Academic literature on the topic 'Somatic Marker Hypothesi'

The overall aim of this PhD thesis was to conduct a comprehensive investigation of decision-making impairment in long term opiate users, using three studies. The first study aimed to determine the extent of the decision-making impairment and to establish whether other co-morbid factors impacted on the severity of this deficit. Using meta-analysis, the results indicated that opiate use is associated with relatively severe decision-making impairment, and that co-morbid factors, such as head injury and poly-substance dependence did not significantly change the magnitude of the impairment. Furthermore, the decision-making impairment in opiate users was not mitigated by abstinence, and the duration of opiate use and the duration of abstinence did not have a significant impact on size of the impairment. The second study analysed whether the somatic marker hypothesis, an emotion-based model of decision-making, could provide an explanation for the decision-making impairment in opiate users. This empirical study found that, although decision-making was impaired in a group of long term opiate users relative to a group of healthy controls, this impairment was not due to reduced emotional responsiveness, nor an inability to form anticipatory warning signals (i.e., somatic markers), as measured by the skin conductance response. Notably, stronger somatic responses when contemplating making disadvantageous choices were associated with worse decision-making in opiate users, which does not support the predictions of the somatic marker model of decision-making. Finally, the third study analysed decision-making under conditions of risk, to determine whether the impairment in opiate users was restricted to certain types of decision-making. This empirical study found that opiate users, although impaired in decision-making under conditions of ambiguity, were not impaired on decision making tasks involving calculable risk, relative to healthy controls. This study also demonstrated that opiate users’ decisions were not driven by an increased responsiveness to reward. Together, the results of this thesis suggest that opiate users are particularly impaired in situations of decision-making under ambiguity, but not risk, and this is not due to impairment in emotional processing. This has implications for the treatment of opiate users, who may need additional training to appropriately utilise physiological signals to make adaptive decisions. The results of this thesis may therefore be used to inform treatment practice to better support opiate users during ambiguous decision-making situations in daily life.

When trying to make sense of uncertain situations, we might rely on summary information from a description, or information gathered from our personal experience. There are two approaches that both attempt to explain how we make risky decisions using descriptive or experiential information—the cognitive-based explanation from the description-experience gap, and the emotion-based explanation from the somatic marker hypothesis (SMH). This dissertation brings together these two approaches to better understand how we make risky decisions. Four options were presented, with options differing in terms of advantageousness and riskiness. How easy or difficult it was to consciously comprehend the reward structure, or cognitive penetrability, was manipulated by displaying single outcomes or multiple, diverse outcomes per trial. Within the description or experience task, participants were randomly assigned to the more or less penetrable version of an all gain or all loss set of options. How often the riskier or advantageous options were chosen served as a measure of risky or advantageous decision making. Regardless of penetrability, risk preferences were generally but not completely as predicted by the SMH. Instead, the primary effect of cognitive penetrability was on advantageous decision making. Furthermore, description was found to be more cognitively penetrable than experience. Overall, the results suggest that clarification is needed regarding how somatic markers are formed in the loss versus gain domain, and future research should consider the difference in penetrability between description and experience when trying to explain preferences between the two decisions.

Theoretical procedures are developed to account for the effect of emotion and perception in strategic conflict. The <em>possibility principle</em> facilitates modeling the effects of emotions on future scenarios contemplated by decision makers; <em>perceptual graph models</em> and a <em>graph model system</em> permit the decision makers (DMs) to experience and view the conflict independently; and <em>perceptual stability analysis</em>, which is based on individual- and meta-stability analysis techniques, is employed in analyzing graph model systems when the DMs have inconsistent perceptions. These developments improve the methodology of the Graph Model for Conflict Resolution by reconciling emotion, perception, and strategy to make predictions consistent with the actual unfolding of events. <br /><br /> Current research in neuroscience suggests that emotions are a necessary component of cognitive processes such as memory, attention, and reasoning. The somatic marker hypothesis, for example, holds that feelings are necessary to reasoning, especially during social interactions (Damasio, 1994, 2003). Somatic markers are memories of past emotions: we use them to predict future outcomes. To incorporate the effect of emotion in conflict, the underlying principle of Damasio?s hypothesis is used in developing the possibility principle, which significantly expands the paradigm of the Graph Model for Conflict Resolution of Fang, Hipel, and Kilgour (1993). <br /><br /> State identification is a crucial step in determining future scenarios for DMs. The possibility principle is integrated into the modeling stage of the Graph Model by refining the method of determining feasible states. The possibility principle enables analysts and DMs to include emotion in a conflict model, without sacrificing the parsimonious design of the Graph Model methodology, by focusing attention on two subsets of the set of feasible states: <em>hidden</em> and <em>potential</em> states. Hidden states are logically valid, feasible states that are invisible because of the presence of negative emotions such as anger and fear; potential states are logically valid, feasible states that are invisible because of missing positive emotions. Dissipating negative emotions will make the hidden states visible, while expressing the appropriate positive emotions will make the potential states visible. The possibility principle has been applied to a number of real world conflicts. In all cases, eliminating logically valid states not envisioned by any DM simplifies a conflict model substantially, expedites the analysis, and makes it an intuitive and a realistic description of the DMs' conceptualizations of the conflict. <br /><br /> A fundamental principle of the Graph Model methodology is that all DMs' directed graphs must have the same set of feasible states, which are integrated into a <em>standard</em> graph model. The possibility principle may modify the set of feasible states perceived by each DM according to his or her emotion, making it impossible to construct a single standard graph model. When logically valid states are no longer achievable for one or more DMs due to emotions, the apprehension of conflict becomes inconsistent, and resolution may become difficult to predict. Therefore, reconciling emotion and strategy requires that different apprehensions of the underlying decision problem be permitted, which can be accomplished using a perceptual graph model for each DM. A perceptual graph model inherits its primitive ingredients from a standard graph model, but reflects a DM's emotion and perception with no assumption of complete knowledge of other DMs' perceptions. <br /><br /> Each DM's perceptual graph model constitutes a complete standard graph model. Hence, conclusions drawn from a perceptual graph model provide a limited view of equilibria and predicted resolutions. A graph model system, which consists of a list of DMs' perceptual graph models, is defined to reconcile perceptions while facilitating conclusions that reflect each DM's viewpoint. However, since a DM may or may not be aware that other graph models differ from his or her own, different variants of graph model systems are required to describe conflicts. Each variant of graph model system corresponds to a configuration of awareness, which is a set of ordered combinations of DMs' viewpoints. <br /><br /> Perceptual stability analysis is a new procedure that applies to graph model systems. Its objective is to help an <em>outside</em> analyst predict possible resolutions, and gauge the robustness and sustainability of these predictions. Perceptual stability analysis takes a two-phase approach. In Phase 1, the stability of each state in each perceptual graph model is assessed from the point of view of the owner of the model, for each DM in the model, using standard or perceptual solution concepts, depending on the owner's awareness of others' perceptions. (In this research, only perceptual solution concepts for the 2-decision maker case are developed. ) In Phase 2, meta-stability analysis is employed to consolidate the stability assessments of a state in all perceptual graph models and across all variants of awareness. Distinctive modes of equilibria are defined, which reflect incompatibilities in DMs' perceptions and viewpoints but nonetheless provide important insights into possible resolutions of conflict. <br /><br /> The possibility principle and perceptual stability analysis are integrative techniques that can be used as a basis for empathetically studying the interaction of emotion and reasoning in the context of strategic conflict. In general, these new techniques expand current modeling and analysis capabilities, thereby facilitating realistic, descriptive models without exacting too great a cost in modeling complexity. In particular, these two theoretical advances enhance the applicability of the Graph Model for Conflict Resolution to real-world disputes by integrating emotion and perception, common ingredients in almost all conflicts. <br /><br /> To demonstrate that the new developments are practical, two illustrative applications to real-world conflicts are presented: the US-North Korea conflict and the confrontation between Russia and Chechen Rebels. In both cases, the analysis yields new strategic insights and improved advice.

The neuroscience of decision making is laying the puzzle of how the brain computes decisions. It tries to sort out which factors are responsible for causing us to choose one way or the other. This thesis reviews to what extent emotional brain processes and their neural circuits impact decision making. The somatic marker hypothesis (SMH) provides a solid dual-system framework for decision making. Dissociating an impulsive system, in which the amygdala is central, and a reflective system mediated by the ventromedial prefrontal cortex(VMPFC). The SMH emphasizes the function of the VMPFC as necessary and crucial formaking favorable long-term decisions. Research on moral decision making also shows that similar systems as used by the SMH has a key role in how we think about moral dilemmas as well. Damage or maldevelopment of these neural circuits can cause myopia for the future and deeply immoral behavior. Abnormalities in emotional neuronal circuits can also be linked to addictive behavior and psychopathy. The findings on decision making and its neuralsubstrates dismantle the common sense notion of free will and moral responsibility. An explanation of how the feeling of free will arises is given using the Interpreter system theoryof consciousness. Moral responsibility without the need for a free will is defended by analternative approach with a framework of a brain in-control versus out-of-control.

This is a review of what the currently dominant theories of moral decision-making are and where they derive from. While the introduction serves as a common ground to explain what moral decision-making is, the earlier parts of the thesis describe older traditionalist theories within the field,  theories of emotional decision-making, in the form of the somatic marker hypothesis, as well as critique of the older traditionalist theories through the social intuitionist model. Both of these two theories are explained as the foundation of the current theories of moral decision-making and after establishing a clear basis on what the currently dominant theories of moral decision-making are built on, said theories are introduced in the form of the dual-processing theory and the event-feature-emotion complexes which are thoroughly reviewed, explained in detail and serves as the core of the text. This is afterward followed by criticism as well as arguments in favor of both theories as well as criticisms from other researchers who disagree with the methodology which the theories of moral decision-making are conducted on. The essay reviews the current state of the field of moral decision-making which has been split up into two different approaches, the locationist approach and the constructionist approach. The essay concludes that there are terms which needs to be clarified in order for the field to move forward and studies to be made regarding the social implications of gut reactions in moral decision-making.

碩士<br>國立政治大學<br>心理學研究所<br>99<br>Somatic Marker Hypothesis was proposed to explain the influence of emotion on decision making. To examine this hypothesis, Damasio and his colleagues designed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and found that the “anticipatory skin conductance responses (SCR)”, i.e. somatic markers, was elevated before selecting from bad decks to serve as alarms and it warned participants not to select “bad deck” which was negative expected value. However, there are three unsolved problem in these IGT researches: the risk factor, inconsistent physiological evidences, and individual differences. In the original IGT, the bad decks are also more risky and that confounds the interpretations of participants’ choice behaviors and related physiological evidences. There are inconsistent evidences of how the anticipatory SCR and feedback SCR related with choice behaviors. Moreover, there are little event-related potential IGT studies. To solve these issues, the primary aim of the present study is to clarify whether decision making is influenced by risk level even when all options have the same expected value. A modified IGT with high risk deck and low risk deck was used and the expected values of two decks were all zero. Moreover, the procedure was different from original IGT. Participants saw a deck with mark first and then decided to accept or reject this deck. Thus, the role of anticipatory SCR could be clarified more clearly. In addition to SCR, ERP was also recorded for further physiological evidences. To elaborately clarify individual differences of choice behavior and physiological evidences, participants would group to risk-seeking (i.e., accepting more high risk deck and rejecting more low risk deck) and risk-aversion (i.e., accepting more low risk deck and rejecting more high risk deck) according their choice behaviors. The result revealed that the participant who accepted more high risk deck, their reward SCR was higher from high risk deck than from low risk decks, and induced lower punishment SCR from high risk deck than from low risk decks. Moreover, the anticipatory SCR was higher both before they decided to reject the liked deck and before they decided to accept the disliked deck. The results of feedback-related negativity (FRN) from ERP data in frontal region showed that the magnitude of FRN was larger under the conflict punishment (the punishment from low risk decks) condition for risk-aversion participants. The results of N170 from ERP data showed that the magnitude of N170 was larger under the reject condition. These results suggest that the SMH could be explained not only with expected value but also with risk preference. In conclusion, the interpretation of anticipatory SCR by previous study was not completed, and it reflected not merely the negative feeling or positive feeling. This strong anticipatory emotion affects people to change the routine behavior about their risk preference, and there exist individual differences of choice behavior and physiological evidences.

碩士<br>國立政治大學<br>心理學研究所<br>95<br>The present study aimed to examine the relation between Somatic Marker (SM) Hypothesis and consciousness. A revised Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) was created in which emotions attached to different decks are activated unconsciously by subliminally presenting different emotional pictures. On the other hand, conscious information coming from task outcomes is controlled. Based upon this task, and with some variances in experimental designs, it was found that consciousness might be necessary in SM operation. In addition, even emotions that are irrelevant the ongoing task can be taken as SMs. Furthermore, the SM operation can be taken place when the task or situation is with conflict. A possible mechanism for SM operation is also proposed in the study.

Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Psicologia apresentada à Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação<br>The Somatic Marker Hypothesis (SMH) developed by Damásio (1994) was a key milestone in understanding emotions and the importance of their role in decision-making. In this sense, in order to experimentally test, SMH, authors Bechara, Damásio, Damásio and Anderson create the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), an instrument for evaluating the decision-making process. This process has gained a central highlighted in multiple studies in different scientific fields, including clinic, namely, in populations with substance addictions problems.Likewise, the study of addiction extended to the study of personality, considering the traits of impulsivity and sensation seeking. It recognized by a massive number of studies that these two facets of personality are more associated with the development and maintenance of the phenomenon, among the dependent subjectsThus, the present study is to characterize the role of decision making, impulsivity and the search for sensations between two groups: i) the risk group, consisting of male addicted subjects (N = 40) in the context of hospitalization in Therapeutic Communities; ii) a control group, composed of non-substance abuse male subjects (N = 30). On the other hand, correlation relations between the variables were considered and finally, the existence of the phenomenon of the prominent deck B.In this sense, the results obtained by the risk group showed high levels of impulsivity traits and sensation seeking in relation to the control group, also finding that sensation seeking correlates negatively with the total IGT value.Concomitantly, since the first plays both groups made more selections of decks B, reinforcing the existence of the prominence phenomenon of decks B.<br>A Hipótese do Marcador Somático (HMS), desenvolvida por Damásio (1994), foi um marco fundamental na compreensão das emoções e na importância do seu papel na tomada de decisão. Neste sentido, e com o intuito de testar experimentalmente a HMS, os autores Bechara, Damásio, Damásio e Anderson criaram um instrumento de avaliação do processo de tomada de decisão, o Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). Este instrumento ganhou um destaque central em múltiplos estudos de áreas científicas, incluindo a clínica, nomeadamente, nas populações com problemas de adição a substâncias.De igual modo, o estudo da adição tem sido alargado ao estudo da personalidade, considerando-se os traços da impulsividade e busca de sensações. É reconhecido por um massivo número de investigações que estas duas facetas da personalidade estão mais associadas ao desenvolvimento e manutenção do fenómeno, entre os sujeitos dependentes.Assim, o presente estudo, passa por caraterizar o papel da tomada de decisão, a impulsividade e a busca de sensações entre dois grupos: i) o grupo de risco, constituído por sujeitos aditos do sexo masculino (N= 40) em contexto de internamento em Comunidades Terapêuticas; e ii) um grupo de controlo, composto por sujeitos do sexo masculino não dependentes de substâncias (N= 30). Por outro lado, foram ainda consideradas relações de correlação entre as variáveis e, por último, averiguou-se a existência do fenómeno de proeminência do baralho B.Neste sentido, os resultados obtidos pelo grupo de risco demonstraram níveis elevados nos traços de impulsividade e busca de sensação em relação ao grupo de controlo. Constatou-se, também, que a busca de sensações se correlaciona negativamente com o valor total do IGT.Concomitantemente, foi observado que, desde as primeiras jogadas, ambos os grupos realizaram mais seleções dos baralhos B, reforçando a existência do fenómeno de proeminência do baralho B.