How Emotions Modulate Arithmetic Performance

2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (5) ◽  
pp. 368-376
Author(s):  
Ludovic Fabre ◽  
Patrick Lemaire
Keyword(s):  
Parity Violation ◽  
International Affective Picture System ◽  
Problem Difficulty ◽  
Arithmetic Problem ◽  
Neutral Face ◽  
Arithmetic Performance ◽  
False Problem

Abstract. The goal of the present study was to test whether and how emotions influence arithmetic performance. Participants had to verify arithmetic problems. True problems were either easier or harder problems. False problems were parity-match or parity-mismatch problems. The odd/even status of proposed and correct answers was the same in parity-match problems (e.g., 19 × 7 = 131) and different in parity-mismatch problems (e.g., 17 × 9 = 152). Before each problem, participants saw a positive (e.g., smiling baby), negative (e.g., mutilations), or neutral pictures (e.g., neutral face) selected from International Affective Picture System (IAPS). They had to decide whether each picture includes a person or not before verifying each arithmetic problem. Results showed different effects of emotion on true- and false problem verification. Participants’ performance on true problems showed decreased problem-difficulty after processing negative pictures and increased difficulty effects after processing positive pictures. On false problems, we found smaller parity-violation effects after negative pictures (i.e., decreased performance on parity-mismatch problems), together with larger parity-violation effects after positive pictures (i.e., decreased performance on parity-match problems). These findings suggest that emotions influence arithmetic performance via which strategy is used and how each strategy is executed on each problem. They have important implications for understanding the role of emotions on arithmetic performance, and more generally on how emotions influence cognition.

Concurrent Electrodermal and Eyeblink Conditioning With Masked and Unmasked Stimuli

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-42
Author(s):  
José Luis Marcos ◽  
Azahara Marcos
Keyword(s):  
Unconditioned Stimulus ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Eyeblink Conditioning ◽  
Noise Burst ◽  
Conditioning Phase ◽  
Contingency Awareness ◽  
Blank Screen ◽  
Neutral Face ◽  
Fearful Face

Abstract. The aim of this study was to determine if contingency awareness between the conditioned (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (US) is necessary for concurrent electrodermal and eyeblink conditioning to masked stimuli. An angry woman’s face (CS+) and a fearful face (CS−) were presented for 23 milliseconds (ms) and followed by a neutral face as a mask. A 98 dB noise burst (US) was administered 477 ms after CS+ offset to elicit both electrodermal and eyeblink responses. For the unmasking conditioning a 176 ms blank screen was inserted between the CS and the mask. Contingency awareness was assessed using trial-by-trial ratings of US-expectancy in a post-conditioning phase. The results showed acquisition of differential electrodermal and eyeblink conditioning in aware, but not in unaware participants. Acquisition of differential eyeblink conditioning required more trials than electrodermal conditioning. These results provided strong evidence of the causal role of contingency awareness on differential eyeblink and electrodermal conditioning.

The visual number world: A dynamic approach to study the mathematical mind

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Hartmann ◽  
Jochen Laubrock ◽  
Martin H Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Cognition ◽  
Mental Arithmetic ◽  
Simultaneous Presentation ◽  
Language Research ◽  
On Line ◽  
Arithmetic Performance ◽  
Mathematical Mind ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Visual Number

In the domain of language research, the simultaneous presentation of a visual scene and its auditory description (i.e., the visual world paradigm) has been used to reveal the timing of mental mechanisms. Here we apply this rationale to the domain of numerical cognition in order to explore the differences between fast and slow arithmetic performance, and to further study the role of spatial-numerical associations during mental arithmetic. We presented 30 healthy adults simultaneously with visual displays containing four numbers and with auditory addition and subtraction problems. Analysis of eye movements revealed that participants look spontaneously at the numbers they currently process (operands, solution). Faster performance was characterized by shorter latencies prior to fixating the relevant numbers and fewer revisits to the first operand while computing the solution. These signatures of superior task performance were more pronounced for addition and visual numbers arranged in ascending order, and for subtraction and numbers arranged in descending order (compared to the opposite pairings). Our results show that the “visual number world”-paradigm provides on-line access to the mind during mental arithmetic, is able to capture variability in arithmetic performance, and is sensitive to visual layout manipulations that are otherwise not reflected in response time measurements.

The Auditory Kuleshov Effect: Multisensory Integration in Movie Editing

Perception ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 624-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas M. Baranowski ◽  
H. Hecht
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expression ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Multisensory Integration ◽  
Interaction Effect ◽  
Neutral Face ◽  
The Face ◽  
Sad Music ◽  
Ambiguous Situations

Almost a hundred years ago, the Russian filmmaker Lev Kuleshov conducted his now famous editing experiment in which different objects were added to a given film scene featuring a neutral face. It is said that the audience interpreted the unchanged facial expression as a function of the added object (e.g., an added soup made the face express hunger). This interaction effect has been dubbed “Kuleshov effect.” In the current study, we explored the role of sound in the evaluation of facial expressions in films. Thirty participants watched different clips of faces that were intercut with neutral scenes, featuring either happy music, sad music, or no music at all. This was crossed with the facial expressions of happy, sad, or neutral. We found that the music significantly influenced participants’ emotional judgments of facial expression. Thus, the intersensory effects of music are more specific than previously thought. They alter the evaluation of film scenes and can give meaning to ambiguous situations.

scholarly journals Children's Use of Arithmetic Shortcuts: The Role of Attitudes in Strategy Choice

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine M. Robinson ◽  
Adam K. Dubé
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Strategy Choice ◽  
Inverse Relation ◽  
The Third ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Associative Relation ◽  
Problem Solving Strategies ◽  
Arithmetic Performance ◽  
Transfer Problems

Current models of strategy choice do not account for children's attitudes towards different problem solving strategies. Grade 2, 3, and 4 students solved three sets of three-term addition problems. On inversion problems (e.g., 4 + 8 − 8), if children understand the inverse relation between the operations, no calculations are required. On associativity problems (e.g., 5 + 27 − 23), if children understand the associative relation between the operations, problem solving can be facilitated by performing subtraction before addition. A brief intervention involving demonstrations of different problem solving strategies followed the first problem set. Shortcut use increased after the intervention, particularly for students who preferred shortcuts to the left-to-right algorithm. In the third set, children were given transfer problems (e.g., 8 + 4 − 8, 4 − 8 + 8, 27 + 5 − 23). Shortcut use was similar to first set suggesting that transfer did occur. That shortcut use increased the most for students who had positive attitudes about the shortcuts suggests that attitudes have important implications for subsequent arithmetic performance.

Finger-based representation of mental arithmetic

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Andres ◽  
Mauro Pesenti
Keyword(s):  
Mental Arithmetic ◽  
Adult Brain ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Imaging Studies ◽  
Simple Arithmetic ◽  
Number Representations ◽  
Fixed Order ◽  
Arithmetic Performance

Human beings are permanently required to process the world numerically and, consequently, to perform computations to adapt their behaviour and they have developed various calculation strategies, some of them based on specific manipulations of the fingers. In this chapter, we argue that the way we express physically numerical concepts by raising fingers while counting leads to embodied representations of numbers and calculation procedures in the adult brain. To illustrate this, we focus on number and finger interactions in the context of simple arithmetic operations. We show that the fixed order of fingers on the hand provides human beings with unique facilities to increment numerical changes or represent a cardinal value while solving arithmetic problems. In order to specify the influence of finger representation on mental arithmetic both at the cognitive and neural level, we review past and recent findings from behavioural, electrophysiological, and brain imaging studies. We start with anthropological and developmental data showing the role of fingers in the acquisition of arithmetic knowledge, then address the issue of whether number and finger interactions are also observed in adults solving arithmetic problems mentally. We suggest that arithmetic performance depends on the integrity of finger representations in children and adults. Finally, we overview the results of recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies showing a common brain substrate for finger and number representations during and after the acquisition of arithmetic skills.

Causal role of spatial attention in arithmetic problem solving: Evidence from left unilateral neglect

2014 ◽  
Vol 60 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valérie Dormal ◽  
Anne-Marie Schuller ◽  
Julie Nihoul ◽  
Mauro Pesenti ◽  
Michael Andres
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Causal Role ◽  
Arithmetic Problem ◽  
Unilateral Neglect

Role of Errors in Concept Identification

1975 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 223-230
Author(s):  
Douglas C. Chatfield ◽  
Bill F. Van Dyke ◽  
M. Dean Powell
Keyword(s):  
Identification Problem ◽  
Concept Identification ◽  
Relevant Dimension ◽  
Problem Difficulty ◽  
Observing Response ◽  
The One

216 Ss were given a concept-identification problem wherein Ss were required to make an overt button-pressing response, as an observing response, in order to view each dimension of an instance. On each trial, Ss were allowed to view any dimensions they desired with the constraint that they were allowed to view only half of the available dimensions. On those trials in which the one relevant dimension was not observed, Ss were given misinformative feedback. Three levels of misinformative feedback, designed to vary the probability of S's classification response being called correct ( p), were used. It was found that mean number of errors to solution was a function of problem difficulty and saliency but independent of variations in p as predicted by Trabasso and Bower (1968). The results did not support the strength theories in concept identification.

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