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67Extending the Gamer’s Dilemma: empirically investigating the paradox of fictionally going too far across mediaPhilosophical Psychology. forthcoming.The Gamer’s Dilemma is based on the intuitions that in single-player video games fictional acts of murder are seen as morally acceptable whereas fictional acts of sexual assault are seen as morally unacceptable. Recently, it has been suggested that these intuitions may apply across different forms of media as part of a broader Paradox of Fictionally Going Too Far. This study aims to empirically explore this issue by determining whether fictional murder is seen as more morally acceptable than fic…Read more
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66Topic Modeling Reveals Distinct Interests within an Online Conspiracy ForumFrontiers in Psychology 9. 2018.Conspiracy theories play a troubling role in political discourse. Online forums provide a valuable window into everyday conspiracy theorizing, and can give a clue to the motivations and interests of those who post in such forums. Yet this online activity can be difficult to quantify and study. We describe a unique approach to studying online conspiracy theorists which used non-negative matrix factorization to create a topic model of authors' contributions to the main conspiracy forum on Reddit. …Read more
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15Meditation in the Workplace: Does Mindfulness Reduce Bias and Increase Organisational Citizenship Behaviours?Frontiers in Psychology 13. 2022.Mindfulness is becoming increasingly popular in the workplace. This likely relates to a growing body of research linking mindfulness to a range of psychological outcomes such as reduced anxiety, depression and increased subjective wellbeing. However, while mindfulness has received a great deal of attention in clinical research, the evidence for workplace relevant benefits is less established. Additionally, outside of clinical research, mindfulness studies have rarely been replicated. Recent evid…Read more
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18Uncontrolled logic: intuitive sensitivity to logical structure in random respondingThinking and Reasoning 28 (1): 61-96. 2022.It is well established that beliefs provide powerful cues that influence reasoning. Over the last decade research has revealed that judgments based upon logical structure may also pre-empt deliberative reasoning. Evidence for ‘intuitive logic’ has been claimed using a range of measures (i.e. confidence ratings or latency of response on conflict problems). However, it is unclear how well such measures genuinely reflect logical intuition. In this paper we introduce a new method designed to test fo…Read more
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11Uncontrolled logic: intuitive sensitivity to logical structure in random respondingThinking and Reasoning 28 (1): 61-96. 2022.It is well established that beliefs provide powerful cues that influence reasoning. Over the last decade research has revealed that judgments based upon logical structure may also pre-empt deliberative reasoning. Evidence for ‘intuitive logic’ has been claimed using a range of measures (i.e. confidence ratings or latency of response on conflict problems). However, it is unclear how well such measures genuinely reflect logical intuition. In this paper we introduce a new method designed to test fo…Read more
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37Developing the Sense of Agency Rating Scale (SOARS): An empirical measure of agency disruption in hypnosisConsciousness and Cognition 22 (3): 684-696. 2013.Two experiments report on the construction of the Sense of Agency Rating Scale (SOARS), a new measure for quantifying alterations to agency. In Experiment 1, 370 participants completed a preliminary version of the scale following hypnosis. Factor analysis revealed two underlying factors: Involuntariness and Effortlessness. In Experiment 2, this two factor structure was confirmed in a sample of 113 low, medium and high hypnotisable participants. The two factors, Involuntariness and Effortlessness…Read more
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52The experience of altered states of consciousness in shamanic ritual: The role of pre-existing beliefs and affective factorsConsciousness and Cognition 19 (4): 918--925. 2010.Much attention has been paid recently to the role of anomalous experiences in the aetiology of certain types of psychopathology, e.g. in the formation of delusions. We examine, instead, the top-down influence of pre-existing beliefs and affective factors in shaping an individual’s characterisation of anomalous sensory experiences. Specifically we investigated the effects of paranormal beliefs and alexithymia in determining the intensity and quality of an altered state of consciousness . Fifty fi…Read more
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55A laboratory analogue of mirrored-self misidentification delusion: The role of hypnosis, suggestion, and demand characteristicsConsciousness and Cognition 22 (4): 1510-1522. 2013.Mirrored-self misidentification is the delusional belief that one's own reflection in the mirror is a stranger. In two experiments, we tested the ability of hypnotic suggestion to model this condition. In Experiment 1, we compared two suggestions based on either the delusion's surface features (seeing a stranger in the mirror) or underlying processes (impaired face processing). Fifty-two high hypnotisable participants received one of these suggestions either with hypnosis or without in a wake co…Read more
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21Changes in the sense of agency during hypnosis: The Hungarian version of the Sense of Agency Rating Scale (SOARS-HU) and its relationship with phenomenological aspects of consciousnessConsciousness and Cognition 49 245-254. 2017.