scholarly journals Can we Measure Individual Differences in Cognitive Measures Reliably via Smartphones? A Comparison of the Flanker Effect Across Device Types and Samples

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Pronk ◽  
Rebecca Hirst ◽  
Reinout Wiers ◽  
Jaap M. J. Murre
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Cognitive Measures ◽  
Flanker Effect ◽  
Response Options ◽  
Reliability Estimates ◽  
Stimulus Timing

Research deployed via the internet and administered via smartphones could have access to more diverse samples than lab-based research. Diverse samples could have relatively high variation in their traits and so yield relatively reliable measurements of individual differences in these traits. Cognitive tasks have been reported to yield relatively low reliabities (Hedge et al., 2018), which could potentially be addressed by smartphone-mediated administration in diverse samples. We formulate several criteria to determine whether a cognitive task is suitable for individual differences research on commodity smartphones: no very brief or precise stimulus timing, relative response times (RTs), a maximum of two response options, and a small number of graphical stimuli. The Flanker Task meets these criteria. We compared the reliability of individual differences in the Flanker Effect across samples and devices in a pre-registered study. We found no evidence that a more diverse sample yields higher reliabilities. We also found no evidence that commodity smartphones yield lower reliabilities than commodity laptops. Hence, diverse samples might not improve reliability above student samples, but smartphones may well measure individual differences with cognitive tasks reliably. Exploratively, we examined different reliability coefficients, split-half reliabilities, and the development of reliability estimates as a function of task length.

Exercise and Supplementation of Black Mulberry Fruit Extract, Sunflower Seed and Pumpkin Seed Enhance Cognitive Performance among Sedentary University Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-110
Author(s):  
Nor A.A.M. Shalan ◽  
Norhazira A. Rahim ◽  
Nur I. Mohamad
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Group Treatment ◽  
Sunflower Seed ◽  
Sedentary Lifestyle ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Fruit Extract ◽  
Pumpkin Seed

Background: sedentary lifestyle has been found to influence cognitive impairment, whereas physical activity and diet have been found to reduce the negative impacts of a sedentary lifestyle. Objectives: This study aims to examine the synergistic effects of the black mulberry, sunflower seed, and pumpkin seed supplements, including exercise on cognitive performance among sedentary university students. Subjects and Methods: Participants (n=36) were randomly assigned to receive black mulberry, sunflower seed, and pumpkin seed with and without exercise for 60 days. Then, they were required to complete cognitive task assessment for domain attention (visual reaction time and auditory reaction time), perception (fast counting and basic music) and executive (Eriksen flanker task and Stroop test) on day 0 (baseline), 30, and 60 of the experiment. Following that, blood samples were collected and analyzed for malondialdehyde serum concentration as an oxidative stress marker. Results: All participants showed significant faster reaction time in cognitive tasks for domain attention and basic music test for domain perception on day 30 and 60 compared to day 0. However, no significant changes were observed within group, on cognitive task for domain executive. In comparison between the groups, participants in group treatment showed significant faster reaction time for cognitive tasks for domain attention and for Erikson flanker task for domain executive as compared to group exercise alone, and group treatment with exercise. For domain perception (basic music test), participants in group treatment with exercise achieved faster reaction time compared to group treatment and exercise alone. Despite the reduction of malondialdehyde concentration in all groups, no significant difference was found between them. Conclusion: It was indicated from the findings that the consumption of black mulberry fruit extract, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds with and without exercise independently enhanced attention, perception, and executive function among sedentary young adults.

scholarly journals The Autocorrelated Bayesian Sampler for Estimation, Choice, Confidence, and Response Times

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian-Qiao Zhu ◽  
Joakim Sundh ◽  
Nick Chater ◽  
Adam N Sanborn
Keyword(s):  
Probability Distribution ◽  
Posterior Distribution ◽  
Posterior Probability ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Unified Approach ◽  
Global Knowledge ◽  
Cognitive Sciences ◽  
Posterior Probability Distribution

Estimation, choice, confidence, and response times are the primary behavioural measures in perceptual and cognitive tasks. These measures have attracted extensive modeling efforts in the cognitive sciences, but there is the lack of a unified approach to explain all measures simultaneously within one framework. We propose an Autocorrelated Bayesian Sampler (ABS), assuming that people sequentially sample from a posterior probability distribution of hypotheses on each trial of a perceptual or cognitive task. Unlike most accounts of choice, we do not assume that the system has global knowledge of the posterior distribution. Instead it uses a sophisticated sampling algorithm to make do with local knowledge, and so produces autocorrelated samples. The model assumes that each sample takes time to generate, and that samples are used by well-validated mechanisms to produce estimates, choices, and confidence judgments. This relatively simple framework clears a number of well-known empirical hurdles for models of choice, confidence, and response time. The autocorrelation be- tween samples also allows the model to predict the long-range between-trial dependence observed in both estimates and response times.

Individual Differences in Mental Rotation

2013 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 164-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Khooshabeh ◽  
Mary Hegarty ◽  
Thomas F. Shipley
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Mental Rotation ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Mental Rotation Task ◽  
Imagery Ability ◽  
Alternative Strategies

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that imagery ability and figural complexity interact to affect the choice of mental rotation strategies. Participants performed the Shepard and Metzler (1971) mental rotation task. On half of the trials, the 3-D figures were manipulated to create “fragmented” figures, with some cubes missing. Good imagers were less accurate and had longer response times on fragmented figures than on complete figures. Poor imagers performed similarly on fragmented and complete figures. These results suggest that good imagers use holistic mental rotation strategies by default, but switch to alternative strategies depending on task demands, whereas poor imagers are less flexible and use piecemeal strategies regardless of the task demands.

Exploring an Emotional Basis of Cognitive Control in the Flanker Task

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Motonori Yamaguchi ◽  
Jack Dylan Moore ◽  
Sarah Hendry ◽  
Felicity Wolohan
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Mood Induction ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Emotional Stimuli ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Flanker Effect ◽  
Sequential Modulation ◽  
Emotional Basis ◽  
Negative Stimuli

The emotional basis of cognitive control has been investigated in the flanker task with various procedures and materials across different studies. The present study examined the issue with the same flanker task but with different types of emotional stimuli and design. In seven experiments, the flanker effect and its sequential modulation according to the preceding trial type were assessed. Experiments 1 and 2 used affective pictures and emotional facial expressions as emotional stimuli, and positive and negative stimuli were intermixed. There was little evidence that emotional stimuli influenced cognitive control. Experiments 3 and 4 used the same affective pictures and facial expressions, but positive and negative stimuli were separated between different participant groups. Emotional stimuli reduced the flanker effect as well as its sequential modulation regardless of valence. Experiments 5 and 6 used affective pictures but manipulated arousal and valence of stimuli orthogonally The results did not replicate the reduced flanker effect or sequential modulation by valence, nor did they show consistent effects of arousal. Experiment 7 used a mood induction technique and showed that sequential modulation was positively correlated with valence rating (the higher the more positive) but was negatively correlated with arousal rating. These results are inconsistent with several previous findings and are difficult to reconcile within a single theoretical framework, confirming an elusive nature of the emotional basis of cognitive control in the flanker task.

scholarly journals The relationship between hippocampal-dependent task performance and hippocampal grey matter myelination and iron content

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 239821282110119
Author(s):  
Ian A. Clark ◽  
Martina F. Callaghan ◽  
Nikolaus Weiskopf ◽  
Eleanor A. Maguire
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Iron Content ◽  
Grey Matter ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Spatial Navigation ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Future Thinking

Individual differences in scene imagination, autobiographical memory recall, future thinking and spatial navigation have long been linked with hippocampal structure in healthy people, although evidence for such relationships is, in fact, mixed. Extant studies have predominantly concentrated on hippocampal volume. However, it is now possible to use quantitative neuroimaging techniques to model different properties of tissue microstructure in vivo such as myelination and iron. Previous work has linked such measures with cognitive task performance, particularly in older adults. Here we investigated whether performance on scene imagination, autobiographical memory, future thinking and spatial navigation tasks was associated with hippocampal grey matter myelination or iron content in young, healthy adult participants. Magnetic resonance imaging data were collected using a multi-parameter mapping protocol (0.8 mm isotropic voxels) from a large sample of 217 people with widely-varying cognitive task scores. We found little evidence that hippocampal grey matter myelination or iron content were related to task performance. This was the case using different analysis methods (voxel-based quantification, partial correlations), when whole brain, hippocampal regions of interest, and posterior:anterior hippocampal ratios were examined, and across different participant sub-groups (divided by gender and task performance). Variations in hippocampal grey matter myelin and iron levels may not, therefore, help to explain individual differences in performance on hippocampal-dependent tasks, at least in young, healthy individuals.

Studying the effect of Heartfulness Meditation on Brain Activity

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pallavi Gupta ◽  
Jahnavi Mundluru ◽  
Arth Patel ◽  
Shankar Pathmakanthan
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Creative Thinking ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Logical Thinking ◽  
Meditation Practice ◽  
Guided Relaxation

Long-term meditation practice is increasingly recognized for its health benefits. Heartfulness meditation represents a quickly growing set of practices that is largely unstudied. Heartfulness is unique in that it is a meditation practice that focuses on the Heart. It helps individuals to connect to themselves and find inner peace. In order to deepen ones’ meditation, the element of Yogic Energy (‘pranahuti’) is used as an aid during meditation. The purpose of this study was to determine whether consistent EEG effects of Heartfulness meditation be observed in sixty experienced Heartfulness meditators, each of whom attended 6 testing sessions. In each session, participants performed three conditions: a set of cognitive tasks, Heartfulness guided relaxation, and Heartfulness Meditation. Participants during the cognitive portion were required to answer questions that tested their logical thinking (Cognitive Reflective Test) and creative thinking skills. (Random Associative Test) The order of condition was randomly counter balanced across six sessions. It was hypothesized that Heartfulness meditation would bring increased alpha (8-12Hz) brain activity during meditation and better cognitive task scores in sessions where the tasks followed meditation. Heartfulness meditation produces a significant decrease in brain activity (as indexed by higher levels of alpha during the early stages of meditation. As the meditation progressed deep meditative state (as indexed by higher levels of delta) were observed until the end of the condition.  This lead to the conclusion that Heartfulness Meditation produces a state that is clearly distinguishable from effortful problem solving. 

A Shaping Procedure to Modulate Two Cognitive Tasks to Improve a Sensorimotor Rhythm-Based Brain-Computer Interface System

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leandro da Silva-Sauer ◽  
Luis Valero-Aguayo ◽  
Francisco Velasco-Álvarez ◽  
Álvaro Fernández-Rodríguez ◽  
Ricardo Ron-Angevin
Keyword(s):  
Interaction Effect ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Brain Computer Interface ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Computer Interface ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Significant Interaction Effect ◽  
Task Load ◽  
Mental Demand ◽  
Shaping Procedure

AbstractThis study aimed to propose an adapted feedback using a psychological learning technique based on Skinner’s shaping method to help the users to modulate two cognitive tasks (right-hand motor imagination and relaxed state) and improve better control in a Brain-Computer Interface. In the first experiment, a comparative study between performance in standard feedback (N = 9) and shaping method (N = 10) was conducted. The NASA Task Load Index questionnaire was applied to measure the user’s workload. In the second experiment, a single case study was performed (N = 5) to verify the continuous learning by the shaping method. The first experiment showed significant interaction effect between sessions and group (F(1, 17) = 5.565; p = .031) which the shaping paradigm was applied. A second interaction effect demonstrates a higher performance increase in the relax state task with shaping procedure (F(1, 17) = 5. 038; p = .038). In NASA-TXL an interaction effect was obtained between the group and the cognitive task in Mental Demand (F(1, 17) = 6, 809; p = .018), Performance (F(1, 17) = 5, 725; p = .029), and Frustration (F(1, 17) = 9, 735; p = .006), no significance was found in Effort. In the second experiment, a trial-by-trial analysis shows an ascendant trend learning curve for the cognitive task with the lowest initial acquisition (relax state). The results suggest the effectiveness of the shaping procedure to modulate brain rhythms, improving mainly the cognitive task with greater initial difficulty and provide better interaction perception.

scholarly journals A Kiosk Station for the Assessment of Multiple Cognitive Domains and Enrichment of Monkeys

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thilo Womelsdorf ◽  
Christopher Thomas ◽  
Adam Neumann ◽  
Marcus Watson ◽  
Kianoush Banaie Boroujeni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Control ◽  
Animal Cognition ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Fully Integrated ◽  
Cognitive Domains ◽  
Visual Tasks ◽  
Versatile Tool ◽  
Controlling Behavior ◽  
Individual Consistency

AbstractBackgroundNonhuman primates (NHPs) are self-motivated to perform cognitive tasks on touchscreens in their animal housing setting. To leverage this ability, fully integrated hardware and software solutions are needed, that work within housing and husbandry routines while also spanning cognitive task constructs of the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC).New MethodWe describe a Kiosk Station (KS-1) that provides robust hardware and software solutions for running cognitive tasks in cage-housed NHPs. KS-1 consists of a frame for mounting flexibly on housing cages, a touchscreen animal interface with mounts for receptables, reward pumps and cameras, and a compact computer cabinet with an interface for controlling behavior. Behavioral control is achieved with a unity3D program that is virtual-reality capable, allowing semi-naturalistic visual tasks to assess multiple cognitive domains.ResultsKS-1 is fully integrated into the regular housing routines of monkeys. A single person can operate multiple KS-1s. Monkeys engage with KS-1 at high motivation and cognitive performance levels at high intra-individual consistency.Comparison with Existing MethodsKS-1 is optimized for flexible mounting onto standard apartment cage systems. KS-1 has a robust animal interface with options for gaze/reach monitoring. It has an integrated user interface for controlling multiple cognitive task using a common naturalistic object space designed to enhance task engagement. All custom KS-1 components are open-sourced.ConclusionsKS-1 is a versatile tool for cognitive profiling and enrichment of cage-housed monkeys. It reliably measures multiple cognitive domains which promises to advance our understanding of animal cognition, inter-individual differences and underlying neurobiology in refined, ethologically meaningful behavioral foraging contexts.

scholarly journals The truth revisited: Bayesian analysis of individual differences in the truth effect

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Schnuerch ◽  
Lena Nadarevic ◽  
Jeffrey Rouder
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Model Comparison ◽  
Bayes Factor ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Truth Effect ◽  
Negative Truth ◽  
Positive Truth

The repetition-induced truth effect refers to a phenomenon where people rate repeated statements as more likely true than novel statements. In this paper we document qualitative individual differences in the effect. While the overwhelming majority of participants display the usual positive truth effect, a minority are the opposite – they reliably discount the validity of repeated statements, what we refer to as negative truth effect. We examine 8 truth-effect data sets where individual-level data are curated. These sets are composed of 1,105 individuals performing 38,904 judgments. Through Bayes factor model comparison, we show that reliable negative truth effects occur in 5 of the 8 data sets. The negative truth effect is informative because it seems unreasonable that the mechanisms mediating the positive truth effect are the same that lead to a discounting of repeated statements' validity. Moreover, the presence of qualitative differences motivates a different type of analysis of individual differences based on ordinal (i.e., Which sign does the effect have?) rather than metric measures. To our knowledge, this paper reports the first such reliable qualitative differences in a cognitive task.

The Impact of Cognitive Load on Volitional Running

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 1179-1183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan J. Blakely ◽  
Kyle Wilson ◽  
Paul N. Russell ◽  
William S. Helton
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
High Load ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Running Speed ◽  
Original Experiment ◽  
The Impact

The effects of physical activity on cognition and the effects of cognitive load on physical activity are complex. Both the nature of the physical activity and cognitive task may influence the interactive effects of performing a physical task while also performing a cognitive task. In a previous study examining the impact of increasing cognitive load on outdoor running speed and the impact of outdoor running on cognitive performance, Blakely et al. (2015) found running speed decreased as cognitive load increased. They also found that the impact of running itself on cognitive performance occurred when the cognitive task was itself demanding (high cognitive load). In the current study we expanded on this previous research by improving the experimental task to rule out peripheral sensory, not central or executive, interference and by incorporating heart rate measures and VO2 max estimates. Twelve runners completed five conditions, two seated cognitive tasks (one low load and one high load), two dual running cognitive tasks and one run only. Results were similar to the original experiment, as the cognitive task became more difficult, voluntary running speed decreased. Also the effects of running on cognitive performance (counting) were found only when the cognitive task was high load.

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