scholarly journals Testing the automaticity of an attentional bias towards predictive cues in human associative learning

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Luque ◽  
Sara Molinero ◽  
Mina Jevtovic ◽  
Tom Beesley
Keyword(s):  
Associative Learning ◽  
Attentional Bias ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Relevant Feature ◽  
Opposite Pattern ◽  
Attentional Processing ◽  
Task Goal ◽  
Controlled Attention ◽  
Specific Shape

The process of learning an associative relationship between two events, such as a cue-response pairing, can be shaped by changes in attention. It is well established that predictive cues are prioritized for attentional processing compared to those that are non-predictive. However, there is controversy about whether this attentional bias is controlled or automatic in nature. In two experiments, participants learnt about cue-response relationships in an associative learning (AL) task. Attention to the cues was assessed using a dot-probe (DP) task. In AL trials, participants learned to make appropriate responses to compounds of two cues that differed in color and shape, but only color predicted the correct response. The same cues were used on DP trials, but shape was the relevant feature, since probes appeared more frequently over one specific shape. Even though participants were informed that the only relevant feature for the DP task was shape, and their controlled attention was focused on the relevant shapes (as evident in response times and accuracy data), response times to the probe were faster (Experiments 1 and 2) and error rates were lower (Experiment 2) when it appeared over a predictive color (for the AL task); the opposite pattern was found when the predictive cue was displayed as a distractor. These data suggest that attention is captured automatically by predictive cues, despite this being counterproductive to the task goal.

scholarly journals Testing the automaticity of an attentional bias towards predictive cues in human associative learning

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (5) ◽  
pp. 762-780
Author(s):  
David Luque ◽  
Sara Molinero ◽  
Mina Jevtović ◽  
Tom Beesley
Keyword(s):  
Associative Learning ◽  
Attentional Bias ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Dot Probe ◽  
Task Goal ◽  
Probe Task ◽  
Controlled Attention ◽  
Accuracy Data

It is well established that associative learning, such as learning new cue–outcome pairings, produces changes in attention: cues that are good predictors of relevant outcomes become prioritised compared with those that are non-predictive or redundant. However, there is controversy about whether such a learnt attentional bias results from a controlled orientation of attention, or whether it can be involuntary in nature. In three experiments, participants learned that cues of certain colours were predictive or non-predictive, and we assessed attention to cues using a dot-probe task. On dot-probe trials, participants were instructed to control attention by orienting towards a cue of a certain shape (target), while trying to ignore another cue (distractor). Although the colours of the cues were critical for the associative learning task, they were irrelevant for the dot-probe task. The results show that, even though participants’ controlled attention was focused on the target shape (as evident in response times and accuracy data), response times to the probe were slower (Experiments 1 and 2) and error rates were higher (Experiments 2 and 3) when the distractor was of a (previously) predictive colour. These data suggest that attention was captured involuntarily by the predictive value of the distractor, despite this being counterproductive to the task goal.

The Latin Square Task as a Measure of Relational Reasoning

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 296-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke J. Hearne ◽  
Damian P. Birney ◽  
Luca Cocchi ◽  
Jason B. Mattingley
Keyword(s):  
Brain Imaging ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Latin Square ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Functional Brain Imaging ◽  
Inspection Time ◽  
Relational Reasoning ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Test Retest Reliability

Abstract. The Latin Square Task (LST) is a relational reasoning paradigm developed by Birney, Halford, and Andrews (2006) . Previous work has shown that the LST elicits typical reasoning complexity effects, such that increases in complexity are associated with decrements in task accuracy and increases in response times. Here we modified the LST for use in functional brain imaging experiments, in which presentation durations must be strictly controlled, and assessed its validity and reliability. Modifications included presenting the components within each trial serially, such that the reasoning and response periods were separated. In addition, the inspection time for each LST problem was constrained to five seconds. We replicated previous findings of higher error rates and slower response times with increasing relational complexity and observed relatively large effect sizes (η2p > 0.70, r > .50). Moreover, measures of internal consistency and test-retest reliability confirmed the stability of the LST within and across separate testing sessions. Interestingly, we found that limiting the inspection time for individual problems in the LST had little effect on accuracy relative to the unconstrained times used in previous work, a finding that is important for future brain imaging experiments aimed at investigating the neural correlates of relational reasoning.

Visual disgust-elicitors produce an attentional blink independent of contextual and trait-level pathogen avoidance

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Perone ◽  
David Vaughn Becker ◽  
Joshua M. Tybur
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Visual Attention ◽  
Attentional Blink ◽  
Attentional Bias ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Attentional Biases ◽  
Attentional Processing ◽  
Trait Level ◽  
Task Irrelevant ◽  
Pathogen Avoidance

Multiple studies report that disgust-eliciting stimuli are perceived as salient and subsequently capture selective attention. In the current study, we aimed to better understand the nature of temporal attentional biases toward disgust-eliciting stimuli and to investigate the extent to which these biases are sensitive to contextual and trait-level pathogen avoidance motives. Participants (N=116) performed in an Emotional Attentional Blink (EAB) task in which task-irrelevant disgust-eliciting, fear-eliciting, or neutral images preceded a target by 200, 500, or 800 milliseconds (i.e., lag two, five and eight respectively). They did so twice - once while not exposed to an odor, and once while exposed to either an odor that elicited disgust or an odor that did not - and completed a measure of disgust sensitivity. Results indicate that disgust-eliciting visual stimuli produced a greater attentional blink than neutral visual stimuli at lag two and a greater attentional blink than fear-eliciting visual stimuli at both lag two and at lag five. Neither the odor manipulations nor individual differences measures moderated this effect. We propose that visual attention is engaged for a longer period of time following disgust-eliciting stimuli because covert processes automatically initiate the evaluation of pathogen threats. The fact that state and trait pathogen avoidance do not influence this temporal attentional bias suggests that early attentional processing of pathogen cues is initiated independent from the context in which such cues are perceived.

scholarly journals Combining attentional bias modification with dorsolateral prefrontal rTMS does not attenuate maladaptive attentional processing

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonore Bovy ◽  
Martin Möbius ◽  
Martin Dresler ◽  
Guillén Fernández ◽  
Alan Sanfey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Attentional Bias ◽  
Attentional Processing ◽  
Attentional Bias Modification ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽  
Bias Modification

Current Task Activation Predicts General Effects of Advance Preparation in Task Switching

2006 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 260-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edita Poljac ◽  
Ab de Haan ◽  
Gerard P. van Galen
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Task Switching ◽  
Shape Matching ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Matching Task ◽  
Task Switch ◽  
Current Task ◽  
Within Subjects ◽  
And Task

Two experiments investigated the way that beforehand preparation influences general task execution in reaction-time matching tasks. Response times (RTs) and error rates were measured for switching and nonswitching conditions in a color- and shape-matching task. The task blocks could repeat (task repetition) or alternate (task switch), and the preparation interval (PI) was manipulated within-subjects (Experiment 1) and between-subjects (Experiment 2). The study illustrated a comparable general task performance after a long PI for both experiments, within and between PI manipulations. After a short PI, however, the general task performance increased significantly for the between-subjects manipulation of the PI. Furthermore, both experiments demonstrated an analogous preparation effect for both task switching and task repetitions. Next, a consistent switch cost throughout the whole run of trials and a within-run slowing effect were observed in both experiments. Altogether, the present study implies that the effects of the advance preparation go beyond the first trials and confirms different points of the activation approach ( Altmann, 2002) to task switching.

Traffic Signal Color Recognition Is a Problem for Both Protan and Deutan Color-Vision Deficients

2003 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 495-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Atchison ◽  
Carol A. Pedersen ◽  
Stephen J. Dain ◽  
Joanne M. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Color Vision ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Traffic Signal ◽  
White Background ◽  
Signal Design ◽  
Traffic Light ◽  
Light Signals ◽  
Signal Color

We investigated the effect of color-vision deficiency on reaction times and accuracy of identification of traffic light signals. Participants were 20 color-normal and 49 color-deficient males, the latter divided into subgroups of different severity and type. Participants performed a tracking task. At random intervals, stimuli simulating standard traffic light signals were presented against a white background at 5° to right or left. Participants identified stimulus color (red/yellow/green) by pressing an appropriate response button. Mean response times for color normals were 525, 410, and 450 ms for red, yellow, and green lights, respectively. For color deficients, response times to red lights increased with increase in severity of color deficiency, with deutans performing worse than protans of similar severity: response times of deuteranopes and protanopes were 53% and 35% longer than those of color normals. A similar pattern occurred for yellow lights, with deuteranopes and protanopes having increased response times of 85% and 53%, respectively. For green lights, response times of all groups were similar. Error rates showed patterns similar to those of response times. Contrary to previous studies, deutans performed much worse than protans of similar severity. Actual or potential applications of this research include traffic signal design and driver licensing.

scholarly journals Human Cognition in Interaction With Robots: Taking the Robot’s Perspective Into Account

2020 ◽  
pp. 001872082093376
Author(s):  
Sophia von Salm-Hoogstraeten ◽  
Jochen Müsseler
Keyword(s):  
Production Process ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Human Robot Interaction ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Robot Interaction ◽  
Shared Workspace ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Processing Times ◽  
Shared Workspaces

Objective The present study investigated whether and how different human–robot interactions in a physically shared workspace influenced human stimulus–response (SR) relationships. Background Human work is increasingly performed in interaction with advanced robots. Since human–robot interaction often takes place in physical proximity, it is crucial to investigate the effects of the robot on human cognition. Method In two experiments, we compared conditions in which humans interacted with a robot that they either remotely controlled or monitored under otherwise comparable conditions in the same shared workspace. The cognitive extent to which the participants took the robot’s perspective served as a dependent variable and was evaluated with a SR compatibility task. Results The results showed pronounced compatibility effects from the robot’s perspective when participants had to take the perspective of the robot during the task, but significantly reduced compatibility effects when human and robot did not interact. In both experiments, compatibility effects from the robot’s perspective resulted in statistically significant differences in response times and in error rates between compatible and incompatible conditions. Conclusion We concluded that SR relationships from the perspective of the robot need to be considered when designing shared workspaces that require users to take the perspective of the robot. Application The results indicate changed compatibility relationships when users share their workplace with an interacting robot and therefore have to take its perspective from time to time. The perspective-dependent processing times are expected to be accompanied by corresponding error rates, which might affect—for instance—safety and efficiency in a production process.

Sex Differences in Mental Rotation Performance Through Holding Weights By the Hands

2020 ◽  
pp. 027623662095233
Author(s):  
Hiroyuki Muto ◽  
Soyogu Matsushita ◽  
Kazunori Morikawa
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Embodied Cognition ◽  
Mental Rotation ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Mental Rotation Task ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Sensorimotor Processes

Mental rotation is known to be mediated by sensorimotor processes. To deepen our understanding of the role of somatosensory inputs in mental rotation, we investigated the effects of holding weight by the hands on mental rotation performance. In an experiment, 22 male and 22 female students performed a chronometric mental rotation task while holding either light or heavy bags in both hands. Results showed that females holding heavy bags were quicker and more accurate at mental rotation than females holding light bags, as evidenced by shallower slopes for response times (RTs) and error rates. In contrast, males showed no such heavy-bag-induced improvement. Unlike slopes, intercepts for RTs and error rates were equivalent regardless of sex and bag weight. Consistent with previous research on embodied cognition, the present findings demonstrated the facilitatory role of somatosensory cues by weight in mental rotation and suggested sex differences in embodied processes in mental rotation.

scholarly journals Stroop Interference and Facilitation Effects in Kinesthetic and Haptic Tasks

2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hecht ◽  
Miriam Reiner
Keyword(s):  
Response Times ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Stroop Interference ◽  
Mechanical Force ◽  
Computer Interface ◽  
Human Computer Interactions ◽  
Virtual Objects ◽  
Specific Direction ◽  
Multisensory Systems ◽  
Computer Interactions

Stroop interference and facilitation effects were documented in the visual, auditory, olfactory, and gustatory modalities. This study extends the Stroop phenomena also for kinesthetic and haptic tasks. In a touch-enabled computer interface, participants touched and manipulated virtual objects (cylinders, cubes, and tiles), through a pen-like stylus, and identified their haptic qualities (weight, firmness, vibrations). Similarly, participants were stimulated with a mechanical force pushing their hands lightly towards a specific direction which they had to identify. While performing these identification tasks, participants were simultaneously presented with words or symbols that were congruent, neutral, or incongruent with the experienced kinesthetic/haptic sensations. Error rates and response times were affected in the following order: congruent < neutral < incongruent. As technologies advance into multisensory systems, engineers and designers can improve human-computer interactions by ensuring optimal congruence between all the inter- and intra-sensory elements in the display.

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