HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_030289.jpg
2.59 MB
Extraction Summary
1
People
1
Organizations
1
Locations
1
Events
1
Relationships
1
Quotes
Document Information
Type:
Exhibit / document page
File Size:
2.59 MB
Summary
This document is page 22 of a book or article discussing cognitive neuroscience, marked with the Bates number 'HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_030289'. The text describes an experiment by neuroscientist Sara Bengtsson demonstrating that positive or negative priming affects cognitive performance and the brain's ability to learn from mistakes, supporting the idea of self-fulfilling prophecies. The document contains no direct references to Jeffrey Epstein; its relevance is likely derived from its inclusion as evidence in a broader investigation.
People (1)
| Name | Role | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Sara Bengtsson | Cognitive neuroscientist |
Devised and conducted an experiment on college students to study the effects of positive and negative expectations on...
|
Organizations (1)
| Name | Type | Context |
|---|---|---|
| House Oversight |
The footer 'HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_030289' is a Bates number suggesting this document is an exhibit for an investigation by ...
|
Timeline (1 events)
Not specified
A neuroscience experiment was conducted to test how expectations affect reality. College students were 'primed' with positive words (e.g., 'smart', 'clever') or negative words (e.g., 'stupid', 'ignorant') before a cognitive test. Those primed positively performed better. Brain scans showed that when positively-primed students made an error, their prefrontal cortex showed increased activity (a sign of learning), whereas negatively-primed students' brains showed no such response, indicating they expected to fail and did not process the error as a learning opportunity.
Not specified
Sara Bengtsson
college students
Locations (1)
| Location | Context |
|---|---|
|
Anterior medial part of the prefrontal cortex
|
A brain region involved in self-reflection and recollection that showed enhanced activity in experiment participants ...
|
Relationships (1)
The text states, 'To answer this question, my colleague, cognitive neuroscientist Sara Bengtsson...'
Key Quotes (1)
"Take notice — wrong answer!"Source
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_030289.jpg
Quote #1
Full Extracted Text
Complete text extracted from the document (2,011 characters)
22
in the absence of a neural mechanism that generates unrealistic
optimism, it is possible all humans would be mildly depressed.
Can Optimism Change Reality?
The problem with pessimistic expectations, such as those of the
clinically depressed, is that they have the power to alter the future;
negative expectations shape outcomes in a negative way. How do
expectations change reality?
To answer this question, my colleague, cognitive neuroscientist Sara
Bengtsson, devised an experiment in which she manipulated positive
and negative expectations of students while their brains were scanned
and tested their performance on cognitive tasks. To induce
expectations of success, she primed college students with words such
as smart, intelligent and clever just before asking them to perform a
test. To induce expectations of failure, she primed them with words
like stupid and ignorant. The students performed better after being
primed with an affirmative message.
Examining the brain-imaging data, Bengtsson found that the students'
brains responded differently to the mistakes they made depending on
whether they were primed with the word clever or the word stupid.
When the mistake followed positive words, she observed enhanced
activity in the anterior medial part of the prefrontal cortex (a region
that is involved in self-reflection and recollection). However, when
the participants were primed with the word stupid, there was no
heightened activity after a wrong answer. It appears that after being
primed with the word stupid, the brain expected to do poorly and did
not show signs of surprise or conflict when it made an error. A brain
that doesn't expect good results lacks a signal telling it, "Take notice —
wrong answer!" These brains will fail to learn from their mistakes and
are less likely to improve over time. Expectations become self-
fulfilling by altering our performance and actions, which ultimately
affects what happens in the future. Often, however, expectations
optimism, it is possible all humans would be mildly depressed.
Can Optimism Change Reality?
The problem with pessimistic expectations, such as those of the
clinically depressed, is that they have the power to alter the future;
negative expectations shape outcomes in a negative way. How do
expectations change reality?
To answer this question, my colleague, cognitive neuroscientist Sara
Bengtsson, devised an experiment in which she manipulated positive
and negative expectations of students while their brains were scanned
and tested their performance on cognitive tasks. To induce
expectations of success, she primed college students with words such
as smart, intelligent and clever just before asking them to perform a
test. To induce expectations of failure, she primed them with words
like stupid and ignorant. The students performed better after being
primed with an affirmative message.
Examining the brain-imaging data, Bengtsson found that the students'
brains responded differently to the mistakes they made depending on
whether they were primed with the word clever or the word stupid.
When the mistake followed positive words, she observed enhanced
activity in the anterior medial part of the prefrontal cortex (a region
that is involved in self-reflection and recollection). However, when
the participants were primed with the word stupid, there was no
heightened activity after a wrong answer. It appears that after being
primed with the word stupid, the brain expected to do poorly and did
not show signs of surprise or conflict when it made an error. A brain
that doesn't expect good results lacks a signal telling it, "Take notice —
wrong answer!" These brains will fail to learn from their mistakes and
are less likely to improve over time. Expectations become self-
fulfilling by altering our performance and actions, which ultimately
affects what happens in the future. Often, however, expectations
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_030289
Discussion 0
No comments yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this epstein document