Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) promises to be a suitable method for capturing the dynamics in self-assessments through repeated measurements in naturalistic environments using common mobile devices. Therefore, EMA could increase the power of neuropsychological assessment by obtaining a more fine-grained picture of symptoms, limitations, and strengths in patients with an acquired brain injury (ABI) in real-life situations. The present study examined 15 patients with an ABI with cognitive and motor impairments. Following a semirandomized high-frequency sampling plan to assess EMA's feasibility and applicability, data were collected across 7 days. At eight prompts per day, patients were asked about their current activities, the social context they were in, their current mood, performance judgments of their own functional status, and the frequency of self-reflections. The average compliance rate was 71.6%. The fluctuations in patients' responses were measured in terms of variance distributions within simple (intercept only) three-level models and root mean square of successive difference values. They were sufficient, as shown, for example, by the mean within-person variability of 44.9% across all of the items studied. There were no significant correlations between patients' age, severity of depressive symptoms, or their level of functioning and their compliance with study participation or the variability of their responses. The results support the feasibility and applicability of EMA as an assessment technique in patients with an ABI. There are, however, limitations that should be considered when planning an assessment of brain-injured patients using EMA.
The processing of self-referential information can be influenced by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). The present randomized controlled study investigated whether similar effects can be elicited through the application of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) regarding the "self-serving bias" (SSB) and the "mnemic neglect effect" (MNE). Seventy-five healthy males (M age = 25; SD = 4.3) were investigated in a betweengroups design with random assignment by applying anodal, cathodal, or sham tDCS to the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). After stimulation, the participants judged if 80 personality traits (40 positive, 40 negative) were self-descriptive or not. Finally, the participants had to recall the previously presented adjectives. All three stimulation groups showed the expected SSB and MNE. Still, and contrary to our hypotheses, tDCS revealed neither a significant interaction effect between groups and valence concerning the number of chosen self-referential traits (F (2,72) = 1.36, p = 0.26, η 2 G = 0.02) nor an interaction effect between groups, valence, and self-reference concerning the percentage of recalled words (F (2,71) = 0.69, p = 0.50, η 2 G = 0.01). However, a post hoc inspection of effect sizes revealed that less negative traits were indicated as self-referential in the anodal compared to the cathodal group (ES: −0.59; CI: −1.16 to −0.03). Moreover, the participants showed-regardless of self-reference and type of stimulation-a better recall with tDCS in comparison to sham stimulation. Our results indicate that tDCS of the mPFC in healthy young men has no influence on the SSB and the MNE. However, tDCS seems to improve memory performance.
People maintain a positive self-concept through positive self-appraisals ( Self-Serving Bias Effect , SSBE) and a diminished memory for self-threatening information ( Mnemic-Neglect Effect , MNE). Other people also influence a person’s self-concept. This study investigated SSBE and MNE in 60 females by using a trait-judgment paradigm applying two perspectives (self- and third-person appraisals) and a recall task. Additionally, self-esteem was assessed as an associated factor. SSBE and MNE were found in both kinds of appraisal perspectives. Interestingly, participants saw themselves as even more positive in reflected appraisals. SSBE and self-esteem were associated only in self-appraisals, indicating a larger SSBE on self-appraisals with raising self-esteem. In conclusion, both what females think about themselves and how they assume that others think about them preserve their overall positive self-concept.
In the area of metacognition research, different methods have been used to study participants’ subjective sense of confidence in their choices. Among the most often used methods are explicit reports of subjective confidence, post-decision wagering and measuring additional info-seeking behavior. While all three methods are thought to measure confidence, they differ greatly in terms of practical execution and theoretical foundation. The method of reverse correlation has previously been used to determine which aspects of the stimulus influence decisions and confidence judgments. Here we compare the three methods of confidence assessment using reverse correlation analysis. Explicit reports and post-decision wagering revealed a positive association of stimulus information with choices and reduced decision weights for low-confidence trials. When confidence was assessed using the info-seeking method, low-confidence trials showed an inverted association with primary stimulus information. Using modelling of the behavioral data, we show how the reverse correlation results of all three methods can be explained by a simple model of confidence when internal error-corrections are allowed during seeking of additional information.
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