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Previous research has found that those who are more psychopathic are more supportive of the actions that harm others to maximize the outcomes. This might be because the more psychopathic: 1) care more about the consequences; 2) care less about the 'no harm' norms; 3) prefer action more often than inaction irrespective of consequences and norms. These possibilities are claimed to be dissociated by the so-called CNI model. We aimed to address the limitations of the CNI model by using an alternative algorithm that algebraically generates the probabilities of consequence sensitivity, norm sensitivity, and overall action bias; the CAN algorithm for short. We applied the CAN algorithm and reanalyzed the raw data from four previous studies. The results demonstrated some new findings. People who are more psychopathic have more overall action bias, have stronger inaction and action preferences opposite to the requirements of norms and consequences, and have weaker inclinations to follow moral principles. Perceived societal standards, rather than personal standards, can alleviate the positive effects of psychopathy on overall action bias and action preference opposite to norms and consequences. The present study clarified and deepened our insights into the relationship between psychopathy and moral decisions. Theoretical and methodological implications are discussed., Author(s): Chuanjun Liu [sup.1] [sup.2] , Jiangqun Liao [sup.3] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.13291.38, 0000 0001 0807 1581, Department of Sociology and Psychology, School of Public Administration, Sichuan University, , 610065, [...]

Several major on-line platforms operate two channels: An agency channel in which suppliers retain control over prices and quantities and pay a portion of sales revenue to the platform, and a reselling channel in which the platform purchases goods from the supplier and resells them to consumers. These two channels run in parallel and many suppliers interact with only one of them. Although it is quite easy for a supplier to sell through a platform's agency channel, they must typically be invited to participate in the reselling channel. We develop a model of a powerful platform that can offer a supplier a two-part contract to induce it to participate in its reselling channel instead of its agency channel. When the supplier sells through the platform's agency channel, we find that if the competition among the traditional resellers is at least moderate and the on-line platform is a close enough substitute for traditional resale channel, then the equilibrium quantities sold through the on-line and traditional channels both exceed the first best quantities. This would not occur if the supplier sold through either the on-line or the traditional channel in isolation. Nor would it occur if the supplier sold through the platform's reselling channel. As a consequence, we find that when competition among traditional resellers is at least moderate, and both the commission rate and the substitutability between the on-line platform and the traditional resale channel are sufficiently high, there is a Pareto improving reselling contract between the supplier and the platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most previous audio-visual crossmodal correspondence studies focused on static visual or auditory stimuli. Moreover, some researchers have found that music training can effectively improve the interaction between auditory and visual channels by enhancing neural plasticity. This study focused on whether crossmodal correspondence occurs when people face dynamic visual and auditory stimuli, and whether it is affected by musical training. Participants were asked to judge different changes in pitch (rise and drop) by showing them different patterns of visual circle motion (enlarged, reduced, and unchanged). The results revealed that the audio-visual congruent combinations (the pitch rise when the circle was enlarged and the pitch drop when the circle was reduced) significantly shortened participants' response times, whereas the audio-visual neutral combinations (the unchanged shape) had the highest accuracy. Participants with musical training were faster than participants without musical training to judge pitch changes in conditions where the association between pitch and shape size was incongruent. These findings provide empirical evidence for dynamic audio-visual crossmodal correspondence and shed light on the bright prospect of using congruent audio-visual stimuli in animation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Background Method Results Conclusion Implications This study investigated the intergenerational transmission of utilitarian and deontological inclinations, examining whether these pass from parents to adult children and exploring the potential moderating effects of parenting style and intergenerational involvement in this process.Family factors, including religious norms and work values, influence moral development, but the intergenerational transmission of two moral inclinations—utilitarianism (emphasizing consequences, e.g., sacrificing one person to save five) and deontology (emphasizing intrinsic norms, e.g., refraining from intentionally harming the innocent)—remains underexplored.We measured these inclinations in 171 parent–adult child pairs using a moral decision thought experiment and questionnaires on parenting style and intergenerational involvement.Positive correlations emerged between parents and adult children for both inclinations. “Emotional warmth” in parenting style and intergenerational involvement showed significant negative moderating effects on the transmission of utilitarianism between generations.This study provides empirical evidence of intergenerational transmission of moral inclinations. Higher emotional warmth and increased intergenerational involvement inhibit the transmission of utilitarian inclinations, leading to reduced prioritization of better consequences.Enhanced emotional warmth and greater intergenerational involvement by parents can deter the transmission of utilitarian inclinations among adult children, prioritizing adherence to intrinsic norms over intentional harm for greater benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined the potential bias of foreign language effect (FLE) on moral judgment by considering the confounding influence of perverse responses. A perverse response is a reaction that contradicts both norms and consequences, that is, participants choose to take action (or inaction) when both norms and consequences require inaction (or action). We predicted that using a foreign language, compared to a native language, would elicit more perverse responses, thereby confounding the participants’ moral judgments. To test our prediction, we distinguished between active and inhibitory perverse responses and re-analyzed the raw data from a previous FLE study using four approaches: the traditional dilemma paradigm, the process dissociation model, the consequence-norm-generalised inaction/action (CNI) model, and the consequence-overall action/inaction-norm (CAN) algorithm. The results of the mediation analyses consistently showed that active and inhibitory perverse responses mediate the effects of foreign/native language on moral decisions in all the four approaches. The results suggest that individuals using a foreign language tend to exhibit more active and inhibitory perverse responses, which in turn influence their moral decisions. Addressing this issue could help clarify the FLE on moral decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In previous research frameworks, researchers used an everyday dilemma to test people's altruistic versus egoistic inclination. However, there are at least three different psychological processes that could induce altruistic over egoistic decisions, i.e., stronger altruistic sensitivity, weaker egoistic sensitivity, and stronger overall action versus inaction preference. To dissociate these different psychological processes, we developed new materials and applied the CAN algorithm from traditional moral dilemma research in two studies. In Study 1, we designed scenarios varying with a 2 (egoistic/non-egoistic) × 2 (non-altruistic/altruistic) structure. Then, we recruited 209 participants to validate the scenarios and filtered six scene frameworks with 24 scenarios in total. In Study 2, we recruited 747 participants to judge whether they would conduct behavior that is simultaneously altruistic (or non-altruistic) and egoistic (or non-egoistic) in the filtered scenarios obtained from Study 1. They also filled in the Social Isolation Scale, Distress Disclosure Scale, and some other demographic information. As we dissociated the psychological processes using the CAN algorithm, significant correlations between social isolation and distress disclosure and three parameters (i.e., altruistic tendency, egoistic tendency, and overall action/inaction preference) underlying the altruistic choice were revealed to varying degrees. Other individual differences in the psychological processes in everyday moral decision-making were further demonstrated. Our study provided materials and methodological protocols to dissociate the multiple psychological processes in everyday moral decision-making. It promotes our insights on everyday moral decisions from a differential psychological processes perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is unclear whether the state of boredom is related to morality. The present study investigated how state boredom influenced cheating behaviors on task performance. In Study 1 (N = 104), participants were induced to feel bored, and then reported whether they had finished an anagram task (two sentences in the task were unsolvable). The results found that people with higher boredom showed more cheating behaviors than those with lower boredom on task performance. In Study 2 (N = 139), participants completed the Multidimensional State Boredom Scale, and then completed the same anagram task as in Study 1, as well as a state self-efficacy scale. The results revealed that state self-efficacy mediated the effect of state boredom on cheating behaviors on task performance. In other words, a higher level of state boredom leads to a lower level of state self-efficacy, and the lower state self-efficacy then results in more cheating behaviors. The present study provides empirical evidence that state boredom has its moral function through state self-efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CNI model generates C, N, and I parameters to measure people's mental processes—consequence sensitivity (C), norm sensitivity (N), and generalized inaction/action preferences (I)—in moral decision making. Given the limitations of the CNI model, the CAN algorithm was developed to depict the consequence sensitivity (C), overall action versus inaction preferences (A), norm sensitivity (N), and perverse responses with the other three parameters. However, no studies have clarified whether and how the CAN algorithm can solve the limitations of the CNI model. The present study systematically uncovers the limitations of the CNI model and the solutions provided by the CAN algorithm: (a) the CNI model does not consider negative values of the parameters, but the CAN algorithm does; (b) the sequential processing assumption of the CNI model is biased, the CAN algorithm proposes a parallel calculation strategy to fix this problem; (c) the calculation of the I parameter of the CNI model is inaccurate, so the CAN algorithm proposes the A parameter to replace it; (d) the CNI model has a problem measuring perverse responses, while the CAN algorithm develops three parameters to measure these. We examined some of our points on the basis of a reanalysis of the foreign language effect (FLE) by comparing the parameters from the CAN algorithm with those from the CNI model. We found that consequence and norm sensitivity were estimated to be greater using the CNI model than with the CAN algorithm. Consequently, these overestimations significantly (consequence sensitivity) and marginally (norm sensitivity) interfered with the FLE, making the FLE more likely to return a false positive result. In addition, the CAN algorithm was able to measure the extent of perverse responses, indicating that foreign language (compared to a native language) leads to more perverse responses. The present study demonstrates that the CNI model magnifies the Type I error of conclusions and that the CAN algorithm (compared to the CNI model) provides more insights regarding moral decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We synthesized gold (Au) nano-urchins (AuNUs) and deposited these AuNUs on indium tin oxide (ITO) glass. We compared the influence of the resistance of ITO glass and the deposition density of NUs on refractive index sensitivity (RIS) of these ITO substrates, and found that ITO glass with resistance of 8–12 /sq and substrates with many AuNU dimers gave the highest RIS which was as high as 455 nm/RIU (refractive index unit), which is the highest on substrate as we known. Compared with AuNUs deposited on quartz glass, the extinction peak intensity and RIS were enhanced on ITO glass. The RIS enhancement is mainly attributed to the considerably enhanced electric field at the tips of AuNUs, electrical hot spots generated by AuNU aggregates (such as dimers), and the repulsive forces decrease in each AuNU by the ITO layer. It is thought that further shape, distribution, and size change of AuNUs and dimers on ITO glass will greatly affect the RIS and spectral characteristics. AuNU substrate is then proposed for heparin detection through Au etching. The results showed that heparin detection was realized in a linear range of 0.05 to $5~\mu \text{g}$ /mL with a detection limit of 8 ng/mL, which has potential to be applied in the practical environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims identification of discriminating chemical constituents in the banana odor grown in Philippines and Ecuador using GC–MS characterization. Ester is recognized as a major chemical class in selected banana odor. Odors discriminating compounds like, 2-hexenal, ethyl acetate, and hexanoic acid, ethyl ester, etc. have been identified. Besides, other odors generating chemical compounds (alcohols, esters, aldehydes, and ketones) have been recognized. Furthermore, principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis were implemented to differentiate banana odors. PCA achieved 100% discrimination of selected bananas odors using the peak area information about recognizing chemical compounds. Odor identity and discrimination of selected bananas have been achieved successfully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have demonstrated the possibility that when people are in standing rather than sitting postures, they have a stronger cognitive control propensity, making them inclined to agree more to sacrificing one innocent person and saving more people. Furthermore, this postural effect can be moderated by dual processes. In three studies, participants read dilemma scenarios followed by a proposed behavior to sacrifice one innocent person and save five or more people. The participants in sitting or standing postures were asked whether the described action was morally acceptable (moral judgment) and whether they would perform the described action (moral action). The results demonstrated that participants were more approving of the behavioral proposal in the moral action perspective than in the moral judgment perspective across the three studies. The hypothesized postural effect was found in a field study (Study 1) and replicated in a preregistered replication study (Study 2), and was further supported in an experimental study (Study 3). Compared with those in sitting postures, participants in standing postures expressed higher approval of the behavioral proposal compared to their sitting counterparts. Furthermore, the postural effect was dismissed when participants made moral decisions with a dual task to increase cognitive load, and it was reversed when they made moral decisions after deliberate consideration of the behavioral proposal (Study 3). The present research supports and extends the dual‐process morality theory by demonstrating that body posture can affect moral decision‐making; it also offers novel evidence revealing the moderating role of dual process on embodiment effects. It enriches our knowledge that morality is evolutionarily embodied in postures and that the dual process can moderate embodiment effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]