Effects of location and fade-in time of (audio-)visual cues on response times and success-rates in a dual-task experiment

Following other researchers, we investigated the premise that visual judgment of kinship might be modelled as a signal-detection task, strictly related to similar facial features. We measured subjects' response times to face-pair stimuli while they performed visual judgments of kinship, similarity, or dissimilarity, and examined some priming effects involved. Our results show that kinship judgment takes longer on average than either similarity or dissimilarity judgment—which is compatible with existing models, yet might also suggest that kinship judgments are of a more complex character. In our priming study we observed selective suppression/enhancement of the efficacy of dissimilarity judgments whenever they followed similarity and kinship judgments. This finding confounds the notion, inherent in previous models, of resemblance cues signalling for kinship, since similarity and dissimilarity cannot be considered just as opposite concepts, and observed priming effects need to be explicitly modelled, including dissimilarity cues. To model kinship judgments across faces that are perceived as dissimilar, a new framework may be required, perhaps accepting the perspective of a task-driven use of the visual cues, modulated by experience and cultural conditioning.

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Telephone Conversations Affect the Executive but not the Alerting or Orienting Network

10.31234/osf.io/ytpd7 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Melina Kunar ◽

Derrick Watson ◽

Rhiannon Richards ◽

Daniel Gunnell

Keyword(s):

Visual Attention ◽

Selective Attention ◽

Mobile Phone ◽

Dual Task ◽

Response Times ◽

Amount Of Information ◽

Attentional Networks ◽

Attention Tasks ◽

Conflict Effect ◽

The Individual

Previous work has shown that talking on a mobile phone leads to an impairment of visual attention. Gunnell et al. (2020) investigated the locus of these dual-task impairments and found that although phone conversations led to cognitive delays in response times, other mechanisms underlying particular selective attention tasks were unaffected. Here we investigated which attentional networks, if any, were impaired by having a phone conversation. We used the Attentional Network Task (ANT) to evaluate performance of the alerting, orienting and executive attentional networks, both in conditions where people were engaged in a conversation and where they were silent. Two experiments showed that there was a robust delay in response across all three networks. However, at the individual network level, holding a conversation did not influence the size of the alerting or orienting effects but it did reduce the size of the conflict effect within the executive network. The findings suggest that holding a conversation can reduce the overall speed of responding and, via its influence on the executive network, can reduce the amount of information that can be processed from the environment.

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What causes the bilingual disadvantage in verbal fluency? The dual-task analogy

Bilingualism Language and Cognition ◽

10.1017/s1366728909990514 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 231-252 ◽

Cited By ~ 100

Author(s):

TIFFANY C. SANDOVAL ◽

TAMAR H. GOLLAN ◽

VICTOR S. FERREIRA ◽

DAVID P. SALMON

Keyword(s):

Dual Task ◽

Verbal Fluency ◽

Language Production ◽

Response Times ◽

Language Fluency ◽

Dominant Language ◽

Task Effects ◽

First Response ◽

Intrusion Errors ◽

Cross Language

We investigated the consequences of bilingualism for verbal fluency by comparing bilinguals to monolinguals, and dominant versus non-dominant-language fluency. In Experiment 1, bilinguals produced fewer correct responses, slower first response times and proportionally delayed retrieval, relative to monolinguals. In Experiment 2, similar results were obtained comparing the dominant to the non-dominant languages within bilinguals. Additionally, bilinguals produced significantly lower-frequency words and a greater proportion of cognate responses than monolinguals, and bilinguals produced more cross-language intrusion errors when speaking the non-dominant language, but almost no such intrusions when speaking the dominant language. These results support an analogy between bilingualism and dual-task effects (Rohrer et al., 1995), implying a role for between-language interference in explaining the bilingual fluency disadvantage, and suggest that bilingual fluency will be maximized under testing conditions that minimize such interference. More generally, the findings suggest a role for selection by competition in language production, and that such competition is more influential in relatively unconstrained production tasks.

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Effects of concurrent task demands on language planning in fluent children and adults

Applied Psycholinguistics ◽

10.1017/s0142716415000582 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 37 (6) ◽

pp. 1311-1336 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

JAYANTHI SASISEKARAN ◽

CARA DONOHUE

Keyword(s):

Dual Task ◽

Response Times ◽

Language Planning ◽

Age Groups ◽

Task Demands ◽

Primary Task ◽

Distractor Word ◽

Decision Task ◽

Related Condition ◽

Secondary Tasks

ABSTRACTThe aim of the present study was to investigate how children and adults allocate cognitive resources to performing segmental encoding and monitoring in a dual-task paradigm and the response patterns of the primary and secondary tasks in the dual task. Participants were 20 children divided equally into two age groups (7–11 and 12–15 years) and 10 adults. The primary task required participants to monitor phonemic segments in a picture–written word interference paradigm while silently naming the pictures. The picture and distractor word were the same (replica), related (phoneme onset overlap), or unrelated. The secondary task required participants to make pitch judgments on tones presented at short (330 ms) or long (1130 ms) stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) from picture onset. Developmental differences were observed in both response times and percentage errors in the primary and secondary tasks. Slower responses to the primary task were evident at the long SOA, related condition. Slower response times to the tone decision task were evident at the short rather than the long SOA. The findings support the capacity sharing account of dual-task performance and suggest that dual-task costs during language planning are higher in children than in adults.

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Age differences in the use of implicit visual cues in a response time task

Brazilian Journal of Motor Behavior ◽

10.20338/bjmb.v13i2.139 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 86-93 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jose Angelo Barela ◽

Anselmo A Rocha ◽

Andrew R Novak ◽

Job Fransen ◽

Gabriella A Figueiredo

Keyword(s):

Response Time ◽

Age Differences ◽

Visual Cues ◽

Response Times ◽

Age Groups ◽

Developmental Changes ◽

Time Intervals ◽

Stimulus Response ◽

Time Task ◽

Adolescents And Adults

Background: Many activities require a complex interrelationship between a performer and stimuli available in the environment without explicit perception, but many aspects regarding developmental changes in the use of implicit cues remain unknown. Aim: To investigate the use of implicit visual precueing presented at different time intervals in children, adolescents, and adults. Method: Seventy-two people, male and female, constituted four age groups: 8-, 10- and 12-year-olds and adults. Participants performed 32 trials, four-choice-time task across four conditions: no precue and a 43 ms centralized dot appearing in the stimulus circle at 43, 86 or 129 ms prior the stimulus. Response times were obtained for each trial and pooled into each condition. Results: Response times for 8-year-olds were longer than for 12-year-olds and adults and for 10-year-olds were longer than for adults. Response times were longer in the no precue condition compared to when precues were presented at 86 and 129 ms before the stimulus. Response times were longer when precue was presented at 43 ms compared presented at 129 ms before the stimulus. Interpretation: Implicit precues reduce response time in children, adolescents and adults, but young children benefit less from implicit precues than adolescents and adults.

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Captive gibbons (Hylobatidae) use different referential cues in an object-choice task: insights into lesser ape cognition and manual laterality

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.5348 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. e5348 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Kai R. Caspar ◽

Larissa Mader ◽

Fabian Pallasdies ◽

Miriam Lindenmeier ◽

Sabine Begall

Keyword(s):

Visual Cues ◽

Population Level ◽

Great Apes ◽

Choice Task ◽

Primate Species ◽

Success Rates ◽

Human Communication ◽

Object Choice ◽

Object Choice Task ◽

Hand Preferences

Background Utilization of visual referential cues by non-human primates is a subject of constant scientific interest. However, only few primate species, mostly great apes, have been studied thoroughly in that regard, rendering the understanding of phylogenetic influences on the underlying cognitive patterns difficult. Methods We tested six species of captive gibbons in an object-choice task (n = 11) for their ability to interpret two different pointing gestures, a combination of body orientation and gaze direction as well as glancing as referential cues. Hand preferences were tested in the object-choice task and in a bimanual tube task (n = 18). Results We found positive responses to all signals except for the glancing cue at the individual as well as at the group level. The gibbons’ success rates partially exceed results reported for great apes in comparable tests and appear to be similarly influenced by prior exposure to human communicative cues. Hand preferences exhibited by the gibbons in the object-choice task as well as in a bimanual tube task suggest that crested gibbons (Nomascus sp.) are strongly lateralized at individual but not at population level for tasks involving object manipulation. Discussion Based on the available data, it can be assumed that the cognitive foundations to utilize different visual cues essential to human communication are conserved in extant hominoids and can be traced back at least to the common ancestor of great and lesser apes. However, future studies have to further investigate how the social environment of gibbons influences their ability to exploit referential signals. Gibbons’ manual laterality patterns appear to differ in several aspects from the situation found in great apes. While not extensive enough to allow for general conclusions about the evolution of hand preferences in gibbons or apes in general, our results add to the expanding knowledge on manual lateralization in the Hylobatidae.

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Falls Risk and Simulated Driving Performance in Older Adults

Journal of Aging Research ◽

10.1155/2013/356948 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 2013 ◽

pp. 1-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

John G. Gaspar ◽

Mark B. Neider ◽

Arthur F. Kramer

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Task Performance ◽

Dual Task ◽

Response Times ◽

Cognitive Task ◽

Driving Performance ◽

Unexpected Events ◽

Falls Risk ◽

Simulated Driving ◽

Dual Task Performance

Declines in executive function and dual-task performance have been related to falls in older adults, and recent research suggests that older adults at risk for falls also show impairments on real-world tasks, such as crossing a street. The present study examined whether falls risk was associated with driving performance in a high-fidelity simulator. Participants were classified as high or low falls risk using the Physiological Profile Assessment and completed a number of challenging simulated driving assessments in which they responded quickly to unexpected events. High falls risk drivers had slower response times (~2.1 seconds) to unexpected events compared to low falls risk drivers (~1.7 seconds). Furthermore, when asked to perform a concurrent cognitive task while driving, high falls risk drivers showed greater costs to secondary task performance than did low falls risk drivers, and low falls risk older adults also outperformed high falls risk older adults on a computer-based measure of dual-task performance. Our results suggest that attentional differences between high and low falls risk older adults extend to simulated driving performance.

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Obstacle Avoidance and Dual-Tasking During Reaching While Standing in Patients With Mild Chronic Stroke

Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair ◽

10.1177/15459683211023190 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 154596832110231

Author(s):

Aditi A. Mullick ◽

Melanie C. Baniña ◽

Yosuke Tomita ◽

Joyce Fung ◽

Mindy F. Levin

Keyword(s):

Obstacle Avoidance ◽

Dual Task ◽

Memory Task ◽

Verbal Working Memory ◽

Avoidance Task ◽

Success Rates ◽

Task Condition ◽

Dual Task Condition ◽

Single Task ◽

Task Conditions

Background. Poststroke individuals use their paretic arms less often than expected in daily life situations, even when motor recovery is scored highly in clinical tests. Real-world environments are often unpredictable and require the ability to multitask and make decisions about rapid and accurate arm movement adjustments. Objective. To identify whether and to what extent cognitive–motor deficits in well-recovered individuals with stroke affect the ability to rapidly adapt reaching movements in changing cognitive and environmental conditions. Methods. Thirteen individuals with mild stroke and 11 healthy controls performed an obstacle avoidance task in a virtual environment while standing. Subjects reached for a virtual juice bottle with their hemiparetic arm as quickly as possible under single- and dual-task conditions. In the single-task condition, a sliding glass door partially obstructed the reaching path of the paretic arm. A successful trial was counted when the subject touched the bottle without the hand colliding with the door. In the dual-task condition, subjects repeated the same task while performing an auditory–verbal working memory task. Results. Individuals with stroke had significantly lower success rates than controls in avoiding the moving door in single-task (stroke: 51.8 ± 21.2%, control: 70.6 ± 12.7%; P = .018) and dual-task conditions (stroke: 40.0 ± 27.6%, control: 65.3 ± 20.0%; P = .015). Endpoint speed was lower in stroke subjects for successful trials in both conditions. Obstacle avoidance deficits were exacerbated by increased cognitive demands in both groups. Individuals reporting greater confidence using their hemiparetic arm had higher success rates. Conclusion. Clinically well-recovered individuals with stroke may have persistent deficits performing a complex reaching task.

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Performance Analysis of Internet of Things Interactions via Simulation-Based Queueing Models

Future Internet ◽

10.3390/fi13040087 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 87

Author(s):

Georgios Bouloukakis ◽

Ioannis Moscholios ◽

Nikolaos Georgantas ◽

Valérie Issarny

Keyword(s):

Performance Analysis ◽

Internet Of Things ◽

Response Times ◽

Queueing Network ◽

Network Models ◽

Simulation Models ◽

Queueing Models ◽

Success Rates ◽

Application Development ◽

Iot Applications

Numerous middleware application programming interfaces (APIs) and protocols were introduced in the literature in order to facilitate the application development of the Internet of Things (IoT). Such applications are built on reliable or even unreliable protocols that may implement different quality-of-service (QoS) delivery modes. The exploitation of these protocols, APIs and QoS modes, can satisfy QoS requirements in critical IoT applications (e.g., emergency response operations). To study QoS in IoT applications, it is essential to leverage a performance analysis methodology. Queueing-network models offer a modeling and analysis framework that can be adopted for the IoT interactions of QoS representation through either analytical or simulation models. In this paper, various types of queueing models are presented that can be used for the representation of various QoS settings of IoT interactions. In particular, we propose queueing models to represent message-drop probabilities, intermittent mobile connectivity, message availability or validity, the prioritization of important information, and the processing or transmission of messages. Our simulation models demonstrate the significant effect on delivery success rates and response times when QoS settings are varied.

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On the Complexity of Visual Judgement of Kinship

i-Perception ◽

10.1177/2041669519841642 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 204166951984164

Author(s):

Linda Brodo ◽

Enrico Grosso

Keyword(s):

Visual Cues ◽

Response Times ◽

Similarity Index ◽

Data Set ◽

Complex Process ◽

Close Relationship ◽

Face Stimuli ◽

Basic Ability ◽

Close Relatives ◽

New Framework

Discrimination of close relatives is a basic ability of humans, with demonstrated and important consequences in social and sexual behaviours. In this article, we investigate the visual judgement of kinship, that is the process of discriminating relatives based on visual cues and, in particular, on facial resemblance. Starting from triplets of face stimuli, we focus on a simple two-alternative forced choice protocol and we ask participants to evaluate kinship, similarity, or dissimilarity. Response times of the participants performing these visual judgements are recorded and further analysed. The analysis can also benefit from previous findings on the adopted face data set; in particular, results are compared with reference to an independently generated and statistically reliable similarity index, which is available for each possible considered pair of images. Our results confirm previous findings stating that kinship and similarity judgements are closely related and take longer, on average, than dissimilarity judgement. Moreover, they confirm that similarity and dissimilarity cannot be considered just as opposite concepts, and strongly support the existence of different pathways for similarity and dissimilarity judgements. Concerning kinship judgements, results confirm the assumption, inherent in previous models, of a close relationship between cues signalling for kinship and cues signalling for similarity but suggest the existence of a more complex process, where dissimilarity cues need to be explicitly included in order to model measured effects. Our results reinforce the idea that modulation mechanisms between similarity and dissimilarity measures could explain selective suppression or enhancement effects reported in previous works. A new framework is thus proposed hypothesising that kinship recognition is the result of a balanced evaluation of both similar or dissimilar pathways.

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