The role of multi-platform news consumption in explaining civic participation during the COVID-19 pandemic: A communication mediation approach

This study employs the orientation–stimulus–reasoning–orientation–response (O-S-R-O-R) framework to examine how multi-platform news consumption is associated with civic participation during the COVID-19 pandemic (offline and via social media) and how this relation is mediated by civic talk and civic attitudes. A survey was administered to 1500 adults in Belgium. Results from structural equation modelling indicate how civic talk with weak ties is not associated with civic attitudes or participation. Analysis of indirect effects reveals that multi-platform news consumption stimulates two different types of participation, through civic talk with strong ties and civic attitudes. The results shed light on previously unexplored pathways towards participation, while providing support for the O-S-R-O-R framework and highlighting the role of social media as an emerging arena for civic participation.

A galaxy of apps: Mobile app reliance and the indirect influence on political participation through political discussion and trust

The power of app-driven mobile phones was first unleashed in 2011 when they were used to mobilize protesters and gain support for political movements in the United States and abroad. Mobile devices have since become the bedrock of political activism. To examine the influence of app reliance on offline and online political participation, this study builds on the Orientation-Stimulus-Reasoning-Orientation-Response (O-S-R-O-R) model by (a) applying the model to mobile apps, (b) testing whether trust in, and reliance on political discussion are mediators between reliance on apps and political participation, and (c) using trust in both offline and online discussion as measures of cognitive elaboration. This study’s path model suggests that app reliance is related to online political discussion, which, in turn, is related to online political participation, but not offline participation. Although both offline and online discussion are linked to offline and online trust in political discussion, trust in political discussion does not influence either offline or online political participation.

Second Screening and the Engaged Public: The Role of Second Screening for News and Political Expression in an O-S-R-O-R Model

Second screening has become a prevalent media consumption behavior. Nevertheless, the political implications of second screening are not fully understood. Using data from a two-wave panel survey in Hong Kong, this study examines the role of second screening in contributing to an engaged public based on the Orientation-Stimulus-Reasoning-Orientation-Response (O-S-R-O-R) model. In addition, second screening behaviors are differentiated into second screening for news and for expression. The findings show that these two behaviors play significant but different roles in influencing citizens’ cognitive (i.e., political knowledge) and psychological (i.e., political efficacy) development. This hybrid media practice also affects political participation directly and indirectly through interpersonal discussion, political knowledge, and political efficacy. Implications of the findings for the development of participatory democracy are discussed.

Reward Evokes Visual Perceptual Learning Following Reinforcement Learning Rules

Visual perceptual learning (VPL) is defined as a long-term performance enhancement as a result of visual experiences. A number of studies have demonstrated that reward can evoke VPL. However, the mechanisms of how reward evoke VPL remain unknown. One possible hypothesis is that VPL is obtained through reward related reinforcement processing. If this hypothesis is true, learning can only occur when reward follows the stimulus presentation. Another interpretation is that VPL is acquired through an enhancement of alertness in association with reward. If the alertness hypothesis is true, learning should occur when reward precedes the stimulus presentation. In our study, we tested the plausibility of the two hypotheses by manipulating the order of reward and stimulus presentation. In Experiment 1, we separated participants into two groups. During training, the ‘Before’ group received water reward 400ms prior to the onset of trained orientation stimulus while the ‘After’ group received water reward 400ms subsequent to the onset of trained orientation stimulus. Both groups were trained using the Continuous Flash Suppression paradigm to render the stimulus imperceptible to the participants by the presentation of dynamic noise in the untrained eye. We found training only in the ‘After’ group indicating that reward may evoke learning through reinforcement-like processing. In Experiment 2, we excluded the possibility that alertness may not be sufficient to elicit learning when presented before stimulus. We presented beep sound prior to the onset of stimulus to increase alertness. Our finding demonstrated that alertness is sufficient enough to evoke learning. In conclusion, our study provided evidence that reward can evoke VPL through reinforcement process.

Discrimination of Motion Direction in a Robot Using a Phenomenological Model of Synaptic Plasticity

Recognizing and tracking the direction of moving stimuli is crucial to the control of much animal behaviour. In this study, we examine whether a bio-inspired model of synaptic plasticity implemented in a robotic agent may allow the discrimination of motion direction of real-world stimuli. Starting with a well-established model of short-term synaptic plasticity (STP), we develop a microcircuit motif of spiking neurons capable of exhibiting preferential and nonpreferential responses to changes in the direction of an orientation stimulus in motion. While the robotic agent processes sensory inputs, the STP mechanism introduces direction-dependent changes in the synaptic connections of the microcircuit, resulting in a population of units that exhibit a typical cortical response property observed in primary visual cortex (V1), namely, direction selectivity. Visually evoked responses from the model are then compared to those observed in multielectrode recordings from V1 in anesthetized macaque monkeys, while sinusoidal gratings are displayed on a screen. Overall, the model highlights the role of STP as a complementary mechanism in explaining the direction selectivity and applies these insights in a physical robot as a method for validating important response characteristics observed in experimental data from V1, namely, direction selectivity.

Brain regions modulated during covert visual attention in the macaque

Neurophysiology studies of covert visual attention in monkeys have emphasized the modulation of sensory neural responses in the visual cortex. At the same time, electrophysiological correlates of attention have been reported in other cortical and subcortical structures, and recent fMRI studies have identified regions across the brain modulated by attention. Here we used fMRI in two monkeys performing covert attention tasks to reproduce and extend these findings in order to help establish a more complete list of brain structures involved in the control of attention. As expected from previous studies, we found attention-related modulation in frontal, parietal and visual cortical areas as well as the superior colliculus and pulvinar. We also found significant attention-related modulation in cortical regions not traditionally linked to attention – mid-STS areas (anterior FST and parts of IPa, PGa, TPO), as well as the caudate nucleus. A control experiment using a second-order orientation stimulus showed that the observed modulation in a subset of these mid-STS areas did not depend on visual motion. These results identify the mid-STS areas (anterior FST and parts of IPa, PGa, TPO) and caudate nucleus as potentially important brain regions in the control of covert visual attention in monkeys.

Dimensional Shift and the Transfer of Attention

Dimensional shift was examined by generating gradients of two-dimensional stimulus generalization for intradimensional and extradimensional transfer of attention. Undergraduates discriminated between lines varying in length and orientation. Stimulus values were relevant on one dimension and irrelevant on another. For intradimensional transfer, the Phase 2 transfer task involved discriminating between new values on the dimension that was relevant in Phase 1. For extradimensional transfer, Phase 2 involved discriminating between new values on the dimension that was irrelevant in Phase 1. Extradimensional transfer was learned in twice the number of trials that were required for intradimensional transfer. In Experiment 1, generalization gradients obtained at different stages of Phase 2 training showed that control by the relevant dimension was maintained throughout the intradimensional transfer. In the extradimensional transfer, however, control by the previously relevant dimension was gradually lost before control by the new relevant dimension was acquired. Experiment 2 showed that the advantage of intradimensional over extradimensional transfer could not be attributed to cue-specific stimulus generalization. Experiment 3 showed that in extradimensional transfer the irrelevant dimension in Phase 1 retarded acquisition of control by the new relevant dimension in Phase 2. Experiment 4 showed that the irrelevant dimension masked control by the relevant dimension in the generalization test, but verified the conclusion from Experiment 3 that learned irrelevance contributed to the intradimensional-extra-dimensional transfer difference.