Ruth M. Morgan

Bio: Ruth M. Morgan is an academic researcher from University College London. The author has contributed to research in topics: Poison control & Forensic anthropology. The author has an hindex of 25, co-authored 108 publications receiving 2333 citations. Previous affiliations of Ruth M. Morgan include University of Oxford.

Listening to Your Heart How Interoception Shapes Emotion Experience and Intuitive Decision Making

Abstract: Theories proposing that how one thinks and feels is influenced by feedback from the body remain controversial. A central but untested prediction of many of these proposals is that how well individuals can perceive subtle bodily changes (interoception) determines the strength of the relationship between bodily reactions and cognitive-affective processing. In Study 1, we demonstrated that the more accurately participants could track their heartbeat, the stronger the observed link between their heart rate reactions and their subjective arousal (but not valence) ratings of emotional images. In Study 2, we found that increasing interoception ability either helped or hindered adaptive intuitive decision making, depending on whether the anticipatory bodily signals generated favored advantageous or disadvantageous choices. These findings identify both the generation and the perception of bodily responses as pivotal sources of variability in emotion experience and intuition, and offer strong supporting evidence for bodily feedback theories, suggesting that cognitive-affective processing does in significant part relate to "following the heart."

The philosophy, nature and practice of forensic sediment analysis

Abstract: The rapidly expanding field of forensic geoscience derives its roots from nineteenth- and early twentieth-century scientists who both influence and are influenced by literature and fictional writing. Forensic geoscience borrows much, but not all, of its precepts from geological and geomorphological analytical techniques. Fundamental differences exist between forensic geoscience and its sister disciplines, fundamental enough to make the unwary geoscientist succumb to philosophical and practical pitfalls which will not only endanger the outline of their report, but may well indeed provide false-negative or false-positive results leading to contrary or inaccurate conclusions. In the law, such outcomes have devastating and untenable consequences. Forensic geoscience requires techniques of exclusion rather than inclusion and an acknowledgement that analytical techniques may be diagnostic only in very specific situations. Whether analysis of the ubiquitous or the exotic component is chosen, acknowledgement of the need for samples to be representative is required. The presentation of false-positive results or the lack of identification of sample 'mixing' is prerequisite to the application of statistical tests which must be applied in the most careful manner. The realization of the limitations of the technique requires, wherever possible, conjunctive analysis by other truly independent techniques. While personal opinion derives from experience, there is no place for assumption. Research papers in forensic geoscience are not submitted to be speculative or challenging as may be the case in many fields of geomorphology and geology. There is no place for conjecture in forensic geoscience.

Exploring the Relationship Between Mindfulness and Cardiac Perception

Abstract: Four studies examined the relationship between mindfulness and interoception (measured via cardiac per- ception). Studies 1 and 2 compared participants undergoing week long practice (15 m daily) of an audiotaped body-scan, relative to a sound-scan and no-intervention control condi- tion (n=20 per group). No significant differences in change in cardiac perception accuracy, confidence in cardiac accu- racy judgements or the correlation between them (coherence) were found between conditions. Study 3 used an open design to examine the effects of a more intensive meditation training (com pleting an 8-week MBSR or MBCT course; n=19). Cardiac perception accuracy and coherence did not improve, but participants became signif- icantly more confident. Study 4 examined the relationship between cardiac perception and trait mindfulness (n=165). Trait mindfulness did not relate to cardiac perception accu- racy, but more mindful individuals were more confident. Mindful observation was associated with reduced, whereas other components of mindfulness predicted superior, coher- ence. These findings suggest that mindfulness practice does not simply work by improving cardiac perception accuracy but does increase confidence. However, it remains possible that mindfulness increases perceptual accuracy of other bodily systems, which needs to be explored using a wider array of experimental measures (e.g. respiratory awareness) in future research.

"Cognitive, social, and physiological determinants of emotional state": Erratum

Abstract: The problem of which cues, internal or external, permit a person to label and identify his own emotional state has been with us since the days that James (1890) first tendered his doctrine that \"the bodily changes follow directly the perception of the exciting fact, and that our feeling of the same changes as they occur is the emotion\" (p. 449). Since we are aware of a variety of feeling and emotion states, it should follow from James' proposition that the various emotions will be accompanied by a variety of differentiable bodily states. Following James' pronouncement, a formidable number of studies were undertaken in search of the physiological differentiators of the emotions. The results, in these early days, were almost uniformly negative. All of the emotional states experi-

Information bias in health research: definition, pitfalls, and adjustment methods.

Abstract: As with other fields, medical sciences are subject to different sources of bias. While understanding sources of bias is a key element for drawing valid conclusions, bias in health research continues to be a very sensitive issue that can affect the focus and outcome of investigations. Information bias, otherwise known as misclassification, is one of the most common sources of bias that affects the validity of health research. It originates from the approach that is utilized to obtain or confirm study measurements. This paper seeks to raise awareness of information bias in observational and experimental research study designs as well as to enrich discussions concerning bias problems. Specifying the types of bias can be essential to limit its effects and, the use of adjustment methods might serve to improve clinical evaluation and health care practice.

The Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA).

Abstract: This paper describes the development of a multidimensional self-report measure of interoceptive body awareness. The systematic mixed-methods process involved reviewing the current literature, specifying a multidimensional conceptual framework, evaluating prior instruments, developing items, and analyzing focus group responses to scale items by instructors and patients of body awareness-enhancing therapies. Following refinement by cognitive testing, items were field-tested in students and instructors of mind-body approaches. Final item selection was achieved by submitting the field test data to an iterative process using multiple validation methods, including exploratory cluster and confirmatory factor analyses, comparison between known groups, and correlations with established measures of related constructs. The resulting 32-item multidimensional instrument assesses eight concepts. The psychometric properties of these final scales suggest that the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) may serve as a starting point for research and further collaborative refinement.