Cuff-based blood pressure measurement lacks comfort and convenience. Here, we examined whether blood pressure can be determined in a contactless manner using a novel smartphone-based technology ...called transdermal optical imaging. This technology processes imperceptible facial blood flow changes from videos captured with a smartphone camera and uses advanced machine learning to determine blood pressure from the captured signal.
We enrolled 1328 normotensive adults in our study. We used an advanced machine learning algorithm to create computational models that predict reference systolic, diastolic, and pulse pressure from facial blood flow data. We used 70% of our data set to train these models and 15% of our data set to test them. The remaining 15% of the sample was used to validate model performance.
We found that our models predicted blood pressure with a measurement bias±SD of 0.39±7.30 mm Hg for systolic pressure, -0.20±6.00 mm Hg for diastolic pressure, and 0.52±6.42 mm Hg for pulse pressure, respectively.
Our results in normotensive adults fall within 5±8 mm Hg of reference measurements. Future work will determine whether these models meet the clinically accepted accuracy threshold of 5±8 mm Hg when tested on a full range of blood pressures according to international accuracy standards.
Deception is commonly seen in everyday social interactions. However, most of the knowledge about the underlying neural mechanism of deception comes from studies where participants were instructed ...when and how to lie. To study spontaneous deception, we designed a guessing game modeled after Greene and Paxton (2009) “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(30), 12506–12511”, in which lying is the only way to achieve the performance level needed to end the game. We recorded neural responses during the game using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). We found that when compared to truth-telling, spontaneous deception, like instructed deception, engenders greater involvement of such prefrontal regions as the left superior frontal gyrus. We also found that the correct-truth trials produced greater neural activities in the left middle frontal gyrus and right superior frontal gyrus than the incorrect-truth trials, suggesting the involvement of the reward system. Furthermore, the present study confirmed the feasibility of using NIRS to study spontaneous deception.
► We examined neural correlates of spontaneous deception. ► Participants participated in a game where they were motivated to lie spontaneously. ► Spontaneous deception is an executive functioning intensive task. ► The reward system is also involved in spontaneous deception. ► We confirmed the feasibility of using NIRS to study deception.
Although there has been extensive research on children's moral knowledge about lying and truth-telling and their actual lie-or truth-telling behaviors, research to examine the relation between these ...two is extremely rare. This study examined one hundred and twenty 7-, 9-, and 11-year-olds' moral understanding of lies and their actual lying behaviors in a politeness situation. Results revealed that as age increased, children increasingly evaluated others' lying in politeness situations less negatively and were more inclined to tell lies in such situations themselves. Contrary to previous findings, children's sociomoral knowledge about lying was significantly related to their actual behaviors, particularly when children's rationales underlying their moral judgments were consistent with their motives for actual lie-or truth-telling in the politeness situation.
Abstract Recent neuroimaging studies have been trying to investigate the neural correlates of deception. To explore the temporal course of neural activity underlying deception, we recorded ...event-related potentials (ERPs) while participants were performing the Differentiation of Deception Paradigm (DDP) task to self- and other-referential information. Results showed that lying was associated with increased N1 (parietal–occipital area), N2 (frontal–central area) and decreased P3 (frontal–central area). Moreover, self-referential information elicited larger P2 and P3 compared with other-referential information. Finally, the interaction between stimulus and response types on N2 and P3 suggested that lying about self-referential information is more difficult than lying about other-referential information. These results revealed a temporal course of neural activity regarding executive function underlying deception, which complemented the current understanding of deception from the spatial dimensions.
From a young age, children’s peer appraisals are influenced by the social categories to which peers belong based on factors such as race and gender. To date, research regarding the manner in which ...race- and gender-related factors might interact to influence these appraisals has been limited. The present study employed an experimental vignette paradigm to investigate the relative influences of target peers’ race, gender, and gender-typed behavior toward 4- to 6-year-old Chinese children’s (
N
= 119, 62 girls, 57 boys) peer appraisals. Appraisals were assessed via (1) a rating scale measuring children’s interest in being friends with a range of hypothetical target peers varying in race, gender, and gender-typed behavior, and (2) a forced-choice rank-order task in which children indicated their preferences for four hypothetical target peers who varied from themselves on either race, gender, or gender-typed behavior, or were similar to themselves on all three traits. There was little evidence to suggest children’s rank-ordered peer preferences in relation to race were influenced by whether the other-race presented was White (preferred relatively more) or Black (preferred relatively less). In contrast, gender-related factors (i.e., rater gender, target gender, target gender-typed behavior) had more robust influences on peer preferences for both outcome measures. Gender-conforming peers were preferred over gender-nonconforming peers, and target boys displaying feminine behavior were less preferred than target girls displaying masculine behavior. The results help characterize cross-cultural (in)consistencies in children’s social preferences in relation to peers’ race and gender.
The present study focused on neural correlates underlying second-order deception. In first-order deception, the recipient of deception is unaware of the deceiver's deceptive intention. However, ...during second-order deception, the recipient is fully aware of the deceiver's deceptive intention and thus the deceiver needs to use both lies and truths to deceive the recipient. Using the functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) methodology and a naturalistic interactive game, we found that second-order deception elicited significantly greater oxy-Hb changes in the prefrontal cortex (the right superior frontal gyrus (SFG), BA6) than the non-deceptive control condition. This finding suggests that second-order deception, like first-order deception, engages specifically the cortical regions associated with the planning of complex actions and goal processing. We also found that lying to deceive produced greater neural activities in the right middle frontal gyrus than truth-telling to deceive. This suggests that although both actions serve deceptive purposes, making a false statement contradicting the true state of affairs still requires more executive control and thus greater neural responses in the cortical regions associated with this function. In addition, we found that the successful deception produced greater neural activities in a broad area of the prefrontal frontal cortex than failure to deceive, indicating the involvement of the cortical reward system during second-order deception. Further, failure of truth-telling to deceive produced greater neural responses in the right SFG than failure of lying to deceive. The present findings taken together suggest that second-order deception engages both the cortical executive and reward systems.
•We examined neural correlates of second-order deception using fNIRS methodology.•It activates prefrontal cortex involved in planning and goal processing.•Lying to deceive engenders more prefrontal activities than telling-truth to deceive.•Second-order deception also involves of the cortical reward system.
Recent research indicates that moral judgment and 1st-order theory of mind abilities are related. What is not known, however, is how 2nd-order theory of mind is related to moral judgment. In the ...present study, we extended previous findings by administering a morally relevant theory of mind task (an accidental transgressor) to 4- to 7-year-old Chinese children (N = 79) and analyzing connections with 2nd-order theory of mind understanding. Using hierarchical multiple regression analyses, we found that above and beyond age, children's 1st-order theory of mind and 2nd-order theory of mind each significantly and uniquely contributed to children's moral evaluations of the intention in the accidental transgression. These findings highlight the important roles that 1st- and 2nd-order theory of mind play in leading children to make appropriate moral judgments based on an actor's intention in a social situation.
•Both Chinese children and Chinese adults scan faces of own and other races differently.•Chinese children and Chinese adults use nose-centric scanning on Chinese faces.•Chinese children and Chinese ...adults use eye-centric scanning on Caucasian faces.•Saccade amplitudes on faces of own race are smaller than on faces of other-race.
Extensive behavioral and neural evidence suggests that processing of own-race faces differs from that of other-race faces in both adults and infants. However, little research has examined whether and how children scan faces of own and other races differently for face recognition. In this eye-tracking study, Chinese children aged from 4 to 7years and Chinese adults were asked to remember Chinese and Caucasian faces. None of the participants had any direct contact with foreign individuals. Multi-method analyses of eye-tracking data revealed that regardless of age group, proportional fixation duration on the eyes of Chinese faces was significantly lower than that on the eyes of Caucasian faces, whereas proportional fixation duration on the nose and mouth of Chinese faces was significantly higher than that on the nose and mouth of Caucasian faces. In addition, the amplitude of saccades on Chinese faces was significantly lower than that on Caucasian faces, potentially reflecting finer-grained processing for own-race faces. Moreover, adults’ fixation duration/saccade numbers on the whole faces, proportional fixation percentage on the nose, proportional number of saccades between AOIs, and accuracy in recognizing faces were higher than those of children. These results together demonstrate that an abundance of visual experience with own-race faces and a lack of it with other-race faces may result in differential facial scanning in both children and adults. Furthermore, the increased experience of processing faces may result in a more holistic and advanced scanning strategy in Chinese adults.
This study used longitudinal cross-lagged modeling to examine the contribution of theory of mind (ToM), executive function (EF) to children's lying development and of children's lying to ToM and EF ...development. Ninety-seven Chinese children (initial
= 46 months, 47 boys) were tested three times approximately 4 months apart. Results showed that the diverse desire understanding and knowledge access understanding components of ToM, as well as the inhibitory control component of EF predicted the development of children's lying, while the diverse belief understanding and false belief understanding components of ToM, and the working memory component of EF did not predict development of children's lying. Meanwhile, children's lying predicted development of children's belief-emotion understanding components of ToM, but not any other ToM components, or EF components. These findings provide longitudinal evidence for the relation between ToM, EF, and children's lying during the preschool years.
Abstract Reasoning about modesty was examined among adolescents and young adults in China and the U.S. Participants made moral judgments of story characters who did a good deed and either truthfully ...accepted credit for it, or falsely denied having done it. The social context in which statements occurred was manipulated, with some made in private and others in front of a class. Chinese participants judged accepting credit for good deeds less favorably and lying in the service of modesty more favorably than did participants from the U.S. In each country, older participants judged modesty-based lies more favorably when they were told in public. Additionally, a high collectivist orientation and low individualistic orientation was associated with higher ratings of modesty-based lying in public, which provides the first direct link between endorsement of these values and moral judgments about lie-telling.