2nd International Conference on Behavioral Addictions
Abstracts of the 2nd International Conference on Behavioral Addictions. March 16–18, 2015; Budapest, Hungary
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Abstracts of the 2nd International Conference on Behavioral Addictions. March 16–18, 2015; Budapest, Hungary
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In the last 5 years a deluge of articles on the topic of Internet addiction (IA) has proposed many candidate symptoms as evidence of this proposed disease. We critically reviewed the current approach to the measurement and identification of this new excessive behavior syndrome. Methods: Three popular models of IA were discussed: Griffith’s components model; Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT); and the criteria by Tao et al. (2010). We selected these models because they are widely cited and propose specific criteria for IA disorder. Our approach is not meant to provide an exhaustive review, but to discuss and critique the most salient trends in the field. Results: The models of Internet addiction share some criteria, including feeling a loss of control over Internet use; ensuing psychological, social, or professional conflict or problems; and preoccupation when not using the Internet. Other criteria inconsistently mentioned include: mood management, tolerance, withdrawal, and craving/anticipation. The models studied here share the assumption that the Internet can produce a qualitative shift to a diseased state in humans. Conclusions: We critically discussed the above criteria and concluded that the evidence base is currently not strong enough to provide support for an Internet addiction disorder. Future research areas are suggested: (1) Focusing on common impaired dimensions, (2) exploring neuroimaging as a model building tool, and (3) identifying shifts in the rewarding aspects of Internet use. Given the lack of consensus on the subject of Internet addiction, a focus on problem behaviors appears warranted.
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Safety measures are both a way of isolating the person who committed a criminal offence from society, with the purpose of protecting citizens, and at the same time a form of protection for the perpetrator, against whom the most appropriate measures are taken - from from the point of view of the the criminal justice system - in consideration of their particular situation. Among the categories of perpetrators to whom safety measures are addressed, those with mental retardation represent a specific category in that, unlike other psychically ill offenders, their degree of perceiving the consequences of their actions and their own guilt is extremely low, and sometimes it is even impossible for them to understand the significance of their own deeds. The present article aims to highlight the specific elements of safety measures imposed on mentally retarded criminal offenders from a theoretical perspective, analyzing the concepts of deviance and delinquency by correspondence with irresponsibility.
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Adelson’s Argyle illusion and the Craik-O’Brien-Cornsweet illusion are two noteworthy brightness illusions. In the Argyle illusion two identical gray areas are perceived to have radically different brightness levels when they are surrounded by a pattern similar to an argyle clothing design. The Craik-O’Brien-Cornsweet (C-O-C) illusion shows two identical gray areas appear different brightness when they are separated by a “Cornsweet edge.” The C-O-C illusion is remarkable for the large distances over which the effect holds even though the Cornsweet edge is relatively narrow. Here we draw a connection between these two illusions by extending the columns of the Argyle illusion to produce what we refer to as long range Argyles (LoRAs). We show that LoRAs have many similar properties to Cornsweet edges and they are capable of producing brightness effects over a large spatial range. It therefore seems that part of the strength of the Argyle illusion arises from a combination of standard simultaneous brightness effects and edge effects like those produced by the C-O-C illusion. Lastly, we discuss a curious difference between the effects of LoRAs and Cornsweet edges.
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Corticostriatal-limbic neurocircuitry, emotional and motivational processing, dopaminergic and noradrenergic systems and genetic factors have all been implicated in pathological gambling (PG). However, allelic variants of genes influencing dopaminergic and noradrenergic neurotransmitters have not been investigated with respect to the neural correlates of emotional and motivational states in PG. Dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DBH) converts dopamine to norepinephrine; the T allele of a functional single-nucleotide polymorphism rs1611115 (C-1021T) in the DBH gene is associated with less DBH activity and has been linked to emotional processes and addiction. Here, we investigate the influence of rs1611115 on the neural correlates of emotional and motivational processing in PG and healthy comparison (HC) participants. Methods: While undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging, 18 PG and 25 HC participants, all European Americans, viewed gambling-, sad-, and cocaine-related videotapes. Analyses focused on brain activation differences related to DBH genotype (CC/T-carrier [i.e., CT and TT]) and condition (sad/gambling/cocaine). Results: CC participants demonstrated greater recruitment of corticostriatal-limbic regions, relative to T-carriers. DBH variants were also associated with altered corticostriatal-limbic activations across the different videotape conditions, and this association appeared to be driven by greater activation in CC participants relative to T-carriers during the sad condition. CC relative to T-carrier subjects also reported greater subjective sadness to the sad videotapes. Conclusions: Individual differences in genetic composition linked to aminergic function contribute significantly to emotional regulation across diagnostic groups and warrant further investigation in PG.
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In this paper we present an ERP study examining the underlying nature of semantic representation of animate and inanimate objects. Time-locking ERP signatures to the onset of auditory stimuli we found topological similarities in animate and inanimate object processing. Moreover, we found no difference between animates and inanimates in the N400 amplitude, when mapping more specific to more general representation (visual to auditory stimuli). These studies provide further evidence for the theory of unitary semantic organization, but no support for the feature-based prediction of segregated conceptual organization. Further comparisons of animate vs. inanimate matches and within– vs. between-category mismatches revealed following results: processing of animate matches elicited more positivity than processing of inanimates within the N400 time-window; also, inanimate mismatches elicited a stronger N400 than did animate mismatches. Based on these findings we argue that one of the possible explanations for finding different and sometimes contradictory results in the literature regarding processing and representations of animates and inanimates in the brain could lie in the variability of selected items within each of the categories, that is, homogeneity of the categories.
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The sample included 712 preschool boys and girls at the age of 4 to 7 years (mean 5.96 decimal years and standard deviation .96) from preschool institutions in Novi Sad, Sombor, Sremska Mitrovica and Bačka Palanka. Information concerning 36 indicators of aberrant behavior of the children were supplied by their parents, whereas their cognitive ability was tested by Raven’s progressive colored matrices. Based on factor analysis (promax method), four factors i.e. generators of aberrant behavior in children were singled out: aggression, anxiousness, dissociation, and hysteria, whose relations with cognitive functioning and age were also analyzed by factor analysis. Aberrant behavior and cognitive abilities show significant interrelatedness. Owing to orderly developed cognitive abilities, a child understands essence and reality of problems, realizes possibilities and manners of solving them, and succeeds in realizing successful psycho-social functioning. Developed cognitive abilities enable a child to recognize and understand her/his own reactions in different situations and develop manners of reacting, which leads to strengthening psycho-social safety and adapting behavior in accordance with her/his age and abilities.
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Abstracts of the 1st International Conference on Behavioral Addictions; March 11–12, 2013, Budapest, Hungary
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3rd International Conference on Behavioral Addictions March 14–16, 2016 Geneva, Switzerland
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The paper contains a review of the literature concerning memory abilities and human senses performance under different environmental circumstances. A number of studies indicated that environment has a significant impact on human senses functioning. It can affect it in a mechanical way, by a chronic exposure to potentially harmful substances or processes in different work environments. Also, some cognitive abilities that have evolved to perform evolutionary essential functions lost their importance because of the change of environment impact. Moreover, training can be a source of improvement of both human senses and cognitive abilities, as well. That might suggest that, while using, under different environmental circumstances different cognitive abilities develop. We take into a particular consideration human memory and its role, show current studies in this field and suggest new research directions.
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Extreme sports athletes are often labeled “adrenaline junkies” by the media, implying they are addicted to their sport. Research suggests during abstinence these athletes may experience withdrawal states characteristic of individuals with an addiction (Celsi, Rose, & Leigh, 1993; Franken, Zijlstra, & Muris, 2006; Willig, 2008). Despite this notion, no research has directly explored withdrawal experiences of extreme sports athletes. Methods: Using semi-structured interviews, we explored withdrawal experiences of high (n = 4) and average-ability (n = 4) male rock climbers during periods of abstinence. We investigated the psychological and behavioral aspects of withdrawal, including craving, anhedonia, and negative affect; and differences in the frequency and intensity of these states between groups. Results: Deductive content analysis indicated support for each of the three categories of anhedonia, craving, and negative affect. Consistent with existing substance addiction literature, high-ability climbers recalled more frequent and intense craving states and negative affect during abstinence compared with average-ability climbers. No differences in anhedonic symptoms between high and average-ability participants were found. Conclusions: Rock climbing athletes appear to experience withdrawal symptoms when abstinent from their sport comparable to individuals with substance and behavioral addictions. The implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.
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Today’s marketing image is more dynamic and many times more interesting design-wise than it was in the past. Internet and new information-communication technologies have radically changed the original marketing image. We encounter implementation of marketing activities on a daily basis in various forms, e.g. when browsing webpages and opening own email inbox. Scientific studies in the field of neuromarketing show that the consumer doesn’t perceive exactly the same values the vendors are offering them and they sell using marketing activities. The human brain evaluates how the offer and communication corresponds with their existing expectations. Neuroscience offers an ever improving idea on how the human brain works during the buying process. By mapping active areas of the brain it is possible to discover what will convince the buyer to buy. This article deals with using the neuromarketing method of eye tracking for optimization of ad e-mails. Based on experimental testing the article characterizes the drives of the recipients for opening ad emails and subsequently identifies partial segments of the ad email as well as proposals for their optimisation.
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In this study we investigated the relationship between aesthetic experience and other emotional qualities judged in paintings. Aesthetic experience was defined as an exceptional state of mind in which a person is focused on a particular object, transcending its everyday uses and meanings and losing the awareness of surroundings and even of himself/herself. In this state a person has an exceptional emotional experience, that is a feeling of unity with the object. Our basic idea is that aesthetic experience is not reducible to pleasure or a positive hedonic tone, but a person can equally be fascinated with both pleasant and unpleasant objects. In preliminary studies we specified the stimulus set of figural and semi-figural paintings, and a set of descriptors of emotions, feelings and aesthetic experience. Participants judged the paintings on descriptors (seven-point scales). Factor analysis revealed two large factors: the bipolar factor Affective Tone (descriptors on the positive pole: lovely, charming, cheerful, etc; descriptors on the negative pole: scary, disgusting, hateful etc.) and Aesthetic Experience (descriptors: exceptional, profound, unique, etc.). Additional analyses have shown no significant correlation between the two factors. These findings confirmed our idea that aesthetic experience is independent of pleasure or affective attraction, and that it can be induced by both pleasant and unpleasant paintings.
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In this study the aesthetic experience of dance performances is investigated. The study includes construction of an instrument for measuring the aesthetic experience of dance performances and an investigation of the structure of both dancers’ and spectators’ aesthetic experience. The experiments are carried out during eight different performances of various dance forms, including classical ballet, contemporary dance, flamenco and folklore. Three factors of aesthetic experience of dance performances are identified: Dynamism, Exceptionality and Affective Evaluation. The results show that dancers’ aesthetic experience has a somewhat different factorial structure from that of the spectators’. Unlike spectators’ aesthetic experience, dancers’ aesthetic experience singles out the Excitement factor. The results are discussed within the context of dancers’ proprioception and spectators’ exteroception since these findings confirm the idea of a significant role of proprioception in dancers’ aesthetic experience.
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Fenomen ljudske agresivnosti predstavlja interakciju bioloških, psiholoških i socijalnih varijabli koji obuhvaća multiformne osobenosti - od negativne emocionalnosti, depresije do antisocijalnih ponašanja. Utvrđena je veza između agresivnog ponašanja i pojedinih regija mozga. Limbički sistem, hipotalamus, regije moždanog stabla, moduliraju agresivno ponašanje. Agresivno ponašanje je modulirano od više neuroanatomskih pozicija i pomoću mnogih neurotransmiterskih sistema uključujući: serotoninski, noradrenalinski, dopaminski, acetilholinski, GABA i opoidni sistem. Uprkos složenosti neurohemije agresivnog ponašanja, animalna proučavanja jasno pokazuju da se agresivno ponašanje značajno može mijenjati modifikacijom specifičnih transmiterskih sistema. U moždanom stablu, najprimitivnijem dijelu mozga, serotonin je odgovoran za kontolu fundamentalnih fizioloških aspekata u tijelu. Serotonin je involviran u mnoge ponašajne aspekte, emocionalna i psihička stanja, prehranu, agresivnost, raspoloženje i na taj način serotoninska aktivnost u širokom spektru „serotoniskih poremećaja“ kao što su depresija, shizofrenija, Parkinsonova bolest (Jacobs, 1994). Amfetaminski preparati dovode do pojačane aktivnosti noradrenalina, dopamina i serotonina i da pojačana transmisija u dopaminergičnom i noradrenergičnom sistemu dovodi do izražavanja agresivnog ponašanja (Man, 2000). Konzumiranje alkohola izaziva pojačanu aktivnost serotonina, prolazno ekscesivno povećanje serotonina i noradrenalina dovode do agresivnosti koju porast serotonina ne može modulirati.
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Is it ‘nature’ or ‘nurture’ that influences human behaviour? Nowadays, most psychologists would probably acknowledge the impact of both nature and nurture when it comes to behavioural outcomes. However, there is still widespread belief in the idea of the environment (nurture) and genes (nature) influencing behaviour via mutually exclusive pathways. Researchers now know that these influences are highly interdependent, and that experience and environment (nurture) can modify genes (nature) in ways, which, in some cases, can also be passed on to subsequent generations.
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The behavioural addiction model of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) proposes that as compulsions successfully reduce obsession-provoked anxiety in the early stages of the disorder, their performance is rewarding and therefore potentially addictive. According to this theory, the urge to perform a compulsion or neutralization resembles craving in addiction, and ventral fronto-striatal reward circuitry is activated during compulsive or neutralizing behaviour, resembling substance addiction disorders. The current study used EEG source localisation to test this hypothesis by examining brain activity accompanying the urge to neutralize and covert neutralization. Methods: Two groups of non-clinical participants (15 Low-OC, 15 High-OC) performed a task in which the urge to neutralize was induced by supplying participants with an obsessive–compulsive-like thought. Source localised EEG activity was compared between a negative condition with high urge to neutralize, and a positive condition with low urge to neutralize, and correlations between brain activity and self-reported urge to neutralize were examined. Results: High-OC participants reported a significantly greater urge to neutralize than Low-OC participants, and the majority of participants reported performing covert neutralization during the experiment. Between-condition comparisons in the High-OC group revealed significantly greater alpha activity in the insula and vlPFC in the negative than the positive condition, which was significantly correlated with both urge to neutralize and later decrease in negative affect. Conclusions: The current results support the proposal that the urge to neutralize in OCD is neurally similar to craving in substance addiction, in agreement with the behavioural addiction model of OCD.
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Recent papers on the Capgras delusion have focused on the role played by subpersonal abductive inference in the formation and maintenance of the delusional belief. In these accounts, the delusional belief is posited as the first delusion-related event of which the patient is conscious. As a consequence, an explanatory role for anomalous patient experience is denied. The aim of this paper is to challenge this revisionist position and to integrate subpersonal inference within a model of the Capgras delusion which includes a role for experiential content. I argue that the following revisionist claims are problematic: (a) that a fully-formed belief enters consciousness, and (b) that this is the first conscious delusion-related event. Instead, it is my contention that a delusional thought (arrived at through subpersonal abductive inference) and an anomalous experience co-occur in consciousness prior to the formation of the delusional belief. The co-occurrence of thought and anomalous experience overcomes problems with the revisionist position resulting in an account of the Capgras delusion with greater explanatory efficacy.
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The aim of this paper is to highlight the rationale behind the use of data from neuroscience, particularly neuroimaging, in psychiatric legal expert procedures and their interference with the mind-brain problem. The critical argument is that the employment of mental health evaluation of the defendants and/or witnesses as collected with clinical assessment methods in court proceedings should not be considered irrespective to the data from neuroscience. Essentially, neuroscience methods belong to the domain of nomothetic (natural explanatory) knowledge, whereas clinical evaluation methods in psychiatry belong to the domain of intra- and inter-subjective narratives. There exists an explanatory gap between those two groups of disciplines which concerns the ability to translate and integrate data across diverse methodological and terminological systems. Furthermore, it depends largely on the implicit positions in the mind-brain debate and the brain-to-behavior connections, which reflect on the professional and legal reasoning in terms of prioritizing certain solutions or approaches over another in the expert judgements. There are described those tacit positions adopted in the mind-brain debate by different traditions in psychiatry, with special emphasis on reductive and non-reductive forms of physicalism. In conclusion, a cognitive pluralist stance is adopted which sets priority for the supervenience theory of mind.
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Emphasis of research was to examine characteristics of behavior of children with cerebral palsy who have important improvement to succeed in the process of learning. Fundamental goal of a research is to investigate latent structure and level of adaptive behavior of children with cerebral palsy. Research was realized in the Center for education Goljak in Zagreb on the simple off 64 pupils with cerebral palsy. Functioning in activity of daily living was examined with application of AAMD scale part I (Nihira et al ,1975 .) To determine latent space of adaptive behavior, factor analysis was applied. Research and obtained results confirm initial hypotesis and open possibility that the transfer of result will be in function of practical educational and rehabilitative form of treatment. Success of programed educational and rehabilitational work is undoubdtly reflected to adaptive behavior of children of and after all it depends on reached intellectual level, sex, chronological age and treatment.
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