Self-referencing Research Articles

“Me” means more than “good”: stimuli’s self-relevance matters more than valence in shaping evaluative learning via the self

ABSTRACT Stimuli that relate to the self tend to be better liked. The Self-Referencing (SR) task is a paradigm whereby one target categorised through the same action as self-stimuli (i.e. possessive pronouns) is preferred over an alternative target categorised through the same action as other-stimuli. Past studies on the SR showed that valence could not fully account for the observed effect. Here we explored self-relevance as a possible explanation. Across four studies (N = 567), participants selected self-relevant and self-irrelevant adjectives to be used as source stimuli in a Personal-SR task. In that task, the two classes of stimuli were paired with two fictitious brands. We measured automatic (IAT) and self-reported preferences, and identification with the brands. Experiment 1 showed that the brand paired with positive self-relevant adjectives became more positive than the one paired with positive self-irrelevant adjectives. Experiment 2 confirmed this pattern with negative adjectives, and Experiment 3 ruled out the effect of a self-serving bias in the adjectives selection. Experiment 4 showed that the brand related to negative self-relevant adjectives was preferred over the brand related to positive self-irrelevant adjectives. We discussed the implications of our results and the potential mechanisms that might explain self-driven preferences.

Using the Self-Referencing Task to Produce Durable Change on Food Evaluations Measured via the IAT

In many daily life situations, eating behaviour manifests itself under conditions of automaticity. Associative learning procedures have proven reliable to change food items’ evaluations inferred from performances in indirect tasks, such as the Implicit Association Test (IAT). Targeting two alternative food brands, we investigated the impact of the Self-Referencing (SR) task on IAT performances measured immediately after the manipulation and one week later. Capitalizing on the structural features of the SR task, a first study (<em>N</em> = 145) demonstrated the durable effect of the manipulation on the IAT. An advantage in automatic responding for the snack brand paired with the self was detected right after the SR task and one week later. Instead, the SR manipulation showed no impact on self-reported evaluations. Moreover, a semantic priming task administered right after the SR task indicated response facilitation for the self-related target brand when self-stimuli were used as primes. Experiment 2 (<em>N</em> = 268, pre-registered) targeted two alternative food brands and replicated the lasting effect on the IAT, thus demonstrating the generalizability of the effect. Moreover, we extended the results’ validity by showing that SR can generate a durable effect on a behavioural choice task. We discussed the effectiveness of the SR in producing lasting effects on the IAT and other instances of automatic behavior and the potential implications for research in the food domain.

The Self-Referencing task: Theoretical overview and empirical evidence

This contribution provides both a theoretical framework and a quantitative summary of the empirical evidence on a recent evaluative learning procedure, namely the Self-Referencing (SR) task. The SR task is introduced by describing its key features, with emphasis on the intersecting regularities principle as its underlying learning mechanism and on the potential advantages related to use the self as a source of evaluative learning. Then, across 53 studies, we meta-analyzed the SR effect on implicit and explicit evaluative and extra-evaluative domains. The meta-analytical technique also allowed us to test for boundary conditions of the effect. We identified potential moderators related to either general, specific or task-unrelated characteristics of the SR paradigm and tested their power to account for variations in the effect, with special attention on the role played by memory of the intersecting regularities. Overall, findings suggest that the SR task is effective in leading to both evaluative and extra-evaluative learning. We discussed the robustness of the effect and some relevant findings pertaining to the moderators. In particular, we focused on a) the fact that the effect can be qualified by the type of stimuli used in the task as either source or target of attitudinal change and b) the importance of processing the intersecting regularities, which is as a key driver that qualifies the magnitude and the direction of the effect. Both practical and theoretical implications from the moderation analyses are also discussed.

Increasing implicit and explicit attitudes toward an organic food brand by referencing to oneself

In the last decades, theoretical and empirical work has been devoted to implicit attitudes toward a large range of food items. Despite the increasing development of green labels in the food market, to our knowledge no study has investigated implicit attitudes toward organic food nor has tried to change them. Capitalizing on the important role of the self in consumer or pro-environmental behavior, we aim to change or form implicit and explicit attitudes toward organic food brands using the self. Moreover, we investigate the possibility of changing hypothetical shopping behavior, brand identification, and attitude change persistence. Targeting two fictitious brands of organic food in two studies, we use the Self-Referencing (SR) task, an evaluative learning paradigm that relies on both the use of the self as a positive source of evaluation and the common action to classify the self and a target. We assess its effects on implicit attitudes, using one of the most common indirect measure (Implicit Association Test), as well as on explicit attitudes. We show that the SR manipulation results in more positive implicit attitudes, explicit attitudes, and to more frequent hypothetical choice of products for the eco-brand paired with the self compared to the other eco-brand. SR manipulation also results in higher level of brand identification. Moreover, changes in implicit attitude mediate changes in explicit attitude, identification, and hypothetical choice. Finally, we provide evidence for the persistence of the effect: Participants liked and identified more with the brand originally paired with the self even after removing the pairing with the self. The discussion is organized around the importance of taking into account implicit attitudes toward organic food brands and the usefulness of the self in changing or forming these attitudes.

Monitoring sulfide-oxidizing biofilm activity on cement surfaces using non-invasive self-referencing microsensors

Microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) in concrete results in significant cost for infrastructure maintenance. Prior studies have employed molecular techniques to identify microbial community species in corroded concrete, but failed to explore bacterial activity and functionality during deterioration. In this study, biofilms of different sulfur-oxidizing bacteria compositions were developed on the surface of cement paste samples to simulate the natural ecological succession of microbial communities during MIC processes. Noninvasive, self-referencing (SR) microsensors were used to quantify real time changes of oxygen, hydrogen ion and calcium ion flux for the biofilm to provide more information about bacterial behavior during deterioration. Results showed higher transport rates in oxygen consumption, and hydrogen ion at 4 weeks than 2 weeks, indicating increased bacterial activity over time. Samples with five species biofilm had the highest hydrogen ion and calcium ion transport rates, confirming attribution of acidophilic sulfur-oxidizing microorganisms (ASOM). Differences in transport rates between three species samples and two species samples confirmed the diversity between Thiomonas intermedia and Starkeya novella. The limitations of SR sensors in corrosion application could be improved in future studies when combined with molecular techniques to identify the roles of major bacterial species in the deterioration process.

Effects of self-referencing on feeling-of-knowing accuracy and recollective experience

The current research investigated the impact of self-referencing (SR) on feeling-of-knowing (FOK) judgements to improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying these metamemory judgements and specifically test the relationship between recollective experiences and FOK accuracy within the accessibility framework FOK judgements are thought to be by-products of the retrieval process and are therefore closely related to memory performance. Because relating information to one's self is one of the factors enhancing memory performance, we investigated the effect of self-related encoding on FOK accuracy and recollective experience. We compared performance on this condition to a separate deep processing condition in which participants reported the frequency of occurrence of pairs of words. Participants encoded pairs of words incidentally, and following a delay interval, they attempted at retrieving each target prompted by its cue. Then, they were re-presented with all cues and asked to provide FOK ratings regarding their likelihood of recognising the targets amongst distractors. Finally, they were given a surprise recognition task in which following each response they identified whether the response was remembered, known or just guessed. Our results showed that only SR at encoding resulted in better memory, higher FOK accuracy and increased recollective experience.

Portable, Universal, and Visual Ion Sensing Platform Based on the Light Emitting Diode-Based Self-Referencing-Ion Selective Field-Effect Transistor

In this work, a novel and universal ion sensing platform was presented, which enables the visual detection of various ions with high sensitivity and selectivity. Coaxial potential signals (millivolt-scale) of the sample from the self-referencing (SR) ion selective chip can be transferred into the ad620-based amplifier with an output of volt-scale potentials. The amplified voltage is high enough to drive a light emitting diode (LED), which can be used as an amplifier and indicator to report the sample information. With this double amplification device (light emitting diode-based self-referencing-ion selective field-effect transistor, LED-SR-ISFET), a tiny change of the sample concentration can be observed with a distinguishable variation of LED brightness by visual inspection. This LED-based luminescent platform provided a facile, low-cost, and rapid sensing strategy without the need of additional expensive chemiluminescence reagent and instruments. Moreover, the SR mode also endows this device excellent stability and reliability. With this innovative design, sensitive determination of K(+), H(+), and Cl(-) by the naked eye was achieved. It should also be noticed that this sensing strategy can easily be extended to other ions (or molecules) by simply integrating the corresponding ion (or molecule) selective electrode.

Nanomaterial based self-referencing microbiosensors for cell and tissue physiology research

Physiological studies require sensitive tools to directly quantify transport kinetics in the cell/tissue spatial domain under physiological conditions. Although biosensors are capable of measuring concentration, their applications in physiological studies are limited due to the relatively low sensitivity, excessive drift/noise, and inability to quantify analyte transport. Nanomaterials significantly improve the electrochemical transduction of microelectrodes, and make the construction of highly sensitive microbiosensors possible. Furthermore, a novel biosensor modality, self-referencing (SR), enables direct measurement of real-time flux and drift/noise subtraction. SR microbiosensors based on nanomaterials have been used to measure the real-time analyte transport in several cell/tissue studies coupled with various stimulators/inhibitors. These studies include: glucose uptake in pancreatic β cells, cancer cells, muscle tissues, intestinal tissues and P. Aeruginosa biofilms; glutamate flux near neuronal cells; and endogenous indole-3-acetic acid flux near the surface of Zea mays roots. Results from the SR studies provide important insights into cancer, diabetes, nutrition, neurophysiology, environmental and plant physiology studies under dynamic physiological conditions, demonstrating that the SR microbiosensors are an extremely valuable tool for physiology research.

The formation of implicit and explicit attitudes for neutral and valenced stimuli using the self

In Evaluative Conditioning (EC) studies, novel Conditioned Stimuli (CSs) are usually selected so to be neutral. However, in real life, because of the tendency of humans to evaluate novel stimuli automatically, novel CSs are very often initially valenced. From the literature little is known on whether EC can be successful under these conditions. In this contribution we applied a specific EC paradigm, namely self-referencing (SR) task, to new fictitious social groups. We present three studies. The first preliminary study is a pretest for selecting novel CSs. We examined the valence of four fictitious novel groups with both direct (semantic differential) and indirect (IAT) measures. The results showed that one pair was neutral (Lerriani vs. Dattiani) and the other was valenced (Niffiani, CS+ vs. Duppiani, CS−). In the second and third studies, we applied the SR paradigm to the neutral and initially valenced CSs. The results revealed a significant EC effect on both indirect and direct measures, such that the groups associated with the self became more positive and the groups associated with the other became more negative. The effects were found for both neutral and initially valenced groups, therefore showing that neutrality is not a prerequisite for EC effects. If anything, the effects were stronger for the initially valenced groups, especially on the indirect measure. Results are discussed in light of the detection of EC effects for both neutral and initially valenced CSs.

Oscillatory glucose flux in INS 1 pancreatic β cells: A self-referencing microbiosensor study

Signaling and insulin secretion in β cells have been reported to demonstrate oscillatory modes, with abnormal oscillations associated with type 2 diabetes. We investigated cellular glucose influx in β cells with a self-referencing (SR) microbiosensor based on nanomaterials with enhanced performance. Dose–response analyses with glucose and metabolic inhibition studies were used to study oscillatory patterns and transporter kinetics. For the first time, we report a stable and regular oscillatory uptake of glucose (averaged period 2.9±0.6min), which corresponds well with an oscillator model. This oscillatory behavior is part of the feedback control pathway involving oxygen, cytosolic Ca2+/ATP, and insulin secretion (periodicity approximately 3min). Glucose stimulation experiments show that the net Michaelis–Menten constant (6.1±1.5mM) is in between GLUT2 and GLUT9. Phloretin inhibition experiments show an EC50 value of 28±1.6μM phloretin for class I GLUT proteins and a concentration of 40±0.6μM phloretin caused maximum inhibition with residual nonoscillating flux, suggesting that the transporters not inhibited by phloretin are likely responsible for the remaining nonoscillatory uptake, and that impaired uptake via GLUT2 may be the cause of the oscillation loss in type 2 diabetes. Transporter studies using the SR microbiosensor will contribute to diabetes research and therapy development by exploring the nature of oscillatory transport mechanisms.

ALGORITHM OF REVISED-OTFTOOL

We revised the OTFTOOL which was developed in Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory (FCRAO) for the On-The-Fly (OTF) observation. Besides the improvement of data resampling function of conventional OTFTOOL, we added a new SELF referencing mode and data pre-reduction function. Since OTF observation data have a large redundancy, we can choose and use only good quality samples excluding bad samples. Sorting out the bad samples is based on the floating level, rms level, antenna trajectory, elevation, , and number of samples. And, spikes are also removed. Referencing method can be chosen between CLASSICAL mode in which the references are taken from the OFFs observation and ELLIPSOIDAL mode in which the references are taken from the inner source free region (this is named as SELF reference). Baseline is subtracted with the source free channel windows and the baseline order chosen by the user. Passing through these procedures, the raw OTF data will be an FITS datacube. The revised-OTFTOOL maximizes the advantages of OTF observation by sorting out the bad samples in the earliest stage. And the new self-referencing method, the ELLIPSOIDAL mode, is very powerful to reduce the data. Moreover since it is possible to see the datacube at once without moving them into other data reduction programs, it is very useful and convenient to check whether the data resampling works well or not. We expect that the revised-OTFTOOL can be applied to the facilities of the OTF observation like SRAO, NRAO, and FCRAO.