Towards the Personalization of CAPTCHA Mechanisms Based on Individual Differences in Cognitive Processing

Author(s):  
Marios Belk ◽  
Panagiotis Germanakos ◽  
Christos Fidas ◽  
Andreas Holzinger ◽  
George Samaras
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin C. Hayes ◽  
Katherine L Alfred ◽  
Rachel Pizzie ◽  
Joshua S. Cetron ◽  
David J. M. Kraemer

Modality specific encoding habits account for a significant portion of individual differences reflected in functional activation during cognitive processing. Yet, little is known about how these habits of thought influence long-term structural changes in the brain. Traditionally, habits of thought have been assessed using self-report questionnaires such as the visualizer-verbalizer questionnaire. Here, rather than relying on subjective reports, we measured habits of thought using a novel behavioral task assessing attentional biases toward picture and word stimuli. Hypothesizing that verbal habits of thought are reflected in the structural integrity of white matter tracts and cortical regions of interest, we used diffusion tensor imaging and volumetric analyses to assess this prediction. Using a whole-brain approach, we show that word bias is associated with increased volume in several bilateral language regions, in both white and grey matter parcels. Additionally, connectivity within white matter tracts within an a priori speech production network increased as a function of word bias. These results demonstrate long-term structural and morphological differences associated with verbal habits of thought.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Bianca P. Acevedo ◽  
Tyler Santander ◽  
Robert Marhenke ◽  
Arthur Aron ◽  
Elaine Aron

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) is a biologically based temperament trait associated with enhanced awareness and responsivity to environmental and social stimuli. Individuals with high SPS are more affected by their environments, which may result in overarousal, cognitive depletion, and fatigue. <b><i>Method:</i></b> We examined individual differences in resting-state (rs) brain connectivity (using functional MRI) as a function of SPS among a group of adults (<i>M</i> age = 66.13 ± 11.44 years) immediately after they completed a social affective “empathy” task. SPS was measured with the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) Scale and correlated with rs brain connectivity. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Results showed enhanced rs brain connectivity within the ventral attention, dorsal attention, and limbic networks as a function of greater SPS. Region of interest analyses showed increased rs brain connectivity between the hippocampus and the precuneus (implicated in episodic memory); while weaker connectivity was shown between the amygdala and the periaqueductal gray (important for anxiety), and the hippocampus and insula (implicated in habitual cognitive processing). <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> The present study showed that SPS is associated with rs brain connectivity implicated in attentional control, consolidation of memory, physiological homeostasis, and deliberative cognition. These results support theories proposing “depth of processing” as a central feature of SPS and highlight the neural processes underlying this cardinal feature of the trait.


SLEEP ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate E Sprecher ◽  
Hannah K Ritchie ◽  
Tina M Burke ◽  
Christopher M Depner ◽  
Alexandra N Smits ◽  
...  

Abstract Study Objectives Determine stability of individual differences in executive function, cognitive processing speed, selective visual attention, and maintenance of wakefulness during simulated sustained operations with combined sleep restriction and circadian misalignment. Methods Twenty healthy adults (eight female), aged 25.7 (±4.2 SD), body mass index (BMI) 22.3 (±2.1) kg/m2 completed an 18-day protocol twice. Participants maintained habitual self-selected 8-hour sleep schedules for 2 weeks at home prior to a 4-day laboratory visit that included one sleep opportunity per day: 8 hours on night 1, 3 hours on night 2, and 3 hours on mornings 3 and 4. After 3 days of unscheduled sleep at home, participants repeated the entire protocol. Stability and task dependency of individual differences in performance were quantified by intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) and Kendall’s Tau, respectively. Results Performance on Stroop, Visual Search, and the Maintenance of Wakefulness Test were highly consistent within individuals during combined sleep restriction and circadian misalignment. Individual differences were trait-like as indicated by ICCs (0.54–0.96) classified according to standard criteria as moderate to almost perfect. Individual differences on other performance tasks commonly reported in sleep studies showed fair to almost perfect ICCs (0.22–0.94). Kendall’s rank correlations showed that individual vulnerability to sleep restriction and circadian misalignment varied by task and by metric within a task. Conclusions Consistent vulnerability of higher-order cognition and maintenance of wakefulness to combined sleep restriction and circadian misalignment has implications for the development of precision countermeasure strategies for workers performing safety-critical tasks, e.g. military, police, health care workers and emergency responders.


1995 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela Gibbons

This article describes a study which investigated individual differences in the construction of mental models of recursion in Logo programming. It was hypothesized that differences in individuals' cognitive profiles would be reflected in differences in their computer programming problem solving behavior. The learning process was investigated from the perspective of Norman's mental models theory and employed diSessa's ontology regarding distributed, functional, and surrogate mental models. Analysis of the processes underlying mental model construction and of individual differences in these processes was based on the Luria model of brain function with particular regard to the relative contribution of simultaneous and successive cognitive processing abilities to conscious mental activity. Results generally confirmed predictions regarding the involvement of these abilities in the manifestation of individual differences in the stages of conscious mental activity contributing to the progressive development of mental models of recursion.


NeuroImage ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 1016-1027 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Mériau ◽  
Isabell Wartenburger ◽  
Philipp Kazzer ◽  
Kristin Prehn ◽  
Claas-Hinrich Lammers ◽  
...  

1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1051-1056
Author(s):  
Yiorgos Zotos ◽  
Steven Lysonski ◽  
Peter Martin

This study uses the Elaboration Likelihood Model of persuasion to explore information-processing activities according to locus of control. A 3 × 2 × 2 factorial design was used with a sample of 317 to assess whether locus of control accounts for individual differences in cognitive processing of advertising stimuli related to credibility and message factors according to the Elaboration Likelihood Model. The results of the multivariate analysis of variance suggested that locus of control does not explain the processing of advertising information. Implications are discussed.


Autism ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 136236132110393
Author(s):  
Rachel A Clutterbuck ◽  
Punit Shah ◽  
Hok Sze Leung ◽  
Mitchell J Callan ◽  
Natalia Gjersoe ◽  
...  

White and Remington (2019) found that autistic people may have increased anthropomorphic tendencies to ascribe human-like attributes to non-human agents. However, it was unclear from their study whether this relationship holds after accounting for socio-demographic variables known to be associated with anthropomorphism. The psychometric properties of the anthropomorphism questionnaire they used has also not been investigated, raising concerns about whether it measures the same construct in people with differing levels of autistic traits. Addressing these issues, we re-examined the relationship between autism and anthropomorphism in a large sample of adults ( N = 492). Conceptually replicating White and Remington, we found that autistic traits were significantly associated with greater anthropomorphic tendencies, even after accounting for age and sex (Study 1). Equally, psychometric concerns with the anthropomorphism questionnaire were revealed, leading us to refine this measure and re-analyse the data. A less clear-cut but significant association between autistic traits and anthropomorphism was found (Study 2). Our refined anthropomorphism measure also had improved psychometric properties, particularly showing that it is suitable for future autism research. Our findings are discussed in relation to individual differences in social-cognitive processing and we outline future directions for investigating mechanisms linking anthropomorphism and social cognition in autism. Lay abstract Anthropomorphism is the tendency to attribute human-like qualities (e.g. thoughts and feelings) to non-human entities (e.g. objects and weather systems). Research by White and Remington (2019) suggested that anthropomorphism is more common in autistic compared to neurotypical adults, which is interesting given that autistic individuals sometimes misunderstand the thoughts and feelings of other people. In this article, we re-examined the link between autism and anthropomorphism in a large sample of adults with varying degrees of autistic traits, with several important methodological advances on previous research. Across two studies, we found that individuals with more autistic traits reported greater anthropomorphic tendencies. As part of these analyses, we had to develop a new, refined measure of anthropomorphism, which showed better reliability and validity than the original measure. This measure will be useful in future autism-related research. Overall, advancing White and Remington’s study, these findings help us to better understand individual differences in socially relevant processes, including those that may be enhanced in autism (e.g. anthropomorphism).


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