The Development and Evaluation of Pictographic Symbols

1981 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 198-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Sloan ◽  
Paul Eshelman
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Error Rate ◽  
Relative Effectiveness ◽  
Symbol Recognition ◽  
Black Cross ◽  
Negation Sign

The premise adopted in this study is that representatives of the audience for whom a symbol is intended should be participants in its evolution as well as subjects in its evaluation. Several situations in need of product misuse warnings were supplied by a manufacturer of ovenware products. Symbol design possibilities were first generated for each message category and then design input was obtained from a sample of potential product users. New design candidates were developed on the basis of subject recommendations. Study generated symbols proved to be significantly more effective than designs used by the manufacturer for the same message categories as assessed by differences in reaction time and error rate. The relative effectiveness of different negation sign designs was also evaluated. Differences in both reaction time and subjective ranks of communicativeness suggest that a thin black cross is more effective in conveying negation than a thin black slash, a partial slash or cross, and a contour slash or cross. Significant differences were not found in the extent that the designs interfere with symbol recognition.

How Useful is the Power Law of Practice for Recognizing Practice in Concentration Tests?

2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 157-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Hagemeister
Keyword(s):  
Logistic Regression ◽  
Reaction Time ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Error Rate ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Practice Effect ◽  
Practice Effects ◽  
Rate Decrease ◽  
Small Practice

Abstract. When concentration tests are completed repeatedly, reaction time and error rate decrease considerably, but the underlying ability does not improve. In order to overcome this validity problem this study aimed to test if the practice effect between tests and within tests can be useful in determining whether persons have already completed this test. The power law of practice postulates that practice effects are greater in unpracticed than in practiced persons. Two experiments were carried out in which the participants completed the same tests at the beginning and at the end of two test sessions set about 3 days apart. In both experiments, the logistic regression could indeed classify persons according to previous practice through the practice effect between the tests at the beginning and at the end of the session, and, less well but still significantly, through the practice effect within the first test of the session. Further analyses showed that the practice effects correlated more highly with the initial performance than was to be expected for mathematical reasons; typically persons with long reaction times have larger practice effects. Thus, small practice effects alone do not allow one to conclude that a person has worked on the test before.

Switching of Response Modalities

2005 ◽  
Vol 58 (7) ◽  
pp. 1325-1338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea M. Philipp ◽  
Iring Koch
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Task Switching ◽  
Error Rate ◽  
Task Switch ◽  
Different Response

When participants perform a sequence of different tasks, it is assumed that the engagement in one task leads to the inhibition of the previous task. This inhibition persists and impairs performance when participants switch back to this (still inhibited) task after only one intermediate trial. Previous task-switching studies on this issue have defined different tasks at the level of stimulus categorization. In our experiments we used different response modalities to define tasks. Participants always used the same stimulus categorization (e.g., categorize a digit as odd vs. even), but had to give a vocal, finger, or foot response (A, B, or C). Our results showed a higher reaction time and error rate in ABA sequences than in CBA sequences, indicating n − 2 repetition cost as a marker for persisting task inhibition. We assume that different response modalities can define a task and are inhibited in a “task switch” in the same way as stimulus categories are inhibited.

Hebrew plural inflection

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vered Vaknin-Nussbaum ◽  
Joseph Shimron
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Error Rate ◽  
Morphological Analysis ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
Additional Source ◽  
Main Obstacle ◽  
Theoretical Contribution ◽  
Empirical Results ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Nominal Inflection

Research on several Indo-European languages attests to notable difficulties in inflecting irregular nouns and verbs. In these languages morphological and phonological factors are often intertwined in a way that obscures the source of the problem. Hebrew by contrast allows isolation of morphological and phonological factors in nominal inflection. Three experiments demonstrated that as in Indo-European languages, nominal inflection of Hebrew irregular nouns is slower than that of regular nouns and involves more errors. The occurrence of phonological alterations to the noun’s stem with the inflection is an additional source of irregularity, which also taxes the inflectional process in reaction time and error rate. The empirical results underline the power of the default automatic suffixation process as the main obstacle to irregular inflection. A theoretical contribution of this study is an interpretation of the irregularity effect based on a morphological analysis that views Hebrew as having a linear rather than a non-linear morphology. The stem–suffix match is suggested as the dominant factor affecting the inflectional process, responsible for the difficulties in irregular inflections. It is argued that in Hebrew, the differences between inflecting regular and irregular nouns can be easily and adequately explained as resulting from a mismatch between a stem and an affix.

From Simple to Complex or Vice Versa: Sequence Effects on the Detection of Embedded Figures

Perception ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 26 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 247-247
Author(s):  
I Ludwig
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Error Rate ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Random Order ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Presentation Order ◽  
The Other ◽  
Embedded Figures ◽  
Sequence Effects ◽  
Mean Reaction Time

In a series of studies concerning part - whole perception we have investigated effects of perceptual learning, and of systematically varied presentation orders on the detection of embedded figures. In the present study the effects of increasing and decreasing complexity orders on detection performance are reported. Stimuli were 170 pairs of whole and part figures. Half of them were positive items, ie the searched part was contained in the (simultaneously presented) whole. The other half were negative items, ie the searched part was not contained in the whole. The difficulty of all figure pairs was determined from earlier data. On the basis of these difficulty parameters three presentation orders were created: (1) increasing difficulty (from simple to complex), (2) decreasing difficulty (from complex to simple), and (3) randomised order. Sixty subjects performed each of these tasks in three sessions separated by one week. Effects of practice and samples were balanced by permutating the order of the three tasks. The reaction times and error rates for all presentations were registered. The results showed marked differences between the three tasks: The lowest mean reaction time was obtained in the presentation order with increasing difficulty. Error rate, on the other hand, was lowest in the decreasing-difficulty presentation order. For the random-order presentation error rate and reaction time was in between the other orders. Furthermore, differences in benefit from practice were observed between the three orders of difficulty. Results are discussed with respect to the question of how efficient search strategies may be learned and whether one can learn to bend the rules of Gestalt organisation if required.

Are Individual Differences in Absentmindedness Correlated with Individual Differences in Attention?

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 220-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoko Ishigami ◽  
Raymond M. Klein
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Reaction Time ◽  
Error Rate ◽  
Executive Control ◽  
Attention Network Test ◽  
Global Measure ◽  
Attention Network ◽  
Warning Tone ◽  
Cognitive Failures ◽  
Cognitive Failures Questionnaire

We administered the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) and one of two versions of the Attention Network Test (ANT) to 200 participants. Orthogonal subtraction scores based on performance (reaction time and error rate) from selected conditions of the ANT provided measures of the efficacy of three attention components: alerting, orienting, and executive control, while the total CFQ score provided a global measure of absentmindedness. Executive control was not associated with the CFQ in either experiment. When alertness was generated by a warning tone, greater alerting effects in reaction time were associated with higher CFQ scores (greater absentmindedness). The orienting effects in accuracy obtained from the two versions of the ANT varied with absentmindedness in opposite directions, suggesting that these two tests tap different aspects of orienting.

Physiological inequalities do not result in psychological inequalities in vision field: Evidence from a test of visual selective attention

2010 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 405-414
Author(s):  
Xufeng Liu ◽  
Jing Lu ◽  
Jing-jing Gong ◽  
Sheng-jun Wu ◽  
Wei Wang
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Selective Attention ◽  
Error Rate ◽  
Visual Selective Attention ◽  
Similar Function ◽  
Processing Efficiency ◽  
Distractor Effect ◽  
Field Evidence ◽  
Irrelevant Distractors ◽  
Distractor Rejection

It is well known that there are some characteristics of physiological inequality among vision fields. But, based on many studies, this inequality does not lead to psychological inequalities. Our aim was to assess directly the effect of vision field (foveal, parafoveal, peripheral) on irrelevant distractors' rejection of selective attention and to determine whether or not the physiological inequalities of different vision fields bring out psychological inequalities. Results showed that there were significant differences in reaction time and error rate among 3 vision fields, but no distractor effect. Results demonstrated that perception processing efficiency was not balanced among the 3 types of vision, but does have a similar function of distractor rejection.

scholarly journals The Reaction Switching Produces A Greater Bias to Prepotent Response than Reaction Inhibition

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 188
Author(s):  
Kirill Fadeev ◽  
Tatyana Alikovskaia ◽  
Alexey Tumyalis ◽  
Alexey Smirnov ◽  
Kirill Golokhvast
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Response Bias ◽  
Error Rate ◽  
Response Inhibition ◽  
Motor Response ◽  
Prepotent Response ◽  
Response Switching ◽  
Alternative Responses ◽  
Positive Correlations ◽  
Reaction Inhibition

There is a discussion about common or various mechanisms of response inhibition and response switching. To understand these mechanisms, we used a modified Go/NoGo task with three stimulus categories. The subjects were instructed to press a button in response to frequent Go stimuli, press another button in response to rare Go stimuli and hold any motor response following the presentation of NoGo stimuli. The results showed a decrease in reaction time for frequent Go, following both categories of rare stimuli and the decrease was greater following rare Go. Also, the total number of errors did not differ between Go and NoGo, however, a greater bias of error rate towards frequent Go stimuli was found for rare Go compared to NoGo. Finally, positive correlations were found between the increase in reaction time for rare Go compared to frequent Go and the number of errors for both rare Go and rare NoGo. Together, these results indicate that both rare Go and NoGo stimuli required to inhibit the prepotent response, but rare Go in comparison to NoGo stimuli also evoked a conflict between prepotent and alternative responses, which is expressed in greater response bias toward frequent Go.

Work Rhythm and Breathing Rhythm in a Repetitive Perceptual–Motor Task: The Effects of Synchronization on Performance

1987 ◽  
Vol 31 (12) ◽  
pp. 1336-1340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Henning
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Error Rate ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Motor Task ◽  
Reaction Time Task ◽  
Work Rate ◽  
Task Structure ◽  
Rest Break ◽  
Perceived Difficulty ◽  
Perceptual Motor Performance

A laboratory investigation was conducted to determine if synchronization between the work rhythm and the respiratory biorhythm benefits perceptual-motor performance. The effect of work-respiratory (W–R) synchronization on reaction time, error rate, and perceived difficulty was evaluated for a visual choice reaction time task. Interstimulus intervals were chosen to induce a work rhythm. Prior to the experiment, the task was performed in a self-paced mode so that a baseline work rate could be identified for each subject. Each subject (N=22) then performed the task at 3 machine-paced work rhythms; 1) equal to the work rhythm of the baseline work rate, 2) 33% faster than the work rhythm of the baseline work rate, and 3) 33% slower than the work rhythm of the baseline work rate. Each condition consisted of two, 4 min trials separated by a brief rest break. Work rate (in responses per minute) was held constant across conditions through adjustments in task structure. Regression analysis revealed that W–R synchronization was associated with a 1% reduction in error rate and a 15 msec reduction in reaction time. These results suggest that W–R synchronization benefits perceptual–motor performance of repetitive tasks.

scholarly journals Neural correlates for task switching in the macaque superior colliculus

2017 ◽  
Vol 118 (4) ◽  
pp. 2156-2170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason L. Chan ◽  
Michael J. Koval ◽  
Kevin Johnston ◽  
Stefan Everling
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Task Switching ◽  
Error Rate ◽  
Nonhuman Primates ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Task Set ◽  
Macaque Monkeys ◽  
Switch Costs

Successful task switching requires a network of brain areas to select, maintain, implement, and execute the appropriate task. Although frontoparietal brain areas are thought to play a critical role in task switching by selecting and encoding task rules and exerting top-down control, how brain areas closer to the execution of tasks participate in task switching is unclear. The superior colliculus (SC) integrates information from various brain areas to generate saccades and is likely influenced by task switching. Here, we investigated switch costs in nonhuman primates and their neural correlates in the activity of SC saccade-related neurons in monkeys performing cued, randomly interleaved pro- and anti-saccade trials. We predicted that behavioral switch costs would be associated with differential modulations of SC activity in trials on which the task was switched vs. repeated, with activity on the current trial resembling that associated with the task set of the previous trial when a switch occurred. We observed both error rate and reaction time switch costs and changes in the discharge rate and timing of activity in SC neurons between switch and repeat trials. These changes were present later in the task only after fixation on the cue stimuli but before saccade onset. These results further establish switch costs in macaque monkeys and suggest that SC activity is modulated by task-switching processes in a manner inconsistent with the concept of task set inertia. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Task-switching behavior and superior colliculus (SC) activity were investigated in nonhuman primates performing randomly interleaved pro- and anti-saccade tasks. Here, we report error rate and reaction time switch costs in macaque monkeys and associated differences in stimulus-related activity of saccade-related neurons in the SC. These results provide a neural correlate for task switching and suggest that the SC is modulated by task-switching processes and may reflect the completion of task set reconfiguration.

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