Research master thesis | Psychology (research) (MSc)
open access
Identical sensory input may be perceived differently, based on expectations and goals. For example, object recognition is facilitated for expected or task-relevant objects. At the same time,...Show moreIdentical sensory input may be perceived differently, based on expectations and goals. For example, object recognition is facilitated for expected or task-relevant objects. At the same time, unexpected objects are found to elicit a stronger neural response. These effects can be explained by predictive coding accounts of visual processing, presenting perception as a process of minimizing the difference between predicted and observed sensory input. However, as expectation and task-relevance are often conflated, it is insufficiently clear how these factors influence sensory processing in conscious perception. The current study aimed to investigate the relative influence of expectation and task-relevance on behavioral and neural measures of perception. During two EEG sessions, participants performed a task in which they discriminated between masked face and house images while we independently manipulated expectation and task-relevance. We find that images were more often correctly recognized when they were expected or task-relevant. In addition, we used multivariate pattern analysis to show that a classifier trained on sensory representations of face and house stimuli is better able to distinguish between expected or task-relevant face and house images than between unexpected or task-irrelevant images. These results suggest that expectation and task-relevance have independent effects on sensory processing. Finally, our results show that cue-based manipulations may activate sensory templates even before stimulus onset. We therefore recommend that future studies manipulate expectation and task-relevance without the use of explicit cues.Show less
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been associated with adverse psychological symptoms. Psychotropic prescription drugs are a critical tool in treating and controlling a variety of...Show moreThe coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been associated with adverse psychological symptoms. Psychotropic prescription drugs are a critical tool in treating and controlling a variety of psychopathological conditions, which raises concern in terms of potential overuse and irrational use. Available data regarding the use and prescribing practices of psychotropic prescription drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic are inconsistent. Therefore, a systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted with the aim of investigating the change in psychotropic prescription drug use and dispensing in relation to COVID-19. Pub-med and Web of Science Databases were systematically searched, and a total of 30 studies were included (23 prevalence estimates, and 19 correlation coefficient estimates; total N = 5,133,032). The yielded findings demonstrated a statistically significant increase of 16.34% (95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 9.11 to 23.57) in prevalence estimates of psychotropic prescription drug use. Furthermore, the conducted meta-analysis yielded a small positive statistically significant correlation r = 0.11 (95% CI: 0.05 to 0.16), implying a small increase in psychotropic prescription drug use and dispensing pre relative to post COVID-19. The association between COVID-19 and adverse mental health, as well as the increased use of psychotropic medications, may lead to an upsurge in substance use related disorders and overdose-related deaths. This is important to know, given that many substance use treatment programs during the pandemic have been disrupted. It may be essential for policy makers and health officials to address mental and behavioral health through telemedicine.Show less
Brand personality has been proven to influence consumer responses. A two dimensional model of warmth and competence is often utilized to study brand personality. However, the dimension of warmth...Show moreBrand personality has been proven to influence consumer responses. A two dimensional model of warmth and competence is often utilized to study brand personality. However, the dimension of warmth consists of the components sociability and morality. In the current study, the relation between perceived brand morality and competence with purchase intentions is investigated, with brand trust and brand identification as possible mediators. Four hypotheses were tested with a survey (N = 105) evaluating five global brands. Results generally supported the hypotheses and showed that both perceived morality and competence predicted purchase intention, and brand trust was found to mediate both relations. Brand identification did not mediate the relation of competence and morality with purchase intention. This study can be used to optimize branding and advertising, as it provides an in-depth and specific understanding of the effects of brand competence, morality, and trust on consumer-brand relationships and resulting consumer responses.Show less
Wind energy companies intend to successfully implement wind farms without opposition from the local residents. The present study experimentally investigated the effect of local residents' “voice”...Show moreWind energy companies intend to successfully implement wind farms without opposition from the local residents. The present study experimentally investigated the effect of local residents' “voice” on perceived procedural fairness of the decision-making procedure and willingness to accept the wind energy project's implementation. An online survey was published on Prolific, in which participants (N = 199) were asked to sympathize with a fictitious town where they were residents and a wind farm project was planned. The experimental conditions were; no-voice, voice and pseudo-voice. The amount of “say” the residents had in the decision-making process of the project and whether their input was taken into account, differed between conditions. I hypothesized and found that participants who had an opportunity to voice their opinion and had their ideas implemented, perceive the decision-making process as more fair than those who were in a no-voice or pseudo-voice situation. Contrary to my prediction, participants in the pseudo-voice situation perceived the process as more fair (instead of less fair) than those in the no-voice situation. As predicted, the voice situation led to a greater willingness to accept the project than the pseudo-voice and slightly higher than the no-voice situation. I further predicted that the no-voice situation would lead to higher acceptance than the pseudo-voice situation, but found no difference in acceptance between the two conditions. Finally, the results provided evidence for the idea that effects of voice procedure on project acceptance are mediated by perceived procedural fairness of the decision-making process when comparing voice to pseudo-voice and no-voice situations.Show less
