ORCID Profile
0000-0001-9722-2475
Current Organisation
Bond University
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Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-07-2017
DOI: 10.1111/PSYP.12913
Abstract: In order to improve our understanding of the components that reflect functionally important processes during reward anticipation and consumption, we used principle components analyses (PCA) to separate and quantify averaged ERP data obtained from each stage of a modified monetary incentive delay (MID) task. Although a small number of recent ERP studies have reported that reward and loss cues potentiate ERPs during anticipation, action preparation, and consummatory stages of reward processing, these findings are inconsistent due to temporal and spatial overlap between the relevant electrophysiological components. Our results show three components following cue presentation are sensitive to incentive cues (N1, P3a, P3b). In contrast to previous research, reward-related enhancement occurred only in the P3b, with earlier components more sensitive to break-even and loss cues. During feedback anticipation, we observed a lateralized centroparietal negativity that was sensitive to response hand but not cue type. We also show that use of PCA on ERPs reflecting reward consumption successfully separates the reward positivity from the independently modulated feedback-P3. Last, we observe for the first time a new reward consumption component: a late negativity distributed over the left frontal pole. This component appears to be sensitive to response hand, especially in the context of monetary gain. These results illustrate that the time course and sensitivities of electrophysiological activity that follows incentive cues do not follow a simple heuristic in which reward incentive cues produce enhanced activity at all stages and substages.
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 14-04-2016
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-09-2023
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 12-06-2015
Abstract: Anticipating future interactions is characteristic of our everyday social experiences, yet has received limited empirical attention. Little is known about how children with autism spectrum disorder, known for their limitations in social interactive skills, engage in social anticipation. We asked children with autism spectrum disorder and their typically developing counterparts to consider an interaction with another person in the near future. Our results suggest that children with autism spectrum disorder and typically developing children performed similarly when anticipating the age, gender, and possible questions of another person, but children with autism spectrum disorder struggled more to anticipate what they would say in response to an anticipated interaction. Furthermore, such responses were robustly associated with imaginative capacities in typically developing children but not children with autism spectrum disorder. Our findings suggest that the cognitive mechanisms of social anticipation may differ between these groups.
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Date: 21-11-2016
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-2016
DOI: 10.1111/PSYP.12719
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 12-2021
DOI: 10.1037/ADB0000687
Abstract: Crowdsourcing is an increasingly popular source of participants in studies of problem gambling. Studies with crowdsourced s les have reported prevalence rates of problem gambling between 10 and 50 times higher than traditional sources of estimates. These elevated rates may be due to study framing motivating self-selection. In this preregistered study, we examined whether study framing influences self-reported problem gambling severity and harmful alcohol use in a s le of participants recruited from a popular crowdsourcing website. Two recruitment notices for an online questionnaire were placed on Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Notices were framed as "Gambling and Health" or "Alcohol and Health." Only participants who passed data checks were retained for confirmatory analyses ( Problem gambling rates and severity scores were significantly greater for participants in the gambling framing compared to those in the alcohol framing. Self-reported scores of harmful alcohol use were significantly greater for participants in the alcohol framing compared to those in the gambling framing, but there was no significant difference in prevalence rates for harmful alcohol use. Study framing is an important consideration for gambling and alcohol research. We found that study framing may substantially increase the observed rates of problem gambling severity in crowdsourced s les, potentially via encouragement of self-selection. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 21-01-2023
Abstract: Epidemiological and intervention studies in nutritional psychiatry suggest that the risk of mood disorders is associated with what we eat. However, few studies use a person-centred approach to explore the food and mood relationship. In this qualitative study of 50 Australian participants, we explored in iduals’ experiences with food and mood as revealed during focus group discussions. Using a thematic template analysis, we identified three themes in the food and mood relationship: (i) social context: familial and cultural influences of food and mood, (ii) social economics: time, finance, and food security, and (iii) food nostalgia: unlocking memories that impact mood. Participants suggested that nutrients, food components or food patterns may not be the only way that food impacts mood. Rather, they described the social context of who, with, and where food is eaten, and that time, finances, and access to healthy fresh foods and bittersweet memories of foods shared with loved ones all impacted their mood. Findings suggest that quantitative studies examining the links between diet and mood should look beyond nutritional factors and give increased attention to the cultural, social, economic, and identity aspects of diet.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 27-08-2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2014
DOI: 10.1016/J.BODYIM.2013.12.002
Abstract: Research on emotional functioning, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating in males is predominated by studies of negative affect and emotion regulation. Other aspects of emotional functioning, namely emotion recognition and attentional biases toward emotional stimuli, have received little empirical attention. The present study investigated the unique associations between different aspects of men's emotional functioning and their disordered eating attitudes, muscularity dissatisfaction, and body fat dissatisfaction. Results from 132 male undergraduates showed that muscularity dissatisfaction was uniquely associated with both emotion regulation difficulties and an attentional bias toward rejecting faces. Body fat dissatisfaction was not uniquely associated with any aspect of emotional functioning. Disordered eating was uniquely associated with emotion regulation difficulties. Collectively, the results indicate differences in the patterns of associations between men's emotional functioning and their body dissatisfaction and disordered eating.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-09-2019
DOI: 10.1111/PSYP.13290
Abstract: Unlike other basic emotions, anger is relatively difficult to produce in the lab, with the most reliable methods involving elaborate and time-consuming manipulations. These factors preclude the possibility of using them for studying short-lived changes in neural activity associated with the subjective experience of anger. In this paper, we present a novel task that allows for the trial-by-trial manipulation of anger and the examination of associated ERPs. Participants completed an incentive delay task, in which accurate responses were rewarded with monetary gains (or breaking even, in a neutral condition), and inaccurate responses were punished with monetary losses. After participants received accuracy feedback, they received information that indicated the amount of money they won or lost on that trial. On a majority of trials, this amount was consistent with the feedback stimuli, while on a minority of trials this amount was inconsistent. Results indicated that participants reported the most anger after trials where goal pursuit was frustrated by monetary losses despite accurate responses. P3b litudes were greater for inconsistent outcomes than consistent outcomes, regardless of whether these resulted in unexpected gains or frustrating losses. On frustrating trials, P3b litudes were positively correlated with self-reported anger. The same correlation was not observed for trials with stimuli that signaled surprise gains. Discussion focuses on the implications of these results.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-08-2023
DOI: 10.1111/JOPY.12876
Abstract: What are the motivational underpinnings of solitude? We know from self‐report studies that increases in solitude are associated with drops in approach motivation and rises in avoidance motivation, but only when solitude is experienced as non‐self‐determined (i.e., non‐autonomous). However, the extent to which in idual differences in solitude relate to neurophysiological markers of approach–avoidance motivation derived from resting‐state electroencephalogram (EEG) is unknown. These markers are Frontal Alpha Asymmetry, beta suppression, and midline Posterior versus Frontal EEG Theta Activity. We assessed the relation among in idual differences in the reasons for solitude (i.e., preference for solitude, motivation for solitude), approach–avoidance motivation, and resting‐state EEG markers of approach–avoidance motivation ( N = 115). General preference for solitude was negatively related to approach motivation, observed in both self‐reported measures and EEG markers of approach motivation. Self‐determined solitude was positively related to both self‐reported approach motivation and avoidance motivation in the social domain (i.e., friendship). Non‐self‐determined solitude was negatively associated with self‐reported avoidance motivation. This research was a preliminary attempt to address the neurophysiological underpinnings of solitude in the context of motivation.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-06-2015
DOI: 10.1111/PSYP.12460
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 10-05-2023
DOI: 10.1101/2023.05.08.539920
Abstract: Parkinson’s Disease (PD) has been associated with greater total power in canonical frequency bands (i.e., alpha, beta) of the resting electroencephalogram (EEG). However, PD has also been associated with a reduction in the proportion of total power across all frequency bands. This discrepancy may be explained by aperiodic activity (exponent and offset) present across all frequency bands. Here, we examined differences in the eyes-open and eyes-closed resting EEG of PD participants ( N = 26) on and off medication, and age-matched controls (CTL N = 26). We extracted power from canonical frequency bands using traditional methods (total alpha and beta power) and extracted separate parameters for periodic (parameterized alpha and beta power) and aperiodic activity (exponent and offset). Cluster-based permutation tests over spatial and frequency dimensions indicated that total alpha and beta power, and aperiodic exponent and offset were greater in PD participants, independent of medication status. After removing the exponent and offset, greater alpha power in PD (vs. CTL) was only present in eyes-open recordings and no reliable differences in beta power were observed. Differences between PD and CTLs in the resting EEG are likely driven by aperiodic activity, suggestive of greater relative inhibitory neural activity and greater neuronal spiking. Our findings suggest that resting EEG activity in PD is characterized by medication-invariant differences in aperiodic activity which is independent of the increase in alpha power with EO. This highlights the importance of considering aperiodic activity contributions to the neural correlates of brain disorders.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 19-03-2020
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-10-2019
DOI: 10.1186/S12889-019-7738-5
Abstract: Gambling disorder is related to high overall gambling engagement however specific activities and modalities are thought to have stronger relationships with gambling problems. This study aimed to isolate the relationship between specific gambling activities and modalities (Internet and venue/land-based) to gambling disorder and general psychological distress. Past-month Internet gamblers were the focus of this investigation because this modality may be associated with gambling disorders in a unique way that needs to be separated from overall gambling intensity. Australians who had gambled online in the prior 30 days ( N = 998, 57% male) were recruited through a market research company to complete an online survey measuring self-reported gambling participation, problem gambling severity, and psychological distress. When controlling for overall gambling frequency, problem gambling was significantly positively associated with the frequency of online and venue-based gambling using electronic gaming machines (EGMs) and venue-based sports betting. Psychological distress was uniquely associated with higher frequency of venue gambling using EGMs, sports betting, and casino card/table games. This study advances our understanding of how specific gambling activities are associated with disordered gambling and psychological distress in users of Internet gambling services. Our results suggest that among Internet gamblers, online and land-based EGMs are strongly associated with gambling disorder severity. High overall gambling engagement is an important predictor of gambling-related harms, nonetheless, venue-based EGMs, sports betting and casinos warrant specific attention to address gambling-related harms and psychological distress among gamblers.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 07-11-2016
DOI: 10.1111/PSYP.12786
Abstract: The reward positivity (RewP) and the stimulus preceding negativity (SPN), two ERPs associated with reward delivery and reward anticipation, are modulated by motivational intensity. Motivational intensity is the effort organisms would make to exert behaviors, and it varies with the difficulty of exerting that behavior. If a task is perceived as impossible, which means that one does not have control over own outcomes, motivational intensity is low. In the current study, we tested the prediction that perceiving control over one's outcomes increases both the RewP to feedback and the SPN prior to feedback compared to perceiving no control. We also examined whether P300 and LPP litudes to reward and nonreward images were similarly modulated. Twenty-five female participants completed a gambling task in which correct choices were followed by pictures of attractive men and incorrect choices were followed by pictures of rocks. To manipulate perceived control, participants were told that, in one block of trials, they could learn a mouse-click rule in order to see only pictures of men (high perceived control condition), while in the other block, the pictures would appear randomly (low perceived control condition). However, in both conditions, feedback appeared randomly. Although the RewP was elicited in both blocks, the RewP and SPN were higher in the high perceived control condition (i.e., when participants thought that they could influence their outcomes). Perceived control did not modulate the P300 and LPP to pictures. The results suggest that approach motivation and its intensity modulate the processing of performance feedback.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-11-2017
DOI: 10.1111/PSYP.12929
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-06-2022
DOI: 10.1111/PSYP.14113
Abstract: The ratio of fronto‐central theta (4–7 Hz) to beta oscillations (13–30 Hz), known as the theta‐beta ratio, is negatively correlated with attentional control, reinforcement learning, executive function, and age. Although theta‐beta ratios have been found to decrease with age in adolescents and young adults, theta has been found to increase with age in older adults. Moreover, age‐related decrease in in idual alpha peak frequency and flattening of the 1/ f aperiodic component may artifactually inflate the association between theta‐beta ratio and age. These factors lead to an incomplete understanding of how theta‐beta ratio varies across the lifespan and the extent to which variation is due to a conflation of aperiodic and periodic activity. We conducted a partially preregistered analysis examining the cross‐sectional associations between age and resting canonical fronto‐central theta‐beta ratio, in idual alpha peak frequency, and aperiodic component ( n = 268 age 36–84, M = 55.8, SD = 11.0). Age was negatively associated with theta‐beta ratios, in idual peak alpha frequencies, and the aperiodic exponent. The correlation between theta‐beta ratios and age remained after controlling for in idual peak alpha frequencies, but was nonsignificant when controlling for the aperiodic exponent. Aperiodic exponent fully mediated the relationship between theta‐beta ratio and age, although beta remained significantly associated with age after controlling for theta, in idual peak alpha, and aperiodic exponent. Results replicate previous observations and show age‐related decreases in theta‐beta ratios are not due to age‐related decrease in in idual peak alpha frequencies but primarily explained by flattening of the aperiodic component with age.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.ADDBEH.2019.106050
Abstract: Consumer protection tools such as activity statements, deposit limits, and temporary self-exclusion are provided by most Internet gambling websites to minimise gambling related harms through the prevention of problems and enhancement of controls for those at risk of disordered gambling. However, customer engagement with these tools is very low. Developing a theoretical framework to understand the reasons in iduals use consumer protection tools is important to design strategies to increase uptake. Customers of Australian online wagering sites (N = 564) completed an online survey with a follow-up (N = 193) to assess whether the Theory of Planned Behaviour explained intention to use tools and actual behaviour with additional consideration of past tool use. Results showed that past tool use, attitudes and subjective norms, but not perceived behavioural control, were positively correlated with intention to use consumer protection tools. Intention to use the tools prospectively predicted actual tool use. The study validates past behaviour as a predictor of intention, and intention representing a significant predictor of future behaviour. The Theory of Reasoned Action (without the inclusion of perceived behavioural control), rather than Theory of Planned Behaviour, appears to be a suitable conceptual model to understand consumer protection tool use for Internet wagering websites. Use and application of consumer protection tools on gambling websites is not perceived as effortful, but under volitional control and straightforward. Positively influencing in idual attitudes, perceived views of others and past tool use could increase online wagering customers' use of consumer protection tools.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-04-2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2019
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 22-05-2020
DOI: 10.1007/S10899-019-09859-8
Abstract: Internet gambling has been widely legalised in recognition of its capacity to, and the importance of, providing consumer protection tools to prevent and minimise gambling-related harms. Most licensed Internet gambling sites are required to provide consumer protection tools, including activity statements, deposit limits, and time-outs (temporary self-exclusion). However, few Internet gambling customers engage with the tools. An online survey of 564 customers of Australian Internet gambling sites aimed to understand the extent to which consumer protection tools are used, characteristics of those using these tools, and the perceptions and attitudes towards tool use, including barriers to use. Most participants were aware of the tools and had accessed activity statements few had used deposit limits (24.5%) or time-outs (8.1%) but use of these restrictive tools was higher among those at-risk of gambling problems. Satisfaction with tools was generally high among users and tools were mostly used as intended however, only moderate changes in behaviour were reported. Participants predominately did not use the restrictive tools as they did not see these as relevant for them, and they were perceived to be intended for people with gambling problems. The findings are important to drive necessary improvements to consumer protection efforts including efforts to encourage perception that tools are relevant for all customers. Changes to current practice, including terminology and promotion of tools, are needed by Internet gambling operators and policy makers to improve the utilisation and effectiveness of consumer protection tools to enable sustainable gambling among the broader cohort of Internet gamblers.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 22-09-2023
No related grants have been discovered for Douglas Angus.