Development and validation of the Mental-Physical Verb Norms (MPVN): A Text Analysis Measure of Mental State Attribution

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ram Isaac Orr ◽  
michael gilead

Attribution of mental states to self and others, i.e., mentalizing, is central to human life. Current measures are lacking in ability to directly gauge the extent of individuals engage in spontaneous mentalizing. Focusing on natural language use as an expression of inner psychological processes, we developed the Mental-Physical Verb Norms (MPVN). These norms are participant-derived ratings of the extent to which common verbs reflect mental (opposite physical) activities and occurrences, covering ~80% of all verbs appearing within a given English text. Content validity was assessed against existing expert-compiled dictionaries of mental states and cognitive processes, as well as against normative ratings of verb concreteness. Criterion Validity was assessed through natural text analysis of internet comments relating to mental health vs. physical health. Results showcase the unique contribution of the MPVN ratings as a measure of the degree to which individuals adopt the intentional stance in describing targets, by describing both self and others in mental, opposite physical terms. We discuss potential uses for future research across various psychological and neurocognitive disciplines.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Lewis ◽  
Christopher Krupenye

Social life demands complex strategies for coordinating and competing with others. In humans, these strategies are supported by rich cognitive mechanisms, such as theory of mind. Theory of mind (i.e., mental state attribution, mentalizing, or mindreading) is the ability to track the unobservable mental states, like desires and beliefs, that guide others’ actions. Deeply social animals, like most nonhuman primates, would surely benefit from the adept capacity to interpret and predict others’ behavior that theory of mind affords. Yet, after forty years of investigation, the extent to which nonhuman primates represent the minds of others remains a topic of contentious debate. In the present chapter, we review evidence consistent with the possibility that monkeys and apes are capable of inferring others’ goals, perceptions, and beliefs. We then evaluate the quality of that evidence and point to the most prominent alternative explanations to be addressed by future research. Finally, we take a more broadly phylogenetic perspective, to identify evolutionary modifications to social cognition that have emerged throughout primate evolutionary history and to consider the selective pressures that may have driven those modifications. Taken together, this approach sheds light on the complex mechanisms that define the social minds of humans and other primates.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janine Williams ◽  
A Gazley ◽  
N Ashill

© 2020 New York University Perceived value among children is an important concept in consumer decisions, yet surprisingly no research has operationalized value for this consumer group. To address this omission, and following the guidelines of DeVellis (2016), this investigation reports the findings of a seven-stage process to develop a valid and reliable instrument for measuring perceived value among children aged 8–14 years. Value for children is conceptualized as a multidimensional construct capturing perceptions of what is received and what is given up, which differs from adult measures in terms of its composition and complexity. A 24-item scale is developed that shows internal consistency, reliability, construct validity, and nomological validity. We also demonstrate the validity of the new scale beyond an existing adult perceived value measure. Directions for future research and managerial implications of the new scale for studying children's consumer behavior are discussed.


Author(s):  
T.J. Kasperbauer

This chapter applies the psychological account from chapter 3 on how we rank human beings above other animals, to the particular case of using mental states to assign animals moral status. Experiments on the psychology of mental state attribution are discussed, focusing on their implications for human moral psychology. The chapter argues that attributions of phenomenal states, like emotions, drive our assignments of moral status. It also describes how this is significantly impacted by the process of dehumanization. Psychological research on anthropocentrism and using animals as food and as companions is discussed in order to illuminate the relationship between dehumanization and mental state attribution.


Author(s):  
David Rosenthal

Dennett’s account of consciousness starts from third-person considerations. I argue this is wise, since beginning with first-person access precludes accommodating the third-person access we have to others’ mental states. But Dennett’s first-person operationalism, which seeks to save the first person in third-person, operationalist terms, denies the occurrence of folk-psychological states that one doesn’t believe oneself to be in, and so the occurrence of folk-psychological states that aren’t conscious. This conflicts with Dennett’s intentional-stance approach to the mental, on which we discern others’ mental states independently of those states’ being conscious. We can avoid this conflict with a higher-order theory of consciousness, which saves the spirit of Dennett’s approach, but enables us to distinguish conscious folk-psychological states from nonconscious ones. The intentional stance by itself can’t do this, since it can’t discern a higher-order awareness of a psychological state. But we can supplement the intentional stance with the higher-order theoretical apparatus.


2021 ◽  
pp. 030913252199391
Author(s):  
Sara H Nelson ◽  
Patrick Bigger

The assertion that ‘ecosystems are infrastructure’ is now common in conservation science and ecosystem management. This article interrogates this infrastructural ontology, which we argue underpins diverse practices of conservation investment and ecosystem management focused on the strategic management of ecosystem functions to sustain and secure human life. We trace the genealogies and geographies of infrastructural nature as an ontology and paradigm of investment that coexists (sometimes in tension) with extractivist commodity regimes. We draw links between literatures on the political economy of ecosystem services and infrastructure and highlight three themes that hold promise for future research: labor, territory, and finance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7304
Author(s):  
Shang Gao ◽  
Fanchen Meng ◽  
Zhouyang Gu ◽  
Zhiyuan Liu ◽  
Muhammad Farrukh

Academic interest in ESG has grown significantly in recent years. Nevertheless, bibliometric and visualization research on this topic is still insufficient. This study aims to conduct publication metrics on the literature connected with ESG and attempt to give a research agenda for future research. In this study, we used data from the Scopus database. Various bibliometric techniques, such as bibliographic coupling and co-occurrence analysis, were combined with assorted themes to present an overview. To the best of our knowledge, there is no study that analyses the bibliographic data on ESG fields; this study is a unique contribution to the literature. This study also provides an overview of the trends and trajectories with a visual and schematic frame for the research of this topic. This may help researchers understand the current trends and future research directions, and enable future authors to conduct their studies more effectively.


2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Smith ◽  
Damien Tessier ◽  
Yannis Tzioumakis ◽  
Eleanor Quested ◽  
Paul Appleton ◽  
...  

This article outlines the development and validation of the Multidimensional Motivational Climate Observation System (MMCOS). Drawing from an integration of the dimensions of the social environment emphasized within achievement goal theory and self-determination theory (as assumed within Duda’s [2013] conceptualization of “empowering” and “disempowering” climates), the MMCOS was developed to enable an objective assessment of the coach-created motivational environment in sport. Study 1 supported the initial validity and reliability of the newly developed observation system. Study 2 further examined the interobserver reliability and factorial structure of the MMCOS. Study 3 explored the predictive validity of the observational system in relation to athletes’ reported basic psychological need satisfaction. Overall, the results of these studies provide preliminary support for the inter- and intraobserver reliability, as well as factorial and predictive validity of the MMCOS. Suggestions for the use of this observational system in future research in sport are provided.


2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pinar H. Imer ◽  
Hayat Kabasakal ◽  
Ali Dastmalchian

AbstractThis paper examines the impact of personality trait of dispositional affect and contextual variables of multiple commitments on organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) in two occupational groups. Three dimensions of OCBs were considered: helping, civic virtue and sportsmanship behaviors. We used positive and negative affectivity scale to measure dispositional affect. For commitments, we examined affective and normative organizational and occupational commitments. The data were collected from 180 engineers and 180 teachers. The findings show that affect, multiple commitments and occupation all have significant impacts on different dimensions of OCBs. Dispositional affect had the most influence on all three dimensions of OCBs. In addition, helping behavior is affected by normative organizational commitment while civic virtue behavior is influenced by affective commitments (both organizational and occupational) and occupation. Sportsmanship behavior is explained by occupation and affective organizational commitment. Occupation has been shown to make a unique contribution to understanding OCBs. The present study showed that the teachers, for example, exhibited more civic virtue and sportsmanship behaviors than the engineers. Implications of the findings for future research and practice are discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoraya Roldán Rockow ◽  
Brandon Ross ◽  
Anna K. Black

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a review of existing models and tools for evaluating the adaptability of buildings. A baseline of the current state of the art in adaptability evaluation and adaptation decision support is established; from this baseline, gaps for future research are recommended. Design/methodology/approach A literature review was conducted to identify papers describing adaptability models and tools. The identified models were characterized based on their focus (new buildings, existing buildings, building life cycle), considered variables (physical and/or context features) and degree/type of validation. Findings Models can be grouped as those focusing on: evaluating adaptation decisions for existing buildings; the design of new buildings for future adaptation; and understanding adaptation throughout a building life cycle. Models focusing on existing building evaluation are further in development and validation than the other model types; as such, they are more suitable for use by practitioners. Another finding is that modeling of adaptability in buildings is still in its nascent stage and that data-driven quantitative modeling is a prime area for future research. Originality/value This paper is the first comprehensive review of models and tools for evaluating adaptability. Other works have evaluated the topic of adaptability more broadly, but this is the first paper to systematically characterize existing models and tools. Based on the review future, research topics are recommended.


Author(s):  
Nathan Caruana ◽  
Dean Spirou ◽  
Jon Brock

In recent years, with the emergence of relatively inexpensive and accessible virtual reality technologies, it is now possible to deliver compelling and realistic simulations of human-to-human interaction. Neuroimaging studies have shown that, when participants believe they are interacting via a virtual interface with another human agent, they show different patterns of brain activity compared to when they know that their virtual partner is computer-controlled. The suggestion is that users adopt an “intentional stance” by attributing mental states to their virtual partner. However, it remains unclear how beliefs in the agency of a virtual partner influence participants’ behaviour and subjective experience of the interaction. We investigated this issue in the context of a cooperative “joint attention” game in which participants interacted via an eye tracker with a virtual onscreen partner, directing each other’s eye gaze to different screen locations. Half of the participants were correctly informed that their partner was controlled by a computer algorithm (“Computer” condition). The other half were misled into believing that the virtual character was controlled by a second participant in another room (“Human” condition). Those in the “Human” condition were slower to make eye contact with their partner and more likely to try and guide their partner before they had established mutual eye contact than participants in the “Computer” condition. They also responded more rapidly when their partner was guiding them, although the same effect was also found for a control condition in which they responded to an arrow cue. Results confirm the influence of human agency beliefs on behaviour in this virtual social interaction context. They further suggest that researchers and developers attempting to simulate social interactions should consider the impact of agency beliefs on user experience in other social contexts, and their effect on the achievement of the application’s goals.


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