Temporal Landmarks Research Articles

Spatiotemporal mapping of auditory onsets during speech production.

The human auditory cortex is organized according to the timing and spectral characteristics of speech sounds during speech perception. During listening, the posterior superior temporal gyrus is organized according to onset responses, which segment acoustic boundaries in speech, and sustained responses, which further process phonological content. When we speak, the auditory system is actively processing the sound of our own voice to detect and correct speech errors in real time. This manifests in neural recordings as suppression of auditory responses during speech production compared to perception, but whether this differentially affects onset and sustained temporal profiles is not known. Here we investigated this question using intracranial EEG recorded from seventeen pediatric, adolescent, and adult patients with medication-resistant epilepsy while they performed a reading/listening task. We identified onset and sustained responses to speech in bilateral auditory cortex and observed a selective suppression of onset responses during speech production. We conclude that onset responses provide a temporal landmark during speech perception that is redundant with forward prediction during speech production and are therefore suppressed. Phonological feature tuning in these "onset suppression" electrodes remained stable between perception and production. Notably, auditory onset responses and phonological feature tuning were present in the posterior insula during both speech perception and production, suggesting an anatomically and functionally separate auditory processing zone that we believe to be involved in multisensory integration during speech perception and feedback control.Significance Statement Specific neural populations in the auditory cortex preferentially respond to the onset of speech sounds. These "onset responses" aid in perceiving boundaries in continuous speech. We recorded neural responses from patients with intracranial electrodes during a speaking and listening task to investigate the role of onset responses in speech production. Onset responses were present in the auditory cortex during listening, but absent during speaking. On the other hand, onset responses were observed in the insula during both conditions, suggesting a different functional role for the insula in auditory feedback processing. These findings extend our knowledge of how different parts of the brain involved in feedback control operate during speech production by identifying two functionally and anatomically distinct patterns of activity.

EXPRESS: The Last Hurrah Effect: End-of-Period Temporal Landmarks Increase Optimism and Financial Risk-Taking

Understanding what drives risk-taking is fundamental for the study of choice under uncertainty. One widely discussed question is when and why people engage in risk-taking. Prior work finds evidence for an ending effect, where risk-taking increases on the last gamble in a series when outcomes are immediately realized. We test whether socially ubiquitous endof-period temporal landmarks (e.g., last day of the work week, month, year) alter financial risk-taking even when outcomes are not immediate. Using data from a large peer-to-peer investment platform in the United States, we show that investors make riskier financial investment decisions on Fridays relative to those made earlier in the week. Consistent with a broader end-of-period effect, risk-taking also increases on the last day of the month, last day of the year, and on weekdays prior to a long weekend. Follow-up lab experiments identify a novel mechanism driving ending effects: As people near the end of a temporal period, they feel more optimistic that their financial risks will pay off, driving greater financial risk-taking. The shift in risk-taking is not without consequence: In our specific peer-to-peer context, we show that end-of-period investments perform worse over time, losing money relative to investments made on other days.

Inflammation primes the murine kidney for recovery by activating AZIN1 adenosine-to-inosine editing.

The progression of kidney disease varies among individuals, but a general methodology to quantify disease timelines is lacking. Particularly challenging is the task of determining the potential for recovery from acute kidney injury following various insults. Here, we report that quantitation of post-transcriptional adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing offers a distinct genome-wide signature, enabling the delineation of disease trajectories in the kidney. A well-defined murine model of endotoxemia permitted the identification of the origin and extent of A-to-I editing, along with temporally discrete signatures of double-stranded RNA stress and adenosine deaminase isoform switching. We found that A-to-I editing of antizyme inhibitor 1 (AZIN1), a positive regulator of polyamine biosynthesis, serves as a particularly useful temporal landmark during endotoxemia. Our data indicate that AZIN1 A-to-I editing, triggered by preceding inflammation, primes the kidney and activates endogenous recovery mechanisms. By comparing genetically modified human cell lines and mice locked in either A-to-I-edited or uneditable states, we uncovered that AZIN1 A-to-I editing not only enhances polyamine biosynthesis but also engages glycolysis and nicotinamide biosynthesis to drive the recovery phenotype. Our findings implicate that quantifying AZIN1 A-to-I editing could potentially identify individuals who have transitioned to an endogenous recovery phase. This phase would reflect their past inflammation and indicate their potential for future recovery.

Hazardous Elements in the Edible Portion of Perna perna Mussels: Relation with the COVID-19 Pandemic Period and Assessment of the Risk to Human Health.

In this work, the concentrations of hazardous elements (As, Cd and Pb) in the edible portion of the Perna perna mussel from Southeast Brazil were analyzed to understand the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the coastal environment and to evaluate the quality of this fishery resource. Decreases in anthropogenic chemical outputs to the environment were expected to occur during the COVID-19 pandemic, with decreases in element concentrations in mussels. The ranges of median concentrations (µgg-1dw) in the pre- and pandemic periods were 5.4-16.1 and 2.2-10.6 for As; 0.2-0.6 and 0.1-0.5 for Cd; and 1.2-3.2 and 0.7-1.8 for Pb, respectively. Temporal variations (prepandemic x pandemic) were more significant than spatial variations (five sampling sites). The relationships between the concentrations of hazardous elements and isotopic ratios (δ15N and δ13C) suggested that food sources were more diverse across the sampling sites during the pandemic period, when individuals exhibited less efficient trophic transfer. The concentrations of Cd and Pb were below the tolerable maximum limit, whereas for As, they were above the limit; however, these concentrations are not a risk to human health, as most As was present in the least toxic organic form. The intake estimates were below the tolerable intake limits, and only Pb concentrations are at risk of causing concern if the intake of mussels increases. This is the first study in Brazil that presents a spatial-temporal comparison of hazardous elements in marine fauna considering COVID-19 as a temporal landmark. The results are of interest for both public health and environmental health management in a post-COVID-19 scenario.

The day-of-the-week effect is resilient to routine change.

Temporal landmarks are salient events that structure the way humans think about time. They may be personal events, such as one's birthday, or shared cultural events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to societal habits, the cyclical weekly structure - for example, working on weekdays, resting on the weekends - helps individuals orient themselves in time. In the "day-of-the-week effect," individuals are faster at reporting which day of the week it is on weekends than they are on weekdays. Herein, we hypothesized that the disruption of social habits during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns may have weakened this effect, thereby accounting for the "Blursday" phenomenon. In the current study, speeded responses to the question "What day of the week is it?" were collected online from 1,742 French participants, during and after the lockdown periods. We found that reaction times for days of the weekends remained faster than for weekdays during the lockdown, although the overall reaction times were significantly slower during lockdown. We also found that responses were slower as governmental stringency rules and restrictions in mobility increased. Our results suggest that the weekend landmark remains a stable temporal anchor in French culture despite the experienced temporal distortions induced by the disruption of social habits during the pandemic. We conclude that cultural temporal landmarks shape socially shared temporal cognitive maps.

Effect of temporal landmarks on consumers’ preference for attribute alignability: The mediating role of creative self-efficacy

Effect of temporal landmarks on consumers’ preference for attribute alignability: The mediating role of creative self-efficacy

Oops!… I waited until the last minute again: The role of fresh start nudges in task completion

AbstractIndividuals often have difficulties completing tasks in a timely manner. Whether it be scheduling a doctor's appointment, purchasing a birthday gift, or booking an airline ticket, waiting until the very last minute can carry serious consequences. In two experimental studies, we explore how individuals can be encouraged to finish tasks promptly. We provide evidence for the “fresh start effect” by showing that a temporal landmark signaling a new beginning helps speed up their task completion. Notably, we demonstrate that the “fresh start nudge” can facilitate early task completion through the underlying processes of meaningfulness and motivation. We also report the moderating role of task openness, supporting the claim that the fresh start effect is stronger when the task is perceived to be relatively closed (rather than open) and must therefore be completed in fewer steps without interruption.

Choosing culture or nature: How temporal landmarks affect tourism destination preferences

Start and end temporal landmarks are powerful in altering individual perceptions and behavior. However, there has been little research on how temporal landmarks affect tourists' choice of destination. This paper draws on conservation of resources theory in analyzing how temporal landmarks influence tourists' choice of cultural vs. natural destinations. In four studies based on secondary data analyses and experiments, using different operationalizations of temporal landmarks and tourism destinations, and recruiting samples from distinct cultural backgrounds, we show that end temporal landmarks deplete tourists' perceived psychological resources and increase their preference for natural over cultural destinations. However, this effect is mitigated when a tourist has a circular time perspective. This paper contributes to the theoretical literature about temporal landmarks and destination decision-making by showing the effect of temporal landmarks on tourists’ destination preferences. It also provides useful insights for tourism marketers aiming to advertise cultural or natural destinations at the beginning or end of a period.

Self‐gifting and temporal selves: Insights from first‐time older motherhood

AbstractPrior literature has long established self‐gifts as a form of symbolic self‐communication that can be particularly meaningful and impactful for individuals to enhance self‐concept clarity and self‐definition during life transitions. However, little is known about how life transitions may bring about changes in the practices and meanings of self‐gifting. Drawing on individual interviews with 22 first‐time older mothers, this research uses temporal self‐appraisal theory as the theoretical lens and temporal landmarks as a sensitizing framework to explore how people's past, present, and future selves may unfold and interact in influencing their self‐gifting practices and meanings. Our findings contribute to a fuller understanding of the temporal nature of self‐gifting by highlighting the varying self‐gifting orientations that emerge from the interaction, reflecting changes in temporal self‐appraisals and how they enable a sense of self‐(dis)continuity for psychological well‐being. The temporal perspective of self‐gifts offers a theoretical framework for understanding how self‐gifts, a form of symbolic self‐communication, express, manage, or facilitate perceived self‐changes and the need for self‐continuity. The marketing implications and applications of the theoretical framework are also discussed.

The Process of Revisiting the Classics in Matei Vișniec’s Theatre. Or About the Fragility of Seagulls in Canonical Drama

Dramatic rewritings—adaptations, updates, additions and hybridizations of genres—have the role of dynamizing the literary substrate and framework, often configuring a bridge between history events or episodes through which a society passes across eras. Matei Vișniec deconstructs and recomposes Shakespearean or Chekhovian characters, reworks the material of classical authors’ plays in a new form on a seemingly improvised frame, contextualising both hypotext and hypertext. Through these returns, a constant dialogue with memory is operated, with the revitalization and remembrance of important moments in the becoming of a culture, a theatre or an artist. Textual improvisations also show themselves as a way of productive reception. Our analysis1 will focus on texts that go through the process of rewriting the classics of universal literature, from The Chekhov Machinery, to Richard III Will Not Take Place or Scenes from the Life of Meyerhold and Why Hecuba—these are plays that revisit texts and characters, melting them into the mould of the present with tragi-comic, grotesque, derisory accents. In a perspective beyond spatial and temporal landmarks, the playwright creates a palimpsest from fragments about humanity across eras, about the great errors West to East of Europe, and themes that cross literary, theatrical and creative borders.

Temporal Landmarks and Nostalgic Consumption: The Role of the Need to Belong.

This study investigates the influence of temporal landmarks on nostalgic consumption through the mediating role of the need to belong. In particular, the study identifies end landmarks as one of the triggers of landmarks, a phenomenon that has not been studied in the existing nostalgic consumption literature. The research is composed of one pilot study and three experiments to test our research hypotheses. The results show that end temporal landmarks trigger feelings of nostalgia, which leads to nostalgic consumption through the need to belong. This study underscores the mediating role of the need to belong, which plays an important role in leading to nostalgic consumption. Building upon theoretical perspectives on the need to belong, our study enriches the research literature by linking extreme consumer emotional statuses, such as social anxiety, to the consumer need to belong, showing that consumer nostalgic consumption can become a coping strategy that counteracts these negative feelings and helps in regaining connection and supporting social relationship networks. Marketers may use the signs of end temporal landmarks to increase consumers' nostalgia, which, in turn, will enhance consumers' need to belong and thus lead to the purchasing and consumption of nostalgic products.

The COVID-19 pandemic as autobiographical period: evidence from an event dating study

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 Pandemic is undoubtedly one of the most impactful and ubiquitous public events in recent history. In this study, we focused on how it affected the organisation of autobiographical memory by examining how often individuals referred to the COVID-19 Pandemic while estimating the date of their autobiographical memories. To that end, we collected word-cued memories from the recent past, event dating protocols, COVID-relatedness ratings, and the transitional impact scores from first-year undergraduates. We found that participants frequently recalled COVID-related memories, and often used the Pandemic as a temporal landmark for dating both COVID-related and unrelated memories. Importantly, reference to the Pandemic in dating estimates was as frequent as the references to other important life periods (high school, university). Despite affecting the lives of these individuals only moderately in psychological and material terms, these data indicate that the Pandemic has become a prominent landmark in autobiographical memory, shaping the way we remember and situate past experiences.

Temporal evolution of postsurgical bone repair in a rabbit model: A [99mTc]Tc-MDP scintigraphic study.

Bone regeneration is crucial for repairing bone tissue following various injuries. Research techniques that enable the study of metabolic changes in bone tissue under different conditions are important for understanding bone repair and remodeling. This study used bone scintigraphy to evaluate osteogenesis secondary to osteotomy in a preclinical model of New Zealand rabbits. For this purpose, we conducted a longitudinal, prospective, case-control study in which scintigraphic variables were measured in both the right forearm (case-operated) and the left forearm (control - non-operated). The study sample consisted of 10 rabbits subjected to osteotomy, followed by a 12-week postoperative evaluation period, divided into six imaging stages at 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, and 12 weeks. We observed that the operated forearm showed significantly higher external radiation than the control side, using the pinhole collimator, denoting an increase in the biodistribution and tropism of the radiopharmaceutical to the operated forearm. Among the three evaluated time points, osteoblastic activity was highest in the second week and presented a significant decline in the 8th and 12th weeks, denoting regeneration and resolution of the surgical injury; the control forearm was also influenced by the inactivity imposed by the operated forearm. This fact was notably evidenced by the reduction in the metabolic activity of osteoblasts in the left forearm. Our study suggested that bone scintigraphy was sensitive enough to semi-quantitatively differentiate the metabolic activity of osteoblasts in the operated forearm in the three temporal landmarks evaluated in the study.

A Study on the Influence of Temporal Landmarks on Consumers’ Experiential Decision-Making Style and Hedonic Consumption Preference

A Study on the Influence of Temporal Landmarks on Consumers’ Experiential Decision-Making Style and Hedonic Consumption Preference

Stop and smell the roses: How and when busyness impacts consumers' preference for minimalist advertisements

AbstractIn an era marked by the rapid growth of digital media and increasingly limited attention spans, advertisements employing minimalist aesthetics have emerged as a compelling approach. Yet, the specific conditions under which consumers favor minimalist ads remain underexplored. Through a comprehensive series of studies, including a field study and five scenario‐based experiments, this research unveils new insights into how busyness shapes consumer preferences for minimalist ad designs. This research found that busyness notably steers preferences toward minimalist over complex ads, both in real‐world (Study 1) and experimental environments (Study 2). Notably, we revealed a serial mediation, with busyness affecting ad preference through the desire for relaxation (distal mediator) followed by the intent to avoid processing disfluency (proximal mediator) (Study 3). Furthermore, two boundary conditions were identified in which this effect is attenuated or intensified. When consumers place a high (vs. low) price on time, the busyness effect on minimalism preference is undermined (Study 4). In addition, this effect is more pronounced when a temporal landmark that designates an end (vs. start) is made salient (Studies 5 and 6). These insights not only illuminate consumer behavior in visual marketing but also carry significant practical implications for advertisers, marketing professionals, and policymakers.

Deadlines make you productive, but what do they do to your motivation? Trajectories in quantity and quality of motivation and study activities among university students as exams approach.

Recent research has emphasized that achievement motivation is context-sensitive and varies within individual students. Ubiquitous temporal landmarks such as exams or deadlines are evident contextual factors that could systematically explain variation in motivation. Indeed, research has consistently found that university students increase their study efforts as exams come closer in time, indicating increasing study motivation. However, changes in study motivation for a specific exam as it comes closer have rarely been investigated. Instead, research on developmental changes in expectancy and value beliefs has consistently founds that achievement motivation declines over a semester. Surprisingly, declining motivation thus apparently coincides with increasing study efforts for end-of-semester exams. The present research investigates this apparent contradiction by assessing how exam-specific motivation and study behavior change under equal methodological conditions as an exam draws closer. Using parallel growth curve models, we examine changes in expectancy-value beliefs, performance approach and avoidance motivation and study behavior as well as motivational want- and should-conflicts among 96 students over eight weekly measurement points. Results show that students study more for their exam as it comes closer and increase their use of surface learning strategies more rapidly than their use of deep learning strategies. However, even exam-specific expectancy and attainment value beliefs decline while performance-avoidance motivation increases over time, indicating that students increasingly study out of fear to fail as exams come closer. Consistent with these findings, students' experience of should conflicts decreases while their want conflicts increase over time. We discuss several possible mechanisms underlying our findings in addition to potential theoretical consequences and suggest future research opportunities to better understand students' changes in situative motivation and study behavior in the context of temporal landmarks.

Linking Temporal Landmarks to Voluntary Simplicity: The Mediating Roles of Self-Transcendence and Self-Enhancement

Linking Temporal Landmarks to Voluntary Simplicity: The Mediating Roles of Self-Transcendence and Self-Enhancement

Payday as a Temporal Landmark

Payday as a Temporal Landmark

Temporal landmark effects in travel decision

Temporal landmarks have been extensively studied in the fields of psychology and consumer behavior but seem to have been neglected in the field of tourism. Based on the belief-desire-intention model, we constructed an integrated model of how temporal landmarks influence behavioral intention through positive fantasy. This study confirmed the effect of temporal landmarks on hedonic and travel intention and found differences in the effect of public and personal temporal landmarks. We examined the moderating effect of temporal distance by using construal level theory. The study also investigated the effect of temporal landmarks on choice behavior through a discrete choice experiment. Our findings provided marketers with management insights on how to use temporal landmarks.

Objectification of Semantic Constants in a Precedent Text ("My Little Leniniana" by Venedikt Yerofeyev)

The work of Venedikt Yerofeyev has been adequately studied and interpreted, however, there are still a number of texts that have not been practically studied in the mass of critical sources. One of the precedent constructs, an original and self-sufficient work is "My Little Leniniana" (1988). Therefore, the expediency of studying this text is motivated, in demand and relevant. The article attempts a holistic perception of "My little Leniniana" Veins. Erofeev from the standpoint of identifying a precedent construct in this work. The citation character, in our opinion, speaks of the author's desire not only to formally combine the text nominations from the writings, letters, diaries of V.I. Lenin, but to achieve the effect of immanent objectification of a new meaning. The main subject of the analysis of the work is the design features of "My little Leniniana" Veins. Erofeev, deciphering the mechanism of artistic writing, evaluation of the semantic facets of the work. The precedent text of the Ven. Erofeev becomes a point of concretization of the main cultural and historical dogmas, while the dynamics of semantic constants is mobile with the passage of historical time. The novelty of the work lies in the fact that "My Little Leniniana" by Venedikt Erofeev is considered as a precedent text formed from quotation constructs, however, having other semantic facets different from the original source. The simulation of the game, the simulation of spatial and temporal landmarks, the simulation of a reliable truth under the influence of what someone has already said levels the image of the author, he becomes a textural scriptwriter, creating a kind of palimpsest. The subjective organization of the Erofeev palimpsest is structured in such a way that the transition from a temporal beginning, a spatial point, a quotation following the "author" is carried out to stronger and immanent propositions. Venedikt Yerofeyev prophetically outlined in his "Little Leniniana" the contours of the changes of the late twentieth century on the textured, precedent material of the late XIX – early XX century.