scholarly journals Context dependency of time-based event-related expectations for different modalities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Ball ◽  
Julia Andreca ◽  
Toemme Noesselt
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Times ◽  
Context Dependency ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Visual Modality ◽  
Uncertain Environments ◽  
Opposite Pattern ◽  
Target Uncertainty ◽  
Increased Sensitivity ◽  
Context Dependent ◽  
Waking Up

AbstractExpectations about the temporal occurrence of events (when) are often tied with the expectations about certain event-related properties (what and where) happening at these time points. For instance, slowly waking up in the morning we expect our alarm clock to go off; however, the longer we do not hear it the more likely we already missed it. However, most current evidence for complex time-based event-related expectations (TBEEs) is based on the visual modality. Here we tested whether implicit TBEEs can act cross-modally. To this end, visual and auditory stimulus streams were presented which contained early and late targets embedded among distractors (to maximise temporal target uncertainty). Foreperiod-modality-contingencies were manipulated run-wise: visual targets either occurred early in 80% of trials and auditory targets occurred late in 80% of trials or vice versa. Participants showed increased sensitivity for expected auditory early/visual late targets which increased over time while the opposite pattern was observed for visual early/auditory late targets. A benefit in reaction times was only found for auditory early trials. Together, this pattern of results suggests that implicit context-dependent TBEEs for auditory targets after short foreperiods (be they correct or not) dominated and determined which modality became more expected at the late position irrespective of the veridical statistical regularity. Hence, TBEEs in cross-modal and uncertain environments are context-dependent, shaped by the dominant modality in temporal tasks (i.e., auditory) and only boost performance cross-modally when expectations about the event after the short foreperiod match with the run-wise context (i.e., auditory early/visual late).

scholarly journals Context dependency of time-based event-related expectations for different modalities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Ball ◽  
Julia Andreca ◽  
Toemme Noesselt
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Times ◽  
Context Dependency ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Visual Modality ◽  
Uncertain Environments ◽  
Opposite Pattern ◽  
Target Uncertainty ◽  
Increased Sensitivity ◽  
Context Dependent ◽  
Waking Up

AbstractExpectations about the temporal occurrence of events (when) are often tied with the expectations about certain event-related properties (what and where) happening at these time points. For instance, slowly waking up in the morning we expect our alarm clock to go off; however, the longer we do not hear it the more likely we already missed it. However, most current evidence for complex time-based event-related expectations (TBEEs) is based on the visual modality. Here we tested whether TBEEs can also act cross-modally. To this end, visual and auditory stimulus streams were presented which contained early and late targets embedded among distractors (to maximise temporal target uncertainty). Foreperiod-modality-contingencies were manipulated run-wise so that visual targets either occurred early in 80% of trials and auditory targets occurred late in 80 % of trials or vice versa. Participants showed increased sensitivity for expected auditory early/visual late targets which increased over time while the opposite pattern was observed for visual early/auditory late targets. A benefit in reaction times was only found for auditory early trials. Together, this pattern of results suggests that context-dependent TBEEs for auditory targets after short foreperiods (be they correct or not) dominated and determined which modality became more expected at the late position irrespective of the veridical statistical regularity. Hence, TBEEs in cross-modal and uncertain environments are context-dependent, shaped by the dominant modality in temporal tasks (i.e. auditory) and only boost performance cross-modally when expectations about the event after the short foreperiod match with the run-wise context (i.e. auditory early/visual late).

Is the Future the Right Time?

2010 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 308-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Ouellet ◽  
Julio Santiago ◽  
Ziv Israeli ◽  
Shai Gabay
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Task ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Visual Modality ◽  
Opposite Pattern ◽  
Time Line ◽  
Temporal Reference ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Reading Direction ◽  
Mental Time Line ◽  
The Right

Spanish and English speakers tend to conceptualize time as running from left to right along a mental line. Previous research suggests that this representational strategy arises from the participants’ exposure to a left-to-right writing system. However, direct evidence supporting this assertion suffers from several limitations and relies only on the visual modality. This study subjected to a direct test the reading hypothesis using an auditory task. Participants from two groups (Spanish and Hebrew) differing in the directionality of their orthographic system had to discriminate temporal reference (past or future) of verbs and adverbs (referring to either past or future) auditorily presented to either the left or right ear by pressing a left or a right key. Spanish participants were faster responding to past words with the left hand and to future words with the right hand, whereas Hebrew participants showed the opposite pattern. Our results demonstrate that the left-right mapping of time is not restricted to the visual modality and that the direction of reading accounts for the preferred directionality of the mental time line. These results are discussed in the context of a possible mechanism underlying the effects of reading direction on highly abstract conceptual representations.

Algorithmenkompatibles Verwaltungsrecht?

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-272
Author(s):  
Margrit Seckelmann
Keyword(s):  
Computer Code ◽  
Administrative Law ◽  
Context Dependency ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Context Dependent ◽  
Legal Meaning ◽  
Automatic Decisions

Die Übersetzung von Recht in (Computer–)‌Code ist derzeit in aller Munde. Lawrence Lessigs berühmtes Diktum, „Code is Law“ wird neuerdings dahingehend reformuliert, dass „Law“ auch „Code“ sei, dass man bei der Rechtsetzung also zugleich seine rechentechnische Umsetzbarkeit mitzudenken habe. Einen Ansatzpunkt für eine derartige „Algorithmisierbarkeit“ von Recht bietet § 35a des Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetzes des Bundes, wonach „automatisierte“ Entscheidungen in bestimmten Fällen zugelassen werden. Ein aktuelles Papier des Fraunhofer FOKUS-Instituts unter dem Titel „Recht Digital“ denkt dieses weiter und suggeriert, man müsse nur die passenden, eindeutigen Ausdrücke finden, dann sei Recht gleichsam „programmierbar“. Aber genau hier stellt sich das Problem: Rechtssprache ist eine Multi-Adressaten-Sprache, also eine Sprache, die sich ebenso sehr an ein Fachpublikum wie an Laien (Bürgerinnen und Bürger) wendet. Sie ist zudem kontextabhängig. Der aktuelle Hype um den Begriff der „Algorithmisierung“ von Gesetzen verbirgt zudem, dass es sich hierbei um ein Grundproblem von Rechtssprache handelt, das in den 1960er bis 1980er Jahren unter den Paradigmata „Rechts-/Verwaltungsautomation“ oder Rechtskybernetik verhandelt wurde. Wie kann man sich also dem Problem der Kontextabhängigkeit von Recht unter dem neuen Paradigma der Algorithmisierung nähern? Im Beitrag über „Algorithmenkompatibles Verwaltungsrecht? Juristische und sprachwissenschaftliche Überlegungen zu einer ‚Standardisierung von Rechtsbegriffen‘“ werden verschiedene Zugänge zur Schaffung einer „algorithmenkonformen“ Rechtssprache vorgestellt. Letztlich aber vermögen es noch so ausgefeilte technische Methoden nicht, das Problem demokratischer Deliberation zu verdrängen – über die fundamentalen Fragen einer Algorithmisierung der Rechtssprache muss der unmittelbar demokratisch legitimierte Gesetzgeber entscheiden. „Kontext“ und „Text“ geraten insoweit in ein wechselseitiges Abhängigkeitsverhältnis. The translation of law into (computer) code seems to be currently on everyone’s lips. Lawrence Lessigs’ famous dictum “Code is Law” has recently been rephrased saying that “Law” was also “Code”. This means that the wording of laws should directly take their “computer implementability” into consideration. A starting point for those postulations can be seen in the (relatively) new section 35a of the (Federal) Administrative Prodecure Act (Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetz), which allows “automatic” decisions in specific cases. A new paper of the Fraunhofer FOKUS institute takes this up and suggests that we have only to look for the appropriate, unambiguous term that corresponds with an unequivocal legal meaning. In doing so, law could be programmable. But this is exactly the point where the problem arises: laws have more than one addressee; they address lawyers as well as citizens (mostly laypeople). Furthermore, legal terminology is context dependent. The current hype regarding the “algorithmization” of legal terminology also hides the fact that this issue was – more or less – discussed once before under the paradigm “legal cybernetics” between 1960 and 1985. So how can we approach the problem of context-dependency of law under the new paradigm of algorithmization? In our contribution on “Algorithm-compatible administrative law? Legal and linguistic considerations concerning the ‘standardization’ of legal terminology”, we will introduce different approaches to safeguard the compatibility of law with computer technics. But how sophisticated a technical method can be: It is the democratically legitimised parliament that must make the fundamental decisions when it comes to an “algorithmization” of legal terminology, because there is no text without context.

Context-Dependent Modulation of Early Visual Cortical Responses to Numerical and Nonnumerical Magnitudes

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Joonkoo Park ◽  
Sonia Godbole ◽  
Marty G. Woldorff ◽  
Elizabeth M. Brannon
Keyword(s):  
Visual Processing ◽  
Context Dependency ◽  
Numerical Magnitude ◽  
Continuous Variables ◽  
Processing Stream ◽  
Cortical Responses ◽  
Early Visual Cortex ◽  
Context Dependent ◽  
Visual Cortical ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Whether and how the brain encodes discrete numerical magnitude differently from continuous nonnumerical magnitude is hotly debated. In a previous set of studies, we orthogonally varied numerical (numerosity) and nonnumerical (size and spacing) dimensions of dot arrays and demonstrated a strong modulation of early visual evoked potentials (VEPs) by numerosity and not by nonnumerical dimensions. Although very little is known about the brain's response to systematic changes in continuous dimensions of a dot array, some authors intuit that the visual processing stream must be more sensitive to continuous magnitude information than to numerosity. To address this possibility, we measured VEPs of participants viewing dot arrays that changed exclusively in one nonnumerical magnitude dimension at a time (size or spacing) while holding numerosity constant and compared this to a condition where numerosity was changed while holding size and spacing constant. We found reliable but small neural sensitivity to exclusive changes in size and spacing; however, changing numerosity elicited a much more robust modulation of the VEPs. Together with previous work, these findings suggest that sensitivity to magnitude dimensions in early visual cortex is context dependent: The brain is moderately sensitive to changes in size and spacing when numerosity is held constant, but sensitivity to these continuous variables diminishes to a negligible level when numerosity is allowed to vary at the same time. Neurophysiological explanations for the encoding and context dependency of numerical and nonnumerical magnitudes are proposed within the framework of neuronal normalization.

Approach and avoidance learning in patients with major depression and healthy controls: relation to anhedonia

2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. W. Chase ◽  
M. J. Frank ◽  
A. Michael ◽  
E. T. Bullmore ◽  
B. J. Sahakian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Positive Reinforcement ◽  
Negative Reinforcement ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Negative Bias ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Approach And Avoidance ◽  
Depressed Patients ◽  
Increased Sensitivity ◽  
Global Reduction

BackgroundCentral to understanding of the behavioural consequences of depression has been the theory that the disorder is accompanied by an increased sensitivity to negative compared with positive reinforcement (negative bias), whereas other theorists have emphasized a global reduction in sensitivity to reinforcement in depression (blunting).MethodIn this study, we used a probabilistic selection task that was designed to examine independently rates of learning to predict both positive and negative reinforcement. Twenty-three depressed out-patients and 23 healthy controls from the local population participated in the study.ResultsNo evidence for a negative bias was observed on the task, either during acquisition of the task or during generalization of the learned information. Depressed patients responded slower on the task than controls but showed a similar modulation of reaction times (RTs) as controls following reinforcement. Evidence for blunting was observed on the training phase, as reflected in reduced trial-by-trial adjustment during this phase. However, this effect was related specifically to the severity of anhedonia, as measured by the Snaith–Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS), and was independent of overall depression severity.ConclusionsWe argue that the observation of a negative bias or blunting in a group of depressed patients may be dependent on the neuropsychological task and the symptoms of the patients tested. Our results provide insight into how these theories might be further tested.

scholarly journals Beta-band desynchronization reflects uncertainty in effector selection during motor planning

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milou J.L. van Helvert ◽  
Leonie Oostwoud Wijdenes ◽  
Linda Geerligs ◽  
W. Pieter Medendorp
Keyword(s):  
Time Window ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Motor Preparation ◽  
Motion Artifact ◽  
Theta Band ◽  
Beta Band ◽  
Target Uncertainty ◽  
Band Power

AbstractWhile beta-band activity during motor planning is known to be modulated by uncertainty about where to act, less is known about its modulations to uncertainty about how to act. To investigate this issue, we recorded oscillatory brain activity with EEG while human participants (n = 17) performed a hand choice reaching task. The reaching hand was either predetermined or of participants’ choice, and the target was close to one of the two hands or at about equal distance from both. To measure neural activity in a motion-artifact-free time window, the location of the upcoming target was cued 1000-1500 ms before the presentation of the target, whereby the cue was valid in 50% of trials. As evidence for motor planning during the cueing phase, behavioral observations showed that the cue affected later hand choice. Furthermore, reaction times were longer in the choice than in the predetermined trials, supporting the notion of a competitive process for hand selection. Modulations of beta-band power over central cortical regions, but not alpha-band or theta-band power, were in line with these observations. During the cueing period, reaches in predetermined trials were preceded by larger decreases in beta-band power than reaches in choice trials. Cue direction did not affect reaction times or beta-band power, which may be due to the cue being invalid in 50% of trials, retaining effector uncertainty during motor planning. Our findings suggest that effector uncertainty, similar to target uncertainty, selectively modulates beta-band power during motor planning.New & NoteworthyWhile reach-related beta-band power in central cortical areas is known to modulate with the number of potential targets, here we show, using a cueing paradigm, that the power in this frequency band, but not in the alpha or theta-band, is also modulated by the uncertainty of which hand to use. This finding supports the notion that multiple possible effector-specific actions can be specified in parallel up to the level of motor preparation.

scholarly journals O4B.3 The impact of income support systems on healthcare quality and functional capacity in workers with LBP: a realist review

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. A34.3-A35
Author(s):  
Michael Di Donato ◽  
Ross Iles ◽  
Tyler Lane ◽  
Alex Collie
Keyword(s):  
Functional Capacity ◽  
Work Disability ◽  
Support Systems ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Healthcare Quality ◽  
Realist Review ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Income Support ◽  
Context Dependent ◽  
The Impact

BackgroundLow back pain (LBP) is a leading cause of work disability. While absent from work, workers with LBP may receive income support from a system such as workers’ compensation or social security. Current evidence suggests that income support systems can influence recovery from LBP, but provides little evidence as to why and how these effects occur. This study examines how and in what contexts income support systems impact the healthcare quality and functional capacity of people with work disability and LBP.MethodsWe performed a realist review, a type of literature review that seeks to explain how social interventions and phenomena in certain contexts generate outcomes, rather than simply whether or not they do. Five initial theories about the mechanisms of the relationship were developed, tested, and refined by acquiring and synthesising academic literature from purposive and iterative electronic database searching. This process was supplemented by grey literature searching for policy documents and legislative summaries, and semi-structured interviews with experts in income support, healthcare, and LBP.ResultsIncome support systems influence healthcare quality through healthcare funding restrictions, healthcare provider administrative burden, and allowing an employer to select healthcare providers. Income support systems influence worker functional capacity through the level of participation and share of income support funding required of employers, and through certain administrative procedures. These mechanisms are often exclusively context-dependent, and generate differing and unintended outcomes depending on features of the healthcare and income support system, as well as other contextual factors such as socioeconomic status and labour force composition.ConclusionIncome support systems impact the healthcare quality and functional capacity of people with work disability and LBP through context-dependent financial control, regulatory, and administrative mechanisms. Future policy design and research efforts should consider how income support systems may indirectly influence workers with LBP via the workplace.

scholarly journals The role of sublexical variables in reading fluency development among Spanish children

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 858-877 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta ÁLVAREZ-CAÑIZO ◽  
Paz SUÁREZ-COALLA ◽  
Fernando CUETOS
Keyword(s):  
Reading Fluency ◽  
Repeated Exposure ◽  
Context Dependency ◽  
Orthographic Representation ◽  
New Words ◽  
Orthographic Representations ◽  
Syllabic Structure ◽  
Context Dependent

AbstractSeveral studies have found that, after repeated exposure to new words, children form orthographic representations that allow them to read those words faster and more fluently. However, these studies did not take into account variables related to the words. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of sublexical variables on the formation of orthographic representations of words by Spanish children. The first experiment used pseudo-words of varying syllabic structure and syllabic frequency. The stimuli for the second experiment were formed with or without context-dependent graphemes. We found that formation of orthographic representations was influenced by syllabic structure (easier for words with simple syllabic structure) and the context-dependency of graphemes (easier in the absence of context-dependent graphemes), but not syllabic frequency. These results indicate that the easier it is to read a word, the easier it is to form an orthographic representation of it.

scholarly journals Stress as a potential moderator of ovarian hormone influences on binge eating in women

F1000Research ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasha Fowler ◽  
Phuong T. Vo ◽  
Cheryl L. Sisk ◽  
Kelly L. Klump
Keyword(s):  
Binge Eating ◽  
High Stress ◽  
Ovarian Hormones ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Ovarian Hormone ◽  
Moderating Effects ◽  
Response To Stress ◽  
Increased Sensitivity ◽  
As Stress

Previous research has demonstrated significant associations between increased levels of ovarian hormones and increased rates of binge eating (BE) in women. However, whereas all women experience fluctuations in ovarian hormones across the menstrual cycle, not all women binge eat in response to these fluctuations, suggesting that other factors must contribute. Stress is one potential contributing factor. Specifically, it may be that hormone-BE associations are stronger in women who experience high levels of stress, particularly as stress has been shown to be a precipitant to BE episodes in women. To date, no studies have directly examined stress as a moderator of hormone-BE associations, but indirect data (that is, associations between BE and stress and between ovarian hormones and stress) could provide initial clues about moderating effects. Given the above, the purpose of this narrative review was to evaluate these indirect data and their promise for understanding the role of stress in hormone-BE associations. Studies examining associations between all three phenotypes (that is, ovarian hormones, stress, and BE) in animals and humans were reviewed to provide the most thorough and up-to-date review of the literature on the potential moderating effects of stress on ovarian hormone–BE associations. Overall, current evidence suggests that associations between hormones and BE may be stronger in women with high stress levels, possibly via altered hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis response to stress and increased sensitivity to and altered effects of ovarian hormones during stress. Additional studies are necessary to directly examine stress as a moderator of ovarian hormone–BE associations and identify the mechanisms underlying these effects.

scholarly journals Differential Influence of Attention on Gaze and Head Movements

2009 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 198-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aarlenne Z. Khan ◽  
Gunnar Blohm ◽  
Robert M. McPeek ◽  
Philippe Lefèvre
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Times ◽  
Stimulus Onset ◽  
Head Movements ◽  
Neck Muscle ◽  
Gaze Shifts ◽  
Opposite Pattern ◽  
Saccade Onset ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Onset Asynchrony ◽  
Electromyographic Signals

A salient peripheral cue can capture attention, influencing subsequent responses to a target. Attentional cueing effects have been studied for head-restrained saccades; however, under natural conditions, the head contributes to gaze shifts. We asked whether attention influences head movements in combined eye–head gaze shifts and, if so, whether this influence is different for the eye and head components. Subjects made combined eye–head gaze shifts to horizontal visual targets. Prior to target onset, a behaviorally irrelevant cue was flashed at the same (congruent) or opposite (incongruent) location at various stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA) times. We measured eye and head movements and neck muscle electromyographic signals. Reaction times for the eye and head were highly correlated; both showed significantly shorter latencies (attentional facilitation) for congruent compared with incongruent cues at the two shortest SOAs and the opposite pattern (inhibition of return) at the longer SOAs, consistent with attentional modulation of a common eye–head gaze drive. Interestingly, we also found that the head latency relative to saccade onset was significantly shorter for congruent than that for incongruent cues. This suggests an effect of attention on the head separate from that on the eyes.

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