Varsha Singh | Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (original) (raw)

Papers by Varsha Singh

Research paper thumbnail of Examining Anxiety and Risk-taking in Healthy Male and Female Wistar Rats using Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Elevated Plus Maze

The Elevated Plus Maze (EPM) offers a standard set up for understanding anxiety, unconditioned ri... more The Elevated Plus Maze (EPM) offers a standard set up for understanding anxiety, unconditioned risk-avoidance in rodents. The animal shows a preference for enclosed safe arms and avoids risky, open arms that evoke anxiety due to elevated platform (unconditioned response to elevation). A few rodent studies aiming to understand sex-skewed representation in anxiety disorders use the maze and report that more females compared to males show high levels of anxiety and risk-avoidance on an elevated platform. Ethograms derived from examining animal behaviour in the EPM provide precise measures of behaviour of interest, enabling objective assessment of anxiety and risk behaviour. We report two new parameters that might be critical for quantitative analysis of EPM task as a measure of anxiety with reference to sex-differences in risk-taking: (a) spatial preference for arms (open & closed) (b) temporal shift in arm preference in task trials. We first report results from the conventionally deri...

Research paper thumbnail of Nano-scale delivery: A comprehensive review of nano-structured devices, preparative techniques, site-specificity designs, biomedical applications, commercial products, and references to safety, cellular uptake, and organ toxicity

Nanotechnology Reviews, 2021

This review focuses on nano-structured delivery devices prepared from biodegradable and biocompat... more This review focuses on nano-structured delivery devices prepared from biodegradable and biocompatible natural and synthetic polymers, organic raw materials, metals, metal oxides, and their other compounds that culminated in the preparation of various nano-entities depending on the preparative techniques, and starting raw materials’ utilizations. Many nanoparticles (NPs) made of polymeric, metallic, magnetic, and non-magnetic origins, liposomes, hydrogels, dendrimers, and other carbon-based nano-entities have been produced. Developments in nanomaterial substrate and end products’ design, structural specifications, preparative strategies, chemo-biological interfacing to involve the biosystems interactions, surface functionalization, and on-site biomolecular and physiology-mediated target-specific delivery concepts, examples, and applications are outlined. The inherent toxicity, and safety of the design concepts in nanomaterial preparation, and their applications in biomedical fields, ...

Research paper thumbnail of Role of Cortisol and Testosterone in Risky Decision-Making: Deciphering Male Decision-Making in the Iowa Gambling Task

Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2021

Despite the widely observed high risk-taking behaviors in males, studies using the Iowa gambling ... more Despite the widely observed high risk-taking behaviors in males, studies using the Iowa gambling task (IGT) have suggested that males choose safe long-term rewards over risky short-term rewards. The role of sex and stress hormones in male decision-making is examined in the initial uncertainty and the latter risk phase of the IGT. The task was tested at peak hormone activity, with breath counting to facilitate cortisol regulation and its cognitive benefits. Results from IGT decision-making before and after counting with saliva samples from two all-male groups (breath vs. number counting) indicated that cortisol declined independent of counting. IGT decision-making showed phase-specific malleability: alteration in the uncertainty phase and stability in the risk phase. Working memory showed alteration, whereas inhibition task performance remained stable, potentially aligning with the phase-specific demands of working memory and inhibition. The results of hierarchical regression for the...

Research paper thumbnail of Sex-Differences, Handedness, and Lateralization in the Iowa Gambling Task

Frontiers in Psychology, 2016

In a widely used decision-making task, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), male performance is observed... more In a widely used decision-making task, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), male performance is observed to be superior to that of females, and is attributed to right lateralization (i.e., right hemispheric dominance). It is as yet unknown whether sex-differences in affect and motor lateralization have implications for sex-specific lateralization in the IGT, and specifically, whether sex-difference in performance in the IGT changes with right-handedness or with affect lateralization (decision valence, and valence-directed motivation). The present study (N = 320; 160 males) examined the effects of right-handedness (right-handedness vs. non-right-handedness) as a measure of motor lateralization, decision valence (reward vs. punishment IGT), and valence-directedness of task motivation (valence-directed vs. non-directed instructions), as measures of affective lateralization on IGT decision making. Analyses of variance revealed that both male and female participants showed valence-induced inconsistencies in advantageous decision-making; however, right-handed females made more disadvantageous decisions in a reward IGT. These results suggest that IGT decision-making may be largely right-lateralized in right-handed males, and show that sex and lateralized differences (motor and affect) have implications for sex-differences in IGT decision-making. Implications of the results are discussed with reference to lateralization and sex-differences in cognition.

Research paper thumbnail of Dual-Income Marital Dyads and Mutually Discrepant Economic Versus Personal Information: An Exploratory Investigation

Psychological Studies, 2010

Research paper thumbnail of Heterogeneity in choices on Iowa Gambling Task: preference for infrequent–high magnitude punishment

Research paper thumbnail of Dual conception of risk in the Iowa Gambling Task: effects of sleep deprivation and test-retest gap

Frontiers in Psychology, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of A potential role of reward and punishment in the facilitation of the emotion-cognition dichotomy in the Iowa Gambling Task

Frontiers in Psychology, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Decision Making in the Reward and Punishment Variants of the Iowa Gambling Task: Evidence of “Foresight” or “Framing”?

Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Country and Sex Differences in Decision Making Under Uncertainty and Risk

Frontiers in Psychology

Whether males and females differ in decision-making remains highly debatable. However, a male adv... more Whether males and females differ in decision-making remains highly debatable. However, a male advantage in decision making is observed in animal as well as human models of the iowa gambling task (IGT), and, in case of the latter, the difference is observed across a wide range of age groups. It is unclear if these sex differences on the IGT are malleable to environmental influences such as sociocultural factors. We tested sex differences during the uncertainty and risk phases of the IGT in data pooled from three countries that reflected high, moderate, to low gender-equity (Germany, United States, and India: N = 531, female = 269). Comparing the net scores in uncertainty vs. risk blocks (first two vs. last two blocks) confirmed the maleadvantage on the IGT across the three countries, specifically in the risk blocks, with the highest male-advantage observed for Germany. Results are discussed in terms of sex differences in reaction to uncertainty vs. risk, and the counter-intuitive effect of gender-equitable environment suggesting that national/environmental factors might influence advantageous decision making, but in ways that accentuate rather than abate sex differences.

Research paper thumbnail of Enhancing Executive Control: Attention to Balance, Breath, and the Speed Versus Accuracy Tradeoff

Frontiers in Psychology

Malleability of executive control and its enhancement through yoga training is unclear. In Study ... more Malleability of executive control and its enhancement through yoga training is unclear. In Study 1, participants (yoga group; n = 27, mean = 23.27 years) were tested on executive control tasks pre-and post-8 weeks of yoga training. The training focused on attention to postural control during yoga asanas and respiratory control during pranayamabreathing (30 min each of postural and breath control training, biweekly). Yoga training was assessed via performance ratings as to how well a posture was executed and by examining errors that reflected inattention/failures in postural and breath control. We also explored whether attentional demands on motor and respiratory control were associated with three components of executive control (working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibition) during nine executive control tasks. Partial correlation results revealed that the three components of executive control might be differentially impacted by postural and breath control and selectively associated with either speed or accuracy (except for cognitive flexibility). Attentional demands influenced the link between postural, breath, and cognitive control. In Study 2, comparisons between a yoga group and a gendermatched control group (control group; n = 27, mean = 23.33 years) pointed toward higher working memory accuracy and a better speed-accuracy tradeoff in inhibitory control in the yoga group. A ceiling-practice effect was addressed by examining yoga practice learning (i.e., practice-induced change in postural and breath control reflected in ratings and errors) on executive control performance across two sets of tasks: repeatedly tested (pre-and post-8 weeks) and non-repeatedly tested (post-8 weeks). Attention to motor and respiratory control during yoga might be considered as a potential mechanism through which specific components of executive control in young adults might be enhanced potentially via altering of speed-accuracy tradeoff.

Research paper thumbnail of Are Quantitative Skills Critical for Business Education Program or an Entry-Barrier for Diversity?

Research paper thumbnail of Comparing research productivity of returnee-PhDs in science, engineering, and the social sciences

Research paper thumbnail of When Work Intersects Family: A Qualitative Exploration of the Experiences of Dual Earner Couples in India

South Asian Journal of Management, 2011

Relationships between perceptions of political behavior and outcomes were empirically found to be... more Relationships between perceptions of political behavior and outcomes were empirically found to be ambiguous and equivocal. Few researchers have found consistent evidence of their effect on outcomes. This study proposes that employee tenure and gender moderate the relationships between Perceptions of Organizational Politics (POP) and commitment and trust. Series of regression and correlation analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and its second-order Higher Order Confirmatory Factor Analysis (HCFA) were adopted to test the model. The result shows that POP relates negatively to both commitment and trust. Tenure and gender were found to influence the relationships between POP and the identified outcomes. Male and female employees, whether treated fairly or not, have gender moderates POP and trust relationships. Tenured employees who are treated fairly also have different strengths in these relationships. Both gender and tenure were found to have different strengths in their effects on POP and commitment relationships. Implications of the findings for organizations and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Research paper thumbnail of When Work Intersects Family: A Qualitative Exploration of the Experiences of Dual Earner Couples in India

findarticles.com

Community-based supports are equally useful in assisting individuals in meeting their work and fa... more Community-based supports are equally useful in assisting individuals in meeting their work and family responsibilities (Voydanoff, 2007). Often friendships developed at work are limited to the workplace, hence it is important that social supports in the community are developed and ...

Research paper thumbnail of Functional Cerebral Specialization and Decision Making in the Iowa Gambling Task: A Single-Case Study of Left-Hemispheric Atrophy and Hemispherotomy

Frontiers in Psychology

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is a decision-making task that preferentially involves the right pre... more The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is a decision-making task that preferentially involves the right prefrontal cortex (PFC). However, the performance of the task is driven by two attributes: intertemporal (long vs. short-term) and frequency-based processing of rewards-punishments, and differs over the two phases of uncertainty (early trials) and risk (later trials). Although intertemporal decision making involves the right PFC, the extent of hemispheric specialization in attribute and phase-specific decision making is unknown. Therefore, the current study assessed decision making in a patient with a unihemispheric disease, who underwent hemispherotomy surgery, comparing pre-surgical IGT performance (3 days prior to surgery) with post-surgical performance (1 month, and 12 months post-surgery). The patient's pre-and post-surgical IGT performances were analyzed to examine changes in attribute and phase-specific decision making, including the widely reported deck B phenomenon. The results for the two attributes of deck selection at the pre-and post-surgical assessments suggested marked changes in the two IGT phases of risk and uncertainty. Pre-surgery, the patient made more intertemporally disadvantageous choices, and task-progression contributed to it; within 1 month of surgery, intertemporal disadvantageous deck choices were contingent on task progression, after 1 year, disadvantageous choices were independent of task progression. Intertemporal attribute alteration was unresponsive to uncertainty and risk phase. The effect of task progression on frequency attribute remained unchanged before and immediately after the surgery, and preference for infrequent decks was observed only after 1 year. Further, pre and post surgery alteration in frequency attribute was phase-specific: within 1 month of surgery, infrequent deck choices decreased in uncertainty and increased in risk, whereas the reverse was observed after 12 months. Deck B choice increase was in the uncertainty phase. Results are discussed in reference to valence-linked hemispheric specialization and its potential role in attribute and phase-specific IGT decision making.

Research paper thumbnail of Functional Cerebral Specialization and Decision Making in the Iowa Gambling Task: A Single-Case Study of Left-Hemispheric Atrophy and Hemispherotomy

Frontiers in Psychology

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is a decision-making task that preferentially involves the right pre... more The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is a decision-making task that preferentially involves the right prefrontal cortex (PFC). However, the performance of the task is driven by two attributes: intertemporal (long vs. short-term) and frequency-based processing of rewards-punishments, and differs over the two phases of uncertainty (early trials) and risk (later trials). Although intertemporal decision making involves the right PFC, the extent of hemispheric specialization in attribute and phase-specific decision making is unknown. Therefore, the current study assessed decision making in a patient with a unihemispheric disease, who underwent hemispherotomy surgery, comparing pre-surgical IGT performance (3 days prior to surgery) with post-surgical performance (1 month, and 12 months post-surgery). The patient's pre-and post-surgical IGT performances were analyzed to examine changes in attribute and phase-specific decision making, including the widely reported deck B phenomenon. The results for the two attributes of deck selection at the pre-and post-surgical assessments suggested marked changes in the two IGT phases of risk and uncertainty. Pre-surgery, the patient made more intertemporally disadvantageous choices, and task-progression contributed to it; within 1 month of surgery, intertemporal disadvantageous deck choices were contingent on task progression, after 1 year, disadvantageous choices were independent of task progression. Intertemporal attribute alteration was unresponsive to uncertainty and risk phase. The effect of task progression on frequency attribute remained unchanged before and immediately after the surgery, and preference for infrequent decks was observed only after 1 year. Further, pre and post surgery alteration in frequency attribute was phase-specific: within 1 month of surgery, infrequent deck choices decreased in uncertainty and increased in risk, whereas the reverse was observed after 12 months. Deck B choice increase was in the uncertainty phase. Results are discussed in reference to valence-linked hemispheric specialization and its potential role in attribute and phase-specific IGT decision making.

Research paper thumbnail of Affect, Judgment and Endowment-Contrast Effect

Valence of emotion has differential impact on judgment. The study is an attempt to test prevailin... more Valence of emotion has differential impact on judgment. The study is an attempt to test prevailing influence of negative affect (NA) on judgment of well being (JWB) through affective endowment-contrast theory (Cheng, 2004). Data was collected using Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) and Affect Balance Scale (ABS) on 212 college students. Regression and correlation were employed to analyze the data. Results revealed that JWB is significantly correlated with NA and affect balance and both were also found to be significant predictors of JWB. Results suggest that in presence of extreme NA, an adaptive increase in positive affect (PA) might take place, but an increase in PA need not be accompanied with an increase in JWB. Judgment of life satisfaction is largely determined by absence of extreme NA and an overall balance of affect. Findings are discussed in the light of affective endowment-contrast theory.

Research paper thumbnail of Depressive realism: exploring realism and rationality

Indian journal of clinical psychology

Research paper thumbnail of Right hemispheric activity in the Iowa Gambling Task: Sensitivity to reward-punishment, or a case of regulatory control?

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is a widely used paradigm that has illustrated the importance of the... more The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is a widely used paradigm that has illustrated the importance of the right hemisphere in decision-making. However, the specific role of this hemisphere remains unclear. It is hypothesized that the right-hemispheric dominance observed in decision-making studies reflects lateralization of cognitive control, which differs across reward and punishment contexts (i.e., decision frame and motivational direction) and across degrees of handedness (i.e., consistent/inconsistent handedness). Cognitive control involves two attributes of the decision-making process: cognitive processing, which relates to the temporality of reinforcement, and automatic processing, which relates to the frequency of reinforcement. The present study examined the effects of degree of handedness on the decision-making of 320 participants (160 males) in two frames of decision-making (reward and punishment variants of the IGT) to test whether cognitive control and learning would show the eff...

Research paper thumbnail of Examining Anxiety and Risk-taking in Healthy Male and Female Wistar Rats using Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Elevated Plus Maze

The Elevated Plus Maze (EPM) offers a standard set up for understanding anxiety, unconditioned ri... more The Elevated Plus Maze (EPM) offers a standard set up for understanding anxiety, unconditioned risk-avoidance in rodents. The animal shows a preference for enclosed safe arms and avoids risky, open arms that evoke anxiety due to elevated platform (unconditioned response to elevation). A few rodent studies aiming to understand sex-skewed representation in anxiety disorders use the maze and report that more females compared to males show high levels of anxiety and risk-avoidance on an elevated platform. Ethograms derived from examining animal behaviour in the EPM provide precise measures of behaviour of interest, enabling objective assessment of anxiety and risk behaviour. We report two new parameters that might be critical for quantitative analysis of EPM task as a measure of anxiety with reference to sex-differences in risk-taking: (a) spatial preference for arms (open & closed) (b) temporal shift in arm preference in task trials. We first report results from the conventionally deri...

Research paper thumbnail of Nano-scale delivery: A comprehensive review of nano-structured devices, preparative techniques, site-specificity designs, biomedical applications, commercial products, and references to safety, cellular uptake, and organ toxicity

Nanotechnology Reviews, 2021

This review focuses on nano-structured delivery devices prepared from biodegradable and biocompat... more This review focuses on nano-structured delivery devices prepared from biodegradable and biocompatible natural and synthetic polymers, organic raw materials, metals, metal oxides, and their other compounds that culminated in the preparation of various nano-entities depending on the preparative techniques, and starting raw materials’ utilizations. Many nanoparticles (NPs) made of polymeric, metallic, magnetic, and non-magnetic origins, liposomes, hydrogels, dendrimers, and other carbon-based nano-entities have been produced. Developments in nanomaterial substrate and end products’ design, structural specifications, preparative strategies, chemo-biological interfacing to involve the biosystems interactions, surface functionalization, and on-site biomolecular and physiology-mediated target-specific delivery concepts, examples, and applications are outlined. The inherent toxicity, and safety of the design concepts in nanomaterial preparation, and their applications in biomedical fields, ...

Research paper thumbnail of Role of Cortisol and Testosterone in Risky Decision-Making: Deciphering Male Decision-Making in the Iowa Gambling Task

Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2021

Despite the widely observed high risk-taking behaviors in males, studies using the Iowa gambling ... more Despite the widely observed high risk-taking behaviors in males, studies using the Iowa gambling task (IGT) have suggested that males choose safe long-term rewards over risky short-term rewards. The role of sex and stress hormones in male decision-making is examined in the initial uncertainty and the latter risk phase of the IGT. The task was tested at peak hormone activity, with breath counting to facilitate cortisol regulation and its cognitive benefits. Results from IGT decision-making before and after counting with saliva samples from two all-male groups (breath vs. number counting) indicated that cortisol declined independent of counting. IGT decision-making showed phase-specific malleability: alteration in the uncertainty phase and stability in the risk phase. Working memory showed alteration, whereas inhibition task performance remained stable, potentially aligning with the phase-specific demands of working memory and inhibition. The results of hierarchical regression for the...

Research paper thumbnail of Sex-Differences, Handedness, and Lateralization in the Iowa Gambling Task

Frontiers in Psychology, 2016

In a widely used decision-making task, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), male performance is observed... more In a widely used decision-making task, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), male performance is observed to be superior to that of females, and is attributed to right lateralization (i.e., right hemispheric dominance). It is as yet unknown whether sex-differences in affect and motor lateralization have implications for sex-specific lateralization in the IGT, and specifically, whether sex-difference in performance in the IGT changes with right-handedness or with affect lateralization (decision valence, and valence-directed motivation). The present study (N = 320; 160 males) examined the effects of right-handedness (right-handedness vs. non-right-handedness) as a measure of motor lateralization, decision valence (reward vs. punishment IGT), and valence-directedness of task motivation (valence-directed vs. non-directed instructions), as measures of affective lateralization on IGT decision making. Analyses of variance revealed that both male and female participants showed valence-induced inconsistencies in advantageous decision-making; however, right-handed females made more disadvantageous decisions in a reward IGT. These results suggest that IGT decision-making may be largely right-lateralized in right-handed males, and show that sex and lateralized differences (motor and affect) have implications for sex-differences in IGT decision-making. Implications of the results are discussed with reference to lateralization and sex-differences in cognition.

Research paper thumbnail of Dual-Income Marital Dyads and Mutually Discrepant Economic Versus Personal Information: An Exploratory Investigation

Psychological Studies, 2010

Research paper thumbnail of Heterogeneity in choices on Iowa Gambling Task: preference for infrequent–high magnitude punishment

Research paper thumbnail of Dual conception of risk in the Iowa Gambling Task: effects of sleep deprivation and test-retest gap

Frontiers in Psychology, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of A potential role of reward and punishment in the facilitation of the emotion-cognition dichotomy in the Iowa Gambling Task

Frontiers in Psychology, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Decision Making in the Reward and Punishment Variants of the Iowa Gambling Task: Evidence of “Foresight” or “Framing”?

Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Country and Sex Differences in Decision Making Under Uncertainty and Risk

Frontiers in Psychology

Whether males and females differ in decision-making remains highly debatable. However, a male adv... more Whether males and females differ in decision-making remains highly debatable. However, a male advantage in decision making is observed in animal as well as human models of the iowa gambling task (IGT), and, in case of the latter, the difference is observed across a wide range of age groups. It is unclear if these sex differences on the IGT are malleable to environmental influences such as sociocultural factors. We tested sex differences during the uncertainty and risk phases of the IGT in data pooled from three countries that reflected high, moderate, to low gender-equity (Germany, United States, and India: N = 531, female = 269). Comparing the net scores in uncertainty vs. risk blocks (first two vs. last two blocks) confirmed the maleadvantage on the IGT across the three countries, specifically in the risk blocks, with the highest male-advantage observed for Germany. Results are discussed in terms of sex differences in reaction to uncertainty vs. risk, and the counter-intuitive effect of gender-equitable environment suggesting that national/environmental factors might influence advantageous decision making, but in ways that accentuate rather than abate sex differences.

Research paper thumbnail of Enhancing Executive Control: Attention to Balance, Breath, and the Speed Versus Accuracy Tradeoff

Frontiers in Psychology

Malleability of executive control and its enhancement through yoga training is unclear. In Study ... more Malleability of executive control and its enhancement through yoga training is unclear. In Study 1, participants (yoga group; n = 27, mean = 23.27 years) were tested on executive control tasks pre-and post-8 weeks of yoga training. The training focused on attention to postural control during yoga asanas and respiratory control during pranayamabreathing (30 min each of postural and breath control training, biweekly). Yoga training was assessed via performance ratings as to how well a posture was executed and by examining errors that reflected inattention/failures in postural and breath control. We also explored whether attentional demands on motor and respiratory control were associated with three components of executive control (working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibition) during nine executive control tasks. Partial correlation results revealed that the three components of executive control might be differentially impacted by postural and breath control and selectively associated with either speed or accuracy (except for cognitive flexibility). Attentional demands influenced the link between postural, breath, and cognitive control. In Study 2, comparisons between a yoga group and a gendermatched control group (control group; n = 27, mean = 23.33 years) pointed toward higher working memory accuracy and a better speed-accuracy tradeoff in inhibitory control in the yoga group. A ceiling-practice effect was addressed by examining yoga practice learning (i.e., practice-induced change in postural and breath control reflected in ratings and errors) on executive control performance across two sets of tasks: repeatedly tested (pre-and post-8 weeks) and non-repeatedly tested (post-8 weeks). Attention to motor and respiratory control during yoga might be considered as a potential mechanism through which specific components of executive control in young adults might be enhanced potentially via altering of speed-accuracy tradeoff.

Research paper thumbnail of Are Quantitative Skills Critical for Business Education Program or an Entry-Barrier for Diversity?

Research paper thumbnail of Comparing research productivity of returnee-PhDs in science, engineering, and the social sciences

Research paper thumbnail of When Work Intersects Family: A Qualitative Exploration of the Experiences of Dual Earner Couples in India

South Asian Journal of Management, 2011

Relationships between perceptions of political behavior and outcomes were empirically found to be... more Relationships between perceptions of political behavior and outcomes were empirically found to be ambiguous and equivocal. Few researchers have found consistent evidence of their effect on outcomes. This study proposes that employee tenure and gender moderate the relationships between Perceptions of Organizational Politics (POP) and commitment and trust. Series of regression and correlation analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and its second-order Higher Order Confirmatory Factor Analysis (HCFA) were adopted to test the model. The result shows that POP relates negatively to both commitment and trust. Tenure and gender were found to influence the relationships between POP and the identified outcomes. Male and female employees, whether treated fairly or not, have gender moderates POP and trust relationships. Tenured employees who are treated fairly also have different strengths in these relationships. Both gender and tenure were found to have different strengths in their effects on POP and commitment relationships. Implications of the findings for organizations and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Research paper thumbnail of When Work Intersects Family: A Qualitative Exploration of the Experiences of Dual Earner Couples in India

findarticles.com

Community-based supports are equally useful in assisting individuals in meeting their work and fa... more Community-based supports are equally useful in assisting individuals in meeting their work and family responsibilities (Voydanoff, 2007). Often friendships developed at work are limited to the workplace, hence it is important that social supports in the community are developed and ...

Research paper thumbnail of Functional Cerebral Specialization and Decision Making in the Iowa Gambling Task: A Single-Case Study of Left-Hemispheric Atrophy and Hemispherotomy

Frontiers in Psychology

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is a decision-making task that preferentially involves the right pre... more The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is a decision-making task that preferentially involves the right prefrontal cortex (PFC). However, the performance of the task is driven by two attributes: intertemporal (long vs. short-term) and frequency-based processing of rewards-punishments, and differs over the two phases of uncertainty (early trials) and risk (later trials). Although intertemporal decision making involves the right PFC, the extent of hemispheric specialization in attribute and phase-specific decision making is unknown. Therefore, the current study assessed decision making in a patient with a unihemispheric disease, who underwent hemispherotomy surgery, comparing pre-surgical IGT performance (3 days prior to surgery) with post-surgical performance (1 month, and 12 months post-surgery). The patient's pre-and post-surgical IGT performances were analyzed to examine changes in attribute and phase-specific decision making, including the widely reported deck B phenomenon. The results for the two attributes of deck selection at the pre-and post-surgical assessments suggested marked changes in the two IGT phases of risk and uncertainty. Pre-surgery, the patient made more intertemporally disadvantageous choices, and task-progression contributed to it; within 1 month of surgery, intertemporal disadvantageous deck choices were contingent on task progression, after 1 year, disadvantageous choices were independent of task progression. Intertemporal attribute alteration was unresponsive to uncertainty and risk phase. The effect of task progression on frequency attribute remained unchanged before and immediately after the surgery, and preference for infrequent decks was observed only after 1 year. Further, pre and post surgery alteration in frequency attribute was phase-specific: within 1 month of surgery, infrequent deck choices decreased in uncertainty and increased in risk, whereas the reverse was observed after 12 months. Deck B choice increase was in the uncertainty phase. Results are discussed in reference to valence-linked hemispheric specialization and its potential role in attribute and phase-specific IGT decision making.

Research paper thumbnail of Functional Cerebral Specialization and Decision Making in the Iowa Gambling Task: A Single-Case Study of Left-Hemispheric Atrophy and Hemispherotomy

Frontiers in Psychology

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is a decision-making task that preferentially involves the right pre... more The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is a decision-making task that preferentially involves the right prefrontal cortex (PFC). However, the performance of the task is driven by two attributes: intertemporal (long vs. short-term) and frequency-based processing of rewards-punishments, and differs over the two phases of uncertainty (early trials) and risk (later trials). Although intertemporal decision making involves the right PFC, the extent of hemispheric specialization in attribute and phase-specific decision making is unknown. Therefore, the current study assessed decision making in a patient with a unihemispheric disease, who underwent hemispherotomy surgery, comparing pre-surgical IGT performance (3 days prior to surgery) with post-surgical performance (1 month, and 12 months post-surgery). The patient's pre-and post-surgical IGT performances were analyzed to examine changes in attribute and phase-specific decision making, including the widely reported deck B phenomenon. The results for the two attributes of deck selection at the pre-and post-surgical assessments suggested marked changes in the two IGT phases of risk and uncertainty. Pre-surgery, the patient made more intertemporally disadvantageous choices, and task-progression contributed to it; within 1 month of surgery, intertemporal disadvantageous deck choices were contingent on task progression, after 1 year, disadvantageous choices were independent of task progression. Intertemporal attribute alteration was unresponsive to uncertainty and risk phase. The effect of task progression on frequency attribute remained unchanged before and immediately after the surgery, and preference for infrequent decks was observed only after 1 year. Further, pre and post surgery alteration in frequency attribute was phase-specific: within 1 month of surgery, infrequent deck choices decreased in uncertainty and increased in risk, whereas the reverse was observed after 12 months. Deck B choice increase was in the uncertainty phase. Results are discussed in reference to valence-linked hemispheric specialization and its potential role in attribute and phase-specific IGT decision making.

Research paper thumbnail of Affect, Judgment and Endowment-Contrast Effect

Valence of emotion has differential impact on judgment. The study is an attempt to test prevailin... more Valence of emotion has differential impact on judgment. The study is an attempt to test prevailing influence of negative affect (NA) on judgment of well being (JWB) through affective endowment-contrast theory (Cheng, 2004). Data was collected using Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) and Affect Balance Scale (ABS) on 212 college students. Regression and correlation were employed to analyze the data. Results revealed that JWB is significantly correlated with NA and affect balance and both were also found to be significant predictors of JWB. Results suggest that in presence of extreme NA, an adaptive increase in positive affect (PA) might take place, but an increase in PA need not be accompanied with an increase in JWB. Judgment of life satisfaction is largely determined by absence of extreme NA and an overall balance of affect. Findings are discussed in the light of affective endowment-contrast theory.

Research paper thumbnail of Depressive realism: exploring realism and rationality

Indian journal of clinical psychology

Research paper thumbnail of Right hemispheric activity in the Iowa Gambling Task: Sensitivity to reward-punishment, or a case of regulatory control?

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is a widely used paradigm that has illustrated the importance of the... more The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is a widely used paradigm that has illustrated the importance of the right hemisphere in decision-making. However, the specific role of this hemisphere remains unclear. It is hypothesized that the right-hemispheric dominance observed in decision-making studies reflects lateralization of cognitive control, which differs across reward and punishment contexts (i.e., decision frame and motivational direction) and across degrees of handedness (i.e., consistent/inconsistent handedness). Cognitive control involves two attributes of the decision-making process: cognitive processing, which relates to the temporality of reinforcement, and automatic processing, which relates to the frequency of reinforcement. The present study examined the effects of degree of handedness on the decision-making of 320 participants (160 males) in two frames of decision-making (reward and punishment variants of the IGT) to test whether cognitive control and learning would show the eff...