of Contemporary Conflict in the Novel of Salman Rushie ‘Quichotte’

Conflict paradigms cannot reveal competence.

De Neys is right to criticize the exclusivity assumption in dual-process theories, but he misses the original sin underlying this assumption, which his working model continues to share. Conflict paradigms, in which experimenters measure how one cognitive process interferes (or does not interfere) with another, license few inferences about how the interfered-with process works on its own.

Dismantling Ghana’s Educational System? Regime Change, Political Formations and the Politics of Educational Policy Reforms

This paper is premised on the assumption that world-system and national levels political formation are inherently ridden with conflict and characterized at the same time by fundamental contradictions in the economy, the state and education. In these formations, different nations, classes, ethnic and gender groups occupy different positions in extant relations of domination and subordination. Due to the contradictions, there are always groups that try to restructure education to serve their interests. At any time, various groups (both inside and outside of education systems) do express different criticism about education and articulate the reforms that should be carried out, which are precipitated by regime change. This article seeks to enhance an understanding of the political spectacles that have been subsumed under the rubric of ‘educational reform’ in Ghana. We have attempted to develop not only a clearer conceptualization of what is meant by educational reform but also a more comprehensive explanation of the forces, timing and focus of the associated rhetoric and activities. We have therefore critically reviewed various theoretical approaches that have been used to analyze reform talk and efforts. These include the examination of both national-level and world-system explanations, and we also have attempted to show how world-systems link and subsume the national level hopes and aspirations. With respect to both levels of explanation, we have explored the approaches developed within equilibrium and conflict paradigms and devoted particular attention to the state and its relation to the economy via education. We do not seek to argue that the two paradigms are equally compelling, however we recognize that they reinforce each other. At the same time, we have sought to provide a deterministic account that explains ‘educational reform’ with reference to political motives, and devoid of the individual and collective actions of citizens as epitomised sometimes by equilibrium and conflict structuralist perspectives. These analyses are rooted through developing an understanding of Ghana’s ‘educational reforms’ as a phenomenon occurring in economic and cultural contexts but driven by political motives. Keywords: Equilibrium paradigm; Conflict paradigm; Structural Contradictions; Homeostatic Principles; Structural Functionalism; Social Imaginary; World system; Political formations. DOI: 10.7176/PPAR/13-1-03 Publication date: January 31 st 2023

SCIENCE, RELIGION, AND CULTURE

SCIENCE, RELIGION, AND CULTURE

Older Adults Show Intraindividual Variation in the Use of Predictive Processing

ABSTRACT Background The use of prediction can aid language comprehension through preactivation of relevant word features. However, predictions can be wrong, and it has been proposed that resolving the mismatch between the predicted and presented item requires cognitive resources. Older adults tend not to predict and instead rely more on passive comprehension. Here, we tested, using an intraindividual approach, whether older adults consistently use this less demanding processing strategy while reading or whether they attempt to predict on some trials. Methods We used a cross-task conflict paradigm. Younger and older participants self-paced to read sentences that ended with either an expected or unexpected word. Each sentence was then followed by a flanker stimulus that could be congruent or incongruent. We examined responses within and across the two tasks. Results Unexpected words were in general read as quickly as expected words, indicating that typical processing of these words was similar. However, for both younger and older adults, there was a greater proportion of very slow trials for unexpected words, revealing different processing on a subset of trials. Critically, in older adults, these slowly read unexpected words engaged control, as seen in speeded responses to incongruent flanker stimuli. Conclusion Using a cross-task conflict paradigm, we showed that older adults are able to predict and engage cognitive resources to cope with prediction violations, but do not opt to use these processes consistently.

The scientific revolution of Thomas S. Kuhn and its contribution to the conflict resolution paradigm in Indonesia

The development of science which is reflected by the paradigm shift and the scientific revolution must be able to find new ideas more progressively. This study is motivated by the significance of a paradigm shift in the development of science through discoveries that are useful for the needs of human life. This study aims to explain Thomas Kuhn’s epistemological views of the scientific revolutions which have become important issues in his thinking and their implications for society’s perspective on conflict paradigms. This article uses a qualitative method to describe Thomas Kuhn’s scientific revolution affects social change in society. This study is classified as library research with the individual life history approach. This article shows that Kuhn’s thought has been implicated significantly in all scientific disciplines, including the conflict resolution paradigm. Kuhn’s thoughts can change the community’s perspective or paradigm of conflict resolution models from a security and law approach to local wisdom. In addition, Kuhn’s thoughts have changed the meaning of peace, namely from negative peace to positive peace in people’s lives. This study concluded that one of the important contributions of Kuhn’s thinking of the paradigm shift and scientific revolution is the development of conflict resolution and religious peacebuilding in society.

Midfrontal Theta Activity Is Sensitive to Approach-Avoidance Conflict.

Midfrontal theta (FMθ) in the human EEG is commonly viewed as a generic and homogeneous mechanism of cognitive control in general and conflict processing in particular. However, the role of FMθ in approach-avoidance conflicts and its cross-task relationship to simpler stimulus-response conflicts remain to be examined more closely. Therefore, we recorded EEG data while 59 healthy participants (49 female, 10 male) completed both an approach-avoidance task and a flanker task. Participants showed significant increases in FMθ power in response to conflicts in both tasks. To our knowledge, this is the first study to show a direct relationship between FMθ and approach-avoidance conflicts. Crucially, FMθ activity was task dependent and showed no cross-task correlation. To assess the possibility of multiple FMθ sources, we applied source separation [generalized eigendecomposition (GED)] to distinguish independent FMθ generators. The activity of the components showed a similar pattern and was again task specific. However, our results did not yield a clear differentiation between task-specific FMθ sources for each of the participants. Overall, our results show FMθ increases in approach-avoidance conflicts, as has been established only for more simple response conflict paradigms so far. The independence of task-specific FMθ increases suggests differential sensitivity of FMθ to different forms of behavioral conflict.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT FMθ is well established as an indicator for cognitive conflict in tasks involving simple stimulus-response conflicts. However, we do not yet know about its role in more complex forms of goal ambivalence, such as approach-avoidance conflicts. Thus, we implemented an approach-avoidance task and a flanker task to investigate FMθ in response to simple as well as more complex response conflicts. To our knowledge, this is the first study to show a direct relationship between FMθ and approach-avoidance conflicts. Although the transient FMθ increase is similar to that induced in a simple response conflict task, individual FMθ responsiveness to these two forms of conflict were independent of each other, suggesting intraindividual differences in the sensitivity of FMθ to different forms of behavioral conflict.

Neuronal congruency effects in macaque prefrontal cortex

The interplay between task-relevant and task-irrelevant information may induce conflicts that impair behavioral performance, a.k.a. behavioral congruency effects. The neuronal mechanisms underlying behavioral congruency effects, however, are poorly understood. We recorded single unit activity in monkey prefrontal cortex using a task-switching paradigm and discovered a neuronal congruency effect (NCE) that is carried by target and distractor neurons which process target and distractor-related information, respectively. The former neurons provide more signal, the latter less noise in congruent compared to incongruent conditions, resulting in a better target representation. Such NCE is dominated by the level of congruency, and is not determined by the task rules the subjects used, their reaction times (RT), the length of the delay period, nor the response levels of the neurons. We propose that this NCE can explain behavioral congruency effects in general, as well as previous fMRI and EEG results in various conflict paradigms.

Конфліктологічна парадигма в контексті трансформації соціально-трудової сфери

The purpose of the article is to develop a holistic concept of managing social and labor conflicts and, on its basis, to form a new conflict paradigm. The theoretical provisions that create a methodological basis for a comprehensive analysis of the nature of social and labor conflicts in the context of the transformation of the social and labor sphere of society are substantiated. An analysis of the essence of the concept of "social and labor conflict" was carried out. The main components of the concept of managing social and labor conflicts and their structural and functional connections are substantiated. The formed concept is the basis of a new conflict paradigm, which includes the main system parameters: laws, principles, functions, subjects and objects of conflict, methods of conflict management, levels of management, relations, regulating norms, limits of conflict, assessment and diagnostic methods, coordination. The proposed paradigm defines an integrated conceptual approach to the management of social and labor conflicts as an economic category, which is the basis for creating an effective system of conflict management and the formation of structural policy in the conditions of a socially oriented transformational economy.

Conflictological Model of Institutionalization of Economic Processes in the Agriculture

The institutional essence, structure and typology of conflicts in a market economy are determined. The components of typical conflicts have been studied, as well as analysis of the type of economic conflicts "power – business entities" in the agricultural sector. It is established that any disproportions of the socio-economic system lead, due to the relevant incidents, to the aggravation of conflict situations. It was found that the conflict situations are objectively based on the contradictions of the interests of the main groups of agents and, accordingly, the institutions of the system. The results of our research give grounds to assert that the institutional modernization of the agricultural sector is possible only if new types are prevented and the consequences of existing conflicts are reduced, which is a kind of scheme of evasion within public control. It is proved that one of the universal tools of the unobserved economy in the light of the conflict paradigm are certain types of institutional agreements, and this is a fundamentally new methodology for reflecting real processes.

Glocalization as the dominant trend in the development of socio-political being: conflict models and constructs

Being a complex dialectical interaction process for differently directed social centrifugal and centripetal movements, glocalization leads to a significant transformation of political being and consciousness (Chumakov, 2016). Being a natural reaction to the developing unification narrative, the localization and differentiation tendencies, on the other hand, become a causal basis of the struggle for overcoming differences. Both trends symbolize, within their frameworks, the basic values of each narrative and create their political mythologies, each of which has an impact on the collective stratum of consciousness and, as a consequence, on a certain model of socio-political behavior of individuals. Political "myths of global unity" lead the core constructions of political and social being - the nation and the state - to a decrease in their authority and legitimacy level; at the same time, the "mythology of difference", while preserving the dominant political values, reorients them to local manifestations, also losing their connection with the central elements of the political matter. Thus, special conflictual forms of development are formed in contemporary society and are conditioned by both real objective preconditions and artificially generated constructs. Socio-political being, therefore, is in a state of dialectical equilibrium and develops within the conflict paradigm.

Мир в потоке усложнения: от парадигмы конфликта к парадигме синергии

The work is aimed at developing understanding of current strategies of socio-cultural life amid increasing processes of complexity. There are two strategies for mastering socio-cultural complexity: “conflict paradigm” and “synergy paradigm”. Novelty of the proposed approach lies in the subject perspective: synergy is considered not only through the lens of anthropology but also from the perspective of the processes of increasing socio-cultural complexity. The research findings have shown that the modernity requires detection of not only “struggle”, contradictions and conflicts but also functional interdependencies and cooperation.

Neuronal Congruency Signals in Macaque Frontal Cortex

Conflict paradigms, such as the Stroop task, are frequently used to investigate cognitive control, an essential cognitive process for goal-directed behavior. Congruency effects are behavioral signatures of such paradigms. However, the neuronal mechanisms underlying such congruency effects and how they are represented in the brain are poorly understood. We recorded single unit activity in monkey frontal cortex using a novel rule-based attention-conflict paradigm and discovered a neuronal congruency representation which was composed of a concurrent facilitation effect in task-relevant neurons and an interference effect in task-irrelevant neurons. We also found that response-conflicts are not necessary for evoking behavioral congruency effects. We propose a simple parallel distributed processing model allowing the concomitant neuronal facilitation and interference signals to develop. Such neuronal congruency signals explain behavioral congruency effects in general, as well as previous fMRI and EEG results in various conflict paradigms.

Технологии моделирования и нейтрализации политических конфликтов в современном дискурсе

The article provides an overview of conflict paradigms in retrospect and at the present stage. The author justifies the choice of research focus (conflicts of the supranational and intrastate levels), gives a characteristic of the main technologies for neutralizing and modeling modern political conflicts at the mega and macro levels, taking into account the national specifics of scientific discourse, types of political regime and global trends in the development of modern society.