Attention and Brain Damage: A Clinical Study of Response Latency under Various Degrees of Uncertainty

1989 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Wyns ◽  
F. Coyette ◽  
R. Bruyer
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Study ◽  
Visual Attention ◽  
Brain Damage ◽  
Response Latency ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Attention Deficits ◽  
Response Accuracy ◽  
Preliminary Application

Wyns and Bruyer in 1988 proposed a visual attention test that is easy to use and sensitive both to the age of the subjects and the level of uncertainty about the response required. This test was designed as a fine gauge of attention deficits in brain-damaged subjects with poorly structured complaints. We present here a preliminary application of the test to a group of 48 such persons. Analysis of response accuracy indicated that 27 subjects were deficient in this respect. Of the 21 remaining subjects whose reaction times were analyzable, only one-third appeared as entirely normal.

Effects of Cigarette Smoking on Lexical Decision-Making

1999 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina R. Hale ◽  
Mark V. Gentry ◽  
Charles J. Meliska
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Cigarette Smoking ◽  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Memory Retrieval ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Smoking Abstinence ◽  
Response Accuracy ◽  
Lexical Decisions ◽  
Nicotine Delivery

10 habitual smokers, aged 19–25 yr., were randomly assigned to smoke either a very low nicotine “Placebo” cigarette (.05-mg nicotine delivery as estimated by the FTC method) or a Nicotine cigarette (.7-mg estimated nicotine delivery). Each participant was asked to abstain from smoking for 4 to 7 hr. prior to testing. After completing a presmoking test of lexical decision-making, participants smoked either a Nicotine or Placebo cigarette and were then retested for reaction times and accuracy on the lexical decision test. When presented the most difficult lexical decisions, participants responded significantly faster after smoking a Nicotine cigarette than they did before smoking; smoking a Placebo cigarette did not affect reaction times. Response accuracy was unaffected by smoking either kind of cigarette. These results suggest that smoking a nicotine cigarette may improve attention or memory retrieval after several hours of smoking abstinence.

Effect of Intermittent Exercise on Multiple-Choice Reaction Times of Soccer Players

2005 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koen A. P. M. Lemmink ◽  
Chris Visscher
Keyword(s):  
Intermittent Exercise ◽  
Multiple Choice ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Bicycle Ergometer ◽  
Soccer Players ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Choice Response ◽  
Response Accuracy ◽  
And Control ◽  
Reaction Speed

The influence of intermittent exercise on a choice-response time task was investigated. Two groups of 8 male soccer players ( M age = 20.9, SD = 2.0) participated. They spent 4.4 ( SD = 1.3) weekly hours on soccer training and had been playing soccer for 13 ( SD = 3.3) years. Multiple-choice reaction speed and response accuracy were measured four times. Between measurements, one group performed 8-min. blocks of intermittent exercise on a bicycle ergometer and one group rested. Analysis showed that reaction speed and response accuracy were not significantly different between the two groups. Furthermore, there were significant faster reaction times and a larger number of correct reactions through Block 2 in both the exercise and control group ( p<.05), probably a result of learning processes and familiarization with the task procedures. Further research towards the specific influence of mode of exercise, intensity, work-rest ratio and duration of intermittent exercise, and the sensitivity of reaction time tasks will be necessary to clarify the relationship between intermittent exercise and cognitive performance.

scholarly journals Emphasizing the “positive” in positive reinforcement: using nonbinary rewarding for training monkeys on cognitive tasks

2018 ◽  
Vol 120 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Fischer ◽  
Detlef Wegener
Keyword(s):  
Visual Attention ◽  
Positive Reinforcement ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Fixed Amount ◽  
Optimal Behavior ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Neuronal Mechanisms ◽  
Using Data

Nonhuman primates constitute an indispensable model system for studying higher brain functions at the neurophysiological level. Studies involving these animals elucidated the neuronal mechanisms of various cognitive and executive functions, such as visual attention, working memory, and decision-making. Positive reinforcement training (PRT) constitutes the gold standard for training animals on the cognitive tasks employed in these studies. In the laboratory, PRT is usually based on application of a liquid reward as the reinforcer to strengthen the desired behavior and absence of the reward if the animal’s response is wrong. By trial and error, the monkey may adapt its behavior and successfully reduce the number of error trials, and eventually learn even very sophisticated tasks. However, progress and success of the training strongly depend on reasonable error rates. If errors get too frequent, they may cause a drop in the animal’s motivation to cooperate or its adaptation to high error rates and poor overall performance. We introduce in this report an alternative training regime to minimize errors and base the critical information for learning on graded rewarding. For every new task rule, the feedback to the animal is provided by different amounts of reward to distinguish the desired, optimal behavior from less optimal behavior. We applied this regime in different situations during training of visual attention tasks and analyzed behavioral performance and reaction times to evaluate its effectiveness. For both simple and complex behaviors, graded rewarding was found to constitute a powerful technique allowing for effective training without trade-off in accessible task difficulty or task performance. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Laboratory training of monkeys usually builds on providing a fixed amount of reward for the desired behavior, and no reward otherwise. We present a nonbinary, graded reward schedule to emphasize the positive, desired behavior and to keep errors on a moderate level. Using data from typical training situations, we demonstrate that graded rewards help to effectively guide the animal by success rather than errors and provide a powerful new tool for positive reinforcement training.

scholarly journals Age-related changes in visual search: manipulation of colour cues based on cone contrast and opponent modulation space

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuto Tamura ◽  
Keiko Sato
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Visual Attention ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Visual Space ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Human Lens ◽  
Search Performance ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Colour Perception ◽  
Age Related

AbstractReduced retinal illuminance affects colour perception in older adults, and studies show that they exhibit deficiencies in yellow-blue (YB) discrimination. However, the influence of colour cues on the visual attention in older individuals remains unclarified. Visual attention refers to the cognitive model by which we prioritise regions within the visual space and selectively process information. The present study aimed to explore the effect of colour on visual search performance in older observers. In our experiment, younger observers wearing glasses with a filter that simulated the spectral transmittance of the aging human lens and older observers performed two types of search tasks, feature search (FS) and conjunction search (CS), under three colour conditions: red-green, YB, and luminance. Targets and distractors were designed on the basis of the Derrington–Krauskopf–Lennie colour representation. In FS tasks, reaction times changed according to colour in all groups, especially under the YB condition, regardless of the presence or absence of distractors. In CS tasks with distractors, older participants and younger participants wearing glasses showed slower responses under chromatic conditions than under the achromatic condition. These results provide preliminary evidence that, for older observers, visual search performance may be affected by impairments in chromatic colour discrimination.

Visual Attention in Children With Migraine: A Controlled Comparative Study

Cephalalgia ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 631-634 ◽  
Author(s):  
TR Villa ◽  
AR Correa Moutran ◽  
LA Sobirai Diaz ◽  
MM Pereira Pinto ◽  
FA Carvalho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cerebral Cortex ◽  
Visual Attention ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Limbic System ◽  
Neurological Function ◽  
Attention Deficits ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Trail Making ◽  
Migraine Group

The aim of this study was to evaluate the visual attention of children with migraine and compare it with a control group. Thirty migrainous children and 30 controls without headache were subjected to a visual attention assessment with Trail Making Tests (TMT) A/B, Letter Cancellation Test, and the Brazilian computerized test Visual Attention Test, third edition. The migraine group was evaluated after 2 days without headache. The migraine group had an inferior performance compared with the control group on TMT A ( P = 0.03) and B ( P = 0.001), and more errors on tasks 1 ( P = 0.032) and 2 ( P = 0.015) of the Visual Attention Test, presenting difficulty with selective and alternate attention. Attention is a neurological function that depends on structures such as the brainstem, cerebral cortex and the limbic system and on neurotransmitters such as dopamine and noradrenaline. The neurochemical aspects involved in the physiopathology of migraine and attention mechanisms probably predispose these children to visual attention deficits.

Response latency and response accuracy as measures of memory

1984 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 215-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin M. MacLeod ◽  
Thomas O. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Response Latency ◽  
Response Accuracy

Theory of Visual Attention (TVA)

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claus Bundesen ◽  
Thomas Habekost
Keyword(s):  
Visual Attention ◽  
Single Cell ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Genetic Research ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Healthy Human ◽  
Computational Theory ◽  
Healthy Human Subjects ◽  
Psychological Studies

The theory of visual attention introduced by Bundesen (1990) is reviewed. The authors first describe TVA as a formal computational theory of visual attention and summarize applications of TVA to psychological studies of performance (reaction times and error rates) in healthy human subjects. They then explain their neurophysiological interpretation of TVA, NTVA, and exemplify how NTVA accounts for findings from single-cell studies in primates. Finally the authors review how TVA has been applied to study attentional functions in neuropsychological, pharmacological, and genetic research.

A Sensory Explanation for Visual Attention Deficits in the Elderly

1994 ◽  
Vol 71 (12) ◽  
pp. 743-749 ◽  
Author(s):  
SCOTT B. STEINMAN ◽  
BARBARA A. STEINMAN ◽  
GARY L. TRICK ◽  
STEPHEN LEHMKUHLE
Keyword(s):  
Visual Attention ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Attention Deficits

The Value of off-Road Tests in the Assessment of Driving Potential of Unlicensed Disabled People

1987 ◽  
Vol 50 (10) ◽  
pp. 357-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinah Croft ◽  
Richard D Jones
Keyword(s):  
Retrospective Study ◽  
Brain Damage ◽  
Damage Assessment ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Occupational Therapist ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
Road Test ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Driving Potential

A retrospective study was undertaken to determine the effectiveness of off-road tests in assessing the driving potential of 151 unlicensed disabled people. Assessment was carried out by an occupational therapist and consisted of several off-road tests (vision, reaction timing, computerized preview tracking task and general medical/psychological appraisal) and an on-road test. The mean age of this group was 22.9 years (15–76 years) and the group comprised 84 females and 67 males. Diagnoses covered a wide range but 67% of the group had some form of brain damage. Assessment recommendations were: 57% pass, 37% fail and 5% not assessed. Of the 57 fail recommendations, 7 were unable to meet the legal acuity requirements, 20 had unacceptable reaction times and/or tracking scores, 25 were failed on a combination of marginal and/or subjective off-road criteria and 5 were failed on-road. Quantitative off-road tests have been successful at helping to determine driving potential by means which are objective, systematic and safe.

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