Types Of Mental Simulation Research Articles

Effectiveness of different types of mental simulation in the weight loss process based on a perseverance study among people with different BMI

BackgroundMost of the world’s population lives in countries in which overweight and obesity kill more people than does underweight. The weight loss process can be supported by mental simulations, which are used to help individuals to effectively strive towards various goals. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of different types of mental simulations on perseverance, resistance to distractors and the ability to inhibit irrelevant thoughts or memories in people with different body mass indexes (BMI).MethodsThe study included 252 participants. They performed process simulations and outcome simulations, using instructions presented to them during the experiment. Perseverance and resistance to distractors were determined using a computer maze-solving task. Two indicators of perseverance were analysed: number of maze tasks solved and total time spent on solving the test. Mean time spent on a single task was used as a measure of resistance to distractors and the ability to inhibit irrelevant thoughts and memories.ResultsThe results of the analyses showed that the type of mental simulation used had an effect on the indicators of perseverance. Process simulation subjects completed more tasks and spent more time solving the test than outcome simulation subjects. A relationship was found between the subjects’ BMI and the investigated indicators. Individuals who were underweight, overweight or obese scored lower on all three indicators compared to subjects with normal BMI. In people with a BMI above normal, mental simulations increased resistance to distractors and the ability to inhibit thoughts sidetracking them from the task at hand. It is possible that increasing the resistance to distractors is responsible for the effectiveness of mental simulations in the weight loss process.ConclusionOur results can be applied in developing interventions for people who suffer from overweight and obesity. Psychological interventions based on mental simulations can be used to assist individuals in physical activity, leading to an improvement in health, but it has to be underlined that the mechanism of their action may vary from person to person.

Pleasure or Health? The Role of Mental Simulation in Desire and Food Choices.

Many times, desire possesses us and impedes us from making healthier food choices. From a grounded cognition perspective, we investigated the role of two types of mental simulation (process and outcome) in desire and food choice to understand the processes that modulate them and find strategies that encourage healthier food choices. In addition to these explicit measures, we used two implicit methods to measure approach-avoidance tendencies and visual attention. Our results showed that imagining the consumption of vice and virtue foods increased desire for the product imagined and seemed to favor the choice of a vice food. However, at an implicit level, the motivation to approach and avoid food products was neutral. Imagining the post-consumption of a vice food decreased desire for the imagined food and although it tempted people at an implicit level, it made people more prone to choose a virtue food. When a vice food was imagined, attentional bias increased for all types of food regardless of the simulation. When a virtue food was imagined, there was no effect on choice, motivation nor attentional bias. In conclusion, simply imagining certain foods is a potential solution for promoting healthier and thoughtful choices.

Effects of haptic cues on consumers' online hotel booking decisions: The mediating role of mental imagery

This study proposes that haptic cues (in online reviews, companies' descriptive information provided) significantly influence consumers' willingness to book hotel rooms online. Four studies examining the effect of haptic cues and using both primary and secondary data produced consistent results. We identified mental imagery as the underlying mechanism. In addition, the effect of haptic cues is moderated by the match between type of traveler and type of mental simulation. Haptic cues with outcome (process) simulation are more effective when matched with business (leisure) travelers who are performance (process) oriented. Implications for practice are discussed.

Imagination Matters When You Shop Online: The Moderating Role of Mental Simulation Between Materialism and Online Impulsive Buying.

BackgroundSeveral studies have demonstrated that materialistic people tend to engage in impulsive buying. However, how to help them reduce such irrational behavior, especially in online shopping context, is not known. This study aimed to explore whether mental simulation moderates the relationship between materialism and online impulsive buying.MethodsA total of 200 Chinese college students participated in the experiment. We adopted an imaginary priming paradigm to manipulate three types of mental simulation: process simulation (i.e., imagining the detailed process of purchasing goods), upward outcome simulation (i.e., imagining possible positive outcomes after purchasing), and downward outcome simulation (i.e., imagining possible negative outcomes after purchasing). Then we asked participants to make purchase decisions in a simulated online store.ResultsResults showed that mental simulation exerted a significant moderating effect. In the upward outcome simulation group, a higher level of materialism predicted more online impulsive buying. However, this association was not significant in the downward outcome simulation and process simulation groups.ConclusionOur findings have implications for interventions in that mental simulation (process simulation or downward outcome simulation) can act as an effective way to help materialists reduce online impulsive buying.

Sensitizing Potential Jurors to Variations in Eyewitness Evidence Quality Using Counterfactual Thinking

SummaryJurors often have difficulty evaluating eyewitness testimony. Counterfactual thinking is a type of mental simulation that informs causal inference. Encouraging jurors to think counterfactually about eyewitness factors may sensitize them to these factors' causal influence on eyewitness identification and testimony accuracy, improving their overall judgments (such as verdicts). One hundred twenty‐one undergraduate participants were randomly assigned to read a scenario containing either high‐quality or low‐quality eyewitness evidence and to evaluate eyewitness factors adopting either their default or a counterfactual mindset via a question‐order manipulation. Logistic regressions and analyses of variance revealed that a counterfactual mindset lowered perceptions of eyewitness accuracy and guilty verdicts (compared with the default mindset) when the evidence was poor; a counterfactual mindset, however, did not increase perceptions of accuracy and guilty verdicts when evidence was strong. We discuss possible mechanisms underlying these effects and identify several potential avenues for future research.Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The effects of mental simulations, innovativeness on intention to adopt brand application

This study explores three important factors—mental simulation, innovativeness, and need for cognition—to determine the effects of these factors on the perception of newly developed branded applications. The study identifies two types of mental simulation (process-focused and outcome-focused), innovativeness (early and later adopters) and need for cognition (low and high) to inform items used to survey respondents about their willingness to adopt new branded apps and their attitudes towards the focal brands.The study demonstrates the effects of mental simulation, innovativeness, and need for cognition on adoption of the branded app. This experiment improves our understanding of how three-way interaction between the abovementioned factors affects the intention to adopt a new branded app. The results of a MANOVA indicated statistically significant effects of the abovementioned three-way interaction on the dependent variables. It is anticipated that the analysis resulting from this valuable study will provide a point of reference for further empirical and theoretical studies on the development of information technology products and services.

Task-dependent changes of corticospinal excitability during observation and motor imagery of balance tasks.

Non-physical balance training has demonstrated to be efficient to improve postural control in young people. However, little is known about the potential to increase corticospinal excitability by mental simulation in lower leg muscles. Mental simulation of isolated, voluntary contractions of limb muscles increase corticospinal excitability but more automated tasks like walking seem to have no or only minor effects on motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). This may be related to the way of performing the mental simulation or the task itself. Therefore, the present study aimed to clarify how corticospinal excitability is modulated during AO+MI, MI and action observation (AO) of balance tasks. For this purpose, MEPs and H-reflexes were elicited during three different mental simulations (a) AO+MI, (b) MI and (c) passive AO. For each condition, two balance tasks were evaluated: (1) quiet upright stance (static) and (2) compensating a medio-lateral perturbation while standing on a free-swinging platform (dynamic). AO+MI resulted in the largest facilitation of MEPs followed by MI and passive AO. MEP facilitation was significantly larger in the dynamic perturbation than in the static standing task. Interestingly, passive observation resulted in hardly any facilitation independent of the task. H-reflex amplitudes were not modulated. The current results demonstrate that corticospinal excitability during mental simulation of balance tasks is influenced by both the type of mental simulation and the task difficulty. As H-reflexes and background EMG were not modulated, it may be argued that changes in excitability of the primary motor cortex were responsible for the MEP modulation. From a functional point of view, our findings suggest best training/rehabilitation effects when combining MI with AO during challenging postural tasks.

A Moderating Role of Personal Need for Structure on the Effects of Process versus Outcome Simulations on the Evaluation of Really New Products

Really new products (RNPs) provide novel benefits yet many consumers are reluctant to accept these highly innovative new products. Previous literature has shown that mental simulation is an ef-fective method for enhancing the evaluation of RNPs. However. Castano et al. (2008) and Zhao, Hoeffler, and Zauberman (2011) demonstrate conflicting results as to which type of mental simu-lation (i.e ., process versus outcome) is more effective for the enhancement of RNP evaluation. The authors try to reconcile these results by incorporating a moderating variable which is personal need for structure (PNS). PNS is an individual difference variable that taps the differences in people`s propensity to cognitively structure and simplify their environment (Neuberg and Newsom 1993). From the analysis of the previous two works, the authors point out that consumers` susceptibility to uncertainty may contribute to the different results, and suggest that this susceptibility is dependent on consumers` PNS. To test the hypotheses established an experiment was conducted. Waterless washing machine was presented as a RNP and PNS was measured by using the 12-item PNS Scale (Thompson et al. 2001). The results of the study show that for high-PNS consumers, process sim-ulation is more effective than outcome simulation for enhancing the evaluation of a RNP. whereas for low-PNS consumers, outcome simulation is more effective than process simulation. This research contributes to the mental simulation and new product literature by suggesting and ver-ifying that PNS moderates the effects of process versus outcome simulations for enhancing the evalu-ation of RNPs. This research provides important managerial implications for marketing managers of RNPs. indicating that they should take account of the target consumers` PNS in planning marketing communications. Specifically, when targeting high-PNS consumers, marketing communications that en-courage process simulation may be more effective than those that encourage outcome simulation. In contrast, when targeting Iow-PNS consumers, marketing communications that encourage outcome simulation may be more effective than those that encourage process simulation.

Mental simulation and argument

We examine how opinion on a controversial real-world issue shifts as a function of reading relevant arguments and engaging in a specific mental simulation about a future, fictional state of affairs involving the target issue. Individuals thought either counterfactually about a future event (“if only X had not happened …”) or semifactually about it (“even if X had not happened …”). In Experiment 1, as expected, individuals became more in favour of a course of action (the electronic tagging of children) after reading relevant supporting arguments. They also became more in favour after they thought counterfactually how a negative future event could have been avoided if only electronic tagging had not been banned some years earlier. The effects of argument relevance and type of mental simulation were additive. Using a similar procedure but a different target issue (whether the UK should join the Economic Monetary Union), Experiment 2 confirmed that the type of mental simulation exerts a substantial effect on the impact of relevant arguments. Much weaker effects arose when the mental simulation was not relevant to the target issue. We set and discuss our results in terms of dual-processing theory.

Process vs. Outcome Thought Focus and Advertising

Recent social psychological research demonstrates that certain types of mental simulation are particularly useful for helping individuals reach the future they envision (e.g., Taylor et al. 1998). More specifically, Taylor's recent research indicates that the most successful simulations focus on the process of reaching a goal rather than on the outcomes or attainment of the goal. This paper extends consideration of process- vs. outcome-focus thought to advertising. In studies manipulating the focus of subjects' thoughts while viewing a print advertisement, we find that a process-focus ad condition results in significantly higher behavioral intentions than an outcome-focus ad condition. Additional results demonstrate that the benefit of process-focus occurs when ad arguments are generally appropriate (e.g., strong and credible). However, in the case of inappropriate ad arguments, process-focused thought actually lowers behavioral intentions, compared to thoughts focusing on the end result or outcome of product usage. Thus, in addition to increasing the persuasive power of strong advertising claims, process-focused thinking appears to make individuals better, or more discerning, consumers who do not form behavioral intentions when it is inappropriate to do so. This basic phenomena appears to be robust across the specific form of ad arguments (specifically, whether arguments involve the process or outcome of product usage) and it appears to operate independently of motivational or elaboration processes.

Process Versus Outcome Thought Focus and Advertising

Recent social psychological research demonstrates that certain types of mental simulation are particularly useful for helping individuals reach the future they envision (e.g., Taylor, Pham, Rivkin, & Armor, 1998). More specifically, Taylor's (Pham, Taylor, 1999; Taylor et al., 1998) recent research indicates that the most successful simulations focus on the process of reaching a goal rather than on the outcomes or attainment of the goal. In this article, we extend consideration of process‐ versus outcome‐focused thought to advertising. In studies manipulating the focus of participants’ thoughts while viewing a print advertisement, we find that process‐focused thought results in significantly higher behavioral intentions than outcome‐focused thought when advertisement arguments are strong. However, in the case of weak advertisement arguments, process‐focused thought actually lowers behavioral intentions compared to thoughts focusing on the end result or outcome of product usage. Thus, in addition to increasing the persuasive power of strong advertising claims, process‐focused thinking appears to make individuals better or more discerning consumers who do not form behavioral intentions when it is inappropriate to do so.

A system to predict internal factors related to the development of cumulative trauma disorders of the carpal tunnel and extrinsic flexor musculature

Non-physical balance training has demonstrated to be efficient to improve postural control in young people. However, little is known about the potential to increase corticospinal excitability by mental simulation in lower leg muscles. Mental simulation of isolated, voluntary contractions of limb muscles increase corticospinal excitability but more automated tasks like walking seem to have no or only minor effects on motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). This may be related to the way of performing the mental simulation or the task itself. Therefore, the present study aimed to clarify how corticospinal excitability is modulated during AO + MI, MI and action observation (AO) of balance tasks. For this purpose, MEPs and H-reflexes were elicited during three different mental simulations (a) AO + MI, (b) MI and (c) passive AO. For each condition, two balance tasks were evaluated: (1) quiet upright stance (static) and (2) compensating a medio-lateral perturbation while standing on a free-swinging platform (dynamic).AO + MI resulted in the largest facilitation of MEPs followed by MI and passive AO. MEP facilitation was significantly larger in the dynamic perturbation than in the static standing task. Interestingly, passive observation resulted in hardly any facilitation independent of the task. H-reflex amplitudes were not modulated.The current results demonstrate that corticospinal excitability during mental simulation of balance tasks is influenced by both the type of mental simulation and the task difficulty. As H-reflexes and background EMG were not modulated, it may be argued that changes in excitability of the primary motor cortex were responsible for the MEP modulation. From a functional point of view, our findings suggest best training/rehabilitation effects when combining MI with AO during challenging postural tasks.