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Background: The use of heuristics in clinical decision-making processes increases in contexts of high uncertainty, such as those in Intensive Care Units (ICU. Given the impossibility of empirically studying their impact on real-world conditions, clinical vignettes were developed with the goal of identifying the use of heuristics in the care of critically ill patients during the COVID-19 pandemic in different clinical contexts. Methodology: Vignettes were designed by critical care physicians in Spain to assess the use of representativeness, availability, and status quo heuristics in the care of critically ill patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. The construct, internal and external validity of the vignettes designed in Spain, the United States and Chile were evaluated. A questionnaire was piloted with the vignettes being validated in the three aforementioned countries through a computer application built for this purpose. Results: 16 study vignettes grouped into 5 models were created: each model included between 2 and 4 vignettes. The vignettes designed were closed-response vignettes with 2-3 possible alternatives. The vignettes, initially developed in Spain in Spanish, were translated to English and adapted to the Spanish used in Chile. The clinical content of the vignettes was not modified during the translation process. Conclusions: The vignettes allow for the study of the use of heuristics in critical care clinical decision making in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The piloting and validation process used can serve as a model for similar multinational studies exploring clinical decision making.

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Los sesgos cognitivos son un constructo que acuñaron Kahneman & Tveysky (1972) en su Enfoque de Sesgos dentro de la Psicología Cognitiva. Estos son atajos intelectuales que realizan siempre las personas, desde un razonamiento probabilístico intuitivo. El presente trabajo es una primera aproximación que intenta aplicar y describir algunos sesgos cognitivos en el complejo mundo de las representaciones mentales en la experiencia dolorosa, como la ilusión de control; del presente; la confirmación; representatividad; disponibilidad, entre otros. Los sesgos en dolor nos permiten comprender el procesamiento de información frente al dolor y utilizar estrategias comunicacionales más efectivas para su abordaje.

Cognitive biases are a construct coined by Kahneman & Tveysky (1972) in their Approach to Biases in Cognitive Psychology. These are intellectual shortcuts that people always carry out, from an intuitive probabilistic reasoning. An attempt is made to apply and describe some cognitive biases in the complex world of mental representations in the painful experience, like the illusion of control; of the present; the confirmation; representativeness; availability among others. Biases in pain allow us to understand the processing of information in the face of pain and use more effective communication strategies to address it.

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Los sesgos cognitivos son fallas en el razonamiento que pueden alterar los resultados de la investigación. Se presenta brevemente la historia de éstos y ejemplos para facilitar la comprensión y la reflexión en torno a esta "trampa del pensamiento".

Cognitive biases are flaws in reasoning that can alter research outcomes. The history of these biases is briefly presented, along with examples to facilitate understanding and reflection on this 'thinking trap'."

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Anxiety disorders are the most frequent type of mental disorder. Threat-conditioning memory plays a central role in anxiety disorders, impacting complex cognitive systems by modifying behavioral responses to fearful stimuli and inducing an overestimation of potential threats. Here, we analyzed the reminder-dependent amnesia on physiological responses, unconditioned stimulus (US) expectancy ratings, and measures of cognitive bias towards the threat of a threat-conditioning memory. Subjects received differential threat-conditioning. Twenty-four hours later, after reactivation of the memory of threat-conditioning, one group performed a high demand working memory task (HWM) and a second group a low demand working memory task (LWM). A third group only performed the HWM task. Retention of conditioned threat memory was tested on Day 3 in an extinction session followed by a reinstatement test. Tasks targeting stimulus representation, valuation, and attentional bias towards threat were performed. We show that the reminder-dependent intervention with an HWM weakened memory retention as expressed in skin conductance response (SCR) and faded the representation and valuation towards the threat, but it did not affect US expectancy or attentional bias. Our findings provide evidence for the experimental psychopathology approach opening the possibility to weaken both Threat conditioning memory and the systems associated with the maintenance of anxiety features.

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The objective of this study was to jointly analyze the importance of cognitive and financial factors in the accuracy of profit forecasting by analysts. Data from publicly traded Brazilian companies in 2019 were obtained. We used text analysis to assess the cognitive biases from the qualitative reports of analysts. Further, we analyzed the data using statistical regression learning methods and statistical classification learning methods, such as Multiple Linear Regression (MRL), k-dependence Bayesian (k-DB), and Random Forest (RF). The Bayesian inference and classification methods allow an expansion of the research line, especially in the area of machine learning, which can benefit from the examples of factors addressed in this research. The results indicated that, among cognitive biases, optimism had a negative relationship with forecasting accuracy while anchoring bias had a positive relationship. Commonality, to a lesser extent, also had a positive relationship with the analyst's accuracy. Among financial factors, the most important aspects in the accuracy of analysts were volatility, indebtedness, and profitability. Age of the company, fair value, American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), performance, and loss were still important but on a smaller scale. The results of the RF models showed a greater explanatory power. This research sheds light on the cognitive as well as financial aspects that influence the analyst's accuracy, jointly using text analysis and machine learning methods, capable of improving the explanatory power of predictive models, together with the use of training models followed by testing.

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BACKGROUND: This study analysed the relationship between perceived and actual Body Mass Index (BMI) and the effect of a prior identification of obesity by a medical professional for adults using difference in response for two distinct BMI self-perception questions. Typically, self-perception studies only investigate the relation with current weight, whereas here the focus is on the self-perception of weight differences. METHODS: A statistical approach was used to assess responses to the Mexican ENSANUT 2006 survey. Adults in the range of BMI from 13 to 60 were tested on responses to a categorical question and a figure rating scale self-perception question. Differences in response by gender and identification of obesity by a medical professional were analysed using linear regression. RESULTS: Results indicated that regardless of current BMI and gender, a verbal intervention by a medical professional will increase perceived BMI independently of actual BMI but does not necessarily make the identified obese more accurate in their BMI estimates. A shift in the average self-perception was seen with a higher response for the identified obese. A linear increase in perceived BMI as a function of actual BMI was observed in the range BMI < 35 but with a rate of increase much less than expected if weight differences were perceived accurately. CONCLUSIONS: Obese and overweight Mexican adults not only underestimated their weight, but also, could not accurately judge changes in weight. For example, an increase of 5 kg is imagined, in terms of self-image, to be considerably less. It was seen that an identification of obesity by a health care professional did not improve ability to judge weight but, rather, served as a new anchor from which the identified obese judge their weight, suggesting that even those identified obese who have lost weight, perceive their weight to be greater than it actually is. We believe that these results can be explained in terms of two cognitive biases; the self-serving bias and the anchoring bias.

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RESUMO Decisões entre cooperar e competir são fundamentais em dilemas sociais, quando interesses individuais de consumo estão em conflito com benefícios coletivos. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi testar a ocorrência de vieses de cognição social em um dilema simulado, com base nos procedimentos de (Gifford e Hine, 1997). Após jogarem o software FISH em condições de cooperação e competição, os participantes relataram suas auto e hetero percepções. Foram verificados o viés de falso consenso e o erro fundamental de atribuição, mas os vieses de autosserviço e o ator-observador se mostraram efeitos mais limitados e apenas entre cooperadores. Discutem-se algumas implicações teóricas, metodológicas e práticas dos fenômenos no contexto do consumo sustentável.

ABSTRACT Decisions between cooperating and competing are central to social dilemmas, that is, when individual needs are at odds with collective benefits. The aim of this paper was to test the occurrence of social cognition biases in a simulated social dilemma, by using (Gifford and Hine, 1997) procedures. After taking part in FISH, a micro-world simulation, either in conditions of cooperation or competition, participants reported their self- and other perceptions. False consensus and fundamental error of attribution were found, while self-serving and actor-observer biases showed more limited effects and only among cooperators. Some theoretical, methodological, and practical implications are discussed in the context of sustainable consumption.

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This cross-cultural investigation explored children's reasoning about their mental capacities during the earliest period of human physical existence--the prenatal period. For comparison, children's reasoning about the observable period of infancy was also examined. A total of 283 5- to 12-year-olds from two distinct cultures (urban Ecuador and rural indigenous Shuar) participated. Across cultures, children distinguished the fetal period from infancy, attributing fewer capacities to fetuses. However, for both the infancy and fetal periods, children from both cultures privileged the functioning of emotions and desires over epistemic states (i.e., abilities for thought and memory). Children's justifications to questions about fetal mentality revealed that although epistemic states were generally regarded as requiring physical maturation to function, emotions and desires were seen as functioning as a de facto result of prenatal existence and in response to the prospect of future birth and being part of a social group. These results show that from early in development, children across cultures possess nuanced beliefs about the presence and functioning of mental capacities. Findings converge with recent results to suggest that there is an early arising bias to view emotions and desires as the essential inviolable core of human mentality. The current findings have implications for understanding the role that emerging cognitive biases play in shaping conceptions of human mentality across different cultures. They also speak to the cognitive foundations of moral beliefs about fetal rights.

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En este trabajo se revisan los estudios que han examinado la presencia de sesgos de atención selectiva en la depresión, comparando el rendimiento de personas con y sin depresión (clínica y subclínica) en tareas experimentales cognitivas. Los datos recientes mediante técnicas de registro de movimientos oculares indican que la depresión se caracteriza por la presencia de un procesamiento atencional sostenido hacia información negativa y una ausencia de sesgos a información positiva. Asimismo, se considera la evidencia empírica acerca del papel causal de estos sesgos en el inicio y mantenimiento de la depresión, la cual sugiere que estos sesgos atencionales hacia información negativa y positiva, asociados a un estilo de respuesta rumiativo y a estrategias ineficaces de regulación emocional, pueden ser marcadores estables de vulnerabilidad a la depresión. Las implicaciones clínicas de estos hallazgos y las futuras líneas de investigación en este campo son discutidas.

This review examines studies that have addressed the presence of selective attentional biases in depression (clinical and subclinical samples) in several experimental cognitive tasks. Current data using eye-tracking techniques indicate that depression is characterized by the presence of sustained attentional processing towards negative information and absence of biases towards positive information. Available empirical evidence about the causal role of these biases on the onset and maintenance of depression suggests that these biases, in association with a ruminative style and ineffective emotional regulation strategies, could be stable vulnerability markers of depression. Clinical implications of these findings and future research in this field are discussed.

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