Threat Condition Research Articles

Validating the Threat of a Virtual Reality Clinical Environment: A Mixed Methods Study

There is an increasing need for virtual reality (VR) health applications. In the field of pain, VR has been used mainly as a distraction, with minimal use of VR to answer basic clinical questions. Pain is multifactorial and inherently threatening. Our lab recently designed two VR clinical environments with varying threat values; the present study sought to validate these environments. Subjects were randomly allocated into either the threatening or non-threatening VR consultation room and both subjective (threat questionnaire) and physiological (salivary cortisol) measurements were taken. As hypothesised, subjects in the threat condition recorded a higher threat score (p < 0.001; effect size = 0.76). There was a cortisol change across time in the threat condition (χ2(2) = 13.83, p < 0.001), but there were unexpected decreases at both 20 (p = 0.001) and 26 min (p = 0.03) following VR. While the physiological findings need further clarification, this study provides some validation of the threat value of our VR clinical tools. As such, these VR environments can potentially be used in pain experiments to help better our understanding of basic pain mechanisms. It is only with such understanding that we might offer new avenues for pain management.

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION UNDER MILITARY THREATS: UKRAINIAN EXPERIENCE OF ADAPTING TO CRISIS SITUATIONS

The article examines the Ukrainian experience of public administration under conditions of military threat as of 2022-2024. The key challenges faced by Ukraine during the full-scale war are analyzed, including the destruction of critical infrastructure and the need to ensure uninterrupted provision of public services. Special attention is paid to the digitization of public administration, which played a decisive role in maintaining the stability of state institutions. The role of the «Action» platform and other innovative solutions that enabled interaction between citizens and the government in crisis conditions is described. The impact of decentralization on the ability of local authorities to respond to the challenges of war has been studied. The interaction with international partners within the framework of the SIGMA program, which is aimed at providing support in the reform of public administration with a course towards European integration, is characterized. A comparative analysis of the Ukrainian experience with other European countries that faced large-scale crises was carried out, and unique aspects of the Ukrainian model of adaptation were revealed. The article analyzes strategies for the restoration and modernization of the state administration of Ukraine in crisis conditions. Attention is focused on the interaction between the state and corporate sectors to maintain economic activity even in conditions of active hostilities. The role of business relocation to safer regions and the influence of state support on the stabilization of the labor market and the economy are outlined. Programs aimed at restoring infrastructure and vital services in cooperation with international partners are mentioned. The experience of implementing temporary solutions to ensure the basic needs of the population is described. It examines the impact of international aid and financial support through IMF and World Bank programs that helped maintain budget stability and avoid economic collapse. The perspectives of public administration during Ukraine's integration into European structures and further strengthening of public administration are highlighted. Special attention is paid to the prospects for the development of public administration in the post-war period, the solution of socio-economic problems, the restoration of infrastructure and the attraction of investments. Strategic directions for reforming public administration for the future are proposed, taking into account the experience of the war and cooperation with international institutions.

Cognitive dual-task does not annihilate the negative effects of gender stereotype threat on girls' motor learning

Stereotype threat, a key concept in social psychology, occurs when individuals fear they may confirm negative stereotypes about their social group (Steele, 1997). This phenomenon can significantly impair motor learning, particularly in children. Given the robust nature of stereotype threat, research it is now focused on mitigating these negative effects. According to the explicit monitoring hypothesis, it is suggested that distracting individual’s attention can lead to an annihilation of stereotype threat effects, however, to date, this hypothesis has not been examined in children. The present study examined the effect of stereotype threat in a dual task condition on children’s motor learning. One hundred and fifty girls (mean age = 10.96 ± .80 years) were randomly assigned into 3 groups; 1- explicit gender stereotype threat; 2- explicit gender stereotype threat + dual task; 3- control. The task consisted of a soccer-kicking task in which the participants had to score the most points by kicking the soccer ball towards the goals on the wall. This study included three phases; 1- pretest (10 trials); 2- practice phase (5 blocks of 10 trials); 3- retention test (10 trials). During the practice phase, the results indicated that participants in the control condition performed better (M = 1.46, SD = .19) than participants in the gender stereotype threat condition (M = 1.25, SD = .16, p < .001), and, than participants in the gender stereotype threat + dual task paradigm condition (M = .92, SD = .19, p < .001). However, participants in the gender stereotypes + dual task paradigm condition performed worse than participants in the gender stereotype threat condition (p < .001). In addition, the results of the retention test showed that participants in the control condition performed better (M = 1.51, SD = .34) than participants in the gender stereotype threat condition (M = 1.24, SD = .35, p = .001), and participants in the gender stereotype threat + dual task paradigm condition (M = 1.15, SD = .49, p < .001). In conclusion, these results do not support the potential neutralizing effect of a cognitive dual task in a stereotype threat condition in children.

The effects of threat on complex decision-making: evidence from a virtual environment.

Individuals living and working in dangerous settings (e.g., first responders and military personnel) make complex decisions amidst serious threats. However, controlled studies on decision-making under threat are limited given obvious ethical concerns. Here, we embed a complex decision-making task within a threatening, immersive virtual environment. Based on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), a paradigm widely used to study complex decision-making, the task requires participants to make a series of choices to escape a collapsing building. In Study 1 we demonstrate that, as with the traditional IGT, participants learn to make advantageous decisions over time and that their behavioural data can be described by reinforcement-learning based computational models. In Study 2 we created threatening and neutral versions of the environment. In the threat condition, participants performed worse, taking longer to improve from baseline and scoring lower through the final trials. Computational modelling further revealed that participants in the threat condition were more responsive to short term rewards and less likely to perseverate on a given choice. These findings suggest that when threat is integral to decision-making, individuals make more erratic choices and focus on short term gains. They furthermore demonstrate the utility of virtual environments for making threat integral to cognitive tasks.

The negative effects of stereotype threat on women’s spatial ability: the moderating role of resilience / Los efectos negativos de la amenaza de estereotipo en las habilidades espaciales de las mujeres: el papel moderador de la resiliencia

The present research examined the effects of stereotype threat on women’s spatial ability and the moderating role of resilience in China. In two studies ( N = 398), female participants were randomly assigned to the stereotype threat condition or the control condition, followed by a mental rotation test. Results showed that female participants in the stereotype threat condition performed worse than those in the control condition on the spatial performance. Furthermore, resilience moderated the relationship between stereotype threat and participants’ spatial performance. For high-resilience participants, stereotype threat did not impact their performance. However, for low-resilience participants, stereotype threat impaired their performance. We may enhance women’s resilience to combat the negative effects of stereotype threat on their spatial ability in the future.

Examining Brain Activity Responses during Rat Ultrasonic Vocalization Playback: Insights from a Novel fMRI Translational Paradigm.

Despite decades of preclinical investigation, there remains limited understanding of the etiology and biological underpinnings of anxiety disorders. Sensitivity to potential threat is characteristic of anxiety-like behavior in humans and rodents, but traditional rodent behavioral tasks aimed to assess threat responsiveness lack translational value, especially with regard to emotionally valenced stimuli. Therefore, development of novel preclinical approaches to serve as analogues to patient assessments is needed. In humans, the fearful face task is widely used to test responsiveness to socially communicated threat signals. In rats, ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) are analogous social cues associated with positive or negative affective states that can elicit behavioral changes in the receiver. It is therefore likely that when rats hear aversive alarm call USVs (22 kHz), they evoke translatable changes in brain activity comparable with the fearful face task. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging in male and female rats to assess changes in BOLD activity induced by exposure to aversive 22 kHz alarm calls emitted in response to threatening stimuli, prosocial (55 kHz) USVs emitted in response to appetitive stimuli, or a computer-generated 22 kHz tone. Results show patterns of regional activation that are specific to each USV stimulus. Notably, limbic regions clinically relevant to psychiatric disorders (e.g., amygdala, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis) are preferentially activated by either aversive 22 kHz or appetitive 55 kHz USVs. These results support the use of USV playback as a promising translational tool to investigate affective processing under conditions of distal threat in preclinical rat models.

When boosting gender stereotypes increases flow experience and reduces self-handicapping in gamified tutoring systems

The threat of stereotypes affects various psychological mechanisms, including affective/subjective, cognitive, and motivational ones, and can be present in gamified online educational environments in various ways. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether gender stereotypes in gamified virtual environments could affect the flow experience, self-handicapping behavior, and performance of Brazilian students. To achieve this, we experimented with 147 participants (60 males and 87 females) who were high school and higher education students from public and private institutions in the state of Alagoas, located in the northeastern region of Brazil. We randomly allocated the participants to three distinct virtual environments: a neutral environment, a male-stereotyped environment, and a female-stereotyped environment. We introduced the stereotype threat condition when the participant was in an environment that did not correspond to their gender. In contrast, the boost condition occurred when the environment corresponded to their gender. The results of this study indicate that the presence of gender stereotypes can influence both the flow experience and the self-handicapping behavior of Brazilian students in gamified virtual environments. We observed statistically significant differences that suggest that the implementation of stereotypes can influence the relationship between variables.

The narcissist’s sense of humor: a correlational and an experimental ego threat study on the links between narcissism and adaptive and maladaptive humor styles

Previous research has shown that narcissism is linked to both adaptive and maladaptive forms of interpersonally relevant behaviors, such as charm and aggression, respectively. One line of research that uses styles of humor as the outcome variable found that especially grandiose narcissism is positively related to both adaptive affiliative humor (strengthening interpersonal relationships) and maladaptive aggressive humor (making derogatory fun of others) alike. This seemingly contradictory finding may be explained in two ways. First, particular facets of grandiose narcissism may be related solely to adaptive or solely to maladaptive humor. Second, adaptive and maladaptive characteristics may be expressed by a person to varying degrees depending on their current narcissistic state (i.e., whether the self is faced with ego threats or in a relaxed state). To test these assumptions, the present study applied both a correlational approach with multiple measures of narcissism and an experimental approach that used an intelligence-based ego threat task. The correlational results showed that each facet of narcissism showed distinct correlational patterns with adaptive and maladaptive humor styles. The experimental results showed that ego threat moderated the relationships between narcissism and humor styles. For instance, grandiose narcissism was more strongly positively related to affiliative humor in the nonthreatening condition and was more strongly positively related to aggressive humor in the ego threat condition. These results clarify and explain the previous seemingly contradictory findings and support the importance of differentiating between the facets and states of narcissism, highlighting the complexity of the construct.

To change, but not to preserve! Norm conformity following control threat only emerges for change norms but not for status quo norms

ABSTRACT Collectively pursuing social change may help people experience a sense of agency through their group when personal control is threatened, thereby restoring their sense of control. Accordingly, we proposed and found in two studies (N = 177 & 178) that following an experimentally manipulated threat to personal control, group members conform only to ingroup norms (vs. non-norms) framed as proposing social change, but not to those framed as preserving the status quo (in Study 1, we found this only for highly identified group members). This demonstrates the importance of collectively pursued social change for group-based control processes and qualifies the widely held belief that people reject change under conditions of threat.

БАГАТОРІВНЕВІ ГНУЧКІ СИСТЕМИ РОЗПОДІЛУ ЕЛЕКТРИЧНОЇ ЕНЕРГІЇ

In the conditions of a long-term threat of the destruction of the energy structure, the distribution networks of our country need to change the principles of their construction. For this purpose, a multi-level structure of the construction of the distribution system is proposed. Such a structure, due to the use of modern hardware solutions and extensive involvement of local energy resources, makes it possible to ensure a high level of their flexibility. In order to maintain power supply to the maximum number of consumers in the event of damage of varying severity and duration that may occur in the centralized power supply system. References 9, figures 2.

Age-based stereotype threat effects on dynamic balance in healthy older adults.

Stereotype threat can lead older adults to perceive their experiences in a biased manner, giving rise to interfering thoughts and negative emotions that generate stress and anxiety. Negative beliefs about aging may serve as an additional factor that increases the need for attentional demand, potentially resulting in a performance level below their actual capabilities. In the present study, we asked whether negative aging stereotypes influence a dynamic balance task and explored the means to counteract them in healthy elderly participants. The performance of balance was compared in two groups of participants aged 65 to 75 years (n = 22) under stereotype threat or reduced-threat situation. Balance abilities were tested under dynamic conditions, requiring participants to maintain balance on a moving platform and using a gradient of difficulty (with eyes open or closed, without or with foam). Postural performance was evaluated by means of posturographic evaluation of the center of pressure displacement and motion analysis. Additionally, we investigated the effects of stereotype threat on a preferred walking speed task and on the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test. Participants under stereotype threat showed poorer balance, particularly in challenging conditions (eyes closed, on foam), with less effective body segments stabilization. Their postural stabilization on foam was worse compared to a solid surface. Conversely, those in the reduced threat condition maintained better body segment stabilization across all conditions, indicating consistent postural control regardless of the presence of foam. Stereotype threat did not affect preferred walking speed or the time to complete the "Time Up and Go" test. This study provides the first description of age-based stereotype threat effects on a dynamic balance task and how to counteract them in healthy older adults. We suggest that the decrease in postural performance observed in participants exposed to stereotype threat can be attributed to a split in attentional focus between negative intrusive thoughts and the attention needed for maintaining balance. These findings open new perspectives on how to overcome negative expectations when evaluating and training physical abilities, thereby contributing to fall prevention among older adults.

Assessing the effects of temperature, diet and threat conditions on defensive behaviour and venom regeneration in scorpion (Buthusatlantis)

Understanding animal's behaviour and adaptation in the face of threats and predators under different biotic and abiotic conditions is fundamental in ecology. In this study we examined defensive behaviour of Buthus atlantis scorpion in order to assess how various factors such as temperature, prey type, and threatening conditions influence stinging behaviour, venom usage and regeneration. Our study had revealed that stings frequency was significantly lower in cooler temperature compared to the medium and warm temperature. Threatening condition had no significant effect in medium and warmer temperature, the difference between the two conditions was only significant in the cooler temperature. Conversely, we had shown that venom expenditure in B. atlantis is regulated by both temperature and threatening conditions. Our results show that scorpions maintained in higher temperatures yielded the greatest amount of venom compared to those in lower temperatures. Analyses of proteins concentration according to temperature and diet variation had revealed that scorpions placed in intermediate (25 °C) and warmer temperature (40 °C) had a significantly higher venom proteins concentration when compared to the cooler temperature (10 °C). Results also showed that scorpions adjust their venom usage based on their perception of danger, which can be influenced by temperature.

Research on a Distributed Cooperative Guidance Law for Obstacle Avoidance and Synchronized Arrival in UAV Swarms

In response to the issue where the original synchronization time becomes inapplicable for UAV swarms after temporal consistency convergence due to obstacle avoidance, a new distributed consultative temporal consistency guidance law that takes into account threat avoidance has been proposed. Firstly, a six-degree-of-freedom dynamic model and a guidance control model for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are established, and the guidance commands are decomposed into control signals for the pitch and yaw planes. Secondly, based on the theory of dynamic inversion control, a temporal consistency guidance law for a single UAV is constructed. On the other hand, an improved artificial potential field theory is used and integrated with a predictive correction network to generate guidance commands for threat avoidance. A threshold smoothing method is employed to integrate the two guidance systems, and a cluster consultation mechanism is introduced to design a two-layer temporal synchronization architecture, which negotiates to change the synchronization time of the swarm to achieve the convergence of consistency once again. Finally, in typical application scenarios, simulation verification demonstrates the effectiveness of the control method proposed in this paper. The proposed control method achieves the guidance of UAV formations to synchronize their arrival at the target location under complex threat conditions.

Effects of social inhibition and group relations on altruistic behaviour of children under conditions of reputational threat

ABSTRACT . This study examines the relationship between reputational threat and altruistic behavior in children aged 6-11 and explores how social inhibition and group relationships affect this behavior. Study 1 involved 204 children and found that age and reputational threat influence altruism, with age 8 being a key turning point. Study 2 focused on 130 nine-year-olds and showed that children with low social inhibition engage in more altruistic acts, regardless of reputational threat. Study 3, with 151 participants, analyzed the effects of group dynamics based on left-behind status. Non-left-behind children preferred out-group altruism, while left-behind children showed in-group preference under reputational threat, with no difference in its absence. Left-behind children were generally more altruistic. The findings highlight age 8 as crucial for reputation strategies and suggest that reputational threat, social inhibition, and group dynamics shape altruistic behavior. This research offers insights into the positive qualities of left-behind children, informing their development and education.

Multidimensional information fusion and broad learning system-based condition recognition for energy pipeline safety

Mechanical activities near energy pipelines pose a significant threat to energy transportation safety and energy system supply. The distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) system, which is an emerging intelligent sensing technology, can help to identify threat activities outside the pipeline. However, existing research has not distinguished fine-grained threat conditions because of insufficient information utilization and real-time requirements in the DAS system dataset, resulting in a large number of false alarms and time-consuming training in practice. To address these issues, this study proposes a pipeline radial threat condition recognition model based on multidimensional information fusion and a broad learning system (MIFBLS). First, the signal is preprocessed to improve the signal-to-noise ratio and generate the original features. Then, the extracted multidimensional temporal features are dimensionally reduced through information entropy, and the time–frequency map is fused and extracted based on a pretrained deep module, thereby achieving information fusion. Finally, the BLS incremental learning strategy is adopted to enhance the updating ability of the model and reduce the burden of data increments on the model training. Comparative experiments on a real-world natural gas pipeline dataset demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method, indicating the potential for real-time monitoring and intelligent identification in pipeline transportation scenarios.

Threat-induced prosocial behavior: enhanced exogenous attention to protect others from harm

As social animals, humans tend to voluntarily engage in pro-social behavior to prevent harm to others. However, to what extent prosocial behavior can be reflected at the level of less voluntary cognitive processes remains unclear. Here, we examined how threat to others modulates exogenous attention. Fifty-four participants performed an exogenous spatial cueing task where the participant’s performance determined whether electric shocks would be delivered either to themselves or to their anonymous co-participant. Threat of shock to the co-participant elicited orienting and reorienting responses that were faster than in the safe condition and did not differ from performance when participants avoided shocks to themselves. This attentional improvement was not due to speed-accuracy trade off and was associated with arousal, i.e., increased pupil dilation in both threat conditions. Together, these findings suggest that pro-social behavior triggers automatic attentional processes which may be relevant for providing immediate help without relying on reflexive processes.

Relevance of the legal regulation of military infrastructure capital construction objects during of the initial period of the Great Patriotic war

The article attempts to summarize some aspects of the experience of legal regulation of capital construction of military infrastructure facilities, which was accumulated during the Great Patriotic War, especially during its most difficult, first period, when the initiative was in the hands of the aggressor, and the Soviet state faced the vital issue of rapid economic transition, including military-the construction complex — on the rails of functioning in conditions of a real military threat. The idea of the continuing relevance of this experience in the current situation of a real threat to the sovereignty of Russia is consistently carried out, proposals are formulated on the need, taking into account the specifics of the construction of the above-mentioned facilities, to codify the norms governing the capital construction of military defense infrastructure facilities in the Military Construction Code of the Russian Federation with the unity of command of the federal body in the field of defense — the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation at all stages capital construction of these facilities.

Survival, Attachment, and Healing: An Evolutionary Lens on Interventions for Trauma-Related Dissociation.

Dissociation is a necessary part of our threat response system, common to all animal species, normally temporarily activated under conditions of extreme or inescapable threat. Pathological dissociation, however, continues to occur after the initial threat has passed, in response to reminders or inaccessibility of safety and security. Present across the spectrum of psychiatric diagnoses, recurrent dissociative symptoms are linked to severe trauma exposure, insecure attachment, treatment non-response, and maladaptive coping behaviors such as substance use, suicidality, and self-harm. However, empirical studies testing treatments specific to dissociative processes remain scarce. This narrative review summarizes existing studies and provides theoretical, neurobiological, and evolutionary perspectives on dissociative processes and treatments for pathological dissociation. A systematic search of five databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, APA PsycINFO, CINAHL plus, Scopus) was conducted on April 13, 2023. Peer-reviewed clinical studies with adult participants, assessing intervention effects on dissociative symptoms, were included. Results were thematically analyzed and summarized. Sixty-nine studies were identified, mainly focused on posttraumatic stress disorder, trauma-exposed populations, and borderline personality disorder. Psychotherapy was studied in 72.5% of studies; other interventions included medications and neurostimulation. The majority reported positive outcomes, despite the heterogeneous spectrum of interventions. However, treatment of dissociative symptoms was the primary objective in only a minority. Pathological dissociation is a complex phenomenon involving brain and body systems designed for perceiving and responding to severe threats, requiring an individualized approach. A literature is emerging regarding potentially evidence-based treatments to help those impacted by recurrent dissociative symptoms. When contextualized within a neurobiological and evolutionary perspective, these treatments can be understood as facilitating an internal and/or relational sense of safety, resulting in symptom reduction. Further studies are needed to explore effective treatments for dissociative symptoms.

Threat of shock increases distractor susceptibility during the short-term maintenance of visual information.

Elevated arousal in anxiety is thought to affect attention control. To test this, we designed a visual short-term memory (VSTM) task to examine distractor suppression during periods of threat and no-threat. We hypothesized that threat would impair performance when subjects had to filter out large numbers of distractors. The VSTM task required subjects to attend to one array of squares while ignoring a separate array. The number of target and distractor squares varied systematically, with high (four squares) and low (two squares) target and distractor conditions. This study comprised two separate experiments. Experiment 1 used startle responses and white noise as to directly measure threat-induced anxiety. Experiment 2 used BOLD to measure brain responses. For Experiment 1, subjects showed significantly larger startle responses during threat compared to safe period, supporting the validity of the threat manipulation. For Experiment 2, we found that accuracy was affected by threat, such that the distractor load negatively impacted accuracy only in the threat condition. We also found threat-related differences in parietal cortex activity. Overall, these findings suggest that threat affects distractor susceptibility, impairing filtering of distracting information. This effect is possibly mediated by hyperarousal of parietal cortex during threat.

Use of Phosphite Preparations to Protect Ash Seedlings Fraxinus excelsior L. against Phytophthora spp. and Hymenoscyphus fraxineus Pathogens

In this study, greenhouse tests were conducted on 240 Fraxinus excelsior seedlings to investigate the simultaneous damage caused by thea pathogenic fungus and oomycetes. The experiment was performed under controlled conditions in the greenhouse of the Institute of Forest Research in Sękocin Stary (Poland). Three species of oomycetes were used for the experiment: Phytophthora plurivora, Phytophthora taxon hungarica, Phytophthora megasperma, and the fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. Inoculations using the fungus were carried out on shoots and in plant pots in which the soil was mixed with the three Phytophthora species mentioned above, both simultaneously and separately, which made it possible to recognize the cumulative effect of the related plant infection. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of phosphite-containing preparations on the health of common ash under conditions of threat to the roots by Phytophthora spp. and damage to the aerial parts of the plant by the fungus, as well as the possible occurrence of synergistic effects. Two types of protective preparations (Actifos and Phos60 of the nitrogen and potassium forms, respectively) were used. It was found that the inoculation of ash seedlings with the fungus H. fraxineus resulted in plant mortality, while the mixture of Phytophthora did not cause significant damage. It was confirmed that when pathogens coexist, a phenomenon occurs that leads to an acceleration in the development of disease symptoms and, thus, to plant mortality. In vitro tests confirmed the usefulness of phosphite preparations for the protection of ash seedlings.