Does Unconscious Information Affect Cognitive Activity?: A Study Using Experimental Priming

2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margarita G. Filippova

In a series of three experiments the influence that information unrecognised by the subjects has on the effectiveness of occurring cognitive activity is studied. With this aim 3 types of stimulus were compared which for one reason or another were not afforded sufficient attention, namely: unconscious meanings of polysemantic information, stimuli presented at the subliminal level, and intentionally ignored distractors. All the listed types of stimuli are united in that the subjects were not able to give an account of them, i.e., these stimuli were not processed attentively. It is assumed that each of the types of stimuli studied is in actuality perceived, which can be judged by the impact they have on occurring cognitive activity. The purpose of the present research is the comparison of this impact: apart from the determination of the impact of unperceived stimuli on the information directly associated with them (priming-effect registration), also identified is the presence/absence of an overall interference effect rendered by the unperceived stimuli on the performance of occurring cognitive activity. To this end, each experiment had a control condition the aim of which was the creation of the possibility for the subjects to perceive stimuli unnoticed under experimental conditions. An experimental priming paradigm was used in combination with image-classification and lexical-decision tasks.The results of the experiments conducted demonstrate that all types of stimuli ‘slipping the attention’ are assimilated, but their effect on occurring cognitive activity is varied. Thus, subliminally presented information aids, and distractors, on the contrary, hinder the solution of tasks associated with them, whereas unperceived meanings of polysemantic information hinder not only the solution of the tasks directly associated with them, but also the performance of any other cognitive activity for which they serve as a context. The effect of subliminal stimuli on occurring cognitive activity in the present research is explained by the spreading activation in the memory, the effect of distractors – by the inhibition of irrelevant representations in the information-processing system. For an explanation of the consequence of unperceived meanings of polysemanticity, not only an inhibition model was used, but also an unconscious negative choice model which assumed the necessity of making a special decision on non-perception.

2013 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Prášková ◽  
Stanislava Štěpánová ◽  
Lucie Chromcová ◽  
Lucie Plhalová ◽  
Eva Voslářová ◽  
...  

Ketoprofen residues have been found in surface water where they present a potential risk to nontarget aquatic species. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of ketoprofen in surface waters on fish under experimental conditions. Subchronic toxic effects on 300 embryos and larvae of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) were investigated during a 30 day toxicity test with concentrations of ketoprofen: 0.003, 2.1, 6.3 and 21 mg/l. The exposure to ketoprofen showed no effect on mortality, but we observed significant delay (P < 0.05) in hatching in day 3 in fish exposed to all concentrations of ketoprofen. Significant delays (P < 0.05) in development were revealed at 2.1, 6.3 and 21 mg/l ketoprofen. On the basis of weight and growth rate evaluation and the determination of developmental stages, the lowest observed effect concentration was 0.003 mg/l. According to these results, the reported environmental concentration of ketoprofen in Czech rivers could have a negative effect on the growth and development of carp embryos and larvae. These tests have not yet been performed. Further research and search for a mechanism to reduce the incidence of ketoprofen in the waters by better wastewater treatment is required.


2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Dohnal ◽  
Tomas Vogel ◽  
Jaromir Dusek ◽  
Jana Votrubova ◽  
Miroslav Tesar

AbstractPonded infiltration experiment is a simple test used for in-situ determination of soil hydraulic properties, particularly saturated hydraulic conductivity and sorptivity. It is known that infiltration process in natural soils is strongly affected by presence of macropores, soil layering, initial and experimental conditions etc. As a result, infiltration record encompasses a complex of mutually compensating effects that are difficult to separate from each other. Determination of sorptivity and saturated hydraulic conductivity from such infiltration data is complicated. In the present study we use numerical simulation to examine the impact of selected experimental conditions and soil profile properties on the ponded infiltration experiment results, specifically in terms of the hydraulic conductivity and sorptivity evaluation. The effect of following factors was considered: depth of ponding, ring insertion depth, initial soil water content, presence of preferential pathways, hydraulic conductivity anisotropy, soil layering, surface layer retention capacity and hydraulic conductivity, and presence of soil pipes or stones under the infiltration ring. Results were compared with a large database of infiltration curves measured at the experimental site Liz (Bohemian Forest, Czech Republic). Reasonably good agreement between simulated and observed infiltration curves was achieved by combining several of factors tested. Moreover, the ring insertion effect was recognized as one of the major causes of uncertainty in the determination of soil hydraulic parameters.


2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 633-648
Author(s):  
Mark Brown ◽  
Roop Bhadury ◽  
Nitin Bansal ◽  
Ellen Bloxsome

This article examines the manner in which advertising creativity may be influenced by “near” primes in the form of competitor product information that is presented at the briefing stage of engagement with a client. Drawing on the associative theory of creativity and spreading activation theory, this study explores the impact of near primes on both the originality and appropriateness of advertising output and highlights the process mechanism by which it affects overall creativity. Results of a between-subjects experiment indicate that exposing individuals to near primes results in a fixation effect that negatively influences originality but positively influences appropriateness. Associative cognitive flexibility, as measured by the number of “far” analogies accessed during ideation, is shown to be a strong mediator of the relationship between near prime exposure on creativity. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 515-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shane M. Buker ◽  
P. Ann Boriack-Sjodin ◽  
Robert A. Copeland

Contemporary chemical biology and drug discovery are increasingly focused on the discovery of inhibitory molecules that interact with enzyme targets in specific ways, such as allosteric or orthosteric binding. Hence, there is increasing interest in evaluating hit compounds from high-throughput diversity screening to determine their mode of interaction with the target. In this work, the common inhibition modalities are reviewed and clarified. The impact of substrate concentration, relative to substrate KM, for each common inhibition modality is also reviewed. The pattern of changes in IC50 that accompany increasing substrate concentration are shown to be diagnostic of specific inhibition modalities. Thus, replots of IC50 as a function of the ratio [S]/KM are recommended as a simple and rapid means of assessing inhibition modality. Finally, specific recommendations are offered for ideal experimental conditions for the determination of inhibition modality through the use of IC50 replots.


OENO One ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-172
Author(s):  
Joana Azevedo ◽  
João Pissarra ◽  
Filipa Amaro ◽  
Luis Guido ◽  
Joana Oliveira ◽  
...  

The main purpose of this work was to describe and validate a new methodology for the determination of a brandy reactivity index (BRI) towards flavan-3-ol compounds in wines (catechins and condensed tannins) and to correlate this index with the amount and type of aldehydes present in those brandies. This new method consists of two main reactions: a) the ability of aldehydes to react with C8 and/or C6 positions in the phloroglucinol ring of a catechin present in excess (A ring); b) further reaction of the remaining free catechin with p-dimethylaminocinamaldehyde (DMACA) yielding to the formation of a blue compound that can be quantified by Visible spectroscopy at 640 nm. The impact of different experimental conditions such as reagent concentrations and reaction time on BRI were also evaluated. The method was validated through the determination of repeatability (intra-day variability) and reproducibility. The repeatability was considered acceptable with a CV of 11.87 %. The analysis of the reproducibility variance, S2R (11.59), the reproducibility limit R (9.5) and the reproducibility coefficient of variation, CVR (15.25 %) postulates BRI methodology to be reliable and robust.Using the developed methodology, the BRI of fourteen different commercial brandies and some pure standards aldehydes were determined. The aldehydes present in brandies, and the content of total aldehydes were determined by GC-MS and then correlated with the BRI. In general, it was observed a direct correlation between the BRI and the concentration of total aldehydes, in particular acetaldehyde.


2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 227-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agata Wytykowska

In Strelau’s theory of temperament (RTT), there are four types of temperament, differentiated according to low vs. high stimulation processing capacity and to the level of their internal harmonization. The type of temperament is considered harmonized when the constellation of all temperamental traits is internally matched to the need for stimulation, which is related to effectiveness of stimulation processing. In nonharmonized temperamental structure, an internal mismatch is observed which is linked to ineffectiveness of stimulation processing. The three studies presented here investigated the relationship between temperamental structures and the strategies of categorization. Results revealed that subjects with harmonized structures efficiently control the level of stimulation stemming from the cognitive activity, independent of the affective value of situation. The pattern of results attained for subjects with nonharmonized structures was more ambiguous: They were as good as subjects with harmonized structures at adjusting the way of information processing to their stimulation processing capacities, but they also proved to be more responsive to the affective character of stimulation (positive or negative mood).


1996 ◽  
Vol 76 (01) ◽  
pp. 005-008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Claude Lormeau ◽  
Jean Pascal Herault ◽  
Jean Marc Herbert

SummaryWe examined the effect of the synthetic pentasaccharide representing the minimal binding site of heparin to antithrombin on the antithrombin-mediated inactivation of factor Vila bound to tissue factor. This effect was compared to the effect of unfractionated heparin. Using purified recombinant human coagulation factors and either a clotting or an amidolytic assay for the determination of the residual activity of factor Vila, we showed that the pentasaccharide was an efficient antithrombin-dependent inhibitor of the coagulant activity of tissue factor-factor Vila complex. In our experimental conditions, assuming a mean MW of 14,000 for heparin, the molar pseudo-first order rate constants for ATIII-mediated FVIIa inhibition by ATIII-binding heparin and by the synthetic pentasaccharide were found to be similar with respective values of 104,000 ± 10,500 min-1 and 112,000 ± 12,000 min-1 (mean ± s.e.m., n = 3)


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