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10.1371/journal.pone.0249667

PloS one

PLoS One

Initial validation of the Italian version of the Volition in Exercise Questionnaire (VEQ-I).

The purpose of this study was to validate the Volition in Exercise Questionnaire in Italian language (VEQ-I). The translation and cultural adaptation of the VEQ-I was conducted using the forward-backward translation method. VEQ-I eighteen items correspond to the six-factors structure of the original version. The construct validity was verified by the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) (CFI = 0.960; TLI = 0.943; RMSEA = 0.039; and SRMR = 0.040). The eighteen items were well distributed in six subscales and the six-factors structure of the questionnaire was supported. Internal Consistency value of the questionnaire was investigated for each subscale of the VEQ-I. Cronbach's alpha and Omega values of the Reasons, Postponing Training, Unrelated Thoughts, Self-Confidence, Approval from Others and Coping with Failure subscales were 0.76 (α) and 0.76 (ω), 0.76 (α) and 0.76 (ω), 0.87 (α) and 0.88 (ω), 0.85 (α) and 0.85 (ω), 0.70 (α) and 0.72 (ω) and 0.74 (α) and 0.74 (ω), respectively. They were acceptable in all the six subscales. The concurrent validity was assessed using the correlation among the subscales of VEQ-I measures and those contained in two questionnaires: Psychobiosocial States in Physical Education (PBS-SPE) and Exercise Motivations Inventory (EMI-2).

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.653458

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Effortless Willpower? The Integrative Self and Self-Determined Goal Pursuit.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.3390/jcm10071352

Journal of clinical medicine

J Clin Med

Non-Invasive Biomarkers of Musculoskeletal Health with High Discriminant Ability for Age and Gender.

A novel approach to ageing studies assessed the discriminatory ability of a combination of routine physical function tests and novel measures, notably muscle mechanical properties and thigh composition (ultrasound imaging) to classify healthy individuals according to age and gender. The cross-sectional study included 138 community-dwelling, self-reported healthy males and females (65 young, mean age ± SD = 25.7 ± 4.8 years; 73 older, 74.9 ± 5.9 years). Handgrip strength; quadriceps strength; respiratory peak flow; timed up and go; stair climbing time; anterior thigh tissue thickness; muscle stiffness, tone, elasticity (Myoton technology), and self-reported health related quality of life (SF36) were assessed. Stepwise feature selection using cross-validation with linear discriminant analysis was used to classify cases based on criterion variable derived from known effects of age on physical function. A model was trained and features selected using 126 cases with 0.92 accuracy (95% CI = 0.86-0.96; Kappa = 0.89). The final model included five features (peak flow, timed up and go, biceps brachii elasticity, anterior thigh muscle thickness, and percentage thigh muscle) with high sensitivity (0.82-0.96) and specificity (0.94-0.99). The most sensitive novel biomarkers require no volition, highlighting potentially useful tests for screening and monitoring effects of interventions on musculoskeletal health for vulnerable older people with pain or cognitive impairment.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118002

NeuroImage

Neuroimage

Anatomical bases of fast parietal grasp control in humans: A diffusion-MRI tractography study.

The dorso-posterior parietal cortex (DPPC) is a major node of the grasp/manipulation control network. It is assumed to act as an optimal forward estimator that continuously integrates efferent outflows and afferent inflows to modulate the ongoing motor command. In agreement with this view, a recent per-operative study, in humans, identified functional sites within DPPC that: (i) instantly disrupt hand movements when electrically stimulated; (ii) receive short-latency somatosensory afferences from intrinsic hand muscles. Based on these results, it was speculated that DPPC is part of a rapid grasp control loop that receives direct inputs from the hand-territory of the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) and sends direct projections to the hand-territory of the primary motor cortex (M1). However, evidence supporting this hypothesis is weak and partial. To date, projections from DPPC to M1 grasp zone have been identified in monkeys and have been postulated to exist in humans based on clinical and transcranial magnetic studies. This work uses diffusion-MRI tractography in two samples of right- (n = 50) and left-handed (n = 25) subjects randomly selected from the Human Connectome Project. It aims to determine whether direct connections exist between DPPC and the hand control sectors of the primary sensorimotor regions. The parietal region of interest, related to hand control (hereafter designated DPPC), was defined permissively as the 95% confidence area of the parietal sites that were found to disrupt hand movements in the previously evoked per-operative study. In both hemispheres, irrespective of handedness, we found dense ipsilateral connections between a restricted part of DPPC and focal sectors within the pre and postcentral gyrus. These sectors, corresponding to the hand territories of M1 and S1, targeted the same parietal zone (spatial overlap > 92%). As a sensitivity control, we searched for potential connections between the angular gyrus (AG) and the pre and postcentral regions. No robust pathways were found. Streamline densities identified using AG as the starting seed represented less than 5 % of the streamline densities identified from DPPC. Together, these results support the existence of a direct sensory-parietal-motor loop suited for fast manual control and more generally, for any task requiring rapid integration of distal sensorimotor signals.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1093/nc/niab004

Neuroscience of consciousness

Neurosci Conscious

People confabulate with high confidence when their decisions are supported by weak internal variables.

People can introspect on their internal state and report the reasons driving their decisions but choice blindness (CB) experiments suggest that this ability can sometimes be a retrospective illusion. Indeed, when presented with deceptive cues, people justify choices they did not make in the first place, suggesting that external cues largely contribute to introspective processes. Yet, it remains unclear what are the respective contributions of external cues and internal decision variables in forming introspective report. Here, using a brain-computer interface, we show that internal variables continue to be monitored but are less impactful than deceptive external cues during CB episodes. Moreover, we show that deceptive cues overturn the classical relationship between confidence and accuracy: introspective failures are associated with higher confidence than genuine introspective reports. We tracked back the origin of these overconfident confabulations by revealing their prominence when internal decision evidence is weak and variable. Thus, introspection is neither a direct reading of internal variables nor a mere retrospective illusion, but rather reflects the integration of internal decision evidence and external cues, with CB being a special instance where internal evidence is inconsistent.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1037/fam0000826

Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (Division 43)

J Fam Psychol

Prenatal childbearing motivations, parenting styles, and child adjustment: A longitudinal study.

To have a child is among individuals' most important and meaningful decisions, with far-reaching implications. Despite evidence linking this decision to a wide variety of consequences, little is known about what motivates people to have children, and even less so about the long-term effects of different childbearing motivations on parenting and child adjustment. This study took a self-determination theory (SDT) perspective, examining how prenatal maternal autonomous and controlled childbearing motivations are related to child behavior problems through parenting styles. The rationale was that prenatal autonomous (sense of volition and self-fulfillment) and controlled (feeling pressured) childbearing motivations would shape later parental styles (autonomy-supportive vs. controlling, respectively) and, consequently, child adjustment. Over a period of 2 years beginning at pregnancy, 326 Israeli mothers reported their prenatal childbearing motivations, as well as parental styles and child behavior problems 20 months postpartum. Results of a path analysis revealed that prenatal autonomous childbearing motivation predicted autonomy-supportive parenting, yet the latter was not associated with children's behavior problems. Prenatal controlled motivation predicted controlling parenting, which, in turn, predicted children's internalizing and externalizing problems. No direct effects of childbearing motivation on children's behavior problems are observed, suggesting that childbearing motivation is a distal antecedent operating through more proximal factors such as parenting style. Findings were robust to children's temperamental tendencies and sociodemographic risk factors such as maternal age, high-risk pregnancy, and preterm birth. These findings have theoretical and practical implications for the discourse on motivations underlying the childbearing decision and their effects on parenting and child adjustment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1186/s12991-021-00336-4

Annals of general psychiatry

Ann Gen Psychiatry

Catatonia associated with late-life psychosis successfully treated with lithium: a case report.

Catatonia is a psychomotor syndrome that presents various symptoms ranging from stupor to agitation, with prominent disturbances of volition. Its pathogenesis is poorly understood. Benzodiazepines and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are safe and effective standard treatments for catatonia; however, alternative treatment strategies have not been established in cases where these treatments are either ineffective or unavailable. Here, we report a case of catatonia associated with late-life psychosis, which was successfully treated with lithium. A 66-year-old single man with hearing impairment developed hallucination and delusions and presented with catatonic stupor after a fall. He initially responded to benzodiazepine therapy; however, his psychotic symptoms became clinically evident and benzodiazepine provided limited efficacy. Blonanserin was ineffective, and ECT was unavailable. His catatonic and psychotic symptoms were finally relieved by lithium monotherapy. Catatonic symptoms are common in patients with mood disorders, suggesting that lithium may be effective in these cases. Moreover, lithium may be effective for both catatonic and psychotic symptoms, as it normalizes imbalances of excitatory and inhibitory systems in the brain, which underlies major psychosis. Cumulative evidence from further cases is needed to validate our findings.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.3389/fpsyg.2020.611658

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Amateur and Recreational Athletes' Motivation to Exercise, Stress, and Coping During the Corona Crisis.

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted mobility worldwide. As a corollary, the health of top- and lower-level athletes alike is profoundly reliant on movement and exercise. Thus, the aim of this study is to understand impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on athletes' motivation to exercise and train. In detail, we aim to better understand who (i.e., demographic, sport-specific, and psychological state and trait variables) reported a change in motivation to train due to the lockdown, why they reported lower motivation (i.e., open-ended questions on problems), what they did to help themselves, what support they received from others, and what they are looking forward to after the lockdown (i.e., open questions). Questionnaire data and answers to these open-ended questions were assessed via an online questionnaire, completed by 95 amateur and recreational athletes during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Germany (April to mid-May 2020). Results show that greater numbers of female athletes are less motivated to train in comparison to male athletes ( = 0.029). No differences in motivation were found regarding type of sport (individual vs. team sport) and number of competitions during the year. Also, more motivated to train amateur and recreational athletes showed lower athletic identity than athletes who reported no change in motivation to exercise during the lockdown ( = 0.03). Additionally, differences in state emotional, perceived stress, and personality variables (i.e., orientation to happiness, volition) were found between athletes who stated that they were less motivated to train compared to athletes who reported no changes in motivation. In particular, closure of sports facilities and social distancing measures were perceived to be highly problematic. Even though athletes received emotional support, organized themselves via routines and schedules, and trained using online tools, they predominately stated that they wished that their coaches would have supported them more. Understanding the impacts of a pandemic-related lockdown on athletes' motivation, athletes' coping strategies, and their desired support will help better support them in future crises.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1111/eci.13515

European journal of clinical investigation

Eur J Clin Invest

Building-up fit muscles for the future: Transgenerational programming of skeletal muscle through physical exercise.

'Special issue - In Utero and Early Life Programming of Aging and Disease'. Skeletal muscle (SM) adaptations to physical exercise (PE) have been extensively studied due, not only to the relevance of its in situ plasticity, but also to the SM endocrine-like effects in noncontractile tissues, such as brain, liver or adipocytes. Regular PE has been considered a pleiotropic nonpharmacological strategy to prevent and counteract the deleterious consequences of several metabolic, cardiovascular, oncological and neurodegenerative disorders. Additionally, PE performed by parents seems to have a direct impact in the offspring through the transgenerational programming of different tissues, such as SM. In fact, SM offspring programming mechanisms seems to be orchestrated, at least in part, by epigenetic machinery conditioning transcriptional or post-transcriptional processes. Ultimately, PE performed in the early in life is also a critical window of opportunity to positively modulate the juvenile and adult phenotype. Parental PE has a positive impact in several health-related offspring outcomes, such as SM metabolism, differentiation, morphology and ultimately in offspring exercise volition and endurance. Also, early-life PE counteracts conceptional-related adverse effects and induces long-lasting healthy benefits throughout adulthood. Additionally, epigenetics mechanisms seem to play a key role in the PE-induced SM adaptations. Despite the undoubtedly positive role of parental and early-life PE on SM phenotype, a strong research effort is still needed to better understand the mechanisms that positively regulate PE-induced SM programming.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1007/s00701-021-04748-9

Acta neurochirurgica

Acta Neurochir (Wien)

Free will and neurosurgical resections of the supplementary motor area: a critical review.

Research suggests that unconscious activity in the supplementary motor area (SMA) precedes not only certain simple motor actions but also the point at which we become aware of our intention to perform such actions. The extent to which these findings have implications for our understanding of the concepts of free will and personal responsibility has been subject of intense debate during the latest four decades. This research is discussed in relation to effects of neurosurgical removal of the SMA in a narrative review. Removal of the SMA typically causes a transient inability to perform non-stimulus-driven, voluntary actions. This condition, known as the SMA syndrome, does not appear to be associated with a loss of sense of volition but with a profound disruption of executive function/cognitive control. The role of the SMA may be to serve as a gateway between the corticospinal tract and systems for executive function. Such systems are typically seen as tools for conscious decisions. What is known about effects of SMA resections would thus seem to suggest a view that is compatible with concepts of personal responsibility. However, the philosophical question whether free will exists cannot be definitely resolved on the basis of these observations.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/j.yebeh.2020.107747

Epilepsy & behavior : E&B

Epilepsy Behav

Implicit cognitive flexibility in self-limited focal epilepsy of childhood: An HD-EEG study.

Self-limited focal epilepsy of childhood (SFEC) is often related to mild impairments in several neuropsychological domains, including cognitive flexibility, which is generally considered a process requiring volition and attention. However, recent evidence showed that it can be implicitly adjusted exploiting simple 'stimulus-response' associations as for example, the probability of the stimulus occurrence. Here, we evaluated the capability to implicitly extract environmental patterns of regularities and use them to flexibly adjust proactive control motor control. We tested 21 children with epilepsy (total IQ > 80; 13 with Childhood epilepsy with centro-temporal spikes, 8 with Panayiotopoulos syndrome (PS); 5-13 years old) compared to a healthy age-matched control group (32 participants). We used the Dynamic Temporal Prediction (DTP) task to investigate how behavioral performance is implicitly shaped by the manipulation of the stimulus occurrence probability over time. We recorded EEG to identify neural markers to differentiate the two groups. SFEC group showed a reduction in accuracy (p = .0013) and response speed (p < .001) as well as an absence of response adjustment (p = .65) in relation to the implicit changes in stimulus probability occurrence, in comparison to the control group. The epilepsy group performance in the DTP showed a significant correlation with the phonemic fluency (r = -0.50) and the Perseverations index of the CPT test (r = 0.53). Finally, children with SFEC did not show the modulation of the contingent negative variation (CNV) evoked potential. Overall, children with SFEC showed poor implicit flexibility compared to a control group. This pattern is individually related to high-level executive function, suggesting to extend neuropsychological assessment to the implicit domain.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/j.concog.2020.103058

Consciousness and cognition

Conscious Cogn

Sensory attenuation of action outcomes of varying amplitude and valence.

Stimuli caused by self-initiated actions are perceived as less intense than those caused externally; this effect is called sensory attenuation (SA). In two experiments, we aimed to assess the impact of the amplitude of outcomes and its affective valence on SA and explicit ratings of sense of agency. This allowed us to test the predictions of the available SA frameworks and better understand the link between SA, affect, and agency. The results indicated that SA can be reversed, and such sensory amplification is driven by low-amplitude and positive-valence outcomes. We also show that intentional action influences the perceived valence of outcomes, and that modulations of explicit sense of agency are divergent from those of SA. Our study shows that valence influences the processing of the amplitude of intentional action outcomes and suggests that none of the currently available frameworks give full justice to SA's variability.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/j.biopsycho.2020.107993

Biological psychology

Biol Psychol

Methods matter: An examination of factors that moderate predictions of the capability model concerning the relationship of frontal asymmetry to trait measures.

The capability model of anterior asymmetry integrates trait-related and state-related frontal asymmetry research by proposing that frontal asymmetry is dependent on relevant traits if they are activated by a situation. However, differences in experimental design and EEG recording methods haven't been fully explored. We investigated 56 participants under three different situational paradigms (virtual T-maze, mental imagery, movies), varying the stimulus and type of measurement concerning frontal asymmetry. We predicted that "strong" situational manipulations (virtual T-maze, frontal asymmetry measured as event-related desynchronization) would eclipse relationships between frontal asymmetry and relevant traits, whereas "weaker" task manipulations, measured during longer time periods, would enhance relationships to relevant traits compared to frontal asymmetry at rest. The results confirmed these expectations, stressing the importance of stimulus characteristics, trait measures and recording methods with respect to the capability model. Additionally, a revision of the capability model to an inverse U-shaped quadratic relationship might be appropriate.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1155/2020/8870014

Case reports in psychiatry

Case Rep Psychiatry

Panic Disorder Induced by the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic in a Patient with Organic Mood Disorder Successfully Treated with Vortioxetine.

We present a case of panic disorder induced by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in a patient with an organic mood disorder. The patient was a 62-year-old woman with mild mood swings and reduced motivation and volition caused by a traumatic brain injury after a traffic accident. She was maintained on carbamazepine (600 mg/day). When the COVID-19 outbreak occurred in Japan, she developed concerns regarding the illness and complained of multiple episodes of panic attacks. Further, her depressive symptoms worsened. Thus, vortioxetine was added to the ongoing CBZ treatment. Four weeks after initiating vortioxetine treatment, the symptoms of panic disorder and depressive state were ameliorated. The present case suggests that vortioxetine augmentation can improve symptoms of depressive state and panic disorder induced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.3389/fnins.2020.574472

Frontiers in neuroscience

Front Neurosci

Timing of the Sense of Volition in Patients With Schizophrenia.

Schizophrenic patients often do not have the sense that they direct their own movements or author their own thoughts (passivity phenomena). As willing must precede movement to be causal and thus generate the sense of agency, it is possible that the timing between the senses of willing and movement is shortened in schizophrenia. We tested the subjective perception of this time interval in patients with schizophrenia using a method based on Libet's paradigm, in which subjects specify a time W - the time of willing a movement - and a time M - the time that movement occurred. Patients with schizophrenia and healthy volunteers made voluntary movements at times of their own choice while looking at a fast-rotating clock on a computer screen and reported when their movements were willed and made. We recorded surface electromyography to determine the time of actual movement, and electroencephalography to record brain potentials associated with movement. Results showed a significantly reduced interval between the reported M and W in patients with respect to the healthy volunteers ( < 0.05). Specifically, patients did not report a significant difference in the timing of W at 19 ms prior to movement onset and M at 7.4 ms prior to movement onset ( > 0.05), while the control group experienced a time W at 100 ms prior to movement onset and this differed significantly from their time M at 19 ms prior to movement onset ( < 0.01). These results suggest that patients with schizophrenia do have an altered timing of awareness of action - or an impaired judgment of the sequence of events - and that this might be etiologic in the development of the abnormal sense of agency.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1002/mpr.1862

International journal of methods in psychiatric research

Int J Methods Psychiatr Res

Step Away from Depression-Study protocol for a multicenter randomized clinical trial for a pedometer intervention during and after in-patient treatment of depression.

Increasing the number of daily steps by using a pedometer and a diary leads to an activity increase and improved health outcomes in a variety of somatic disorders. Hence, for the inpatient treatment of depression, supervised exercise interventions are more widespread. We aim to examine if a self-managed pedometer intervention (PI) with the option of being proceeded after discharge leads to reduction of depression and to a physical activity (PA) increase. The Step Away from Depression (SAD) study is a multicenter randomized controlled trial targeting 400 patients with major depressive disorder. Treatment as usual (TAU) is compared to TAU plus PI after 4 weeks, at discharge, and 6 months after hospital admission. Primary outcomes are clinically rated depression severity and accelerometer-measured step counts. Secondary outcomes include self-reported depression symptoms and PA level, psychiatric symptoms, health-related quality of life, self-efficacy, and components of the Motivation Volition Process Model. We report the design of the SAD study considering several methodological aspects for exercise studies, in general. Results of our study will provide information about efficacy of PI for inpatient treatment and about interrelating processes of change concerning depression, PA, and aspects of motivation and volition.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104504

Cognition

Cognition

Incentives and voluntary stopping: The intentional hand task.

Intentional inhibition, the endogenous decision to stop or cancel an action, is arguably a more ecologically valid process than automatized, reactive, inhibition which occurs in response to an external stop signal without active decision making at the moment of inhibition. Choosing to stop an act of opening the fridge door, or of reaching for a bottle of alcohol may therefore extend beyond a reactive inhibitory process, e.g. stopping at a red traffic light. Existing paradigms of intentional inhibition focus on the proportions of intentional stops. Here we developed the Intentional Hand Task, which provides stop response times for intentional and instructed trials. Participants move a cursor by initiating an arm movement, after which a Go, Stop or Choice trial occurs. In Go trials, participants are instructed to make a speeded continuation of their arm movement towards a target whereas in the Stop trials participants are instructed to rapidly stop the already initiated movement. In Choice trials, participants chose whether to continue or stop the movement. By comparing response times when movement was stopped, we found that intentionally stopping took significantly longer than externally instructed stopping. We further investigated the influence of reward incentives, by cueing trials with either the prospect of No, Low or High reward for correctly continuing in Go trials, stopping in Stop trials or achieving a random balance of intentional Go and Stops in Choice trials. Reward incentives led to greater approach behaviours, indicated by significantly higher Go accuracy in instructed Go trials and faster response times across both Go trial types. The presence of reward incentives led to significantly fewer intentional stop choices. Our findings suggest intentional inhibition of an ongoing action may require a further decisional process. Furthermore, monetary incentives may implicitly trigger an appetitive system thus facilitating approach rather than intentional inhibitory behaviour. These findings are particularly relevant to cue-related relapse in disorders of addiction where cues may facilitate approach behaviours to the detriment of intentional inhibitory control.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113519

Psychiatry research

Psychiatry Res

Negative symptom configuration within and outside schizophrenia spectrum disorders: results from the "Parma Early Psychosis" program.

The identification of discrete dimensions underlining negative symptoms in First Episode Psychosis (FEP) may be useful in the treatment strategy for such severe symptomatology. Aim of this research was to investigate the negative symptom configuration in FEP patients and to compare the emerging factor solutions between individuals with and without Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (non-SSD vs SSD). Two-hundred-seventy-four participants (144 non-SSD and 130 SSD), aged 13-35 years, completed the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF). Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses were then performed to examine PANSS negative symptom configuration in both SSD and non-SSD samples. In SSD, a 3-factor model solution (i.e. "Experiential Deficits", "Volition/Empathy Deficits" and "Motor/Affective Expression Deficits" domains) was identified. A different 2-factor configuration (with "Social/Communicative Withdrawal" and "Motor/Affective/Motivational Deficits" dimensions) was more appropriate in non-SSD. In conclusion, our results show differences in negative symptom factor models between non-SSD and SSD. Thus, a different specificity and significance of negative symptom solutions in FEP populations with diagnoses other than schizophrenia (compared to those with SSD) must be realistically considered.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1080/09638288.2020.1827050

Disability and rehabilitation

Disabil Rehabil

Work volition in women with fibromyalgia: a phenomenological analysis.

This study develops a working model characterizing work volition among women suffering from fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) to better understand the vocational challenges these women face, the drivers behind their ambitions, and the coping strategies they implement. A qualitative phenomenological study was conducted consisting of semi-structured interviews with 15 women diagnosed with FMS who are currently employed. The interviews were analyzed according to the principles of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The findings point to the enormous efforts these women make to ration their energy and preserve their careers by implementing calming cognitive, social, and solution-focused strategies. Several motivational factors governing work volition emerged from the interviews: (1) a drive for esteem, power, and control; (2) achieving self-actualization and a sense of meaning in life by nurturing of others; (3) preserving a sense of existence through their career achievements; and (4) pushing beyond their physical limits. They reported implementing four calming, cognitive-focused, social support, and solution-focused strategies to reduce pain. Work plays an important role in grounding these women's sense of vitality and normalcy. This is coupled with their enormous efforts to pursue and preserve their careers by calming the mind and the body. Paradoxically, however, these efforts appear to aggravate their physical exhaustion and distress. The complexity of maintaining a career when diagnosed with FMS as well as issues of general physical and mental health are discussed.Implications for rehabilitationCareer has an existential significance for women with Fibromyalgia.Motivational factors for work volition were identified; these include ambition for esteem, the obtaining of meaning, and gaining a sense of existence.Enormous efforts have been taken to save energy and preserve careers.Women are trapped between their desire to work and the need to conserve energy.Body-mind interventions are recommended for women's rehabilitation.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.5334/joc.110

Journal of cognition

J Cogn

Item-Specificity and Intention in Episodic Memory.

Schmidt et al.'s (2020) PEP model accurately reflects the complexity of task switching based on bottom-up assumptions and episodic memory, re-evaluating the contribution of commonly presumed top-down processes. Extending it to long-term bindings and their item-specific effects could eludicate puzzling findings regarding the independence of long-term bindings between stimuli, responses, and task-specific categorizations as well as the relation between short-term and long-term bindings. Moreover, ideomotor theories of action control provide a bottom-up basis of incorporating volition and intentional action into the PEP model which is currently restricted to stimulus-based action.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1093/schbul/sbaa084

Schizophrenia bulletin

Schizophr Bull

Deconstructing Negative Symptoms in Individuals at Clinical High-Risk for Psychosis: Evidence for Volitional and Diminished Emotionality Subgroups That Predict Clinical Presentation and Functional Outcome.

Negative symptoms are characteristic of schizophrenia and closely linked to numerous outcomes. A body of work has sought to identify homogenous negative symptom subgroups-a strategy that can promote mechanistic understanding and precision medicine. However, our knowledge of negative symptom subgroups among individuals at clinical high-risk (CHR) for psychosis is limited. Here, we investigated distinct negative symptom profiles in a large CHR sample (N = 244) using a cluster analysis approach. Subgroups were compared on external validators that are (1) commonly observed in the schizophrenia literature and/or (2) may be particularly relevant for CHR individuals, informing early prevention and prediction. We observed 4 distinct negative symptom subgroups, including individuals with (1) lower symptom severity, (2) deficits in emotion, (3) impairments in volition, and (4) global elevations. Analyses of external validators suggested a pattern in which individuals with global impairments and volitional deficits exhibited more clinical pathology. Furthermore, the Volition group endorsed more disorganized, anxious, and depressive symptoms and impairments in functioning compared to the Emotion group. These data suggest there are unique negative symptom profiles in CHR individuals, converging with studies in schizophrenia indicating motivational deficits may be central to this symptom dimension. Furthermore, observed differences in CHR relevant external validators may help to inform early identification and treatment efforts.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/j.clinph.2020.08.002

Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology

Clin Neurophysiol

Cerebral preparation of spontaneous movements: An EEG study.

The current study sought to determine whether there is a Bereitschaftspotential (BP) before uninstructed, spontaneous movements. 14 participants were seated on a comfortable armchair for one hour without any instruction except not to fall asleep and to keep their eyes open. Electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) activity were recorded during the whole session. EEG activity was analyzed before spontaneous movements and compared with EEG activity before repetitive, instructed movements in a separate session. BPs were identified in most participants with the spontaneous movements. The BPs with spontaneous movements were mostly localized in the medial frontocentral regions. The BPs with the instructed movements were localized primarily in the central regions and had larger amplitude. Presence of a BP before movement does not depend on instruction and may be independent of conscious volition. The amplitude of the BP may depend on the amount of attention. This study shows that the presence of a BP before movement is not an "artifact" of the experimental instructions.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/j.jvb.2020.103481

Journal of vocational behavior

J Vocat Behav

The uncertain state of work in the U.S.: Profiles of decent work and precarious work.

This research utilized a person-centered approach to identify profiles of decent work and precarious work, which were explored due to their centrality in current debates about the uncertain state of work conditions in the U.S. Using the Decent Work Scale and the Precarious Work Scale, the following five profiles were identified from a sample of 492 working Americans: 1) Indecent-Precarious; 2) Highly Decent; 3) Low Health Care-Low Rights; 4) Vulnerability-Dominant; 5) Health Care-Stability. These profiles were further elaborated by examining the relationship of theoretically-informed predictors and outcomes that would distinguish profile membership. Using psychology of working theory as an organizing framework for determining predictors and outcomes, the findings revealed that work volition, age, income level, and educational level significantly predicted profile membership, and autonomy, social contribution, survival needs, job satisfaction, and life satisfaction differed meaningfully across the profiles. Implications for theory, research, practice, and public policy are discussed highlighting the complexity of work conditions and their relationship to various aspects of vocational and psychological functioning.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1093/nc/niaa019

Neuroscience of consciousness

Neurosci Conscious

Measures of agency.

The sense of agency is typically defined as the experience of controlling one's own actions, and through them, changes in the external environment. It is often assumed that this experience is a single, unified construct that can be experimentally manipulated and measured in a variety of ways. In this article, we challenge this assumption. We argue that we should acknowledge four possible agency-related psychological constructs. Having a clear grasp of the possible constructs is important since experimental procedures are only able to target some but not all the possible constructs. The unacknowledged misalignment of the possible constructs of a sense of agency and the experimental procedures is a major theoretical and methodological obstacle to studying the sense of agency. Only if we recognize the nature of this obstacle will we be able to design the experimental paradigms that would enable us to study the responsible computational mechanisms.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.3389/fnbeh.2020.00102

Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience

Front Behav Neurosci

Altruistic Punishment and Impulsivity in Parkinson's Disease: A Social Neuroscience Perspective.

Non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) are of increasing interest in clinical and psychological research. Disinhibition-the inability to inhibit inappropriate behavior-leads to social and emotional impairments, including impulsive behavior and disregard for social conventions and decision-making behavior. In recent years, the latter has been investigated using economic exchanges during social interactions. Altruistic punishment-to punish someone who violates group norms even if it foresees a personal cost-is one of the most useful and fruitful paradigms; it allows to maintain a cooperation system within social groups. Alterations of this cognitive ability negatively impact the quality of life of the individual and social stability. Social neuroscience has suggested association between impulsive behaviors and altruistic punishment. Neuroimaging research aimed at exploring functional networks and intrinsic functional connectivity went in this direction. To date, little is known about these issues in neurodegenerative diseases such as PD. Dopamine replacement treatment and dopamine-agonists have been associated with impulse-control disorder and impulsive-compulsive behavior able to affect social decision-making. Frontal-executive dysfunction determines an alteration of social functioning through a mechanism of subversion of online action-monitoring, which associates disinhibition with volition. Genetic polymorphisms, alterations of the nigro-striatal substance, and impairment in the medial prefrontal cortex and in the Default mode network (DMN) seem to be able to explain these mechanisms. This theoretical perspective article aims to present these topics in order to encourage an interdisciplinary discussion capable of generating new research and developing rehabilitative intervention to improve social decision-making in PD patients.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1111/bjep.12372

The British journal of educational psychology

Br J Educ Psychol

Disentangling the process of epistemic change: The role of epistemic volition.

Many interventions on epistemic beliefs (i.e., individual beliefs about knowledge and knowing) are based on Bendixen and Rule's Integrative Model for Personal Epistemology Development. Empirically, however, the model is still insufficiently validated. This is especially true for its epistemic volition component - a will or desire to actively change one's beliefs. To experimentally scrutinize the role of epistemic volition, we investigated (incremental) effects on epistemic change of an epistemic volition intervention. 412 psychology students enrolled at German universities completed the study. We employed a randomized pre-post design with three experimental groups that differed in the administered epistemic volition and resolvable controversies interventions. The purpose of the latter was to initiate an epistemic change process, thereby laying the foundation for the epistemic volition intervention. Both data collection and interventions were conducted online. In addition to self-report measures, we applied a complementary source evaluation task to analyse epistemic change. Even though we found small- to medium-sized changes in epistemic beliefs, these changes did not differ between experimental conditions. Exploratory analyses suggested, however, that source evaluation task performance might have been promoted by the epistemic volition intervention and that - across experimental groups - manipulation check measures on both interventions interacted positively. Ultimately, we failed to separate the effects that our epistemic volition intervention had on epistemic change from these of the resolvable controversies intervention. Nonetheless, our study makes some strong contributions to - and interconnects - the growing bodies of research on epistemic change and multiple source use.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.3390/brainsci10070459

Brain sciences

Brain Sci

"No Pain No Gain": Evidence from a Parcel-Wise Brain Morphometry Study on the Volitional Quality of Elite Athletes.

Volition is described as a psychological construct with great emphasis on the sense of agency. During volitional behavior, an individual always presents a volitional quality, an intrapersonal trait for dealing with adverse circumstances, which determines the individual's persistence of action toward their intentions or goals. Elite athletes are a group of experts with superior volitional quality and, thereby, could be regarded as the natural subject pool to investigate this mental trait. The purpose of this study was to examine brain morphometric characteristics associated with volitional quality by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the Scale of Volitional Quality. We recruited 16 national-level athletes engaged in short track speed skating and 18 healthy controls matched with age and gender. A comparison of a parcel-wise brain anatomical characteristics of the healthy controls with those of the elite athletes revealed three regions with significantly increased cortical thickness in the athlete group. These regions included the left precuneus, the left inferior parietal lobe, and the right superior frontal lobe, which are the core brain regions involved in the sense of agency. The mean cortical thickness of the left inferior parietal lobe was significantly correlated with the independence of volitional quality (a mental trait that characterizes one's intendency to control his/her own behavior and make decisions by applying internal standards and/or objective criteria). These findings suggest that sports training is an ideal model for better understanding the neural mechanisms of volitional behavior in the human brain.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1159/000508773

Psychopathology

Psychopathology

Anhedonia in Depressive Disorder: A Narrative Review.

Since the introduction of DSM-III anhedonia has become a core depressive criterion and is defined as the loss of interest or pleasure. Although the origin of the word goes back to the end of the 19th century and numerous anhedonic symptoms are described in classic texts on depression, this centrality in the diagnosis of depression is only recent. Anhedonia is best described as a symptom complex with unclear boundaries cutting across the tripartite model of the mind (affect, volition, and cognition). Popular concepts of anhedonia pertain to the pleasure cycle and positive affectivity. These concepts partially overlap and are often mixed up, but clearly stem from different theoretical backgrounds: the affective science of reward processing versus more general, dimensional modelling of affect. The former concept seems more suitable to understand anhedonic emotions, the latter more suitable to understand anhedonic mood or trait. This narrative review covers the history of "anhedonia," the different anhedonic phenomena, and psychopathological concepts. An attempt is made to go beyond a merely descriptive psychopathology. Neurobiological and psychological insights shed a light on how symptoms are made and interconnected; these insights possibly call for a new psychopathological language.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1007/s00221-020-05878-9

Experimental brain research

Exp Brain Res

The volition, the mode of movement selection and the readiness potential.

A growing body of evidence suggests that the mode of movement selection is relevant for the readiness potential, namely, internal (or free) selection of movements is associated with increased readiness potential amplitudes compared to predetermined or externally guided selection. It is little acknowledged, however, that this finding may be ascribed to the different expression of volition (i.e., conscious experience of choice) rather than to the mode of movement selection per se. To probe this issue, we conducted two experiments: in Experiment 1, a mental task was employed to distract sixteen volunteers from the selection and performance of incidental movements, which consisted of pressing one of two buttons according to either free or externally guided modes of movement selection; in Experiment 2, another sixteen individuals performed the same motor task, however, they were encouraged to attend to their intention to act. As result, the increased readiness potential amplitude before freely selected movements was found exclusively in Experiment 2. More detailed analysis suggested that the attention to the initiation of movements was associated with greater readiness potential in its medial and late portion, while the attention to the movement selection, with more global increase of the component. The study suggests that much of the higher demands on motor preparatory activities ascribed to the internal selection of movements in previous studies actually depends on individual's attention and, thus, probably corresponds to volitional processes.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00566

Frontiers in psychiatry

Front Psychiatry

Which Subgroup of First-Episode Schizophrenia Patients Can Remit During the First Year of Antipsychotic Treatment?

To investigate the persistent remission rate (PRR) and its predictors within the first year of antipsychotic treatment in first-episode schizophrenia (FES) patients. In a sample of 301 FES patients who remained in antipsychotic treatment for 1 year, we assessed symptoms with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), cognition in six domains and functioning with the Personal and Social Performance Scale (PSP). In total, 75.4% (227/301) of FES patients remaining in antipsychotic treatment reached persistent remission (PR) in one year. The PSP score was higher in remitters than non-remitters at the endpoint of the 1-year follow-up (P <0.0001). The PANSS negative score-but not the PANSS total score, positive score or general psychopathological score; PSP score; or cognitive performance at baseline-was negatively associated with PR. Lower scores for "abstract thinking" and "stereotyped thinking" were independent predictors of PR. In FES, nearly 3/4 patients could achieve PR with 1 year of antipsychotic treatment, and having fewer negative symptoms, especially thinking and volition symptoms, can predict PR. www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT01057849.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1007/s00455-020-10146-7

Dysphagia

Dysphagia

Potential for Volitional Control of Resting Pressure at the Upper Oesophageal Sphincter in Healthy Individuals.

Resting pressure at the upper oesophageal sphincter (UOS) has been reported to be susceptible to factors such as emotional stress or respiration. This exploratory study investigated the potential for behavioural modulation of UOS resting pressure in healthy adults to increase our understanding of volitional control of UOS pressure, and the potential development of rehabilitation approaches. Six healthy adults were seen one hour daily for two weeks (10 days) and for one post-training session after a training break of two weeks. Manipulation of UOS resting pressure was practised during a protocol of alternating increased and decreased pressure. A high-resolution manometry contour plot was used as a biofeedback modality. Participants were asked to explore how to achieve warmer and cooler colours (pressure increase and decrease, respectively) at the UOS resting pressure band, without changing head position or manipulating activity of other muscles. Performance was analysed prior to training start and following daily training. Participants were able to increase resting pressure following one week of practice; however, there was no evidence for purposeful pressure decrease. The increased resting pressure achieved by participants indicates a capacity for purposeful pressure modulation given intensive biofeedback training. The lack of volitional reduction in pressure may be explained by sustained pressure generation due to the intrinsic muscular characteristics of the UOS and a flooring effect in healthy subjects, in whom physiology mandates a minimum degree of resting pressure to fulfil the barrier function. Distention caused by the presence of the intraluminal catheter cannot be ruled out.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1080/08870446.2020.1780233

Psychology & health

Psychol Health

Effects of a workplace physical activity intervention on cognitive determinants of physical activity: a randomized controlled trial.

The present randomized controlled trial evaluated if a workplace physical activity (PA) program that comprises both a PA component and a psychological coaching component (PA + C) is more effective in changing cognitive determinants of PA than a PA program without coaching component.  = 213 employees were cluster-randomly assigned to two groups: the PA + C group received the MoVo-work intervention, combining a psychological coaching component and a PA component. The PA group received the PA component without psychological coaching. Strength of goal intention, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, action planning and barrier management were assessed at five time points (before and at the end of the intervention, as well as 6 weeks, 6 months and 12 months after the intervention). After six weeks and one year, respectively, the PA + C group showed significantly higher goal intentions ( = .018) and self-efficacy beliefs ( = .006) than the PA group; and, at a descriptive level, a clear tendency towards better barrier management. The results indicate that a workplace PA program, including psychological coaching, may partially improve the effects of a pure PA program on critical motivational and volitional determinants of PA behavioural change among employees.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1186/s13063-020-04438-4

Trials

Trials

A group- and smartphone-based psychological intervention to increase and maintain physical activity in patients with musculoskeletal conditions: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial ("MoVo-App").

Interventions designed to increase the level of physical activity are crucial in the treatment of patients with musculoskeletal conditions. The psychological group-based intervention MoVo-LISA based on the Motivation-Volition (MoVo) Process Model has been shown to effectively promote physical activity. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether a MoVo-based app (MoVo-App) subsequent to MoVo-LISA during orthopedic inpatient care can support people to increase and maintain their amount of physical activity. In this parallel-group randomized controlled trial, patients with musculoskeletal disorders will be randomized to either (a) a combination of the group-based intervention program MoVo-LISA to promote physical activity plus the MoVo-App or (b) the group-based intervention program alone without the app. The intervention group will receive the MoVo-App after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation. They receive help to increase and maintain their level of physical activity (initiated by the group program) by tracking their health goals, activity plans, major barriers, and barrier management that were developed during the group-based program. We will recruit 224 initially minimally active participants during orthopedic rehabilitation care. Outcomes are assessed at clinic admission; discharge; 6 weeks; and 3 (post-treatment), 6, and 12 months after discharge (follow-up). The primary outcome is sport activity (active/inactive and minutes of activity) at 6-month follow-up. Secondary outcomes are movement activity, cognitive mediators of behavioral change (e.g., self-efficacy, action planning), and health-related variables (e.g., pain intensity, depression). To evaluate intervention effects, linear mixed effects models (both on intention-to-treat basis with an additional per-protocol analysis) will be conducted with each outcome variable and with time as the within-subjects factor and group as the between-subjects factor, along with all two-way interactions and accounting for covariates as fixed effects. This is the first evaluation of the effectiveness of an app in combination with a face-to-face group intervention to promote physical activity. The approach of using an app in addition to an effective face-to-face intervention program, both based on the MoVo model, might sustain positive intervention effects introduced in routine health care. The trial "A group- and smartphone-based psychological intervention to increase physical activity in patients with musculoskeletal conditions: A randomized controlled trial" is registered at the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform via the German Clinical Studies Trial Register (DRKS), DRKS00014814. Registered on 18 October 2018; URL: https://www.drks.de/drks_web/navigate.do?navigationId=trial.HTML&TRIAL_ID=DRKS00014814.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1080/11038128.2020.1769182

Scandinavian journal of occupational therapy

Scand J Occup Ther

'Choice' in occupational therapy theory: A critique from the situation of patriarchy in India.

Dominant occupational therapy theories assert that people choose their daily occupations, and participate in occupations as autonomous agents; yet scholars insist that choices are socially-structured and inequitably available. To critically review the concept of choice in occupational therapy theory through an exploration of patriarchy in India. Drawing from scholarly work that addresses patriarchy in India, we employ the commonly-used occupational categories of self-care, productivity and leisure as a framework to explore the real availability of occupational choices for women. Patriarchal ideology perpetuates inequitable power dynamics within Indian society. As a consequence, women, children and non-dominant men have few opportunities to make or enact occupational choices that impact their wellbeing and their lives. The examples provided in this paper challenge those occupational therapy theories that portray occupational engagement as the product of individual volition and unconstrained choice. Dominant occupational therapy theories are informed by specific Western assumptions that may have little relevance to people in other contexts. Critical approaches to professional assumptions are essential to avoid the imperialistic imposition of irrelevant theories, and the development and delivery of services that may be oppressive for clients who have few opportunities to make occupational choices.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1371/journal.pone.0232949

PloS one

PLoS One

Dissociating self-generated volition from externally-generated motivation.

Insight into motivational processes may be gained by examining measures of willingness to exert effort for rewards, which have been linked to neuropsychiatric symptoms of anhedonia and apathy. However, while much work has focused on the development of models of motivation based on classic tasks of externally-generated levels of effort for reward, there has been less focus on the question of self-generated motivation or volition. We developed a task that aims to capture separate measures of self-generated and externally-generated motivation, with two task variants for physical and cognitive effort, and sought to test and validate this measure in two populations of healthy volunteers (N = 27 and N = 28). Similar to previous reports, a sigmoid function represented a better overall fit to the effort-reward data than a linear or Weibull model. Individual sigmoid function shapes were governed by two free parameters: bias (the amount of reward needed for effort initiation) and reward insensitivity (the amount of increase in reward needed to accelerate effort expenditure). For both physical and cognitive effort, bias was higher in the self-generated condition, indicating reduced self-generated volitional effort initiation, compared to externally-generated effort initiation, across effort domains. Bias against initial effort initiation in the self-generated condition was related to a specific dimensional measure of anticipatory anhedonia. For physical effort only, reward insensitivity was also higher in the self-generated condition compared to the externally-generated motivation condition, indicating lower self-generated effort acceleration. This work provides a novel objective measure of self-generated motivation that may provide insights into mechanisms of anhedonia and related symptoms.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/j.cortex.2020.03.027

Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior

Cortex

Learning volition: A longitudinal study of developing intentional awareness in Tourette syndrome.

Tourette syndrome (TS) is characterized by the presence of involuntary movements (tics) which are, at least partly, generated within 'voluntary' motor pathways. Here we reassess 16 TS patients (age 19 ± 2.3 years) who participated in a mental chronometry study of volition 5.5 years previously (Ganos C et al. Cortex. 2015 Mar.; 64:47-54), and 16 age-matched controls. Participants estimated the time of their own voluntary movements (Libet's M judgement), or of conscious intention to make voluntary movements (Libet's W judgement), in separate blocks. We considered M judgement as a control condition. Therefore, the experience of an intention to move occurring prior to actual movement onset, as measured by the W-M gap, was taken as the cardinal feature of volition. Time estimates of the TS group did not differ significantly from controls, for either M or W judgement. Further, M and W time estimates in the TS group had not changed significantly between the two assessments. However, exploratory analyses revealed a strong relation between disease duration and the development of M- and W-judgements: the longer was the disease duration, the less was the developmental increase in the W-M gap (linear regression, p = .003). In conclusion, our results suggest compromised development of experience of volition in developing TS patients. The developmental difficulty in processing internal premotor signals for voluntary actions could reflect the chronic persistence of tics from adolescence to adulthood.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116897

NeuroImage

Neuroimage

Agent-dependent modulation of corticospinal excitability during painful transcutaneous electrical stimulation.

Pain has an inhibitory effect on the corticospinal excitability that has been interpreted as an evolutionary mechanism, directed to down-regulate cortical activity in order to facilitate rapid protective spinal reflexes. Here, we focused on the link between defensive mechanisms and motor system and we asked whether voluntary actions can modulate the corticospinal excitability during painful stimulations. To this aim, we manipulated the volition-related aspects of our paradigm by comparing conditions in which either the participant (self-generated action) or the experimenter (other-generated action) pressed the button to deliver painful high-intensity transcutaneous electric shocks to the right digit V. MEPs to TMS were recorded from the FDI and APB muscles of the stimulated hand. A compelling agent-dependent modulation of the corticospinal excitability was found, showing, in self-generated compared to other-generated actions, a significantly lower inhibitory effect, as measured by greater MEP amplitude. This finding suggests a top-down modulation of volitional actions on defensive mechanisms, promoting the view that predictive information from the motor system attenuates the responses to the foreseeable adverse events generated by one's own actions as compared to unpredictable events generated by someone else's actions.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00809

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Where Is the Action in Perception? An Exploratory Study With a Haptic Sensory Substitution Device.

Enactive cognitive science (ECS) and ecological psychology (EP) agree that active movement is important for perception, but they remain ambiguous regarding the precise role of agency. EP has focused on the notion of sensorimotor invariants, according to which bodily movements play an instrumental role in perception. ECS has focused on the notion of sensorimotor contingencies, which goes beyond an instrumental role because skillfully regulated movements are claimed to play a constitutive role. We refer to these two hypotheses as and , respectively. Evidence comes from a variety of fields, including neural, behavioral, and phenomenological research, but so far with confounds that prevent an experimental distinction between these hypotheses. Here we advance the debate by proposing a novel double-participant setup that aims to isolate agency as the key variable that distinguishes bodily movement in active and passive conditions of perception. We pilot this setup with a psychological study of width discrimination using the Enactive Torch, a haptic sensory substitution device. There was no evidence favoring the stronger hypothesis of constitutive agency over instrumental agency. However, we caution that during debriefing several participants reported using cognitive strategies that did not rely on spatial perception. We conclude that this approach is a viable direction for future research, but that greater care is required to establish and confirm the desired modality of first-person experience.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1186/s12889-020-08617-5

BMC public health

BMC Public Health

The interaction of behavioral context and motivational-volitional factors for exercise and sport in adolescence: patterns matter.

In order to generate more effective interventions to promote exercise and sport in adolescence, a better understanding of the interaction of influencing factors across different levels is needed. In particular, motivation and volition for exercise and sport, as well as the context in which adolescents are doing exercise and sport, have been identified as important factors. Behavioral context refers to both the organizational setting, e.g., doing exercise and sport in a club, and the social setting, e.g., doing exercise and sport with friends. Extending previous research, the present study applies a person-oriented approach and aims to identify typical behavioral context patterns and motivational-volitional patterns. To validate the patterns, it was examined whether they differ concerning the exercise and sport activity level. Furthermore, the study investigated how behavioral context patterns and motivational-volitional patterns interact. A cross-sectional design with 1155 adolescents (M = 15.29; 53% female) was applied. A latent profile analysis was used twice to identify typical patterns: once with eight organizational and social setting factors to examine behavioral context patterns, and once with five motivational-volitional factors to examine motivational-volitional patterns. To validate the patterns identified, the exercise and sport activity level were compared across the patterns using Wald-tests. Finally, transition probabilities and odds ratios were calculated in order to investigate the interaction of the behavioral context and motivational-volitional patterns. Four behavioral context patterns - differing in activity level - were identified: Mostly inactive, non-club-organized individualists, self-organized individualists and family sportspersons, and traditional competitive club athletes with friends. Furthermore, five motivational-volitional patterns emerged with differing activity levels: three level patterns with overall low, moderate or high motivation and volition, and two shape patterns called the intention- and plan-less and the plan-less motivated. Regarding interaction, the results indicate that one behavioral context pattern is not solely responsible for moderate to high motivation and volition in adolescents. Applying a person-oriented approach allows a more differentiated view of how behavioral context and motivational-volitional factors interact within homogenous subgroups. This, in turn, provides a basis to design tailored multilevel interventions which account for the interaction of influencing factors across different levels.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.3934/Neuroscience.2019.3.204

AIMS neuroscience

AIMS Neurosci

Socioneuroscience and its contributions to conscious versus unconscious volition and control. The case of gender violence prevention.

Research in neuroscience is being very fruitful in providing evidence about the influence of social experience in the architecture and functioning of the brain. In so doing, neuroscience is posing new and fascinating research questions to examine in depth the social processes that produce those neural changes. To undertake the task of tackling such research questions, evidence from the social sciences are necessary to better understand how different types of social experiences produce different types of synaptic changes and even modify subcortical brain structures differently. It will be the dialogue between neuroscience, other natural sciences and the social sciences which will advance the scientific understanding of plastic changes in the brain which result from complex social experiences that have been traditionally studied by the social sciences. Socioneuroscience constitutes the arena for such interdisciplinary dialogue and research that can both advance the scientific understanding of the human brain and provide evidence-based solutions to most urgent social problems. Socioneuroscience studies the relations between the human brain and social interactions taking into account knowledge from all social sciences and the natural sciences. Processes of conscious versus unconscious social volition and control is one central area of inquiry in socioneuroscience. In this article, we discuss the in society -which presents males with aggressive attitudes and behaviors as more attractive- as an example of social control of human volition which imprisons many individuals' sexual freedom. However, due to brain plasticity, certain experiences that question such dominant discourse and empty violence from attractiveness open up the possibility for the individual and the society to break free from the neural wiring imposed by the dominant coercive discourse and, in the words of Santiago Ramón y Cajal, be ourselves "the architects of our brain", contributing to overcome violence against women.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1177/0269881120909409

Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)

J Psychopharmacol

Subacute effects of the psychedelic ayahuasca on the salience and default mode networks.

Neuroimaging studies have just begun to explore the acute effects of psychedelics on large-scale brain networks' functional organization. Even less is known about the neural correlates of subacute effects taking place days after the psychedelic experience. This study explores the subacute changes of primary sensory brain networks and networks supporting higher-order affective and self-referential functions 24 hours after a single session with the psychedelic ayahuasca. We leveraged task-free functional magnetic resonance imaging data 1 day before and 1 day after a randomized placebo-controlled trial exploring the effects of ayahuasca in naïve healthy participants (21 placebo/22 ayahuasca). We derived intra- and inter-network functional connectivity of the salience, default mode, visual, and sensorimotor networks, and assessed post-session connectivity changes between the ayahuasca and placebo groups. Connectivity changes were associated with Hallucinogen Rating Scale scores assessed during the acute effects. Our findings revealed increased anterior cingulate cortex connectivity within the salience network, decreased posterior cingulate cortex connectivity within the default mode network, and increased connectivity between the salience and default mode networks 1 day after the session in the ayahuasca group compared to placebo. Connectivity of primary sensory networks did not differ between groups. Salience network connectivity increases correlated with altered somesthesia scores, decreased default mode network connectivity correlated with altered volition scores, and increased salience default mode network connectivity correlated with altered affect scores. These findings provide preliminary evidence for subacute functional changes induced by the psychedelic ayahuasca on higher-order cognitive brain networks that support interoceptive, affective, and self-referential functions.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00354

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Young University Students' Academic Self-Regulation Profiles and Their Associated Procrastination: Autonomous Functioning Requires Self-Regulated Operations.

Students' autonomous self-regulation requires not only self-motivation but also volition or transforming motivation into specific behavioral intentions and following through. Self-regulation includes self-motivation (i.e., goal setting, learning from mistakes) and volitional regulation (i.e., strategic decision making). Furthermore, individual differences, like trait-level perseverance, significantly influence both motivation and volition. Procrastination has been defined as a volitional self-regulation problem, which involves delaying what one had intended to do, in spite of being motivated, and regardless of anticipating adverse consequences. Thus, it is a tendency toward dysregulated behavior - which may stabilize with age - in which subpar self-regulation may lead to procrastination. As a form of dysregulation, procrastination adversely affects young people's autonomy and well-being by limiting their personal growth. Previous research has confirmed a negative relationship between self-regulation and procrastination. However, more precision is demanded in: (a) examining the intertwined roles of motivational and volitional aspects of self-regulation for procrastination, and (b) distinguishing between different medium, and between medium and high levels of self-regulation. Consequently, it has been suggested that this could be accomplished by means of person-centered analyses, aimed at identifying distinct naturally occurring students' self-regulation profiles. These profiles would inform differentiated pedagogical approaches to promote self-regulation strategies counteracting procrastination tendencies. We used cluster analysis to identify academic self-regulation profiles and analyze their relationships with procrastination. Participants were 994 young university students from one public and one private university in Catalonia (41.0% men, 58.4% women, and 0.5% non-binary gender). Their age ranged from 18 to 24 years ( = 19.69, = 1.41). Sampling method was intentional, with proportional quotas by sex, academic year, and area of knowledge. The instrument used for data collection incorporated the Short Spanish Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SSSRQ), which includes four dimensions: perseverance, learning from mistakes, goal setting, and decision making; and the Pure Procrastination Scale (PPS), which considers three dimensions: decisional procrastination, implemental delay and lateness. Results obtained by means of cluster analysis distinguished between high and low academic self-regulation profiles, and also between these and two different medium self-regulation profiles, each with specific emphases on particular volitional shortcomings (i.e., weaknesses in decision-making skills and perseverance). These profiles and their relations with procrastination dimensions allow a joint evaluation via structural equation modeling (SEM) to test cognitive motivational strategies (goal setting, decision making, learning from mistakes, and decisional procrastination) together with behavioral aspects (perseverance, implemental delay), considered in the constructs of academic self-regulation and pure procrastination. From this joint evaluation, guidelines are suggested for promoting autonomy among young university students to the detriment of procrastination, thereby - and in accordance with previous research - enhancing students' well-being and growth.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1037/cou0000434

Journal of counseling psychology

J Couns Psychol

Profiles of decent work: General trends and group differences.

Recent trends in the labor market-marked by instability and insecurity-have further ignited a discourse on the significance of decent work in people's lives. Scholars have mostly studied the multidimensional decent work construct using the composite scores of the Decent Work Scale (DWS; Duffy et al., 2017). However, there may be different combinations of decent work beyond the simple continuum of composite scores. Thus, we employed latent profile analysis to identify profiles of decent work using the 5 subscales of the DWS as indicators. As a result, 5 different groups with distinct profiles emerged: (a) average, (b) low health care, (c) indecent work, (d) only health care, and (e) decent work. Subsequent analyses comparing each group on demographics (gender, employment, education), theoretical predictors (economic constraints, marginalization, work volition), and theoretical outcomes (job satisfaction, life satisfaction) revealed notable differences across the 5 groups. Implications, limitations, and future directions of the results are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1098/rspb.2019.2928

Proceedings. Biological sciences

Proc Biol Sci

Preparation and execution of voluntary action both contribute to awareness of intention.

How and when motor intentions form has long been controversial. In particular, the extent to which motor preparation and action-related processes produce a conscious experience of intention remains unknown. Here, we used a brain-computer interface (BCI) while participants performed a self-paced movement task to trigger cues upon the detection of a readiness potential (a well-characterized brain signal that precedes movement) or in its absence. The BCI-triggered cues instructed participants either to move or not to move. Following this instruction, participants reported whether they felt they were about to move at the time the cue was presented. Participants were more likely to report an intention (i) when the cue was triggered by the presence of a readiness potential than when the same cue was triggered by its absence, and (ii) when they had just made an action than when they had not. We further describe a time-dependent integration of these two factors: the probability of reporting an intention was maximal when cues were triggered in the presence of a readiness potential, and when participants also executed an action shortly afterwards. Our results provide a first systematic investigation of how prospective and retrospective components are integrated in forming a conscious intention to move.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1111/ane.13245

Acta neurologica Scandinavica

Acta Neurol Scand

Phenomenology of glioma resection in the dorsal medial frontal cortex.

During the latest decades, the hypothesis that the subjective experience of free will is determined by preconscious activity in the dominant dorsal medial frontal cortex (dMFC) has repeatedly challenged our commonly held concepts of moral responsibility. To investigate whether dMFC activity determines the sense of free will and to investigate the effects of resections in this area on quality of life (QoL). A cohort of nine patients affected by transient declines in speech and movement skills after surgery involving the left dMFC answered questions about their post-operative, subjective experiences of volition in relation to symptoms. In eight cases, resections were performed as part of glioma surgery, and in the ninth case, a meningioma adjacent to the dMFC was resected. In addition, a QoL questionnaire was administrated before and after surgery. None of the patients perceived the transient disabilities related to surgery as associated with a loss or absence of volition. No declines in QoL were detected after surgery. Two QoL domains showed improved function (motor dysfunction and future uncertainty). The subjective sense of volition is not contingent on dMFC activity. Surgical resections of this area are not typically associated with declines in QoL.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1002/npr2.12103

Neuropsychopharmacology reports

Neuropsychopharmacol Rep

Early improvements of individual symptoms as a predictor of treatment response to asenapine in patients with schizophrenia.

It is well accepted that early improvement with antipsychotics predicts subsequent response in patients with schizophrenia. However, no study has examined the contribution of individual symptoms rather than overall symptom severity as the predictors. Thus, we aimed to detect individual symptoms whose improvements could predict subsequent response in patients with schizophrenia during treatment with asenapine and examine whether a prediction model with individual symptoms would be superior to a model using overall symptom severity. This study analyzed a dataset including 532 patients with schizophrenia enrolled in a 6-week double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial of asenapine. Response to asenapine was defined as a ≥30% decrease in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total score from baseline to week 6. Stepwise logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the associations among response and PANSS total/individual item score improvements at week 1 or week 2. Response was associated with early improvement in the following PANSS items: disturbance of volition, active social avoidance, poor impulse control at week 1; and active social avoidance, poor attention, lack of judgment and insight at week 2. Prediction accuracy was almost compatible between the model with individual symptoms and the model with PANSS total score both at weeks 1 and 2 (Nagelkerke R : .51, .42 and .55, .54, respectively). Early improvement in negative symptoms, poor attention and impulse control, and lack of insight, in particular predicted subsequent treatment response in patients with schizophrenia during treatment with asenapine as accurately as prediction based on overall symptom severity.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/B978-0-444-63934-9.00017-2

Handbook of clinical neurology

Handb Clin Neurol

Brain-computer interfaces for basic neuroscience.

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) provide a powerful new tool for basic neuroscience investigators. This is because the BCI approach forges a tight link between the observation of neural activity and well-controlled manipulations of neural activity, driven by the BCI user's own volition. As in all branches of science, progress in neuroscience rests on observation and manipulation. In neuroscience, our observations are typically measurements of neural activity and behavior, and our manipulations are lesions and the addition of neural activity through direct neural stimulation, which cause changes in behavior and in the activity of other neurons. A BCI links observation and manipulation directly because the participant in the experiment observes a mapping of his or her own neural activity, and through volitional control, manipulates that activity. Researchers employing the BCI approach in a basic neuroscience context have made new progress toward understanding the neural basis of motor control, learning, and cognition. To date, most of the basic research using the BCI approach has been applied to understanding the motor system, but future basic science research objectives using the BCI approach include the neural basis of cognitive and emotional function, and explorations of the computational limits of neural circuitry.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/j.concog.2020.102904

Consciousness and cognition

Conscious Cogn

Synchronous stimulation in the rubber hand illusion task boosts the subsequent sense of ownership on the vicarious agency task.

The relationship between sense of agency and sense of ownership remains unclear. Here we investigated this relationship by manipulating ownership using the rubber hand illusion and assessing the resulting impact on self-experiences during the vicarious agency illusion. We tested whether modulating ownership towards another limb using the rubber hand illusion would subsequently influence the illusory experience of ownership and agency towards a similar-looking limb in the vicarious agency task. Crucially, the vicarious agency task measures both sense of agency and sense of ownership at the same time, while removing the confounding influence of motor signals. Our results replicated the well-established effects of both paradigms. We also found that manipulating the sense of ownership with the rubber hand illusion influenced the subsequent vicarious experience of ownership but not the vicarious experience of agency. This supports the idea that sense of agency and sense of ownership are, at least partially, independent experiences.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/j.concog.2020.102902

Consciousness and cognition

Conscious Cogn

Forcing you to experience wonder: Unconsciously biasing people's choice through strategic physical positioning.

Magicians have developed powerful tools to covertly force a spectator to choose a specific card. We investigate the physical location force, in which four cards (from left to right: 1-2-3-4) are placed face-down on the table in a line, after which participants are asked to push out one card. The force is thought to rely on a behavioural bias in that people are more likely to choose the third card from their left. Participants felt that their choice was extremely free, yet 60% selected the 3rd card. There was no significant difference in estimates and feelings of freedom between those who chose the target card (i.e. 3rd card) and those who selected a different card, and they underestimated the actual proportion of people who selected the target card. These results illustrate that participants' behaviour was heavily biased towards choosing the third card, but were oblivious to this bias.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1037/cou0000411

Journal of counseling psychology

J Couns Psychol

Women attaining decent work: The important role of workplace climate in Psychology of Working Theory.

Grounded in Psychology of Working Theory (PWT), the current study investigated predictors of decent work among a sample of employed women (N = 528). A structural equation model was examined finding that women's experiences of marginalization, work volition, and career adaptability all directly predicted the attainment of decent work, and economic constraints and marginalization experiences indirectly predicted decent work via work volition. Additionally, workplace climate for women employees was examined as both a predictor and moderator variable to explore best positioning of this additive construct. Workplace climate did not significantly moderate any model paths; however, it was a unique predictor of work volition and decent work, suggesting that this construct may be better positioned as a predictor variable in understanding the work experiences of women. These results highlight the importance of further investigating the role of workplace climate in PWT as well as the need for refining our understanding of how marginalized employees achieve decent work. Implications of the present study's results are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1177/1569186119870022

Hong Kong journal of occupational therapy : HKJOT

Hong Kong J Occup Ther

The association between volition and participation in adults with acquired disabilities: A scoping review.

Physical, cognitive and psychological factors such as self-efficacy and motivation affect participation in populations with acquired disabilities. Volition is defined as a person's motivation for participating in occupation. The concept of 'volition' expands similar concepts and theories, which focus mostly on cognitive processes that influence motivation. Although volition seems to affect participation, the association between these two concepts has not been examined in populations with acquired disabilities. This scoping review explored this association. The literature review used a structured five-stage framework, according to predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Seven electronic databases (CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed, Web of Science, SCOPUS, The Cochrane Library-Wiley, OTseeker) and Google Scholar were searched for relevant articles, published in English from January 2001 to May 2018. A total of 18 articles, relating to populations with various diagnoses were included. Two directly examined volition and participation and showed a positive association between them. Other articles discussed the effect of participants' chronic condition on their volition and participation, the effect of volition on participation, or the effect on participation of an intervention addressing volition. An acquired disability affects both volition and participation, and volition seems to affect participation among people with acquired disabilities. Few articles showed positive effects of interventions that addressed clients' volition, on participation. Further research should include additional health conditions and types of literature, to better understand the association between these concepts. This understanding will contribute to the development of occupational therapy interventions that emphasise volition, in order to improve participation outcomes.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/j.braindev.2020.01.001

Brain & development

Brain Dev

Expectations and anxieties of Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients and their families during the first-in-human clinical trial of NS-065/NCNP-01.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a recessive X-linked genetic disease caused by a mutation in the dystrophin gene. The new drug NS-065/NCNP-01 utilizing exon-skipping therapy targeting specific deletions has been used in a first-in-human trial for the treatment of DMD. We surveyed 10 pairs of DMD participants and their parents within this clinical trial via an iPad survey form and through interviews regarding their understanding of the trial, expectations, anxieties, and reasons for participating in the trial. Approximately half of the participants actively decided to participate of their own volition, and none considered quitting the trial. This indicates that participants participated more positively in this clinical trial than previously expected. However, some potential concerns were also revealed, with one being that the desire to please those around them might be more important to the DMD participants than the effects of the drug. Another issue is the possibility of biased information originating from the study subjects' parents; while seven out of 10 of the parents told their children that the study drug might work, only four of these parents also explained that it might not work. Only two study participants received an explanation concerning the drug's side effects from their parents. This result implies that caution should be taken when family expectations are high, and there is a possibility that subjects will be given biased information from their parents.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.3928/00989134-20200108-02

Journal of gerontological nursing

J Gerontol Nurs

Qualitative Analysis of the Disease Experience of Korean Older Men With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

The current qualitative study explored perceptions and experiences of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among Korean male older adults. Six older adults participated in a narrative group interview. Responses were analyzed to describe perceptions and experiences of COPD. Social stigma, blaming others and the environment, stress to bear alone, and adaptation and management emerged as relevant themes for adaptation to COPD. In relation to obstacles to healthy behaviors after adapting to COPD, emergent themes were adapting to symptoms, external environmental factors, alternative treatments, and insufficient resources. Facilitators of healthy behaviors were past symptom experience, personal volition, and advice from health professionals. Older adult men with COPD trying to adapt to the disease need sufficient resources and social support from families, social networks, and health professionals. Development of interventions for older adults with COPD should include knowledge and understanding of experience and needs. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 46(2), 49-56.].

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1002/pchj.334

PsyCh journal

Psych J

From depressive symptoms to suicide risk: Roles of sense of belongingness and acquired capability for suicide in patients with mental disorders.

In order to prevent suicides in patients with mental disorders, it was critical to recognize the risk factors and explore the mechanism. Based on depressive symptoms, which were common in patients with mental disorders in consolidation period in China, we constructed a moderated mediating model under the framework of Integrated Motivational-Volitional Model of suicidal behaviour, and examined the mechanism of how depressive symptoms, thwarted belongingness, and acquired capability for suicide influenced suicide risk. In this study, data were collected from 164 patients through four questionnaires, and analyzed with PROCESS macro for SPSS (Hayes, 2008). The result showed that in the predictive effects of depressive symptoms on suicide risk, thwarted belongingness was a partial mediating variable, while acquired capability for suicide played a moderating role in the partial mediating model. Specifically, the predictive effects of depressive symptoms and thwarted belongingness, both as motivation variables, on suicide risk both occurred in the case of the high acquired capability of suicide, which was a volition variable. The research pointed out the interdependence of depressive symptoms and a sense of belongingness, and clarified the critical role of acquired capability for suicide. The integrated perspective could enhance the interpretation of reality, and enlightened those carrying out the practice of suicide intervention to patients with mental disorders.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1007/s00415-019-09672-8

Journal of neurology

J Neurol

Alien limb in the corticobasal syndrome: phenomenological characteristics and relationship to apraxia.

Alien limb refers to movements that seem purposeful but are independent of patients' reported intentions. Alien limb often co-occurs with apraxia in the corticobasal syndrome, and anatomical and phenomenological comparisons have led to the suggestion that alien limb and apraxia may be causally related as failures of goal-directed movements. Here, we characterised the nature of alien limb symptoms in patients with the corticobasal syndrome (n = 30) and their relationship to limb apraxia. Twenty-five patients with progressive supranuclear palsy Richardson syndrome served as a disease control group. Structured examinations of praxis, motor function, cognition and alien limb were undertaken in patients attending a regional specialist clinic. Twenty-eight patients with corticobasal syndrome (93%) demonstrated significant apraxia and this was often asymmetrical, with the left hand preferentially affected in 23/30 (77%) patients. Moreover, 25/30 (83%) patients reported one or more symptoms consistent with alien limb. The range of these phenomena was broad, including changes in the sense of ownership and control as well as unwanted movements. Regression analyses showed no significant association between the severity of limb apraxia and either the occurrence of an alien limb or the number of alien limb phenomena reported. Bayesian estimation showed a low probability for a positive association between alien limb and apraxia, suggesting that alien limb phenomena are not likely to be related to severity apraxia. Our results shed light on the phenomenology of these disabling and as yet untreatable clinical features, with relevance to theoretical models of voluntary action.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1186/s40359-019-0367-z

BMC psychology

BMC Psychol

"Free won't" after a beer or two: chronic and acute effects of alcohol on neural and behavioral indices of intentional inhibition.

Response inhibition can be classified into stimulus-driven inhibition and intentional inhibition based on the degree of endogenous volition involved. In the past decades, abundant research efforts to study the effects of alcohol on inhibition have focused exclusively on stimulus-driven inhibition. The novel Chasing Memo task measures stimulus-driven and intentional inhibition within the same paradigm. Combined with the stop-signal task, we investigated how alcohol use affects behavioral and psychophysiological correlates of intentional inhibition, as well as stimulus-driven inhibition. Experiment I focused on intentional inhibition and stimulus-driven inhibition in relation to past-year alcohol use. The Chasing Memo task, the stop-signal task, and questionnaires related to substance use and impulsivity were administered to 60 undergraduate students (18-25 years old). Experiment II focused on behavioral and neural correlates acute alcohol use on performance on the Chasing Memo task by means of electroencephalography (EEG). Sixteen young male adults (21-28 years old) performed the Chasing Memo task once under placebo and once under the influence of alcohol (blood alcohol concentration around 0.05%), while EEG was recorded. In experiment I, AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test) total score did not significantly predict stimulus-driven inhibition or intentional inhibition performance. In experiment II, the placebo condition and the alcohol condition were comparable in terms of behavioral indices of stimulus-driven inhibition and intentional inhibition as well as task-related EEG patterns. Interestingly, a slow negative readiness potential (RP) was observed with an onset of about 1.2 s, exclusively before participants stopped intentionally. These findings suggest that both past-year increases in risky alcohol consumption and moderate acute alcohol use have limited effects on stimulus-driven inhibition and intentional inhibition. These conclusions cannot be generalized to alcohol use disorder and high intoxication levels. The RP might reflect processes involved in the formation of an intention in general.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1037/cou0000408

Journal of counseling psychology

J Couns Psychol

A cross-cultural comparison of psychology of working theory among U.S. and Korean college students.

The cross-cultural validity of a modified version of psychology of working theory (PWT; Duffy, Blustein, Diemer, & Autin, 2016) was tested in samples of United States ( = 346) and Korean ( = 319) undergraduates. Participants completed measures of economic resources, work volition, career adaptability, occupational engagement, and future decent work perceptions. The results illustrated measurement invariance between the two samples. Thus, the hypothesized models were tested separately in the two samples and the results were compared regarding parameter significance, direction, and magnitude. Overall, the modified model generally fit well with both samples. However, there were notable cross-cultural differences: economic resources significantly predicted work volition, occupational engagement, and future decent work perceptions only in the United States sample and the future decent work perceptions and occupational engagement were negatively associated in the Korean sample. Explanations about the cross-cultural differences and invariances were provided and practical and research implications were discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1037/ser0000403

Psychological services

Psychol Serv

Individual and situational factors predicting employment status among revoked community-released offenders.

Finding and maintaining employment postrelease is an important component in reducing recidivism and promoting successful reintegration for returning citizens. The primary purpose of the current study was to identify and gain a clearer understanding of both internal/individual (i.e., attitudes toward work, criminogenic thinking, antisocial associates, general mental health) and external/situational factors (i.e., reliable transportation, possession of identification, Internet access, type of residence) affecting employment status using a sample of 75 higher-risk community-supervised offenders (employed: n = 33; unemployed: n = 42). Unemployed offenders endorsed higher reactive criminal thinking (indicative of impulsivity) than those who were employed; no other differences in criminogenic thinking or association with antisocial others were found. Perceptions of work volition were significantly different across groups; however, feelings of work alienation were not. Further, significantly more unemployed offenders self-reported having a mental health diagnosis (other than a substance use disorder) and endorsed statistically and clinically significantly higher levels of psychological distress as compared to employed offenders. Regarding situational factors, although no statistically significant differences were found between the unemployed and employed groups, those who were employed were twice as likely to have access to the Internet. Based on these findings, it is recommended that correctional vocational programs incorporate psychological and cognitive interventions, not simply focus on skills training and logistical considerations. Future directions for research are discussed, including the need to monitor job success over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1080/07380577.2019.1703237

Occupational therapy in health care

Occup Ther Health Care

Validation and Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the Volitional Questionnaire in an Italian Population with Psychiatric Disorders: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The aims of this study were to translate and culturally adapt the Volitional Questionnaire (VQ) into Italian and to evaluate its psychometric properties in an Italian population of patients with psychiatric disorders. The translation process from English into Italian was carried out in agreement with the authors of the original scale. The study was carried out in three psychiatric facilities, with 33 patients with psychiatric diagnoses, who were older than 18 years, and two raters (6 total) for each facility in Rome, Italy. The psychometric properties were assessed via its internal consistency, test-retest and inter-rater reliability and construct validity through comparisons with the Barthel Index, Short Form-12, Beck Depression Inventory-II and Camberwell Assessment of Need (CAN). Results showed internal consistency, using Cronbach's alpha, was significant at 0.92. In the test-retest reliability evaluation, the intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.97 and the interclass correlation coefficient was 0.99. The Spearman correlation showed significant results in the comparison with the CAN (r = -0.45, p < 0.05). These results suggest that the IT-VQ may be a valid, standardized and reliable evaluation tool that can be used to detect volitional performance improvements in a population of Italian psychiatric patients.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1371/journal.pone.0226103

PloS one

PLoS One

Dual-hemispheric transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over primary motor cortex does not affect movement selection.

Volition and sense of agency are two primary components of a voluntary or internally generated movement. It has been shown that movement selection cannot be altered without interfering with the sense of volition using single pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation over the primary motor cortex. In the current study, we aimed at examining whether modulating the cortical excitability of the final effector in the voluntary motor pathway-the primary motor cortex, using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) would alter movement selection. Our hypothesis was that anodal tDCS would increase motor cortical excitability and thereby decrease the threshold for movement execution, which could favor selection of the contralateral hand. We recruited 13 healthy adults to perform a movement selection task involving free-choice and externally-cued trials while applying real/sham tDCS in a C3-C4 dual-hemispheric electrode montage. Contrary to our hypothesis, we did not observe any effect of tDCS on movement selection either at the individual or group level. However, our data confirms the strong preference of right-handed individuals for the dominant right hand. We also found higher reaction time for internally generated movement compared to externally triggered movement. We therefore conclude that movement selection cannot be influenced at the level of primary motor cortex and that brain areas upstream of the primary motor cortex in the voluntary motor pathway may be possible targets for influencing movement selection.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/j.scog.2019.100142

Schizophrenia research. Cognition

Schizophr Res Cogn

Metacognitive function and fragmentation in schizophrenia: Relationship to cognition, self-experience and developing treatments.

Bleuler suggested that fragmentation of thought, emotion and volition were the unifying feature of the disorders he termed schizophrenia. In this paper we review research seeking to measure some of the aspects of fragmentation related to the experience of the self and others described by Bleuler. We focus on work which uses the concept of metacognition to characterize and quantify alterations or decrements in the processes by which fragments or pieces of information are integrated into a coherent sense of self and others. We describe the rationale and support for one method for quantifying metacognition and its potential to study the fragmentation of a person's sense of themselves, others and the relative place of themselves and others in the larger human community. We summarize research using that method which suggests that deficits in metacognition commonly occur in schizophrenia and are related to basic neurobiological indices of brain functioning. We also present findings indicating that the capacity for metacognition in schizophrenia is positively related to a broad range of aspects of psychological and social functioning when measured concurrently and prospectively. Finally, we discuss the evolution and study of one therapy that targets metacognitive capacity, Metacognitive Reflection and Insight Therapy (MERIT) and its potential to treat fragmentation and promote recovery.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1097/NCC.0000000000000673

Cancer nursing

Cancer Nurs

Association of Self-Leadership and Planning With Performing an Exercise in Patients With Colorectal Cancer: Cross-Sectional Study.

A healthy lifestyle that includes physical activity is an essential component of the care plans for cancer survivors. However, many cancer survivors remain inactive, even if they feel motivated to exercise. Based on the Chronic Care Model, self-leadership and planning may improve cancer survivors' self-management of their own care. The aim of this study was to examine whether self-leadership skills and planning are associated with performance and maintenance of an exercise program in patients with colorectal cancer. This cross-sectional study enrolled 251 consecutive patients with colorectal cancer who received primary curative surgery and were undergoing or had completed other therapy at the National University Hospitals from 2 regions in South Korea. Demographic data and measures of self-leadership and planning were obtained from questionnaires and clinical data from hospital databases. Self-leadership was measured using the validated Abbreviated Self-Leadership Questionnaire, and another validated psychometric assessment instrument was used to measure "action planning" and "coping planning." Performing and maintaining an exercise program at a level recommended by an American Cancer Society panel correlated with greater self-leadership of behavior awareness and volition, task motivation, and constructive cognition. Greater action planning was associated with performing and maintaining this exercise program for more than 6 months. The results of the current study indicate that having self-leadership and action planning are significantly associated with performing and maintaining an exercise program. We suggest that care providers try to increase self-leadership and action planning of patients with colorectal cancer to improve their self-management during long-term care.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1186/s12916-019-1462-y

BMC medicine

BMC Med

Patterns of symptoms before a diagnosis of first episode psychosis: a latent class analysis of UK primary care electronic health records.

The nature of symptoms in the prodromal period of first episode psychosis (FEP) remains unclear. The objective was to determine the patterns of symptoms recorded in primary care in the 5 years before FEP diagnosis. The study was set within 568 practices contributing to a UK primary care health record database (Clinical Practice Research Datalink). Patients aged 16-45 years with a first coded record of FEP, and no antipsychotic prescription more than 1 year prior to FEP diagnosis (n = 3045) was age, gender, and practice matched to controls without FEP (n = 12,180). Fifty-five symptoms recorded in primary care in the previous 5 years, categorised into 8 groups (mood-related, 'neurotic', behavioural change, volition change, cognitive change, perceptual problem, substance misuse, physical symptoms), were compared between cases and controls. Common patterns of symptoms prior to FEP diagnosis were identified using latent class analysis. Median age at diagnosis was 30 years, 63% were male. Non-affective psychosis (67%) was the most common diagnosis. Mood-related, 'neurotic', and physical symptoms were frequently recorded (> 30% of patients) before diagnosis, and behavioural change, volition change, and substance misuse were also common (> 10%). Prevalence of all symptom groups was higher in FEP patients than in controls (adjusted odds ratios 1.33-112). Median time from the first recorded symptom to FEP diagnosis was 2-2.5 years except for perceptual problem (70 days). The optimal latent class model applied to FEP patients determined three distinct patient clusters: 'no or minimal symptom cluster' (49%) had no or few symptoms recorded; 'affective symptom cluster' (40%) mainly had mood-related and 'neurotic' symptoms; and 'multiple symptom cluster' (11%) consulted for three or more symptom groups before diagnosis. The multiple symptom cluster was more likely to have drug-induced psychosis, female, obese, and have a higher morbidity burden. Affective and multiple symptom clusters showed a good discriminative ability (C-statistic 0.766; sensitivity 51.2% and specificity 86.7%) for FEP, and many patients in these clusters had consulted for their symptoms several years before FEP diagnosis. Distinctive patterns of prodromal symptoms may help alert general practitioners to those developing psychosis, facilitating earlier identification and referral to specialist care, thereby avoiding potentially detrimental treatment delay.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02258

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

The Context-Variable Self and Autonomy: Exploring Surveillance Experience, (Mis)recognition, and Action at Airport Security Checkpoints.

This paper critiques and extends the notion of autonomy by examining how common autonomy definitions construct selfhood, with the support of an analysis of airport surveillance experiences. In psychology, autonomy is (1) often oriented around volition and action rather than the-self-that-acts and (2) the-self-that-acts is construed in singular terms. This neglects the multiple, context-variable self: while others may confirm our self-definitions (recognition), identity claims may also be rejected (misrecognition). The autonomy critique is sustained through an ethnographic analysis of airport security accounts ( = 156) in multiple nations with comparable security procedure (e.g., identification checks, luggage screening, questioning). Such procedures position people in multiple ways (e.g., as safe/dangerous, human/object, respectable/trash). Where respondents felt recognized, they experienced the security procedures positively, actively assisted in the screening process (engaged participation), and did not adapt their behaviors. Where respondents felt misrecognized, they experienced surveillance negatively, were alienated, and responded by either accommodating their behavior to avoid scrutiny, seeking to disrupt the process, or else withdrawing from screening sites. In misrecognition, the strategies that are open to the subject are incompatible with autonomy, if autonomy is defined solely in terms of volition. Accordingly, the concept of autonomy needs to be analyzed on two levels: in terms of the subject's ability freely to determine their own sense of self, as well as the actor's ability freely to enact selfhood.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.3928/19404921-20191025-01

Research in gerontological nursing

Res Gerontol Nurs

Living a Daily Life With Self-Awareness Among Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment.

The current study aimed to understand how older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) perceived their condition following diagnosis and to explain the process of coping with concomitant changes in their lives. Using theoretical sampling methods, in-depth interviews were conducted between August 2015 and September 2017 in 20 older adults with MCI; the collected data were analyzed using the constant comparative method. The core category was living a daily life with self-awareness. The four stages of daily life experience among participants were accepting their diagnosis, strengthening their volition, taking care of their health, and maintaining a daily life with self-awareness. After being diagnosed with MCI, participants were more attentive to behaviors in their daily lives. Participants accepted their diagnosis as well as changes to their lifestyles to avoid causing inconvenience to others. [Research in Gerontological Nursing, 13(1), 41-48.].

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1037/cou0000388

Journal of counseling psychology

J Couns Psychol

Testing a critical cultural wealth model of well-being among first-generation students.

The current study examined predictors of career choice and life satisfaction among a diverse sample of first-generation college students (N = 424). Grounded in the critical cultural wealth model (CCWM; Garriott, 2019), financial stress, sense of belonging, and work volition were found to directly predict life satisfaction and work volition was found to directly predict career choice satisfaction. Additionally, work volition and/or a sense of belonging were found to significantly mediate the relation of financial stress and experiences of discrimination to career choice and life satisfaction. Invariance testing revealed that the model fit equally well for students identifying as a racial/ethnic minority compared with White students, for freshman/sophomores compared with juniors/seniors, and for students who were part of a first-generation scholarship program versus those who were not. Overall, findings suggest that first-generation students' sense of career choice and life satisfaction is predicted primarily by feelings of work volition and belonging on campus, each of which may be negatively affected by experiencing higher levels of financial stress or discrimination on campus. Implications for research and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1080/13546805.2019.1685481

Cognitive neuropsychiatry

Cogn Neuropsychiatry

Decision-making of patients with major depressive disorder in the framework of action control.

Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) experience dysfunctional emotional states and cognitive impairments, leading to behavioural, social, and functional issues. Neurocognitive theory proposes that the initiation and maintenance of MDD is primarily the result of a deficit of action control which in turn would lead to decision-making impairments. We assessed 27 medicated outpatients with MDD who were demographically matched with 16 healthy participants on decision-making (DM) processes (Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and Reversal Learning Task (RLT)), clinical variables (depressive symptoms and self-efficacy), and volition (Lille Apathy Rating Scale). Patients with MDD displayed deficits on the IGT but not on the RLT. Correlational analysis of patients with MDD revealed no significant associations between IGT or RLT performance and volition, depressive symptom severity, and self-efficacy. However, differences on the IGT between patients with MDD and controls became non-significant when controlling for the variance of these scores. MDD appears to have an impact on dynamic DM processes, while basic processes are preserved. Limitations as well as directions for future research are discussed with regard to the neurocognitive model of depression.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1037/dev0000851

Developmental psychology

Dev Psychol

Adolescents' daily face-to-face and computer-mediated communication: Associations with autonomy and closeness to parents and friends.

The amount of time adolescents spend communicating via digital technologies such as smartphones has led to concerns that computer-mediated communication (CMC) is displacing face-to-face (FtF) interactions and disrupting social development. Although many studies have examined CMC in adolescents' relationships with friends, few studies have examined the role of CMC in adolescents' renegotiation of closeness and autonomy with parents. To examine this issue, we administered an online daily diary with 169 U.S. adolescents to estimate the time they spend in CMC and FtF interactions and the number of texts they exchange with friends and parents. On the last day of the survey, we asked adolescents about their emotional closeness to friends and parents and their balance of closeness and volition with parents. Overall, we found more evidence for social stimulation than displacement effects of CMC. Texts and CMC time with friends predicted friend closeness after accounting for FtF time with friends; texts with parents predicted parent closeness after accounting for FtF time with parents. We also found support for our hypothesis that CMC would be associated with greater adolescent volition. CMC time with parents predicted greater volitional dependence (volition plus closeness) whereas texts with friends predicted greater independent decision-making (volition plus distance). We discuss how communication technologies are integrated into U.S. adolescents' relationships with friends and parents and how CMC can facilitate, rather than stifle, adolescents' adjustment of autonomy-relatedness with parents and their construction of emotional closeness with friends. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1177/1747021819888066

Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006)

Q J Exp Psychol (Hove)

Feeling free: External influences on endogenous behaviour.

When we are presented with two equally appealing options, how does the brain break the symmetry between them and make a choice? Recent research has proposed that when no clear information can guide decisions, we use irrelevant noise to tip the scale in favour of one alternative and decide how to act. In the present study, we investigated this issue exploring how human decisions were influenced by noise in a visual signal that cued instructed or free choice. Participants were presented with random-dot kinematograms, moving unidirectionally either upwards or downwards (in instructed trials) or both upwards and downwards simultaneously (free-choice trials). By varying the coherence of dot motion, we were able to test how moment-to-moment fluctuations in motion energy could influence action selection processes. We also measured participants' awareness of such influence. Our results revealed three novel findings: Participants' choices tended to follow fluctuations in dot motion, showing that sensory noise biased "free" selection between actions, irrespective of the clarity of the free cue. However, participants appeared to remain unaware of that influence, because subjective ratings of freedom did not correlate with the degree of sensory biasing. In one exception to this general rule, we found that, when participants resisted the bias and made a choice opposite to the one suggested by the stimulus, they reported strong subjective sense of having chosen independently of the stimulation. This result suggests that inhibitory control is tightly linked to the sense of freedom of choice.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1093/nc/niz014

Neuroscience of consciousness

Neurosci Conscious

Why does the mind wander?

I seek an explanation for the etiology and the function of mind wandering episodes. My proposal-which I call the cognitive control proposal-is that mind wandering is a form of non-conscious guidance due to cognitive control. When the agent's current goal is deemed insufficiently rewarding, the cognitive control system initiates a search for a new, more rewarding goal. This search is the process of unintentional mind wandering. After developing the proposal, and relating it to the literature on mind wandering and on cognitive control, I discuss explanations the proposal affords, testable predictions the proposal makes, and philosophical implications the proposal has.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1371/journal.pone.0224207

PloS one

PLoS One

Acute normobaric hypoxia does not affect the simultaneous exercise-induced increase in circulating BDNF and GDNF in young healthy men: A feasibility study.

Physical exercise has a neuromodulatory effect on the central nervous system (CNS) partially by modifying expression of neuropeptides produced and secreted by neurons and glial cells, among which the best examined are brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF). Because both neurotrophins can cross the brain-blood barrier (BBB), their blood levels indirectly reflect their production in the CNS. Moreover, both neuropeptides are involved in modulation of dopaminergic and serotoninergic system function. Because limited information is available on the effects of exercise to volition exhaustion and acute hypoxia on CNS, BDNF and GDNF formation, the aims of the present study were to verify whether 1) acute exercise to exhaustion in addition to neurons also activates glial cells and 2) additional exposure to acute normobaric moderate hypoxia affects their function. In this feasibility study we measured blood concentrations of BDNF, GDNF, and neuropeptides considered as biomarkers of brain damage (bFGF, NGF, S100B, GFAP) in seven sedentary healthy young men who performed a graded exercise test to volitional exhaustion on a cycle ergometer under normoxic (N) and hypoxic conditions: 2,000 m (H2; FiO2 = 16.6%) and 3,000 m altitude (H3; FiO2 = 14.7%). In all conditions serum concentrations of both BDNF and GDNF increased immediately after cessation of exercise (p<0.01). There was no effect of condition or interaction (condition x time of measurement) and exercise on any of the brain damage biomarkers: bFGF, NGF, S100B, GFAP. Moreover, in N (0<0.01) and H3 (p<0.05) exercise caused elevated serum 5-HT concentration. The results suggest that a graded effort to volitional exhaustion in normoxia, as well as hypoxia, simultaneously activates both neurons and astrocytes. Considering that s100B, GFAP, bFGF, and NGF (produced mainly by astrocytes) are markers of brain damage, it can be assumed that a maximum effort in both conditions is safe for the CNS.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.7554/eLife.39787

eLife

Elife

Neural precursors of decisions that matter-an ERP study of deliberate and arbitrary choice.

The readiness potential (RP)-a key ERP correlate of upcoming action-is known to precede subjects' reports of their decision to move. Some view this as evidence against a causal role for consciousness in human decision-making and thus against free-will. But previous work focused on arbitrary decisions-purposeless, unreasoned, and without consequences. It remains unknown to what degree the RP generalizes to deliberate, more ecological decisions. We directly compared deliberate and arbitrary decision-making during a $1000-donation task to non-profit organizations. While we found the expected RPs for arbitrary decisions, they were strikingly absent for deliberate ones. Our results and drift-diffusion model are congruent with the RP representing accumulation of noisy, random fluctuations that drive arbitrary-but not deliberate-decisions. They further point to different neural mechanisms underlying deliberate and arbitrary decisions, challenging the generalizability of studies that argue for no causal role for consciousness in decision-making to real-life decisions. This article has been through an editorial process in which the authors decide how to respond to the issues raised during peer review. The Reviewing Editor's assessment is that all the issues have been addressed (see decision letter).

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/j.concog.2019.102833

Consciousness and cognition

Conscious Cogn

Connecting action control and agency: Does action-effect binding affect temporal binding?

The sense of agency, i.e., the notion that we, as agents, are in control of our own actions and can affect our environment by acting, is an integral part of human volition. Recent work has attempted to ground agency in basic mechanisms of human action control. Along these lines, action-effect binding has been shown to affect explicit judgments of agency. Here, we investigate if such action-effect bindings are also related to temporal binding which is often used as an implicit measure of agency. In two experiments, we found evidence for the establishment of short-term action-effect bindings as well as temporal binding effects. However, the two phenomena were not associated with each other. This finding suggests that the relation of action control and agency is not a simple one, and it adds to the evidence in favor of a dissociation between subjective agency and perceptual biases such as temporal binding.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/j.neuron.2019.09.024

Neuron

Neuron

The Meaning of Behavior: Discriminating Reflex and Volition in the Brain.

The ability to establish behaviorally what psychological capacity an animal is deploying-to discern accurately what an animal is doing-is key to functional analyses of the brain. Our current understanding of these capacities suggests, however, that this task is complex; there is evidence that multiple capacities are engaged simultaneously and contribute independently to the control of behavior. As such, establishing the contribution of a cell, circuit, or neural system to any one function requires careful dissection of that role from its influence on other functions and, therefore, the careful selection and design of behavioral tasks fit for that purpose. Here I describe recent research that has sought to utilize behavioral tools to investigate the neural bases of instrumental conditioning, particularly the circuits and systems supporting the capacity for goal-directed action, as opposed to conditioned reflexes and habits, and how these sources of action control interact to generate adaptive behavior.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1080/00207144.2019.1650578

The International journal of clinical and experimental hypnosis

Int J Clin Exp Hypn

HYPNOTIC AUTOMATICITY IN THE BRAIN AT REST: An Arterial Spin Labelling Study.

The feeling of automaticity reported by individuals undergoing a hypnotic procedure is an essential dimension of hypnosis phenomenology. In the present study, healthy participants rated their subjective experience of automaticity and resting-state arterial spin labelling (ASL) scans were acquired before and after a standard hypnotic induction (i.e., "neutral hypnosis"). The increase in perceived automaticity was positively associated with activity in the parietal operculum (PO) and seed-based coactivation analysis revealed additional associations in the anterior part of the supracallosal cingulate cortex (aMCC). This is consistent with the role of these regions in perceived self-agency and volition and demonstrates that these effects can be evidenced at rest, in the absence of overt motor challenges. Future studies should further examine if/how these changes in brain activity associated with automaticity might facilitate the responses to suggestions and contribute to clinical benefits of hypnosis.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1093/cercor/bhz160

Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)

Cereb Cortex

Decoding Changes of Mind in Voluntary Action-Dynamics of Intentional Choice Representations.

Voluntary actions rely on appropriate flexibility of intentions. Usually, we should pursue our goals, but sometimes we should change goals if they become too costly to achieve. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated the neural dynamics underlying the capacity to change one's mind based on new information after action onset. Multivariate pattern analyses revealed that in visual areas, neural representations of intentional choice between 2 visual stimuli were unchanged by additional decision-relevant information. However, in fronto-parietal cortex, representations changed dynamically as decisions evolved. Precuneus, angular gyrus, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex encoded new externally cued rewards/costs that guided subsequent changes of mind. Activity in medial frontal cortex predicted changes of mind when participants detached from externally cued evidence, suggesting a role in endogenous decision updates. Finally, trials with changes of mind were associated with an increase in functional connectivity between fronto-parietal areas, allowing for integration of various endogenous and exogenous decision components to generate a distributed consensus about whether to pursue or abandon an initial intention. In conclusion, local and global dynamics of choice representations in fronto-parietal cortex allow agents to maintain the balance between adapting to changing environments versus pursuing internal goals.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/j.cognition.2019.104041

Cognition

Cognition

Evidence for metacognitive bias in perception of voluntary action.

Studies of metacognition often measure confidence in perceptual decisions. Much less is known about metacognition of action, and specifically about how people estimate the success of their own actions. In the present study, we compare metacognitive abilities between voluntary actions, passive movements matched to those actions, and purely visual signals. Participants reported their confidence in judging whether a brief visual probe appeared ahead or behind of their finger during simple flexion/extension movement. The finger could be moved voluntarily, or could be moved passively by a robot replaying their own previous movements. In a third condition, participants did not move, but a visual cursor replayed their previous voluntary movements. Metacognitive sensitivity was comparable when judging active movements, during passive finger displacement and visual cursor reply. However, a progressive metacognitive bias was found, with active movements leading to overconfidence in first-level judgement relative to passive movements, at equal levels of actual evidence. Further, both active and passive movements produced overconfidence relative to visual signals. Taken together, our results may partly explain some of the peculiarities that arise when one judges one's own actions.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1111/jocn.15044

Journal of clinical nursing

J Clin Nurs

The types of caregiving reactions experienced by the older spouse caregivers.

To examine factors associated with the four types of caregiver reactions according to the modified Caregiver Reaction Assessment (mCRA) and assess the differences in the narrative assessment from spouse caregivers between the high-positive and high-negative caregiver reactions. There is a limited understanding of the factors contributing to positive and negative reactions among older spouse caregivers with chronic illnesses. Narrative assessment from spouse caregivers has not been studied before. The study design was a paired-sample, mixed-method survey design. Data were collected from spouse caregivers (≥55 years old) and care-recipients in one medical institute from February 2017-December 2017. This manuscript used STROBE checklist to ensure complete reporting. Demographic, socioeconomic, Frailty Index, perceived stress, and quality of life data were gathered from caregiver dyads. mCRA, relationship, and life satisfaction data were collected from caregivers. mCRA identified the four types of caregiver reactions: (a) high-positive, low-negative; (b) high-positive, high-negative; (c) low-positive, high-negative; and (d) low-positive, low-negative. A qualitative interview was conducted to understand the differences in the narrative and choice of words used to describe caregiving experience. Seventy-five caregiver dyads were recruited. Total perceived stress was found to be negatively associated with high-positive, low-negative caregiver reaction (baseline category: low-positive, high-negative) by multinomial logistic regression. Content analyses showed that low-positive and high-negative caregivers used words that implied a lack of volition. Caregivers with positive experience viewed caregiving as a responsibility; the opposite viewed it as having 'no choice'. Perceived stress is an important indicator of caregiver reactions. Words used when describing caregiving experiences can potentially depict the spouse caregivers' current state of being as a caregiver. Spouse caregiver's narrative of their caregiving experience may provide easy and quick insights if interventions are needed. Early identification of negative reactions will allow for prompt interventions in mitigating caregivers' stress.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1002/mdc3.12801

Movement disorders clinical practice

Mov Disord Clin Pract

Volitional Suppression of Parkinsonian Resting Tremor.

We have observed in the clinic that a number of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) can suppress their tremor at will for brief periods, by conscious mental processes. To our knowledge, the ability to consciously diminish one's resting tremor has not yet been reported nor assessed quantitatively. To provide the first detailed systematic investigation of the phenomenon of voluntary tremor suppression in PD. We examined changes in tremor characteristics during voluntary tremor suppression in 37 PD patients ( medication) presenting with rest tremor in their upper limb. We measured tremor oscillations with a triaxis accelerometer on the index finger of the most-affected hand (n = 27). With surface electromyography (EMG), we measured changes in neuromuscular activity of the forearm flexor digitorum superficialis and extensor digitorum muscles (n = 15). Participants completed four 1-minute trials, consisting of alternating consecutive 30-second periods of resting tremor and 30-second periods of attempted tremor suppression. Bayesian multilevel modeling revealed that attempted voluntary tremor suppression did indeed reduce tremor amplitude (peak power) of the acceleration signal and increased tremor frequency of the acceleration and EMG signals. Relative EMG power in the 3- to 8-Hz tremor band was also smaller. Tremor suppression was not by enhanced voluntary contraction of the relevant muscle pairs. We present novel empirical evidence that PD resting tremor can be suppressed by an act of will, as evidenced by significant modulation of key neurophysiological tremor characteristics. These data highlight that it is possible to exert significant conscious control over parkinsonian resting tremor.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/j.pscychresns.2019.06.007

Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging

Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging

Disruption of volitional control in obsessive-compulsive disorder: Evidence from the Bereitschaftspotential.

In the context of controversies involving possible abnormalities in the volition and action control in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), the current study examined electroencephalographic correlates of automatic and volitional brain processes involved in the genesis of spontaneous movements in individuals diagnosed with OCD. For this, the amplitudes of early and late Bereitschaftspotential (early BP and late BP) from 12 patients and 12 controls were obtained while they performed spontaneous button presses under different levels of volitional experience. In the first condition, participants were distracted from their motor actions by a mental task (automatic condition) and in the second condition they were instructed to attending to their own intention to move (willed condition). The results corroborate previous report that the attention to (and, presumably, the awareness of) intention to act accounts for the expression of significant portion of the late BP in healthy individuals. More relevantly, the increased late BP in willed condition in relation to automatic condition was not present in the OCD group. Neither groups nor conditions affected the early BP. In sum, the current findings suggest the existence of abnormalities in the brain activities associated with the establishment of volitional control in OCD patients.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1037/cou0000368

Journal of counseling psychology

J Couns Psychol

Application of the psychology of working theory with Korean emerging adults.

Psychology of Working Theory (PWT; Duffy, Blustein, Diemer, & Autin, 2016) is a recently developed framework aimed at documenting predictors and outcomes of decent work. To date, no studies have explored the applicability of the psychology of working perspective with emerging adults. The goal of the present study is to examine the predictor portion of PWT with a sample of Korean emerging adults from diverse economic backgrounds. Data were collected from a sample of 407 emerging adults attending a large junior college in Korea. Overall, most of the hypothesized direct paths were significant, with economic resources positively relating to both work volition and career adaptability and these positively relating to occupational engagement and future perceptions of securing decent work. Support for the hypothesized indirect effects was mixed. Overall, results suggest that the PWT is generally relevant and applicable to emerging adults when population-appropriate outcomes are included in the model and that the theory is supported in the Korean context. Based on the results, we also propose that interventions based on malleable psychological factors-the mediators in our study-may be targets when working with emerging adults experiencing economic constraints. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/S2215-0366(18)30474-7

The lancet. Psychiatry

Lancet Psychiatry

Structure and neural mechanisms of catatonia.

Catatonia is a psychomotor syndrome associated with several psychiatric and medical conditions. Psychomotor signs range from stupor to agitation, and include pathognomonic features such as verbigeration and waxy flexibility. Disturbances of volition led to the classification of catatonia as a subtype of schizophrenia, but changes in nosology now recognise the high prevalence in mood disorders, overlap with delirium, and comorbidity with medical conditions. Initial psychometric studies have revealed three behavioural factors, but the structure of catatonia is still unknown. Evidence from brain imaging studies of patients with psychotic disorders indicates increased neural activity in premotor areas in patients with hypokinetic catatonia. However, whether this localised hyperactivity is due to corticocortical inhibition or excess activity of inhibitory corticobasal ganglia loops is unclear. Current treatment of catatonia relies on benzodiazepines and electroconvulsive therapy-both effective, yet unspecific in their modes of action. Longitudinal research and treatment studies, with neuroimaging and brain stimulation techniques, are needed to advance our understanding of catatonia.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/j.jpsychires.2019.05.008

Journal of psychiatric research

J Psychiatr Res

Meta-analysis of the positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) factor structure.

A meta-analysis of the results of 45 factor analyses (n = 22,812) of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was conducted. Meta-analyses of the PANSS was conducted using both a co-occurrence similarity matrix and reproduced correlations. Both methods produced similar results. Five factors (Positive Symptoms, Negative Symptoms, Disorganization, Affect and Resistance) emerged clearly across both analyses. The factors and the items defining them were Positive Symptoms (P1 Delusions, G9 Unusual thought content, P3 Hallucinatory behavior, P6 Suspiciousness and persecution, P5 Grandiosity), Negative Symptoms (N2 Emotional withdrawal, N1 Blunted affect, N4 Passive apathetic social withdrawal, N6 Lack of spontaneity, N3 Poor rapport, G7 Motor retardation, G16 Active social avoidance), Disorganization often termed Cognitive (P2 Conceptual disorganization, G11 Poor attention, N5 Difficulty in abstract thinking, G13 Disturbance of volition, N7 Stereotyped thinking, G5 Mannerisms/posturing, G15 Preoccupation, G10 Disorientation), Affect often termed Depression-Anxiety (G2 Anxiety, G6 Depression, G3 Guilt feelings, G4 Tension, G1 Somatic concern) and a small fifth factor that might be characterized as Resistance or Excitement/Activity (P7 Hostility, G14 Poor impulse control, P4 Excitement, G8 Uncooperativeness). Items G1, G4, G10, P5, G5, G15 may not be core items for the PANSS factors and G12 lack of judgment is not a core item. Results of the PANSS meta-analyses were relatively similar to those for meta-analysis of both the BPRS and BPRS-E all of which contain the original 18 BPRS items. The PANSS is distinguished by a much larger number of items to clearly define and measure Negative Symptoms as well as a sufficient number of items to much more clearly identify a Disorganization factor than the BPRS or BPRS-E.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1111/sjop.12545

Scandinavian journal of psychology

Scand J Psychol

Physicians' gender bias in the diagnostic assessment of medically unexplained symptoms and its effect on patient-physician relations.

Nonspecific, functional, and somatoform (NFS) syndromes is an umbrella term for various diagnoses with medically unexplained symptoms. These syndromes are more prevalent among women than among men, and associated with negative preconceptions that can impede rehabilitation. In two studies, we quantitatively assess how patients' gender affects the diagnostic assessment of NFS syndromes, as well as the healthcare experiences of individuals diagnosed with NFS syndromes. In the first study, our vignette-based experiment showed that Swedish general practitioners (N = 90) were gender biased in their diagnostic assessment of NFS syndromes, such that a female patient with back pain was more likely to be assigned a NFS syndrome compared to an otherwise identical male patient. In the second study, a large community sample of Swedish individuals with medically explained (n = 432) and unexplained pain (n = 521) evaluated their treating physician's relational conduct. Even after accounting for a variety of sociodemographic variables and other pain characteristics, women with at least one NFS syndrome percieved their physician's relational conduct as significantly poorer than other women as well as men with and without NFS syndromes. When women's pain is more likely than men's to be assessed as NFS, their rehabilitation could be prolonged as pertient alternative diagnoses and treatments are omittied and their negative healthcare experiences lower their volition to partake and persevere in treatment.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1111/ecc.13073

European journal of cancer care

Eur J Cancer Care (Engl)

Effectiveness of a motivational-volitional group intervention to increase physical activity among breast cancer survivors compared to standard medical rehabilitation-Study protocol of a prospective controlled bi-centred interventional trial.

Despite proven benefits of regular physical activity, the majority of breast cancer survivors do not meet recommended physical activity guidelines. The Motivation-Volition (MoVo) Concept was designed to help people to set up and maintain a health-enhancing lifestyle. Studies have proven the short- and long-term efficacy of the MoVo intervention programmes. The intervention consists of four group sessions (60 min). The sessions contain informational parts, structured training in setting goals, planning exercises, problem-solving, single person working and group discussion. We apply a sequential control group design in two inpatient rehabilitation facilities to evaluate the effect of a motivational-volitional group intervention compared to standard rehabilitation. Our target groups are inactive women after breast cancer. Primary outcome is the amount of physical activity per week. Secondary outcomes include physical functioning, fatigue and depression. 800 patients diagnosed with breast cancer on medical rehabilitation will be included, 400 participants per clinic and group. Participants will be assessed by questionnaires upon clinic arrival, before discharge and six and twelve months after discharge. The study will provide evidence on the effect of a MoVo group intervention for physical inactive women after breast cancer. Positive results may have an impact on long-term improvement in exercise behaviour and health status.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1186/s12913-019-4128-8

BMC health services research

BMC Health Serv Res

Entering an emotional minefield: professionals' experiences with facilitators to address abuse in child interviews.

Extensive research documents that child abuse is widespread and that it has detrimental effects on victims' physical, psychological and social well-being. Efforts to help abused children by removing stressors and administering restorative care can reverse these negative effects, but the evidence suggests that professionals often fail to expose child abuse. This study aims to generate insight into professionals' experiences with facilitators in handling the challenges of addressing abuse in child interviews. We expect that this knowledge can improve interventions that qualify professionals in the identification, protection and care of abused children. Within the qualitative approach and an Interpretive Description framework, we performed in-depth interviews with nineteen participants from southern Norway, specifically ten social workers from child protective services and nine psychologists from child mental health services. Then, Interpretive Description analysis was performed by using constant comparison, reflexive and critical examinations, and contextualized theoretical interpretations. The participants' accounts revealed that various facilitators relative to the stages of the skill development and intrinsic motivation of the practitioner enhance the explorative work of the professional. We identified the following five main themes: (a) alleviating personal choice; (b) collective accountability; (c) sharing vulnerability; (d) finding your own way; and (e) doing it for the right reasons. To facilitate explorative work, our findings suggest that competence development should apply goal-directed reflective practice combined with positive feedback on performance. Furthermore, our results indicate that developing personal competence is contingent on supporting individual choice and volition while decreasing demands towards following rules and guidelines. To promote the relatedness and the emotion regulation of professionals, we suggest endorsing shared vulnerability with colleagues and promoting an organizational culture that supports openness and allows professionals to discuss their emotions when addressing difficult and complex issues. It is also advisable to promote autonomy by helping professionals to find meaning in their work that is compatible with their personal values.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.04.024

Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews

Neurosci Biobehav Rev

Why neuroscience does not disprove free will.

While the question whether free will exists or not has concerned philosophers for centuries, empirical research on this question is relatively young. About 35 years ago Benjamin Libet designed an experiment that challenged the common intuition of free will, namely that conscious intentions are causally efficacious. Libet demonstrated that conscious intentions are preceded by a specific pattern of brain activation, suggesting that unconscious processes determine our decisions and we are only retrospectively informed about these decisions. Libet-style experiments have ever since dominated the discourse about the existence of free will and have found their way into the public media. Here we review the most important challenges to the common interpretation of Libet-style tasks and argue that the common interpretation is questionable. Brain activity preceding conscious decisions reflects the decision process rather than its outcome. Furthermore, the decision process is configured by conditional intentions that participants form at the beginning of the experiment. We conclude that Libet-style tasks do not provide a serious challenge to our intuition of free will.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1080/00224499.2019.1605328

Journal of sex research

J Sex Res

Physical Pain as Pleasure: A Theoretical Perspective.

Physical pain represents a common feature of Bondage and Discipline/Dominance and Submission/Sadism and Machochism (BDSM) activity. This article explores the literature accounting for how painful stimuli may be experienced as pleasurable among practitioners of BDSM, and contrasting this with how it is experienced as painful among non-BDSM individuals. We reviewed the available literature on pain and on BDSM, and used the findings to postulate a theory accounting for how painful stimuli are experienced as pleasurable. Our theory was then checked with BDSM practitioners. The emotional, physiological, and psychological elements of pain interact to facilitate the experience of pain as pleasure in BDSM. A multitude of interconnected factors was theorized to alter the experience of BDSM pain, including: neural networks, neurotransmitters, endogenous opioids and endocannabinoids, visual stimuli, environmental context, emotional state, volition and control, interpersonal connection, sexual arousal, and memories. The experience of pain in this context can bring about altered states of consciousness that may be similar to what occurs during mindfulness meditation. Through understanding the mechanisms by which pain may be experienced as pleasure, the role of pain in BDSM is demystified and, it is hoped, destigmatized.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/j.adolescence.2019.04.004

Journal of adolescence

J Adolesc

Positive emotions, learning behavior and teacher support in self-directed learning during adolescence: Do age and gender matter?

It has already been shown that positive emotions can positively influence learning behavior. However, what is less known is whether teacher support mediates this relationship in adolescents of varying ages and genders in self-directed learning (SDL) at school. Data gathered with questionnaires given to 754 German students (Mage = 13.56; SD = 1.2; 49,4% female students) at two measurement times is used as the empirical basis of this study. To control for possible gender and age-based differences in the interplay and extent of the variables, a multigroup structural equation model and latent mean comparison (LMC) were carried out, whereby four groups [female 6th/7th graders, male 6th/7th graders (earlier adolescence), female 8th/9th graders, male 8th/9th graders (middle adolescence)] were examined. Across from the female 8th/9th graders as the reference group, the LMC showed that all other groups have significantly higher mean values for positive emotions. In addition, female 6th/7th graders report a significantly higher level of volition. Teacher support partly mediates all relations. Group differences in the interplay of the variables were excluded. The results of the study highlight the importance of teacher support when SDL is carried out in school. Thus, teacher support reduces the effects between positive emotions and learning behavior. This means that in self-directed learning, even those students who develop weaker positive emotions are supported.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.3758/s13415-019-00711-5

Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience

Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci

Cerebral responses to self-initiated action during social interactions.

Social interaction involves self-initiated actions that engage subjective awareness of one's own volition. Individuals with social communication needs or social anxiety find it particularly difficult to initiate social interactions. However, extant studies have not specifically addressed how perceived exclusion may influence self-initiated actions during social interaction. As a first step to address this question, we scanned 24 healthy adults participating in a Cyberball game with two fictive players. By contrasting events of observing, receiving, and initiating ball toss during a scenario of fair game (FG) and of exclusion (EX), we examined the neural correlates of self-initiated action during social interactions. Behaviorally, participants were faster in catching but slower in tossing the ball in EX compared with FG, suggesting a burden during self-initiated actions during social exclusion. Tossing versus receiving (or observing) engaged higher activity during EX than FG in the precuneus and angular gyrus, regions that have been widely implicated in theory of mind processing and social emotions. Across subjects these cortical activities correlated positively with the difference between EX and FG in the percentage of trials where participants tossed the ball back to the same player (r = 0.69, p < 0.001). Together, the results suggested that, in healthy adults, social exclusion encumbered and engaged higher posterior cortical activations during self-initiated actions. The findings may facilitate future research of neural markers of social behavioral disorders.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1037/cou0000342

Journal of counseling psychology

J Couns Psychol

Decent work and well-being among low-income Turkish employees: Testing the psychology of working theory.

People from lower social classes experience significant difficulties in many life domains including work, yet their work lives continue to be understudied in psychology. This study examined the applicability of the Psychology of Working Theory (PWT), which emphasizes the role of socioeconomic constraints in shaping work and well-being outcomes, in a non-Western, collectivist cultural framework. Specifically, we tested the associations of social class with work volition and career adaptability in predicting decent work and job and life satisfaction with a sample of 401 low-income Turkish employees. Results of structural equation modeling analyses supported all hypothesized paths of the proposed model. Social class predicted decent work directly and indirectly through work volition and career adaptability, and decent work predicted job satisfaction and life satisfaction. In addition to extending the research on the international utility of the PWT, these results support the notion that social class has a crucial role in low-income working adults' access to decent and fulfilling work along with their attainment of well-being. The results of this study also underline the importance of promoting decent work among low-income individuals to improve their personal and work lives. Implications for practice with low-income Turkish employees and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1002/pchj.276

PsyCh journal

Psych J

Time perception and the experience of agency in meditation and hypnosis.

Mindfulness meditation and hypnosis are related in opposing ways to awareness of intentions. The cold control theory of hypnosis proposes that hypnotic responding involves the experience of involuntariness while performing an actually intentional action. Hypnosis therefore relies upon inaccurate metacognition about intentional actions and experiences. Mindfulness meditation centrally involves awareness of intentions and is associated with improved metacognitive access to intentions. Therefore, mindfulness meditators and highly hypnotizable people may lie at opposite ends of a spectrum with regard to metacognitive access to intention-related information. Here we review the theoretical background and evidence for differences in the metacognition of intentions in these groups, as revealed by chronometric measures of the awareness of voluntary action: the timing of an intention to move (Libet's "W" judgments) and the compressed perception of time between an intentional action and its outcome ("intentional binding"). We review these measures and critically evaluate their proposed connection to the experience of volition and sense of agency.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00077

Frontiers in psychiatry

Front Psychiatry

Mental State Examination and Its Procedures-Narrative Review of Brazilian Descriptive Psychopathology.

Mental State Examination (MSE) is compared with physical examination as a reliable method of objective data investigation. There is a growing concern with psychiatric clinics, nosology, and the reliability of diagnostic interview methods as a source of valid diagnostic strategy. Efforts to achieve an international diagnosis protocol have been unsuccessful or polemical. This paper focuses on psychopathology, MSE, and mental function development within Brazilian psychiatry over the last few decades. Searches, interviews, and narrative reviews were done to look for systematic ways in which to conduct MSE, mental functions, symptom clusters, orientations about data observation and records. Brazilian psychopathology textbooks were examined, if they provided access to consolidated knowledge on psychopathology examination. Sixteen textbooks were selected from a 49 year span. Descriptive psychopathology with phenomenological orientation was the primary trend in the MSE. Concepts derived from different traditions, most lacking common terminology, suggested some divergence among authors. Recommendations for patient observation and how to collect objective data was clear, but MSE standardization efforts were missing. A detailed description of mental function abnormalities was the main MSE record strategy, without consensus about ways to summarize and record this data. In an examination summary, mental strata was divided into "mental functions," and MSE subsets were frequent. All authors considered the following mental functions: consciousness, perception, thought, memory, attention, orientation, and volition. Psychiatric competence demands MSE proficiency. Official documents are not clear about performance and recording standards. MSE data was usually recorded through descriptive psychopathology. A shift from detailed descriptive findings, to an array of observed pathological elements, described through a mental function checklist was observed over time. Clinical practice and research guidelines should consider the development of reliable MSE practices; however, it has been neglected by modern psychiatry/neuroscience through the excessive emphasis on interview protocols. Better MSE practices, and the improvement of bedside skill in psychiatry are necessary and depend on the recovery of psychopathological debates and semiological reasoning, which will allow the return of phenomenology-oriented "observational" techniques.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1038/s42003-019-0346-1

Communications biology

Commun Biol

The neural basis of meta-volition.

Volition is the power to act beyond simple, automatic responses. We can act voluntarily because we can choose to act otherwise than immediate, external circumstances dictate. But we can also choose to allow ourselves to be led automatically by events around us. The neural basis of this higher power to suspend volition- which we term meta-volition-is unknown. Here we show that inter-individual differences in meta-volition are reflected in extensive, highly lateralised differences in right frontal white matter as indexed by diffusion tensor imaging. Paradoxically, participants with enhanced white matter optimality in these regions are less able to exercise meta-volition, finding it harder to suspend volition. This suggests volition is dependent less on any hierarchical system of meta-volitional control than on the extent to which an extensive network subserving higher volitional powers is competitively dominant over others. A fundamentally parallel neural organisation of human voluntary action at the highest level is thereby implied.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00388

Frontiers in psychology

Front Psychol

Free Will Emerges From a Multistage Process of Target Assignment and Body-Scheme Recruitment for Free Effector Selection.

Self-intended action implies an initial stage of assigning an external entity as target of action, with subsequent recruitment of body-scheme information serving the free selection of an appropriate effector system to achieve the action aim. This plurality underscores the concept that neuronal response freedom underlying the generation of such action is not necessarily restricted to a singular cerebral event at its initiation, but that such freedom is embedded in a series of successive processing steps. In this respect, action intention initially concerns the transition of a neutral object into a target of action, while the "will" to act further crystalizes with the recruitment of one's body scheme. The latter is a prerequisite for effector selection and indeed complements the emerging sense of agency. This temporal order of neuronal events fits a model of fronto-parietal interactions associated with volition. A concise behavioral experiment is additionally described, in which successively displayed balls represent either a recognizable object with distinct shape and color features, or a target of action. Instructions to write down the ball's characteristics were alternated by the command "action." When shifting from a neutral object to an action target, the ball was placed in one of three backgrounds: empty, an outdoor goal or indoor basket. In response to the action command, subjects reported intended actions such as kicking, seizing, throwing and heading, thus implicitly referring to the foot, hand, or head as chosen effector. For the latter the parietal cortex is strongly implicated, not only concerning predefined but also free selection. Although subjects were free to choose what to do with the ball, the environmental cues of the ball strongly influenced their choices. These results illustrate the temporal order in fronto-parietal processing associated with initial target assignment, instantly followed by the embodiment of will, i.e., the recruitment of body-scheme information for possible effector selection. Such multistage neuronal processing underlying free action selection underscores that the onset of brain signals prior to the perceived sense of free will is not a valid argument to reduce free will to an illusion.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1016/j.nlm.2019.03.005

Neurobiology of learning and memory

Neurobiol Learn Mem

Unexplored territory: Beneficial effects of novelty on memory.

Exploring novel environments enhances learning in animals. Due to differing traditions, research into the effects of spatial novelty on learning in humans is scarce. Recent developments of affordable and fMRI-compatible virtual reality (VR) and mobile EEG systems can help bridge the gap between the two literatures. One promising study showed that spatial novelty also promotes learning in humans. It still remains largely unknown, however, which aspect of novelty underlies the beneficial effect on memory, as novelty, expectations, and volition are often confounded in animal studies. In humans, these factors can be experimentally manipulated, but such studies are currently lacking. Future studies in humans could combine pharmacological interventions, neuroimaging and VR or use mobile EEG to help elucidate whether the plasticity enhancing mechanisms observed in animals, also exist in humans. When the aspects of exploring a novel environment underlying beneficial memory effects have been identified, effective novelty-exposure interventions could be designed to improve learning and counteract age-related memory decline.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.21815/JDE.019.065

Journal of dental education

J Dent Educ

Motivation as a Predictor of Dental Students' Affective and Behavioral Outcomes: Does the Quality of Motivation Matter?

Since the motivation to study and engage in academic activities plays a key role in students' learning experience and well-being, gaining a better understanding of dental students' motivations can help educators implement interventions to support students' optimal motivations. The aim of this study, grounded in self-determination theory, was to determine the predictive role of different types of motivation (autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, and amotivation) in the affective and behavioral outcomes of dental students. Amotivation is the absence of drive to pursue an activity due to a failure to establish relationships between activity and behavior; controlled motivation involves behaving under external pressure or demands; and autonomous motivation is an internalized behavior with a full sense of volition, interest, choice, and self-determination. A cross-sectional correlational study was conducted in 2016, in which 924 students (90.2% response rate) from years one to six agreed to participate, granting permission to access their current GPAs and completing four self-reported questionnaires on academic motivation, study strategies, vitality, and self-esteem. The results showed that self-determined motivation (i.e., autonomous over controlled motivation) was positively associated with vitality, self-esteem, and deep study strategies and negatively associated with surface study strategies. The contrary results were found for amotivation. In the motivational model, deep study strategies showed a positive association with students' academic performance. Contrary results were found for surface study strategies. This study extends understanding of the differentiation of motivation based on its quality types and suggests that being motivated does not necessarily lead to positive educational outcomes. Autonomous motivation, in contrast to controlled motivation and amotivation, should be supported to benefit students with regard to their approaches to learning and well-being since it can promote students' vitality, self-esteem, deep over surface study strategies, and enhanced academic performance.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1080/11038128.2019.1572786

Scandinavian journal of occupational therapy

Scand J Occup Ther

Volitional questionnaire: Psychometric evaluation of the finnish translation.

Supporting clients' motivation to engage in occupations is essential to occupational therapy practice. The Volitional Questionnaire Finnish version (VQ-FI) can be used to evaluate volitional behaviors of clients with limited ability to communicate. The many-facet Rasch model was used to evaluate the reliability and validity of the VQ-FI using the FACETS and WINSTEPS software. Forty-two therapists received an in-person training on the VQ-FI and completed 226 independent ratings of clients. The VQ-FI was evaluated in its rating scale functioning, unidimensionality, person validity, rater severity, item targeting, and item/person separation. The four-point rating scale demonstrated adequate functioning; the 'passive' rating category was rarely adopted. The VQ-FI showed unidimensionality, with all 14 items fitting the Rasch model. No evidence for ceiling or floor effects, and the assessment demonstrated appropriate item and person separation. The VQ-FI reliably separated participants to three levels of ability. The study provides preliminary evidence for the reliability and validity of the VQ-FI. The VQ-FI is an observational measure that can be used to evaluate clients' volitional behaviors. The VQ-FI offers practitioners and researchers a valid approach to evaluate volition that is theoretically grounded in the Model of Human Occupation.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1038/s41598-019-39813-y

Scientific reports

Sci Rep

Decoding the contents and strength of imagery before volitional engagement.

Is it possible to predict the freely chosen content of voluntary imagery from prior neural signals? Here we show that the content and strength of future voluntary imagery can be decoded from activity patterns in visual and frontal areas well before participants engage in voluntary imagery. Participants freely chose which of two images to imagine. Using functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) and multi-voxel pattern analysis, we decoded imagery content as far as 11 seconds before the voluntary decision, in visual, frontal and subcortical areas. Decoding in visual areas in addition to perception-imagery generalization suggested that predictive patterns correspond to visual representations. Importantly, activity patterns in the primary visual cortex (V1) from before the decision, predicted future imagery vividness. Our results suggest that the contents and strength of mental imagery are influenced by sensory-like neural representations that emerge spontaneously before volition.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition

10.1007/s00455-019-09989-6

Dysphagia

Dysphagia

Pharyngeal Swallowing During Wake and Sleep.

Sleep is associated with stages of relative cortical quiescence, enabling evaluation of swallowing under periods of reduced consciousness and, hence, absent volition. The aim of this study was to measure and characterize changes in the characteristics of pharyngeal swallows during sleep and wake using high-resolution manometry (HRM). Pharyngeal swallows were recorded with a ManoScan™ HRM in wake-upright, wake-supine, and sleep conditions in 20 healthy participants (mean 27 years; range 21-52). Velopharyngeal and hypopharyngeal segments were analysed separately. Contractile integral, mean peak pressure, inverse velocity of superior-to-inferior pharyngeal pressure, and time to first maximum pressure were analysed with custom-designed software. The supine-wake condition was compared to both upright-wake and sleep conditions using linear mixed effects models. No significant differences were found between supine-wake and upright-wake conditions on any measures. The mean peak pharyngeal pressure was lower during sleep than during the supine-wake condition for both the velopharynx (- 60 mmHg, standard error [SE] = 11, p < 0.001) and hypopharynx (- 59 mmHg, SE = 9, p = 0.001), as was the pharyngeal inverse velocity (- 12 ms/cm, SE = 4, p = 0.012) for the hypopharyngeal segment and the pharyngeal contractile integral (- 32 mmHg s cm, SE = 6, p < 0.001). No significant differences were found in time to the first pharyngeal maximum pressure. This study used HRM to characterize and compare pharyngeal pressures during swallowing in both wake and sleep conditions. No differences were found between upright and supine awake conditions, a finding important to pharyngeal manometric measures made during supine positioning, such as in fMRI. Higher pressures and longer time-related measures of volitional pharyngeal swallowing when awake indicate that cortical input plays an important role in modulation of pharyngeal swallowing.

CognitiveConstruct

Volition