Attentional control and its relationship to the accuracy of some types of basketball shooting for Iraqi youth club’s players

The importance of this study is reflected in the fact that it is an attempt to identify attentional control and its relationship to the accuracy of some types of basketball shooting for youth players for Iraqi Premier League clubs for youth for the season (2020-2021). The problem of the research is to identify the level of some mental abilities, including attentional control, represented by attentional focus, attentional shift and attentional flexibility and their relationship to the accuracy of some types of basketball shooting for the Iraqi players of youth clubs. The study aimed to identify the relationship between attentional control and the accuracy of the performance of some types of basketball shooting for youth basketball players for the 2020-2021 season. The two researchers adopted the descriptive curriculum in a survey style and correlational relationships. The research community was determined by the Iraqi youth basketball players, who numbered (160) out of (16) clubs and these clubs are (Al-Amarah, Dijlah, Dhi Qar, Samawah, Al-Kut, Al-Sharqiya, Nasiriyah, Baghdad, Al-Mina, Al-Karkh, Al-Ittihad, Al-Naft, Adhamiya, Al-Shurta, Al-Tadamon, Naft Al-Janoub) and then a sample of (50) players selected in a random way and they are club players of (Al-Amarah, Baghdad, Al-Karkh, Al-Naft, Al-Adhamiya) and they were tested on the attentional control scale and after processing the results, it was found that some of the young basketball players have a high level of attentional control and the accuracy of performing some types of shooting in youth basketball. Therefore, the two researchers recommend the necessity of paying attention to mental processes, including (attentional focus, attentional shift, attentional flexibility), as well as adopting the attentional control scale as tools to identify the level of some of the mental abilities that players possess

Conceptual Metaphors of Emotion in Spoken Language: Good Is Up in Semantics and Prosody

<p>Recent research on embodied cognition points to a role for the perceptuomotor system in conceptual representation. One way that the perceptuomotor system may be involved in conceptual representation is through metaphorical mappings, as described in Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 1999). This theory accounts for the embodiment of abstract concepts with metaphoric mappings to perceptuomotor properties. Examples include INTELLIGENCE IS LIGHT (as in “that is a bright idea”), IMPORTANT IS BIG (as in “that is a big deal”), and INTIMACY IS CLOSENESS (as in “you are close to my heart”). The GOOD IS UP (as in “things are looking up”) conceptual metaphor is the focus of this thesis. A prediction derived from Conceptual Metaphor Theory is that activation of the concept of “good” should automatically activate associated perceptuomotor processes, resulting in an attentional shift to upper visual space. Conversely activation of the concept “bad” should result in an attentional shift to lower visual space. There is experimental evidence for the existence of the GOOD IS UP conceptual metaphor. However, this past research has only assessed the validity of the GOOD IS UP conceptual metaphor with written emotion-related words. In order to paint an accurate picture of the nature of conceptual representation, both written and spoken language processing must be investigated. The aim of this thesis was to determine whether the conceptual metaphor GOOD IS UP is activated by processing of spoken emotional words. Spoken language has two channels through which emotion can be conveyed; the semantic channel and the prosodic channel. This thesis assessed whether the GOOD IS UP conceptual metaphor was activated by emotional semantics and prosody separately. Semantically or prosodically valenced words were presented to participants. Positive and negative valence would be expected to elicit activation of the GOOD IS UP conceptual metaphor; thus GOOD IS UP congruent shifts in attention were expected. Following presentation of the spoken word, a visual target detection and identification task was completed to assess attention to upper and lower space. No metaphor congruent shifts in attention were observed, which suggests that the GOOD IS UP conceptual metaphor was not activated when words with semantic or prosodic emotion were processed. A thorough evaluation is provided of the differences between the previous studies, using written stimuli, and the current studies, using spoken stimuli. The discrepancies suggest that it is theoretically important to define the boundary conditions under which evidence for conceptual metaphor congruent activation is (and is not) seen. Whether context is an important boundary condition especially needs to be considered. A multiple systems view of representation may need to be applied to Conceptual Metaphor Theory.</p>

Conceptual Metaphors of Emotion in Spoken Language: Good Is Up in Semantics and Prosody

<p>Recent research on embodied cognition points to a role for the perceptuomotor system in conceptual representation. One way that the perceptuomotor system may be involved in conceptual representation is through metaphorical mappings, as described in Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 1999). This theory accounts for the embodiment of abstract concepts with metaphoric mappings to perceptuomotor properties. Examples include INTELLIGENCE IS LIGHT (as in “that is a bright idea”), IMPORTANT IS BIG (as in “that is a big deal”), and INTIMACY IS CLOSENESS (as in “you are close to my heart”). The GOOD IS UP (as in “things are looking up”) conceptual metaphor is the focus of this thesis. A prediction derived from Conceptual Metaphor Theory is that activation of the concept of “good” should automatically activate associated perceptuomotor processes, resulting in an attentional shift to upper visual space. Conversely activation of the concept “bad” should result in an attentional shift to lower visual space. There is experimental evidence for the existence of the GOOD IS UP conceptual metaphor. However, this past research has only assessed the validity of the GOOD IS UP conceptual metaphor with written emotion-related words. In order to paint an accurate picture of the nature of conceptual representation, both written and spoken language processing must be investigated. The aim of this thesis was to determine whether the conceptual metaphor GOOD IS UP is activated by processing of spoken emotional words. Spoken language has two channels through which emotion can be conveyed; the semantic channel and the prosodic channel. This thesis assessed whether the GOOD IS UP conceptual metaphor was activated by emotional semantics and prosody separately. Semantically or prosodically valenced words were presented to participants. Positive and negative valence would be expected to elicit activation of the GOOD IS UP conceptual metaphor; thus GOOD IS UP congruent shifts in attention were expected. Following presentation of the spoken word, a visual target detection and identification task was completed to assess attention to upper and lower space. No metaphor congruent shifts in attention were observed, which suggests that the GOOD IS UP conceptual metaphor was not activated when words with semantic or prosodic emotion were processed. A thorough evaluation is provided of the differences between the previous studies, using written stimuli, and the current studies, using spoken stimuli. The discrepancies suggest that it is theoretically important to define the boundary conditions under which evidence for conceptual metaphor congruent activation is (and is not) seen. Whether context is an important boundary condition especially needs to be considered. A multiple systems view of representation may need to be applied to Conceptual Metaphor Theory.</p>

Linking the neural basis of hierarchical prediction with statistical learning: The paradox of attention

Statistical learning, the process of tracking distributional information and discovering embedded patterns, is traditionally regarded as a form of implicit learning. However, recent studies proposed that both implicit (attention-independent) and explicit (attention-dependent) learning systems are involved in statistical learning. To understand the role of attention in statistical learning, the current study investigates the cortical processing of prediction errors in speech based on either local or global distributional information. We then ask how these cortical responses relate to statistical learning behavior in a word segmentation task. We found ERP evidence of pre-attentive processing of both the local (mismatching negativity) and global distributional information (late discriminative negativity). However, as speech elements became less frequent and more surprising, some participants showed an involuntary attentional shift, reflected in a P3a response. Individuals who displayed attentive neural tracking of distributional information showed faster learning in a speech statistical learning task. These results provide important neural evidence elucidating the facilitatory role of attention in statistical learning.

Some like it, some do not: behavioral responses and central processing of olfactory–trigeminal mixture perception

Exploring the potential of eucalyptol as a masking agent for aversive odors, we found that eucalyptol masks the olfactory but not the trigeminal sensation of ammonia in a previous study. Here, we further investigate the processing of a mixture consisting of eucalyptol and ammonia, two olfactory–trigeminal stimuli. We presented the two pure odors and a mixture thereof to 33 healthy participants. The nostrils were stimulated alternately (monorhinal application). We analyzed the behavioral ratings (intensity and pleasantness) and functional brain images. First, we replicated our previous finding that, within the mixture, the eucalyptol component suppressed the olfactory intensity of the ammonia component. Second, mixture pleasantness was rated differently by participants depending on which component dominated their mixture perception. Approximately half of the volunteers rated the eucalyptol component as more intense and evaluated the mixture as pleasant (pleasant group). The other half rated the ammonia component as more intense and evaluated the mixture as unpleasant (unpleasant group). Third, these individual differences were also found in functional imaging data. Contrasting the mixture either to eucalyptol or to both single odors, neural activation was found in the unpleasant group only. Activation in the anterior insula and SII was interpreted as evidence for an attentional shift towards the potentially threatening mixture component ammonia and for trigeminal enhancement. In addition to insula and SII, further regions of the pain matrix were involved when assessing all participant responses to the mixture. Both a painful sensation and an attentional shift towards the unpleasant mixture component complicates the development of an efficient mask because a pleasant perception is an important requirement for malodor coverage.

Spatial attention and representation of time intervals in childhood

Spatial attention and spatial representation of time are strictly linked in the human brain. In young adults, a leftward shift of spatial attention by prismatic adaptation (PA), is associated with an underestimation whereas a rightward shift is associated with an overestimation of time both for visual and auditory stimuli. These results suggest a supra-modal representation of time left-to-right oriented that is modulated by a bilateral attentional shift. However, there is evidence of unilateral, instead of bilateral, effects of PA on time in elderly adults suggesting an influence of age on these effects. Here we studied the effects of spatial attention on time representation focusing on childhood. Fifty-four children aged from 5 to 11 years-old performed a temporal bisection task with visual and auditory stimuli before and after PA inducing a leftward or a rightward attentional shift. Results showed that children underestimated time after a leftward attentional shift either for visual or auditory stimuli, whereas a rightward attentional shift had null effect on time. Our results are discussed as a partial maturation of the link between spatial attention and time representation in childhood, due to immaturity of interhemispheric interactions or of executive functions necessary for the attentional complete influence on time representation.

0248 Does Attentional Control Relate to Sleep Disruption and Repetitive Negative Thinking?

Introduction Insomnia is associated with increased repetitive negative thinking (RNT) and poor attentional control. There is increasing interest in the relevance of these processes for psychopathology. For example, Cox, Cole, Kramer and Olatunji (2018) proposed that focusing and shifting in attentional control may help explain the link between sleep disturbance and RNT. In support, attentional focus was found to be significant in the relationship between insomnia and RNT. As this study looked at disorder-specific measures of RNT and only insomnia, the current study aimed to replicate and extend the findings by also examining circadian sleep disruption and transdiagnostic RNT. Methods The current study included 127 participants. Sleep disruption was assessed by the SLEEP-50 (Spoormaker, Verbeek, van den Bout & Klip, 2005). This measure provides several subscale scores, including disruption in circadian rhythms and insomnia. The Attentional Control Scale (Derryberry & Reed, 2002) is a measure of attentional focus and shifting which was also utilized. Lastly, the Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire (Ehring et al., 2011) is a widely used transdiagnostic measure of RNT. Results Pearson’s Correlations indicated that both insomnia and circadian disruptions were significantly associated with RNT (insomnia, r=.27; circadian, r=.24). Mirroring the results of Cox, Cole, Kramer and Olatunji, attentional focus was significant (insomnia, r=-.29; circadian, r=-.28), whereas attentional shift was not (insomnia, r=.02; circadian, r=.06). Conclusion The connection between sleep disruption and factors that contribute to psychopathology needs to be better understood. This study differentiates types of attention and their relation to insomnia and circadian sleep disruption, and RNT. If attentional focus can link sleep disruption and RNT, clinicians can move one step closer to understanding the development of risk factors that may jeopardize an individual. Support n/a

The Mismatch Negativity

This book introduces the electrophysiological change-detection response of the brain called the mismatch negativity (MMN). MMN is elicited by any discriminable change in some repetitive aspect of ongoing auditory stimulation even in the absence of attention, causing an attentional shift to change, hence representing a response of vital significance to the organism. In addition, an analogous response is also elicited in the other sensory modalities and occurs in different species and in the different developmental stages from infancy to the old age. Importantly, MMN, reflecting the NMDA-receptor functioning, is affected in different cognitive brain disorders, providing an index of the severity of the disorder and effectiveness of remediating treatments.