Preserved intention understanding during moral judgments in schizophrenia

Introduction Although there is convincing evidence for socio-cognitive impairments in schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD), little evidence is found for deficient moral cognition. We investigated whether patients with SSD showed altered moral judgments in a story task where the protagonist either had a neutral or malicious intention towards another person. This paradigm examined whether SSD relates to altered moral cognition in general or specifically to impaired integration of prior information (such as beliefs) in moral judgments. Methods 23 patients and 32 healthy controls read vignettes created in a 2 x 2 design. The protagonist in each story either had a neutral or negative intention towards another person which, as a result, either died (negative outcome) or did not die (neutral outcome). Participants rated the moral permissibility of the protagonist’s action. Standard null hypothesis significance testing and equivalent Bayes analyses are reported. Results Schizophrenia patients did not differ significantly in permissibility ratings from healthy controls. This finding was supported by the Bayes analyses which favoured the null hypothesis. Task performance was not related to symptom severity or medication. Conclusions The current findings do not support the notion that moral judgments are deficient in schizophrenia. Furthermore, the current study shows that patients do not have observable difficulties in integrating the protagonist’s belief in the rating of the moral permissibility of the action-outcome.

Sensory prediction errors in the human midbrain signal identity violations independent of perceptual distance

The firing of dopaminergic midbrain neurons is thought to reflect prediction errors (PE) that depend on the difference between the value of expected and received rewards. However, recent work has demonstrated that unexpected changes in value-neutral outcome features, such as identity, can evoke similar responses. It remains unclear whether the magnitude of these identity PEs scales with the perceptual dissimilarity of expected and received rewards, or whether they are independent of perceptual similarity. We used a Pavlovian transreinforcer reversal task to elicit identity PEs for value-matched food odor rewards, drawn from two perceptual categories (sweet, savory). Replicating previous findings, identity PEs were correlated with fMRI activity in midbrain, OFC, piriform cortex, and amygdala. However, the magnitude of identity PE responses was independent of the perceptual distance between expected and received outcomes, suggesting that identity comparisons underlying sensory PEs may occur in an abstract state space independent of straightforward sensory percepts.

Assessment of Construction Project «Pure» Risks

Construction industry has many drivers. The main one is investments. The bigger investment is the more importance takes the assessment of construction production. The investor makes the decision to invest based on assessment of construction production, organisational and technological reliability. The rapid technology and construction management tools development obliges the investor and his team to create new approaches. The article authors propose to consider it in the identification, analysis and subsequent management of pure project risks. Pure risks are defined as risk events, which implementation is clearly negative or has a neutral outcome. Generally the pure risks are not directly related to financial risk events and are not considered as classical approaches of risk management, which adversely affects the construction project prediction. Consideration of the pure construction risks at different stages of building production allows considering the project from the point of view of potential risks. So the investor can quickly make the decision to invest in the project and to assess the possible additional costs of construction, as the construction manager for different production stages would be able to foresee and prevent some risks implementation.

Assessment of Efficacy of BLIS-Producing Probiotic K12 for the Prevention of Group A Streptococcus Pharyngitis: a Short Communication

The neutral outcome of the recently reported school-based trial of probiotic K12 (The effect of the oral probiotic Streptococcus salivarius K12 on group A streptococcus pharyngitis: a pragmatic trial in schools) can be attributed at least partially to several readily identifiable confounding factors. Mainly, the execution and outcome were negatively impacted by (a) the suboptimal efficacy and frequency of K12 administration, (b) the failure both clinically and microbiologically to adequately diagnose and distinguish active group A streptococci (GAS) pharyngitis from harmless GAS carriage, and (c) the exceptionally low occurrence of GAS in this population at the time of the probiotic intervention due to recent high-intensity antibiotic exposure.

The transition from No Net Loss to a Net Gain of biodiversity is far from trivial

The objectives of No Net Loss and Net Gain have emerged as key principles in conservation policy. Both give rise to mechanisms by which certain unavoidable biodiversity losses associated with development are quantified, and compensated with comparable gains (e.g. habitat restoration). The former seeks a neutral outcome for biodiversity after losses and gains are accounted for, and the latter seeks an improved outcome. Policy-makers often assume that the transition from one to the other is straightforward and essentially a question of the amount of compensation provided. Consequently, companies increasingly favour Net Gain type commitments, and financial institutions make lending conditional on either objective, depending on the habitat involved. We contend, however, that achieving Net Gain is fundamentally different to achieving No Net Loss, and moving from one to the other is less trivial than is widely realized. Our contention is based on four arguments: (1) the two principles represent different underlying conservation philosophies; (2) ecological uncertainties make it difficult to know where the threshold between No Net Loss and Net Gain lies; (3) different frames of reference are more or less appropriate in evaluating the ecological outcomes, depending on the principle chosen; and (4) stakeholder expectations differ considerably under the two principles. In exploring these arguments we hope to support policy-makers in choosing the more appropriate of the two objectives. We suggest that financial institutions should provide greater clarity regarding the explicit requirements for each principle. We conclude by highlighting questions of relevance to this topic that would benefit from focused research.

Increasing Predictive Estimations Without Further Learning

The peak of learned responding normally occurs at the learning stimulus itself, but can shift to a different stimulus after discriminative learning. This provides important information about the nature of the generalization mechanism, and reveals alternative pathways through which learned responses can increase. Over two experiments, we established the peak-shift effect in a human predictive learning paradigm. Participants were asked to predict the occurrence of a neutral outcome (drawing of a lightning bolt) based on preceding geometrical figures (rings of different sizes). During learning, the middle-sized ring was sometimes followed by the outcome, whereas a larger ring was never followed by the outcome. At test, we presented larger and smaller rings (Experiment 1), or only a slightly smaller ring (Experiment 2). We consistently observed highest prediction of the outcome to the slightly smaller ring. Predictive estimations in humans can reach their height to stimuli that have never actually participated in the learning experiences. We argue that the results are most in line with an associative learning account, rather than an adaptation-level or a rule-learning account.

A Document Of Debatable Value – A Case Study Into The Use Of Master-Pilot Exchange Documentation In Selected UK Ports

This paper will demonstrate that the Master Pilot Exchange (MPX) is a document of debatable value in pilotage waters. The MPX exists in many formats which are designed to reflect local navigational challenges and port requirements. A generic form exists which can aid the design of local MPX forms. Both the generic and port MPX forms may require the recording of information that has a neutral outcome on the planned act of pilotage. Analysis of significant incidents suggests that investigation recommendations are not consistently reflected in MPX forms and there is a gap between what should be recorded and reality.

It Is the Outcome that Counts! Damage to the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Disrupts the Integration of Outcome and Belief Information for Moral Judgment

Moral judgment involves considering not only the outcome of an action but also the intention with which it was pursued. Previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research has shown that integrating outcome and belief information for moral judgment relies on a brain network including temporo-parietal, precuneus, and medial prefrontal regions. Here, we investigated whether the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) plays a crucial role in this process. Patients with lesions in vmPFC (vmPFC patients), and brain-damaged and healthy controls considered scenarios in which the protagonist caused intentional harm (negative-outcome, negative-belief), accidental harm (negative-outcome, neutral-belief), attempted harm (neutral-outcome, negative-belief), or no harm (neutral-outcome, neutral-belief), and rated the moral permissibility of the protagonists’ behavior. All groups responded similarly to scenarios involving intentional harm and no harm. vmPFC patients, however, judged attempted harm as more permissible, and accidental harm as less permissible, than the control groups. For vmPFC patients, outcome information, rather than belief information, shaped moral judgment. The results indicate that vmPFC is necessary for integrating outcome and belief information during moral reasoning. During moral judgment vmPFC may mediate intentions’ understanding, and overriding of prepotent responses to salient outcomes. (JINS, 2012, 18, 1–10)

Intrinsic Emotional Relevance of Outcomes and Prediction Error

Infrequent events, such as unexpected absence of outcomes (prediction errors), have a detrimental effect on performance of subsequent trial in various cognitive tasks. In the present event-related potential study, we tested whether the influence of prediction error manifests itself in the early cortical processing of subsequent stimuli. Participants performed a reversal learning task in which they saw two alternating pairs of faces and indicated for each pair which one would have a declared target stimulus on its nose. The target switched to the other face after several consecutive trials with correct response, thereby inducing a prediction error, with the switch being indicated by the appearance of a disk (unexpected neutral outcome) or a spider (unexpected unpleasant outcome), depending on the condition. Results showed that after both unexpected and expected unpleasant outcomes, the amplitude of P2 decreased, while after both unexpected neutral and unpleasant outcomes, the amplitude of P1 increased on the following presentation of the pair of faces. Source localization analysis suggested that the differences mainly emanated from the cuneus and precuneus with respect to the P1 and P2 time ranges respectively. We conclude that both the intrinsic emotional relevance of outcomes and prediction error may modulate attention allocation.