scholarly journals Graspable Objects Grab Attention More Than Images Do

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 206-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Gomez ◽  
Rafal M. Skiba ◽  
Jacqueline C. Snow
Keyword(s):  
Response Times ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Interference Effects ◽  
Manual Responses ◽  
Transparent Barrier ◽  
Real Objects ◽  
Manual Interaction ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Flanker Interference

The opportunity an object presents for action is known as an affordance. A basic assumption in previous research was that images of objects, which do not afford physical action, elicit effects on attention and behavior comparable with those of real-world tangible objects. Using a flanker task, we compared interference effects between real graspable objects and matched 2-D or 3-D images of the items. Compared with both 2-D and 3-D images, real objects yielded slower response times overall and elicited greater flanker interference effects. When the real objects were positioned out of reach or behind a transparent barrier, the pattern of response times and interference effects was comparable with that for 2-D images. Graspable objects exert a more powerful influence on attention and manual responses than images because of the affordances they offer for manual interaction. These results raise questions about whether images are suitable proxies for real objects in psychological research.

Attentional Adjustment to Conflict Strength

2014 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Wendt ◽  
Andrea Kiesel ◽  
Franziska Geringswald ◽  
Sascha Purmann ◽  
Rico Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Pupil Diameter ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Simultaneous Presentation ◽  
Selective Adaptation ◽  
Adaptation Effect ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Interference Effects ◽  
High Conflict ◽  
Sequence Effects ◽  
Flanker Interference

Current models of cognitive control assume gradual adjustment of processing selectivity to the strength of conflict evoked by distractor stimuli. Using a flanker task, we varied conflict strength by manipulating target and distractor onset. Replicating previous findings, flanker interference effects were larger on trials associated with advance presentation of the flankers compared to simultaneous presentation. Controlling for stimulus and response sequence effects by excluding trials with feature repetitions from stimulus administration (Experiment 1) or from the statistical analyses (Experiment 2), we found a reduction of the flanker interference effect after high-conflict predecessor trials (i.e., trials associated with advance presentation of the flankers) but not after low-conflict predecessor trials (i.e., trials associated with simultaneous presentation of target and flankers). This result supports the assumption of conflict-strength-dependent adjustment of visual attention. The selective adaptation effect after high-conflict trials was associated with an increase in prestimulus pupil diameter, possibly reflecting increased cognitive effort of focusing attention.

Structure and behavior of white pelican formation flocks

1982 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 1388-1396 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Brian E. O'Malley ◽  
Roger M. Evans
Keyword(s):  
Response Times ◽  
Formation Flight ◽  
Flock Size ◽  
Wingbeat Frequency ◽  
Percent Time ◽  
Column Formation ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
And Behavior

Observations of white pelicans commuting between nesting colonies and foraging areas revealed transitions from small, simple linear flock formations to larger, more complex vee and jay formations during departures, and the reverse during the return approach. Large, less-organized types of formations were relatively uncommon and short lived.Formation angles measured for filmed flocks ranged from 24° to 122° and were highly correlated with mean relative interbird distances within flocks. The number of wingbeats per hour, calculated from wingbeat frequency (beats per minute) and percent time flapping, was lowest in vee formation, progressively greater in jay, echelon, and column formation, and greatest for single birds. Wingbeats per hour decreased behind the lead bird, which usually had the highest rate, within each type of formation.Shifts between flapping and gliding were usually initiated by lead birds. Response times for these shifts were negatively related to flock size, and were shorter in vee and jay formations than in column and echelon formations.Our data suggests formation flight provides both aerodynamic–energetic and communication advantages over solitary flight.

Flanker interference effects in a line bisection task

2014 ◽  
Vol 232 (4) ◽  
pp. 1327-1334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Chieffi ◽  
Tina Iachini ◽  
Alessandro Iavarone ◽  
Giovanni Messina ◽  
Andrea Viggiano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Line Bisection ◽  
Interference Effects ◽  
Bisection Task ◽  
Line Bisection Task ◽  
Flanker Interference

scholarly journals A New Remote Guided Method for Supervised Web-Based Cognitive Testing to Ensure High Quality Data

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Leong ◽  
Kausar Raheel ◽  
Sim Jia Yi ◽  
Kriti Kacker ◽  
Vasilis M. Karlaftis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Quality ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Cognitive Testing ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Online Data ◽  
Test Environment ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Cognitive Data

Background. The global COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a fundamental reexamination of how human psychological research can be conducted both safely and robustly in a new era of digital working and physical distancing. Online web-based testing has risen to the fore as a promising solution for rapid mass collection of cognitive data without requiring human contact. However, a long-standing debate exists over the data quality and validity of web-based studies. Here, we examine the opportunities and challenges afforded by the societal shift toward web-based testing, highlight an urgent need to establish a standard data quality assurance framework for online studies, and develop and validate a new supervised online testing methodology, remote guided testing (RGT). Methods. A total of 85 healthy young adults were tested on 10 cognitive tasks assessing executive functioning (flexibility, memory and inhibition) and learning. Tasks were administered either face-to-face in the laboratory (N=41) or online using remote guided testing (N=44), delivered using identical web-based platforms (CANTAB, Inquisit and i-ABC). Data quality was assessed using detailed trial-level measures (missed trials, outlying and excluded responses, response times), as well as overall task performance measures. Results. The results indicated that, across all measures of data quality and performance, RGT data was statistically-equivalent to data collected in person in the lab. Moreover, RGT participants out-performed the lab group on measured verbal intelligence, which could reflect test environment differences, including possible effects of mask-wearing on communication. Conclusions. These data suggest that the RGT methodology could help to ameliorate concerns regarding online data quality and - particularly for studies involving high-risk or rare cohorts - offer an alternative for collecting high-quality human cognitive data without requiring in-person physical attendance.

scholarly journals A Measure of the Interference Effect Distribution

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
thibault gajdos ◽  
Mathieu Servant ◽  
Thierry Hasbroucq ◽  
Karen Davranche
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Interference Effect ◽  
Graphical Representation ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Cognitive Model ◽  
Individual Data ◽  
Interference Effects ◽  
Distribution Index

We elaborated an index, the Interference Distribution Index, that allows to quantify the relation between response times and the size of the interference effect. This index is associated to an intuitive graphical representation, the Lorenz-interference plot. We show that this index has some convenient properties in terms of sensitivity to changes in the distribution of the interference effect and to aggregation of individual data. Moreover, it turns out that this index is the only one (up to an arbitrary increasing transformation) possessing these properties. The relevance of this index is illustrated through simulations of a cognitive model of interference effects and reanalysis of experimental data.

A New Remote Guided Method for Supervised Web-Based Cognitive Testing to Ensure High Quality Data (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Leong ◽  
Kausar Raheel ◽  
Jia Yi Sim ◽  
Kriti Kacker ◽  
Vasilis M Karlaftis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Quality ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Cognitive Testing ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Online Data ◽  
Test Environment ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Cognitive Data

BACKGROUND The global COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a fundamental reexamination of how human psychological research can be conducted both safely and robustly in a new era of digital working and physical distancing. Online web-based testing has risen to the fore as a promising solution for rapid mass collection of cognitive data without requiring human contact. However, a long-standing debate exists over the data quality and validity of web-based studies. OBJECTIVE Here, we examine the opportunities and challenges afforded by the societal shift toward web-based testing, highlight an urgent need to establish a standard data quality assurance framework for online studies, and develop and validate a new supervised online testing methodology, remote guided testing (RGT). METHODS A total of 85 healthy young adults were tested on 10 cognitive tasks assessing executive functioning (flexibility, memory and inhibition) and learning. Tasks were administered either face-to-face in the laboratory (N=41) or online using remote guided testing (N=44), delivered using identical web-based platforms (CANTAB, Inquisit and i-ABC). Data quality was assessed using detailed trial-level measures (missed trials, outlying and excluded responses, response times), as well as overall task performance measures. RESULTS The results indicated that, across all measures of data quality and performance, RGT data was statistically-equivalent to data collected in person in the lab. Moreover, RGT participants out-performed the lab group on measured verbal intelligence, which could reflect test environment differences, including possible effects of mask-wearing on communication. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that the RGT methodology could help to ameliorate concerns regarding online data quality and - particularly for studies involving high-risk or rare cohorts - offer an alternative for collecting high-quality human cognitive data without requiring in-person physical attendance. CLINICALTRIAL N.A.

scholarly journals Skin and Macular Carotenoids and Their Implications for Cognitive Control and Achievement in Children (OR05-08-19)

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlyn Edwards ◽  
Corinne Cannavale ◽  
Isabel Flemming ◽  
Samantha Iwinski ◽  
Anne Walk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Interference Control ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Funding Sources ◽  
Math Scores ◽  
Heterochromatic Flicker Photometry ◽  
Flanker Interference

Abstract Objectives Carotenoids are plant pigments that accumulate across several tissues including the macula and skin. However, the relationship between carotenoid deposition in retina and skin is unknown in children. Understanding these interrelationships is important, given that evidence indicates that carotenoid status is a marker of cognitive health in childhood. Importantly, the selectivity of cognitive function to carotenoids in different tissues remains understudied. The present work investigated associations between retinal and skin carotenoids and their implications for children's cognitive function and achievement. Methods Children 7–12 years old (N = 50) participated in the study. Retinal carotenoid status, i.e., macular pigment optical density (MPOD), was assessed using heterochromatic flicker photometry. Skin carotenoids were assessed using reflection spectroscopy at the fingertip using the Veggiemeter. Academic achievement was assessed using the Woodcock Johnson IV test and a modified Eriksen flanker task to assess children's ability for selective attention or interference control. Results There was a significant positive correlation between skin and retinal carotenoid levels (rs = 0.29, P = 0.02). Skin carotenoids were positively related to reading (rs = 0.42, P = 0.001) and math scores (rs = 0.34, P = 0.009). However, skin carotenoids were not significantly related to flanker interference scores (p's > 0.05). On the other hand, MPOD was positively related to reading (rs = 0.25, P = 0.04) but not math (rs = 0.12, P = 0.20). Further, MPOD was inversely related to flanker interference scores for reaction time (rs = −0.29, P = 0.02) and accuracy (rs = −0.28, P = 0.03), indicating that children with higher retinal carotenoids exhibited superior ability to maintain cognitive control performance when faced with greater task demands. Conclusions These findings demonstrate that carotenoid levels in skin and retina are correlated in children. These findings further suggest that carotenoid status in children is associated with cognition, perhaps selectively across site of accumulation and cognitive domains. Funding Sources This work was supported by funds provided by the Egg Nutrition Center.

The systematic study of how subtle forms of bias related to prosocial behavior operate in racial and gender relations

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-121
Author(s):  
Silvia Abad-Merino ◽  
John F. Dovidio ◽  
Carmen Tabernero ◽  
Ignacio González
Keyword(s):  
Gender Relations ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
The Status ◽  
And Gender ◽  
And Behavior

Psychological research and theory have traditionally focused on bias and conflict between separate groups. Our central thesis is that the processes that shape hierarchical group relations within a society are distinctive and typically operate in ways that are frequently subtle rather than blatant. The challenges of detecting new subtle forms of bias are receiving considerable attention in the field of social psychology, internationally. Although explicit hostility toward minority groups seems to have faded in modern societies, cross-cultural data show that the status, resources, and the power of women and ethnic/racial minorities remain unequal. The present literature review integrates the findings of cross-cultural research showing the role of paternalistic legitimizing ideas and behavior for establishing, maintaining, and reinforcing group hierarchy and the disadvantage of members of traditionally underrepresented groups. Specifically, we explain how intergroup helping relations can be used as a mechanism to maintain social advantage in racial and gender relations. These theoretical and experimental insights help illuminate the dynamics of relations between socially linked groups and the nature of contemporary bias. We also highlight how this perspective suggests novel and productive directions for future research.

Covert orienting to the locations of targets and distractors: Effects on response channel activation in a flanker task

2002 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 917-936 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Ro ◽  
Liana Machado ◽  
Nancy Kanwisher ◽  
Robert D. Rafal
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Attention ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Channel Activation ◽  
Covert Orienting ◽  
Exogenous Cues ◽  
Colour Patch ◽  
Target Locations ◽  
Response Channel ◽  
Flanker Interference

The role of covert orienting of attention in response channel activation was examined using the flanker interference and precueing paradigms. Four experiments assessed the influence of distractors on the discrimination of a target colour patch under cueing conditions (three with non-informative, exogenous cues and one with informative, endogenous cues) that modulated attention at the flanker or target locations. Across all of the experiments, the amount of interference generated by the distractors was not modulated by the facilitation and inhibition of return induced by spatial attention precues. These results are consistent with previous reports of patients with neglect, which demonstrated that flanker interference proceeds at unattended locations (Audet, Bub, & Lecours, 1991; Cohen, Ivry, Rafal, & Kohn, 1995), and they suggest that response channel activation can occur independently from spatial attention.

When Perception Trumps Reality

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 346-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Sand ◽  
Mats E. Nilsson
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Priming ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Chance Level ◽  
Subliminal Priming ◽  
Prime Stimulus ◽  
Objective Meaning ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Prime Target ◽  
Made In

Is semantic priming driven by the objective or perceived meaning of the priming stimulus? This question is relevant given that many studies suggest that the objective meaning of invisible stimuli can influence cognitive processes and behavior. In an experiment involving 66 participants, we tested how the perceived meaning of misperceived stimuli influenced response times. Stroop priming (i.e., longer response times for incongruent than for congruent prime-target pairs) was observed in trials in which the prime was correctly identified. However, reversed Stroop priming was observed when the prime stimulus was incorrectly identified. Even in trials in which participants reported no perception of the prime and identified the primes at close to chance level (i.e., trials that meet both subjective and objective definitions of being subliminal), Stroop priming corresponded to perceived congruency, not objective congruency. This result suggests that occasional weak percepts and mispercepts are intermixed with no percepts in conditions traditionally claimed to be subliminal, casting doubt on claims of subliminal priming made in previous reports.

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