TY - GEN A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Schindler, Sebastian A1 - Englert, Christoph A1 - Brand, Ralf A1 - Kissler, Johanna T1 - Uninstructed BIAT faking when ego depleted or in normal state BT - differential effect on brain and behavior T2 - BMC neuroscience N2 - Background: Deception can distort psychological tests on socially sensitive topics. Understanding the cerebral processes that are involved in such faking can be useful in detection and prevention of deception. Previous research shows that faking a brief implicit association test (BIAT ) evokes a characteristic ERP response. It is not yet known whether temporarily available self-control resources moderate this response. We randomly assigned 22 participants (15 females, 24.23 ± 2.91 years old) to a counterbalanced repeated-measurements design. Participants first com- pleted a Brief-IAT (BIAT ) on doping attitudes as a baseline measure and were then instructed to fake a negative dop - ing attitude both when self-control resources were depleted and non-depleted. Cerebral activity during BIAT perfor - mance was assessed using high-density EEG. Results: Compared to the baseline BIAT, event-related potentials showed a first interaction at the parietal P1, while significant post hoc differences were found only at the later occurring late positive potential. Here, signifi- cantly decreased amplitudes were recorded for ‘normal’ faking, but not in the depletion condition. In source space, enhanced activity was found for ‘normal’ faking in the bilateral temporoparietal junction. Behaviorally, participants were successful in faking the BIAT successfully in both conditions. Conclusions: Results indicate that temporarily available self-control resources do not affect overt faking success on a BIAT. However, differences were found on an electrophysiological level. This indicates that while on a phenotypical level self-control resources play a negligible role in deliberate test faking the underlying cerebral processes are markedly different. KW - EEG/ERP KW - implicit association test (IAT) KW - faking KW - deception KW - ego depletion KW - cognitive control Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-407342 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Schindler, Sebastian A1 - Englert, Christoph A1 - Brand, Ralf A1 - Kissler, Johanna T1 - Uninstructed BIAT faking when ego depleted or in normal state: differential effect on brain and behavior JF - BMC neuroscience N2 - Background: Deception can distort psychological tests on socially sensitive topics. Understanding the cerebral processes that are involved in such faking can be useful in detection and prevention of deception. Previous research shows that faking a brief implicit association test (BIAT) evokes a characteristic ERP response. It is not yet known whether temporarily available self-control resources moderate this response. We randomly assigned 22 participants (15 females, 24.23 +/- 2.91 years old) to a counterbalanced repeated-measurements design. Participants first completed a Brief-IAT (BIAT) on doping attitudes as a baseline measure and were then instructed to fake a negative doping attitude both when self-control resources were depleted and non-depleted. Cerebral activity during BIAT performance was assessed using high-density EEG. Conclusions: Results indicate that temporarily available self-control resources do not affect overt faking success on a BIAT. However, differences were found on an electrophysiological level. This indicates that while on a phenotypical level self-control resources play a negligible role in deliberate test faking the underlying cerebral processes are markedly different. KW - EEG/ERP KW - Implicit association test (IAT) KW - Faking KW - Deception KW - Ego depletion KW - Cognitive control Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12868-016-0249-8 SN - 1471-2202 VL - 17 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Schindler, Sebastian A1 - Brand, Ralf T1 - The Effect of Implicitly Incentivized Faking on Explicit and Implicit Measures of Doping Attitude: When Athletes Want to Pretend an Even More Negative Attitude to Doping JF - PLoS one N2 - The Implicit Association Test (IAT) aims to measure participants' automatic evaluation of an attitude object and is useful especially for the measurement of attitudes related to socially sensitive subjects, e.g. doping in sports. Several studies indicate that IAT scores can be faked on instruction. But fully or semi-instructed research scenarios might not properly reflect what happens in more realistic situations, when participants secretly decide to try faking the test. The present study is the first to investigate IAT faking when there is only an implicit incentive to do so. Sixty-five athletes (22.83 years +/- 2.45; 25 women) were randomly assigned to an incentive-to-fake condition or a control condition. Participants in the incentive-to-fake condition were manipulated to believe that athletes with lenient doping attitudes would be referred to a tedious 45-minute anti-doping program. Attitudes were measured with the pictorial doping brief IAT (BIAT) and with the Performance Enhancement Attitude Scale (PEAS). A one-way MANOVA revealed significant differences between conditions after the manipulation in PEAS scores, but not in the doping BIAT. In the light of our hypothesis this suggests that participants successfully faked an exceedingly negative attitude to doping when completing the PEAS, but were unsuccessful in doing so on the reaction time-based test. This study assessed BIAT faking in a setting that aimed to resemble a situation in which participants want to hide their attempts to cheat. The two measures of attitude were differentially affected by the implicit incentive. Our findings provide evidence that the pictorial doping BIAT is relatively robust against spontaneous and naive faking attempts. (B) IATs might be less prone to faking than implied by previous studies. Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0118507 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 10 IS - 4 PB - PLoS CY - San Fransisco ER - TY - GEN A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Schindler, Sebastian A1 - Brand, Ralf T1 - The effect of implicitly incentivized faking on explicit and implicit measures of doping attitude BT - when athletes want to pretend an even more negative attitude to doping T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - The Implicit Association Test (IAT) aims to measure participants' automatic evaluation of an attitude object and is useful especially for the measurement of attitudes related to socially sensitive subjects, e.g. doping in sports. Several studies indicate that IAT scores can be faked on instruction. But fully or semi-instructed research scenarios might not properly reflect what happens in more realistic situations, when participants secretly decide to try faking the test. The present study is the first to investigate IAT faking when there is only an implicit incentive to do so. Sixty-five athletes (22.83 years +/- 2.45; 25 women) were randomly assigned to an incentive-to-fake condition or a control condition. Participants in the incentive-to-fake condition were manipulated to believe that athletes with lenient doping attitudes would be referred to a tedious 45-minute anti-doping program. Attitudes were measured with the pictorial doping brief IAT (BIAT) and with the Performance Enhancement Attitude Scale (PEAS). A one-way MANOVA revealed significant differences between conditions after the manipulation in PEAS scores, but not in the doping BIAT. In the light of our hypothesis this suggests that participants successfully faked an exceedingly negative attitude to doping when completing the PEAS, but were unsuccessful in doing so on the reaction time-based test. This study assessed BIAT faking in a setting that aimed to resemble a situation in which participants want to hide their attempts to cheat. The two measures of attitude were differentially affected by the implicit incentive. Our findings provide evidence that the pictorial doping BIAT is relatively robust against spontaneous and naive faking attempts. (B) IATs might be less prone to faking than implied by previous studies. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 524 KW - symptom validity tests KW - association test KW - predictive-validity KW - social cognition KW - performance KW - metaanalysis KW - IAT Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-409854 SN - 1866-8364 IS - 524 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Sandouqa, Yaser A1 - Brand, Ralf T1 - Using, the simple sample count to estimate the frequency of prescription drug neuroenhancement in a sample of Jordan employees JF - International journal of drug policy N2 - Background: Epidemiological research indicates that the use of prescription drugs to enhance cognitive functioning is prevalent in Western countries, however, research on this phenomenon in Arab countries is lacking. Our study aimed to investigate the frequency of neuroenhancement (NE) using prescription drugs in a sample of employees in Jordan. Methods: A sample of 1186 employees (37.11 +/- 8.37 years old, 495 female), of whom 723 (35.65 +/- 7.53 years old, 396 female) served as teachers, completed a paper-pencil questionnaire. The single sample count technique (SSC) was used in order to secure confidential, self-reporting of prescription drug NE. Results: The 12-month prevalence of NE, estimated with the SSC was 15.43%. At 26.16%, the prevalence estimate was markedly higher in the subsample of teachers compared to non-teachers, 0.29%. Surprisingly, 336 participants did not use the SSC and directly affirmed or denied prescription drug NE. These direct responses yielded a prevalence of 11.57% for the full sample, 9.73% for the teachers and 15.60% for the non-teachers. Conclusion: This is the first study of the frequency of NE in an Arab sample. Results indicate that the use of prescription drug NE is not limited to Western countries and that teachers in Jordan might constitute a high-risk population. Further, participants seem to differ in their use of indirect estimation methods for reporting prescription drug NE. For future research, it might be useful to triangulate standard self reports and indirect estimation methods to assess NE. Possible cultural differences and specific high-risk populations for NE should be investigated further. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Neuroenhancement KW - Jordan KW - Single sample count Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2015.12.014 SN - 0955-3959 SN - 1873-4758 VL - 31 SP - 51 EP - 55 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - GEN A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Brand, Ralf A1 - Baumgarten, Franz A1 - Lösel, Johanna A1 - Ziegler, Matthias T1 - Modeling students’ instrumental (mis-)use of substances to enhance cognitive performance BT - Neuroenhancement in the light of Job Demands-Resources Theory N2 - Background: Healthy university students have been shown to use psychoactive substances, expecting them to be functional means for enhancing their cognitive capacity, sometimes over and above an essentially proficient level. This behavior called Neuroenhancement (NE) has not yet been integrated into a behavioral theory that is able to predict performance. Job Demands Resources (JD-R) Theory for example assumes that strain (e.g. burnout) will occur and influence performance when job demands are high and job resources are limited at the same time. The aim of this study is to investigate whether or not university students’ self-reported NE can be integrated into JD-R Theory’s comprehensive approach to psychological health and performance. Methods: 1,007 students (23.56 ± 3.83 years old, 637 female) participated in an online survey. Lifestyle drug, prescription drug, and illicit substance NE together with the complete set of JD-R variables (demands, burnout, resources, motivation, and performance) were measured. Path models were used in order to test our data’s fit to hypothesized main effects and interactions. Results: JD-R Theory could successfully be applied to describe the situation of university students. NE was mainly associated with the JD-R Theory’s health impairment process: Lifestyle drug NE (p < .05) as well as prescription drug NE (p < .001) is associated with higher burnout scores, and lifestyle drug NE aggravates the study demands-burnout interaction. In addition, prescription drug NE mitigates the protective influence of resources on burnout and on motivation. Conclusion: According to our results, the uninformed trying of NE (i.e., without medical supervision) might result in strain. Increased strain is related to decreased performance. From a public health perspective, intervention strategies should address these costs of non-supervised NE. With regard to future research we propose to model NE as a means to reach an end (i.e. performance enhancement) rather than a target behavior itself. This is necessary to provide a deeper understanding of the behavioral roots and consequences of the phenomenon. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 362 KW - Neuroenhancement KW - study demands KW - burnout KW - Job Demands Resources Theory KW - students Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-401441 SN - 1866-8364 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Brand, Ralf T1 - Subjective stressors in school and their relation to neuroenhancement: a behavioral perspective on students everyday life "doping" Y1 - 2013 UR - http://www.substanceabusepolicy.com/content/pdf/1747-597X-8-23.pdf U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/1747-597X-8-23 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Brand, Ralf T1 - Subjective stressors in school and their relation to neuroenhancement a behavioral perspective on students' everyday life "doping" JF - Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy N2 - Background: The use of psychoactive substances to neuroenhance cognitive performance is prevalent. Neuroenhancement (NE) in everyday life and doping in sport might rest on similar attitudinal representations, and both behaviors can be theoretically modeled by comparable means-to-end relations (substance-performance). A behavioral (not substance-based) definition of NE is proposed, with assumed functionality as its core component. It is empirically tested whether different NE variants (lifestyle drug, prescription drug, and illicit substance) can be regressed to school stressors. Findings: Participants were 519 students (25.8 +/- 8.4 years old, 73.1% female). Logistic regressions indicate that a modified doping attitude scale can predict all three NE variants. Multiple NE substance abuse was frequent. Overwhelming demands in school were associated with lifestyle and prescription drug NE. Conclusions: Researchers should be sensitive for probable structural similarities between enhancement in everyday life and sport and systematically explore where findings from one domain can be adapted for the other. Policy makers should be aware that students might misperceive NE as an acceptable means of coping with stress in school, and help to form societal sensitivity for the topic of NE among our younger ones in general. KW - Neuroenhancement KW - Stress KW - School KW - Doping Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/1747-597X-8-23 SN - 1747-597X VL - 8 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER - TY - GEN A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Brand, Ralf T1 - Editorial: using substances to enhance performance BT - a psychology of neuroenhancement T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 443 KW - neuroenhancement KW - cognitive enhancement KW - doping KW - behavior KW - performance enhancement Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-407274 IS - 443 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Brand, Ralf T1 - Editorial: Using Substances to Enhance Performance: A Psychology of Neuroenhancement T2 - Frontiers in psychology KW - neuroenhancement KW - cognitive enhancement KW - doping KW - behavior KW - performance enhancement Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01741 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 7 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - GEN A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Brand, Ralf T1 - Subjective stressors in school and their relation to neuroenhancement BT - a behavioral perspective on students' everyday life "doping" N2 - Background: The use of psychoactive substances to neuroenhance cognitive performance is prevalent. Neuroenhancement (NE) in everyday life and doping in sport might rest on similar attitudinal representations, and both behaviors can be theoretically modeled by comparable means-to-end relations (substance-performance). A behavioral (not substance-based) definition of NE is proposed, with assumed functionality as its core component. It is empirically tested whether different NE variants (lifestyle drug, prescription drug, and illicit substance) can be regressed to school stressors. Findings: Participants were 519 students (25.8 +/- 8.4 years old, 73.1% female). Logistic regressions indicate that a modified doping attitude scale can predict all three NE variants. Multiple NE substance abuse was frequent. Overwhelming demands in school were associated with lifestyle and prescription drug NE. Conclusions: Researchers should be sensitive for probable structural similarities between enhancement in everyday life and sport and systematically explore where findings from one domain can be adapted for the other. Policy makers should be aware that students might misperceive NE as an acceptable means of coping with stress in school, and help to form societal sensitivity for the topic of NE among our younger ones in general. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 356 KW - Neuroenhancement KW - stress KW - school KW - doping Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-401131 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Baumgarten, Franz A1 - Brand, Ralf T1 - Reduced self-control leads to disregard of an unfamiliar behavioral option: an experimental approach to the study of neuroenhancement Y1 - 2013 UR - http://www.substanceabusepolicy.com/content/pdf/1747-597X-8-41.pdf U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/1747-597X-8-41 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Baumgarten, Franz A1 - Brand, Ralf T1 - Reduced self-control leads to disregard of an unfamiliar behavioral option - an experimental approach to the study of neuroenhancement JF - Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy N2 - Background: Neuroenhancement (NE), the use of psychoactive substances in order to enhance a healthy individual's cognitive functioning from a proficient to an even higher level, is prevalent in student populations. According to the strength model of self-control, people fail to self-regulate and fall back on their dominant behavioral response when finite self-control resources are depleted. An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that ego-depletion will prevent students who are unfamiliar with NE from trying it. Findings: 130 undergraduates, who denied having tried NE before (43% female, mean age = 22.76 +/- 4.15 years old), were randomly assigned to either an ego-depletion or a control condition. The dependent variable was taking an "energy-stick" (a legal nutritional supplement, containing low doses of caffeine, taurine and vitamin B), offered as a potential means of enhancing performance on the bogus concentration task that followed. Logistic regression analysis showed that ego-depleted participants were three times less likely to take the substance, OR = 0.37, p = .01. Conclusion: This experiment found that trying NE for the first time was more likely if an individual's cognitive capacities were not depleted. This means that mental exhaustion is not predictive for NE in students for whom NE is not the dominant response. Trying NE for the first time is therefore more likely to occur as a thoughtful attempt at self-regulation than as an automatic behavioral response in stressful situations. We therefore recommend targeting interventions at this inter-individual difference. Students without previous reinforcing NE experience should be provided with information about the possible negative health outcomes of NE. Reconfiguring structural aspects in the academic environment (e.g. lessening workloads) might help to deter current users. KW - Neuroenhancement KW - Self-control KW - Ego-depletion KW - Prevention Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/1747-597X-8-41 SN - 1747-597X VL - 8 IS - 23 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER - TY - GEN A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Baumgarten, Franz A1 - Brand, Ralf T1 - Reduced self-control leads to disregard of an unfamiliar behavioral option BT - an experimental approach to the study of neuroenhancement N2 - Background: Neuroenhancement (NE), the use of psychoactive substances in order to enhance a healthy individual's cognitive functioning from a proficient to an even higher level, is prevalent in student populations. According to the strength model of self-control, people fail to self-regulate and fall back on their dominant behavioral response when finite self-control resources are depleted. An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that ego-depletion will prevent students who are unfamiliar with NE from trying it. Findings: 130 undergraduates, who denied having tried NE before (43% female, mean age = 22.76 +/- 4.15 years old), were randomly assigned to either an ego-depletion or a control condition. The dependent variable was taking an "energy-stick" (a legal nutritional supplement, containing low doses of caffeine, taurine and vitamin B), offered as a potential means of enhancing performance on the bogus concentration task that followed. Logistic regression analysis showed that ego-depleted participants were three times less likely to take the substance, OR = 0.37, p = .01. Conclusion: This experiment found that trying NE for the first time was more likely if an individual's cognitive capacities were not depleted. This means that mental exhaustion is not predictive for NE in students for whom NE is not the dominant response. Trying NE for the first time is therefore more likely to occur as a thoughtful attempt at self-regulation than as an automatic behavioral response in stressful situations. We therefore recommend targeting interventions at this inter-individual difference. Students without previous reinforcing NE experience should be provided with information about the possible negative health outcomes of NE. Reconfiguring structural aspects in the academic environment (e.g. lessening workloads) might help to deter current users. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 358 KW - Neuroenhancement KW - Self-control KW - Ego-depletion KW - Prevention Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-401386 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Timme, Sinika A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Englert, Chris A1 - Brand, Ralf T1 - Tracking Self-Control – Task Performance and Pupil Size in a Go/No-Go Inhibition Task T2 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - There is an ongoing debate about how to test and operationalize self-control. This limited understanding is in large part due to a variety of different tests and measures used to assess self-control, as well as the lack of empirical studies examining the temporal dynamics during the exertion of self-control. In order to track changes that occur over the course of exposure to a self-control task, we investigate and compare behavioral, subjective, and physiological indicators during the exertion of self-control. Participants completed both a task requiring inhibitory control (Go/No-Go task) and a control task (two-choice task). Behavioral performance and pupil size were measured during the tasks. Subjective vitality was measured before and after the tasks. While pupil size and subjective vitality showed similar trajectories in the two tasks, behavioral performance decreased in the inhibitory control-demanding task, but not in the control task. However, behavioral, subjective, and physiological measures were not significantly correlated. These results suggest that there is a disconnect between different measures of self-control with high intra- and interindividual variability. Theoretical and methodological implications for self-control theory and future empirical work are discussed. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 818 KW - self-control KW - response inhibition KW - psychophysiological KW - behavioral and self-report measures KW - pupil diameter Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-582583 SN - 1866-8364 IS - 818 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Timme, Sinika A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Englert, Chris A1 - Brand, Ralf T1 - Tracking Self-Control – Task Performance and Pupil Size in a Go/No-Go Inhibition Task JF - Frontiers in Psychology N2 - There is an ongoing debate about how to test and operationalize self-control. This limited understanding is in large part due to a variety of different tests and measures used to assess self-control, as well as the lack of empirical studies examining the temporal dynamics during the exertion of self-control. In order to track changes that occur over the course of exposure to a self-control task, we investigate and compare behavioral, subjective, and physiological indicators during the exertion of self-control. Participants completed both a task requiring inhibitory control (Go/No-Go task) and a control task (two-choice task). Behavioral performance and pupil size were measured during the tasks. Subjective vitality was measured before and after the tasks. While pupil size and subjective vitality showed similar trajectories in the two tasks, behavioral performance decreased in the inhibitory control-demanding task, but not in the control task. However, behavioral, subjective, and physiological measures were not significantly correlated. These results suggest that there is a disconnect between different measures of self-control with high intra- and interindividual variability. Theoretical and methodological implications for self-control theory and future empirical work are discussed. KW - self-control KW - response inhibition KW - psychophysiological KW - behavioral and self-report measures KW - pupil diameter Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.915016 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 13 PB - Frontiers CY - Lausanne, Schweiz ER - TY - GEN A1 - Schindler, Sebastian A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Kissler, Johanna M. A1 - Brand, Ralf T1 - Cerebral correlates of faking BT - evidence from a brief implicit association test on doping attitudes T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Direct assessment of attitudes toward socially sensitive topics can be affected by deception attempts. Reaction-time based indirect measures, such as the Implicit Association Test (IAT), are less susceptible to such biases. Neuroscientific evidence shows that deception can evoke characteristic ERP differences. However, the cerebral processes involved in faking an IAT are still unknown. We randomly assigned 20 university students (15 females, 24.65 +/- 3.50 years of age) to a counterbalanced repeated-measurements design, requesting them to complete a Brief-IAT (BIAT) on attitudes toward doping without deception instruction, and with the instruction to fake positive and negative doping attitudes. Cerebral activity during BIAT completion was assessed using high-density EEG. Event-related potentials during faking revealed enhanced frontal and reduced occipital negativity, starting around 150 ms after stimulus presentation. Further, a decrease in the P300 and LPP components was observed. Source analyses showed enhanced activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus between 150 and 200 ms during faking, thought to reflect the suppression of automatic responses. Further, more activity was found for faking in the bilateral middle occipital gyri and the bilateral temporoparietal junction. Results indicate that faking reaction-time based tests alter brain processes from early stages of processing and reveal the cortical sources of the effects. Analyzing the EEG helps to uncover response patterns in indirect attitude tests and broadens our understanding of the neural processes involved in such faking. This knowledge might be useful for uncovering faking in socially sensitive contexts, where attitudes are likely to be concealed. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 419 KW - EEG/ERP KW - implicit association test (IAT) KW - faking KW - deception KW - indirect tests KW - anti-doping KW - right inferior frontal gyrus Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-406251 IS - 419 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schindler, Sebastian A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Kissler, Johanna M. A1 - Brand, Ralf T1 - Cerebral correlates of faking BT - evidence from a brief implicit association test on doping attitudes JF - Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience N2 - Direct assessment of attitudes toward socially sensitive topics can be affected by deception attempts. Reaction-time based indirect measures, such as the Implicit Association Test (IAT), are less susceptible to such biases. Neuroscientific evidence shows that deception can evoke characteristic ERP differences. However, the cerebral processes involved in faking an IAT are still unknown. We randomly assigned 20 university students (15 females, 24.65 +/- 3.50 years of age) to a counterbalanced repeated-measurements design, requesting them to complete a Brief-IAT (BIAT) on attitudes toward doping without deception instruction, and with the instruction to fake positive and negative doping attitudes. Cerebral activity during BIAT completion was assessed using high-density EEG. Event-related potentials during faking revealed enhanced frontal and reduced occipital negativity, starting around 150 ms after stimulus presentation. Further, a decrease in the P300 and LPP components was observed. Source analyses showed enhanced activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus between 150 and 200 ms during faking, thought to reflect the suppression of automatic responses. Further, more activity was found for faking in the bilateral middle occipital gyri and the bilateral temporoparietal junction. Results indicate that faking reaction-time based tests alter brain processes from early stages of processing and reveal the cortical sources of the effects. Analyzing the EEG helps to uncover response patterns in indirect attitude tests and broadens our understanding of the neural processes involved in such faking. This knowledge might be useful for uncovering faking in socially sensitive contexts, where attitudes are likely to be concealed. KW - EEG/ERP KW - implicit association test (IAT) KW - faking KW - deception KW - indirect tests KW - anti-doping KW - right inferior frontal gyrus Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00139 SN - 1662-5153 VL - 9 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - GEN A1 - Schindler, Sebastian A1 - Wolff, Wanja T1 - Cerebral correlates of automatic associations towards performance enhancing substances T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - kein abstract vorh. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 421 KW - EEG/ERP KW - anti-doping KW - attitudes KW - Implicit Association Test (IAT) KW - indirect tests KW - substance abuse KW - Neuroenhancement (NE) Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-406279 IS - 421 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Englert, Chris A1 - Wolff, Wanja T1 - Neuroenhancement and the strength model of self-control JF - Frontiers in psychology N2 - Neuroenhancement (NE), the use of substances as a means to enhance performance, has garnered considerable scientific attention of late. While ethical and epidemiological publications on the topic accumulate, there is a lack of theory-driven psychological research that aims at understanding psychological drivers of NE. In this perspective article we argue that self-control strength offers a promising theory-based approach to further understand and investigate NE behavior. Using the strength model of self-control, we derive two theory-driven perspectives on NE-self-control research. First, we propose that individual differences in state/trait self-control strength differentially affect NE behavior based on one's individual experience of NE use. Building upon this, we outline promising research questions that (will) further elucidate our understanding of NE based on the strength model's propositions. Second, we discuss evidence indicating that popular NE substances (like Methylphenidate) may counteract imminent losses of self-control strength. We outline how further research on NE's effects on the ego-depletion effect may further broaden our understanding of the strength model of self-control. KW - ego depletion KW - neuroenhancement KW - self-control KW - self-regulation Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01425 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 6 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - GEN A1 - Englert, Chris A1 - Wolff, Wanja T1 - Neuroenhancement and the strength model of self-control T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Neuroenhancement (NE), the use of substances as a means to enhance performance, has garnered considerable scientific attention of late. While ethical and epidemiological publications on the topic accumulate, there is a lack of theory-driven psychological research that aims at understanding psychological drivers of NE. In this perspective article we argue that self-control strength offers a promising theory-based approach to further understand and investigate NE behavior. Using the strength model of self-control, we derive two theory-driven perspectives on NE-self-control research. First, we propose that individual differences in state/trait self-control strength differentially affect NE behavior based on one's individual experience of NE use. Building upon this, we outline promising research questions that (will) further elucidate our understanding of NE based on the strength model's propositions. Second, we discuss evidence indicating that popular NE substances (like Methylphenidate) may counteract imminent losses of self-control strength. We outline how further research on NE's effects on the ego-depletion effect may further broaden our understanding of the strength model of self-control. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 424 KW - ego depletion KW - neuroenhancement KW - self-control KW - self-regulation Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-406312 IS - 424 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Englert, Chris A1 - Wolff, Wanja T1 - Ego depletion and persistent performance in a cycling task JF - International journal of sport and exercise psychology N2 - We tested the assumption that persistent performance in an exhausting indoor cycling task would depend on momentarily available self-control strength (N = 20 active participants). In a within-subjects design (two points of measurement, exactly seven days apart), participants' self-control strength was experimentally manipulated (depletion: yes vs. no; order counterbalanced) via the Stroop test before the participants performed a cycling task. In line with our hypothesis, hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) revealed that participants consistently performed worse over a period of 18 minutes when they were ego depleted. In addition, HLM analysis revealed that depleted participants invested less effort in the cycling task, as indicated by their lower heart rate. This effect escalated over time, as indicated by a time x condition interaction. These results indicate that self-control strength is necessary to obtain an optimal level of performance in endurance tasks requiring high levels of persistence. Practical implications are discussed. KW - Cycling KW - Ego-depletion KW - Hierarchical linear modeling KW - Self-control KW - Self-regulation Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.7352/IJSP2015.46.137 SN - 0047-0767 VL - 46 IS - 2 SP - 137 EP - 151 PB - Pozzi CY - Roma ER - TY - GEN A1 - Brand, Ralf A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Ziegler, Matthias T1 - Drugs as instruments BT - describing and testing a behavioral approach to the study of neuroenhancement T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Neuroenhancement (NE) is the non-medical use of psychoactive substances to produce a subjective enhancement in psychological functioning and experience. So far empirical investigations of individuals' motivation for NE however have been hampered by the lack of theoretical foundation. This study aimed to apply drug instrumentalization theory to user motivation for NE. We argue that NE should be defined and analyzed from a behavioral perspective rather than in terms of the characteristics of substances used for NE. In the empirical study we explored user behavior by analyzing relationships between drug options (use over-the-counter products, prescription drugs, illicit drugs) and postulated drug instrumentalization goals (e.g., improved cognitive performance, counteracting fatigue, improved social interaction). Questionnaire data from 1438 university students were subjected to exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to address the question of whether analysis of drug instrumentalization should be based on the assumption that users are aiming to achieve a certain goal and choose their drug accordingly or whether NE behavior is more strongly rooted in a decision to try or use a certain drug option. We used factor mixture modeling to explore whether users could be separated into qualitatively different groups defined by a shared "goal X drug option" configuration. Our results indicate, first, that individuals decisions about NE are eventually based on personal attitude to drug options (e.g., willingness to use an over-the-counter product but not to abuse prescription drugs) rather than motivated by desire to achieve a specific goal (e.g., fighting tiredness) for which different drug options might be tried. Second, data analyses suggested two qualitatively different classes of users. Both predominantly used over-the-counter products, but "neuroenhancers" might be characterized by a higher propensity to instrumentalize over-the-counter products for virtually all investigated goals whereas "fatigue-fighters" might be inclined to use over-the-counter products exclusively to fight fatigue. We believe that psychological investigations like these are essential, especially for designing programs to prevent risky behavior. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 434 KW - psychoactive drugs KW - non-addictive behavior KW - cognitive enhancement KW - drug instrumentalization KW - user types Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-406738 IS - 434 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Brand, Ralf A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Ziegler, Matthias T1 - Drugs As Instruments: Describing and Testing a Behavioral Approach to the Study of Neuroenhancement JF - Frontiers in psychology KW - psychoactive drugs KW - non-addictive behavior KW - cognitive enhancement KW - drug instrumentalization KW - user types Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01226 SN - 1664-1078 VL - 7 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Brand, Ralf A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Thieme, Detlef T1 - brief implicit attitude test identifies substance abuse in bodybuilders JF - Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy N2 - Methods: We approached a group of 61 male competitive bodybuilders and collected urine samples for biochemical testing. The pictorial doping Brief Implicit Association Test (BIAT) was used for attitude measurement. This test quantifies the difference in response latencies (in milliseconds) to stimuli representing related concepts (i.e. doping-dislike/like-[health food]). KW - Steroid use KW - Psychology KW - Doping tests KW - Biochemical profiles Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/1747-597X-9-36 SN - 1747-597X VL - 9 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER - TY - GEN A1 - Brand, Ralf A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Thieme, Detlef T1 - Using response-time latencies to measure athletes’ doping attitudes BT - the brief implicit attitude test identifies substance abuse in bodybuilders N2 - Background: Knowing and, if necessary, altering competitive athletes' real attitudes towards the use of banned performance-enhancing substances is an important goal of worldwide doping prevention efforts. However athletes will not always be willing to reporting their real opinions. Reaction time-based attitude tests help conceal the ultimate goal of measurement from the participant and impede strategic answering. This study investigated how well a reaction time-based attitude test discriminated between athletes who were doping and those who were not. We investigated whether athletes whose urine samples were positive for at least one banned substance (dopers) evaluated doping more favorably than clean athletes (non-dopers). Methods: We approached a group of 61 male competitive bodybuilders and collected urine samples for biochemical testing. The pictorial doping Brief Implicit Association Test (BIAT) was used for attitude measurement. This test quantifies the difference in response latencies (in milliseconds) to stimuli representing related concepts (i.e. doping-dislike/like-[health food]). Results: Prohibited substances were found in 43% of all tested urine samples. Dopers had more lenient attitudes to doping than non-dopers (Hedges's g = -0.76). D-scores greater than -0.57 (CI95 = -0.72 to -0.46) might be indicative of a rather lenient attitude to doping. In urine samples evidence of administration of combinations of substances, complementary administration of substances to treat side effects and use of stimulants to promote loss of body fat was common. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that athletes' attitudes to doping can be assessed indirectly with a reaction time-based test, and that their attitudes are related to their behavior. Although bodybuilders may be more willing to reveal their attitude to doping than other athletes, these results still provide evidence that the pictorial doping BIAT may be useful in athletes from other sports, perhaps as a complementary measure in evaluations of the effectiveness of doping prevention interventions. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 361 KW - steroid use KW - psychology KW - doping tests KW - biochemical profiles Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-401430 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Brand, Ralf A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Hoyer, Jürgen T1 - Psychological Symptoms and Chronic Mood in Representative Samples of Elite Student-Athletes, Deselected Student-Athletes and Comparison Students JF - School mental health : a multidisciplinary research and practice journal N2 - Stress-levels experienced by school-aged elite athletes are pronounced, but data on their mental health status are widely lacking. In our study, we examined self-reported psychological symptoms and chronic mood. Data from a representative sample of 866 elite student-athletes (aged 12-15 years), enrolled in high-performance sport programming in German Elite Schools of Sport, were compared with data from 80 student-athletes from the same schools who have just been deselected from elite sport promotion, and from 432 age-and sex-matched non-sport students from regular schools (without such programming). Anxiety symptoms were least prevalent in female elite student-athletes. In male elite student-athletes, only symptoms of posttraumatic stress were less prevalent than in the other groups. Somatoform symptoms were generally more frequent in athletes, a trend that was significantly pronounced in deselected athletes. Deselected athletes showed an increased risk for psychological symptoms compared with both other groups. Regarding chronic mood, again deselected athletes showed less positive scores. While there was a trend toward high-performance sport being associated with better psychological health at least in girls, preventative programs should take into account that deselection from elite sport programming may be associated with specific risks for mental disorders. KW - School KW - Mental health KW - Mental disorders KW - Competitive sport KW - Forced drop-out Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-012-9095-8 SN - 1866-2625 SN - 1866-2633 VL - 5 IS - 3 SP - 166 EP - 174 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Beurskens, Rainer A1 - Steinberg, Fabian A1 - Antoniewicz, Franziska A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Granacher, Urs T1 - Neural Correlates of Dual-Task Walking: Effects of Cognitive versus Motor Interference in Young Adults JF - Neural plasticity N2 - Walking while concurrently performing cognitive and/or motor interference tasks is the norm rather than the exception during everyday life and there is evidence from behavioral studies that it negatively affects human locomotion. However, there is hardly any information available regarding the underlying neural correlates of single-and dual-task walking. We had 12 young adults (23.8 +/- 2.8 years) walk while concurrently performing a cognitive interference (CI) or a motor interference (MI) task. Simultaneously, neural activation in frontal, central, and parietal brain areas was registered using a mobile EEG system. Results showed that the MI task but not the CI task affected walking performance in terms of significantly decreased gait velocity and stride length and significantly increased stride time and tempo-spatial variability. Average activity in alpha and beta frequencies was significantly modulated during both CI and MI walking conditions in frontal and central brain regions, indicating an increased cognitive load during dual-task walking. Our results suggest that impaired motor performance during dual-task walking is mirrored in neural activation patterns of the brain. This finding is in line with established cognitive theories arguing that dual-task situations overstrain cognitive capabilities resulting in motor performance decrements. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/8032180 SN - 2090-5904 SN - 1687-5443 PB - Hindawi CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Beurskens, Rainer A1 - Steinberg, Fabian A1 - Antoniewicz, Franziska A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Granacher, Urs T1 - Neural Correlates of Dual-Task Walking BT - Effects of Cognitive versus Motor Interference in Young Adults JF - Neural plasticity N2 - Walking while concurrently performing cognitive and/or motor interference tasks is the norm rather than the exception during everyday life and there is evidence from behavioral studies that it negatively affects human locomotion. However, there is hardly any information available regarding the underlying neural correlates of single- and dual-task walking. We had 12 young adults (23.8 ± 2.8 years) walk while concurrently performing a cognitive interference (CI) or a motor interference (MI) task. Simultaneously, neural activation in frontal, central, and parietal brain areas was registered using a mobile EEG system. Results showed that the MI task but not the CI task affected walking performance in terms of significantly decreased gait velocity and stride length and significantly increased stride time and tempo-spatial variability. Average activity in alpha and beta frequencies was significantly modulated during both CI and MI walking conditions in frontal and central brain regions, indicating an increased cognitive load during dual-task walking. Our results suggest that impaired motor performance during dual-task walking is mirrored in neural activation patterns of the brain. This finding is in line with established cognitive theories arguing that dual-task situations overstrain cognitive capabilities resulting in motor performance decrements. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/8032180 VL - 2016 SP - 1 EP - 9 PB - Hindawi CY - New York ER - TY - GEN A1 - Beurskens, Rainer A1 - Steinberg, Fabian A1 - Antoniewicz, Franziska A1 - Wolff, Wanja A1 - Granacher, Urs T1 - Neural Correlates of Dual-Task Walking BT - Effects of Cognitive versus Motor Interference in Young Adults N2 - Walking while concurrently performing cognitive and/or motor interference tasks is the norm rather than the exception during everyday life and there is evidence from behavioral studies that it negatively affects human locomotion. However, there is hardly any information available regarding the underlying neural correlates of single- and dual-task walking. We had 12 young adults (23.8 ± 2.8 years) walk while concurrently performing a cognitive interference (CI) or a motor interference (MI) task. Simultaneously, neural activation in frontal, central, and parietal brain areas was registered using a mobile EEG system. Results showed that the MI task but not the CI task affected walking performance in terms of significantly decreased gait velocity and stride length and significantly increased stride time and tempo-spatial variability. Average activity in alpha and beta frequencies was significantly modulated during both CI and MI walking conditions in frontal and central brain regions, indicating an increased cognitive load during dual-task walking. Our results suggest that impaired motor performance during dual-task walking is mirrored in neural activation patterns of the brain. This finding is in line with established cognitive theories arguing that dual-task situations overstrain cognitive capabilities resulting in motor performance decrements. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe - 291 Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-90742 SP - 1 EP - 9 ER -