scholarly journals Modulation of parafoveal word processing by cognitive load during modified visual search tasks

2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (7) ◽  
pp. 1805-1826
Author(s):  
Julien Dampuré ◽  
Abdelrhani Benraiss ◽  
Nicolas Vibert
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Early Event ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Search Tasks ◽  
Categorical Task ◽  
Target Words

During visual search for simple items, the amount of information that can be processed in parafoveal vision depends on the cognitive resources that are available. However, whether this applies to the semantic processing of words remains controversial. This work was designed to manipulate simultaneously two sources of cognitive load to study their impact on the depth of parafoveal word processing during a modified visual search task. The participants had to search for target words among parafoveally presented semantic, orthographic or target-unrelated distractor words while their electroencephalogram was recorded. The task-related load was manipulated by either giving target words in advance (literal task) or giving only a semantic clue to define them (categorical task). The foveal load was manipulated by displaying either a word or hash symbols at the centre of the screen. Parafoveal orthographic and semantic distractors had an impact on the early event-related potential component P2a only in the literal task and when hash symbols were displayed at the fovea, i.e., when both the task-related and foveal loads were low. The data show that all sources of cognitive load must be considered to understand how parafoveal words are processed in visual search contexts.

scholarly journals Exploring Affective Priming Effect of Emotion-Label Words and Emotion-Laden Words: An Event-Related Potential Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 553
Author(s):  
Chenggang Wu ◽  
Juan Zhang ◽  
Zhen Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Word Processing ◽  
Priming Effect ◽  
Word Type ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Affective Priming ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Emotion Word ◽  
Priming Paradigm ◽  
Emotion Label ◽  
Target Words

In order to explore the affective priming effect of emotion-label words and emotion-laden words, the current study used unmasked (Experiment 1) and masked (Experiment 2) priming paradigm by including emotion-label words (e.g., sadness, anger) and emotion-laden words (e.g., death, gift) as primes and examined how the two kinds of words acted upon the processing of the target words (all emotion-laden words). Participants were instructed to decide the valence of target words, and their electroencephalogram was recorded at the same time. The behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) results showed that positive words produced a priming effect whereas negative words inhibited target word processing (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, the inhibition effect of negative emotion-label words on emotion word recognition was found in both behavioral and ERP results, suggesting that modulation of emotion word type on emotion word processing could be observed even in the masked priming paradigm. The two experiments further supported the necessity of defining emotion words under an emotion word type perspective. The implications of the findings are proffered. Specifically, a clear understanding of emotion-label words and emotion-laden words can improve the effectiveness of emotional communications in clinical settings. Theoretically, the emotion word type perspective awaits further explorations and is still at its infancy.

scholarly journals The limits of unconscious semantic processing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Nadalini ◽  
Roberto Bottini ◽  
Daniel Casasanto ◽  
Davide Crepaldi
Keyword(s):  
Word Processing ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Subliminal Priming ◽  
Semantic Representations ◽  
Test Bed ◽  
Replication Studies ◽  
Space And Time ◽  
The Future ◽  
Target Words

Do supraliminal and subliminal priming capture different facets of words’ semantic representations? We used metaphorical priming between space and time as a test bed for this question. While people conceptualize time along the lateral and sagittal axes, only the latter mapping comes up in language (the future is in front of you, not to your right). We assessed facilitation on temporal target words by lateral (left, right) and sagittal (back, front) primes, in masked and overt conditions. Supraliminally, we observe similar sagittal and lateral priming, while the masked effect is stronger on the sagittal axis, and weak to non–existent on the lateral one. These results are observed in an original and a replication studies; and are strongly confirmed by a Bayesian meta–analysis of the two. We conclude that unconscious word processing is limited to linguistically–encoded information, while consciousness may be needed to fully activate semantic representations.

scholarly journals Differential Modulation of Word Recognition by Semantic and Spatial Orienting of Attention

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 787-801 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara C. Cristescu ◽  
Anna Christina Nobre
Keyword(s):  
Word Processing ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Behavioral Performance ◽  
Differential Modulation ◽  
Semantic Categories ◽  
Spatial Orienting ◽  
Complex Stimuli ◽  
Visual Potential ◽  
Electrophysiological Effects

In the present study, we investigated the ability to orient attention to abstract associative features of complex stimuli, more specifically, to the semantic categories of visual word stimuli. We compared the behavioral and electrophysiological effects of semantic orienting with those elicited by spatial orienting to word stimuli. Two parallel, cued lexical-decision tasks, with semantic- or spatial-orienting cues, were used. Results showed that both semantic and spatial orienting facilitated behavioral performance. The event-related potential analysis revealed different and non-overlapping patterns of modulation of word processing by semantic and spatial orienting. Modulation by semantic orienting started later, affecting only the potentials linked to conceptual or semantic processing (N300 and N400). The pattern of N300/N400 modulation in the semantic-orienting condition was similar to that observed in semantic-priming tasks, and was compatible with the operation of controlled semantic processes. Spatial orienting significantly enhanced the amplitude of the early visual potential P1 as well as the language-related N400 potential. These findings showed that the similar end-result of behavioral facilitation by semantic and spatial orienting is achieved through largely distinct mechanisms acting upon separate levels of stimulus analysis.

Are the Same Attentional Mechanisms Used to Detect Visual Search Targets Defined by Color, Orientation, and Motion?

1997 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 238-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Massimo Girelli ◽  
Steven J. Luck
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
The Other ◽  
Motion Information ◽  
Search Tasks ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Motion Discontinuities ◽  
Potential Waveform ◽  
Attentional Mechanism ◽  
Form Information

Motion information tends to be segregated from color and form information in the visual system, both perceptually and neuroanatomically, and it is therefore possible that different mechanisms of attention are used to select targets defined by these different feature types during visual search. To test this hypothesis, we recorded the N2pc component of the event-related potential waveform during visual search tasks with color, orientation, and motion targets. The N2pc component has previously been shown to reflect a specific attentional mechanism that is present for color and form targets, and we sought to determine whether this component would also be present for motion targets. The N2pc component was indeed observed for motion targets as well as color and orientation targets, consistent with the use of a common attentional mechanism across feature types. In addition, we found that motion singletons (i.e., individual items that moved in the opposite direction from the other items in the army) elicited an N2pc component even when they were task-irrelevant, indicating that motion discontinuities may produce an automatic orienting of attention.

Event-Related Potential Components Reflect Phonological and Semantic Processing of the Terminal Word of Spoken Sentences

1994 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 256-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
John F. Connolly ◽  
Natalie A. Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Word Recognition ◽  
Mismatch Negativity ◽  
Word Processing ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Cohort Model ◽  
Brain Potential ◽  
Initial Phoneme ◽  
The Third ◽  
Phonological Mismatch

An event-related brain potential (ERP) reflecting the acoustic-phonetic process in the phonological stage of word processing was recorded to the terminal words of spoken sentences. The peak latency of this negative-going response occurred between 270 and 300 msec after the onset of the terminal word. The independence of this response (the phonological mismatch negativity, PMN) from the ERP component known to be sensitive to semantic violations (N400) was demonstrated by manipulating sentence endings so that phonemic and semantic violations occurred together or separately. Four conditions used sentences that ended with (1) the highest Cloze probability word (e.g., “The piano was out of tune.”), (2) a word having the same initial phoneme of the highest Cloze probability word but that was, in fact, semantically anomalous (e.g., “The gambler had a streak of bad luggage.”), (3) a word having an initial phoneme different from that of the highest Cloze probability word but that was, in fact, semantically appropriate (e.g., “Don caught the ball with his glove.”), or (4) a word that was semantically anomalous and, therefore, had an initial phoneme that was totally unexpected given the sentence's context (e.g., “The dog chased our cat up the queen”). Neither the PMN nor the N400 was found in the first condition. Only an N400 was observed in the second condition while only a PMN was seen in the third. Both responses were elicited in the last condition. Finally, a delayed N400 occurred to semantic violations in the second condition where the initial phoneme was identical to that of the highest Cloze probability ending. Results are discussed with regard to the Cohort model of word recognition.

Increased cognitive load during pseudoword processing

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 289-309
Author(s):  
Lukša Matas ◽  
◽  
Marina Olujić Tomazin ◽  
Jelena Kuvač Kraljević ◽  
Gordana Hržica ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Oddball Paradigm ◽  
Precise Control ◽  
New Words ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Unknown Words ◽  
Target Words

Pseudowords (words without semantic meaning) are often used as a control condition in linguistic cognitive experiments, with the expectation that such words, unlike real words, do not activate higher cognitive processes in the brain. However, other theories assume that pseudowords are perceived as new words, leading to an even higher cognitive response. The aim of this study was to investigate the cognitive load of processing a pseudoword by observing event-related potentials in a 3-stimulus oddball paradigm using real target words, real non-target words, and pseudowords as oddball stimuli. The results show a clear task-related P3b triggered by target words, but also a prominent P600 component triggered by pseudowords, indicating difficulty in the classification task due to unknown words. Surprisingly, N400 was decreased for pseudowords compared to target and non-target words at the locations where P3b and P600 were observed, suggesting that task-related effects might inhibit other aspects of cognitive processing. These results could lead to better understanding of the components that may overlap temporally and topographically, and to the more precise control of different cognitive generators involved in event-related potential experiments in pseudowords.

Cognitive Load Mediates the Effect of Emotion on Analytical Thinking

2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 343-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bastien Trémolière ◽  
Marie-Ève Gagnon ◽  
Isabelle Blanchette
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Secondary Task ◽  
Deleterious Effect ◽  
Detrimental Effect ◽  
Emotional Problems ◽  
Syllogistic Reasoning ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Potential Explanation ◽  
Cognitive Mechanism ◽  
Analytical Thinking

Abstract. Although the detrimental effect of emotion on reasoning has been evidenced many times, the cognitive mechanism underlying this effect remains unclear. In the present paper, we explore the cognitive load hypothesis as a potential explanation. In an experiment, participants solved syllogistic reasoning problems with either neutral or emotional contents. Participants were also presented with a secondary task, for which the difficult version requires the mobilization of cognitive resources to be correctly solved. Participants performed overall worse and took longer on emotional problems than on neutral problems. Performance on the secondary task, in the difficult version, was poorer when participants were reasoning about emotional, compared to neutral contents, consistent with the idea that processing emotion requires more cognitive resources. Taken together, the findings afford evidence that the deleterious effect of emotion on reasoning is mediated by cognitive load.

In Search of Experience Effects: How TSA Officers Differ From Undergraduates on Visual Search Tasks

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen R. Mitroff ◽  
Adam T. Biggs ◽  
Matthew S. Cain ◽  
Elise F. Darling ◽  
Kait Clark ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Search Tasks ◽  
Experience Effects
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