Rapid recalibration of temporal order judgements: Response bias accounts for contradictory results

Recent history influences subsequent perception, decision‐making and motor behaviours. In this article, we address a discrepancy in the effects of recent sensory history on the perceived timing of auditory and visual stimuli. In the synchrony judgement (SJ) task, similar timing relationships in consecutive trials seem more synchronous (i.e. less like the repeated temporal order). This effect is known as rapid recalibration and is consistent with a negative perceptual aftereffect. Interestingly, the opposite is found in the temporal order judgement (TOJ) task (positive rapid recalibration). We aimed to determine whether a simple bias to repeat judgements on consecutive trials (choice‐repetition bias) could account for the discrepant results in these tasks. Preliminary simulations and analyses indicated that a choice‐repetition bias could produce apparently positive rapid recalibration in the TOJ and not the SJ task. Our first experiment revealed no evidence of rapid recalibration of TOJs, but negative rapid recalibration of associated confidence. This suggests that timing perception was rapidly recalibrated, but that the negative recalibration effect was obfuscated by a positive bias effect. In our second experiment, we experimentally mitigated the choice‐repetition bias effect and found negative rapid recalibration of TOJs. We therefore conclude that timing perception is negatively rapidly recalibrated, and this is observed consistently across timing tasks. These results contribute to a growing body of evidence that indicates multisensory perception is constantly undergoing recalibration, such that perceptual synchrony is maintained. This work also demonstrates that participants’ task responses reflect judgements that are contaminated by independent biases of perception and decision‐making.     

GPIa/GPIIa gene polymorphism and bleeding after cardiac surgery

Canadian Journal of Anesthesia/Journal canadien d'anesthésie -     

Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic Response on Service Provision for Sexually Transmitted Infections,HIV, and Viral Hepatitis,England

Since the coronavirus disease pandemic response began in March 2020, tests, vaccinations, diagnoses, and treatment initiations for sexual health, HIV, and viral hepatitis in England have declined. The shift towards online and outreach services happened rapidly during 2020 and highlights the need to evaluate the effects of these strategies on health inequalities.     

Dangerous Decisions: Influence of Juror Attitudes and Defendant Appearance on Legal Decision-Making

According to the dangerous decisions theory (Porter, S., & ten Brinke, L. (2009). Dangerous decisions: A theoretical framework for understanding how judges assess credibility in the courtroom. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 14(1), 119–134), intuitive evaluations of facial trustworthiness influence the interpretation of evidence presented in courtroom settings. This study examined the role of individual differences in this process. Participants were presented with crime narratives, accompanied by a photograph of the supposed defendant that was previously rated as highly trustworthy or untrustworthy. Following presentation of the evidence in each case, participants rated the defendant's culpability and then completed questionnaires assessing potential biases. Participants endorsing justice–fairness were more likely to exonerate an untrustworthy-looking defendant, but less likely to exonerate a trustworthy-looking one. Individuals who held a strong racial bias, by contrast, were less likely to be influenced by exonerating evidence, specifically for untrustworthy-looking defendants. These results suggest that faces varying in trustworthiness activate particular biases, and a tunnel vision approach to decision-making that may lead to wrongful convictions in a legal setting.