Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology最新文献

Three experiments explored whether weakening temporal contiguity between auditory cues and an aversive outcome attenuated cue competition in an avoidance learning task with human participants. Overall, with strong temporal contiguity between auditory cues and the outcome during training (the offset of the predictive auditory signals concurred with the onset of the outcome), the target cue trained as part of a compound yielded less avoidance behaviour than the control cue trained alone, an instance of overshadowing. However, weakening temporal contiguity during training (inserting a 5-s trace) attenuated overshadowing, resulting in similar avoidance behaviour in response to the control and target cues. These results provide evidence that, as predicted by a recent modification of Pearce's configural theory, temporal contiguity is critical for determining cue competition.

Researchers have proposed a coarser or gist-based representation for sounds, whereas a more verbatim-based representation is retrieved from long-term memory to account for higher recognition performance for pictures. This study examined the mechanism for the recognition advantage for pictures. In Experiment 1A, pictures and sounds were presented in separate trials in a mixed list during the study phase and participants showed in a yes-no test, a higher proportion of correct responses for targets, exemplar foils categorically related to the target, and novel foils for pictures compared with sounds. In Experiment 1B, the picture recognition advantage was replicated in a two-alternative forced-choice test for the novel and exemplar foil conditions. For Experiment 2A, even when verbal labels (i.e., written labels) were presented for sounds during the study phase, a recognition advantage for pictures was shown for both targets and exemplar foils. Experiment 2B showed that the presence of written labels for sounds, during both the study and test phases did not eliminate the advantage of recognition of pictures in terms of correct rejection of exemplar foils. Finally, in two additional experiments, we examined whether the degree of similarity within pictures and sounds could account for the recognition advantage of pictures. The mean similarity rating for pictures was higher than the mean similarity rating for sounds in the exemplar test condition, whereas mean similarity rating for sounds was higher than pictures in the novel test condition. These results pose a challenge for some versions of distinctiveness accounts of the picture superiority effect. We propose a conceptual-perceptual distinctiveness processing account of recognition memory for pictures and sounds.

In four experiments, we tested the boundary conditions of gaze cueing with reference to the resistance to suppression criterion of automaticity. Participants were asked to respond to peripheral targets preceded by a central gaze stimulus. Under one condition, gaze direction was random and uninformative with respect to target location (intermixed condition), as in the typical paradigm. Under another condition, gaze direction was uninformative and, crucially, it was also kept constant throughout the sequence of trials (blocked condition). In so doing, we aimed at maximally reducing the informative value of the gaze stimulus because gaze would not only be task-irrelevant but would also provide no sudden and unpredictable information. Across the four experiments, the results showed a strong gaze-cueing effect. More specifically, a comparable gaze cueing emerged under the blocked and intermixed conditions. These findings are consistent with the idea that gaze cueing is resistant to suppression and are discussed in relation to current views of the automaticity of gaze cueing.

Category variability or diversity is an important factor influencing generalisation. However, expectations of category variability may not only depend on the variability of encountered category members, but may also be shaped by prior experiences with similar categories. In this study, we investigated whether we could influence category generalisation by inducing different category representations in an A/Non-A categorisation task: Participants either learned about a homogeneous category Non-A or a diverse category Non-A during a priming phase. To better understand the transfer process, we varied the nature of the learning phase from implicit transfer to explicit instructions that actively requested participants to use their prior experiences. We found that while with a homogeneous Non-A representation, generalisation of the A and Non-A categories was equal, the generalisation of category Non-A widened after a priming phase with a diverse representation. In a second experiment, we found that the widening of generalisation of category Non-A occurred when the exemplars in this category were themselves diverse (feature-diverse condition) but not when the category contained distinct exemplars (exemplar-diverse condition). These results suggests that categorisation is influenced by previous categorisation experiences possibly altering the representation of a category. Furthermore, the study gives a hint what kind of heterogeneity is needed to observe the commonly reported broader generalisation of diverse categories. The finding has implications not only to understand the influence of prior experiences on category learning, but any cognitive process that hinges on generalisation.

In spoken communicative contexts, speakers often convey uncertainty via intonation and through paralinguistic behaviours such as speech rate and gesture-and addressees can use these behaviours to generate inferences about the speaker's epistemic state. In text-based contexts, however, cues of this sort are more restricted. In this study, we examine the expression and reception of epistemic information in the context of real-time written message production. We hypothesised that real-time typing dynamics (like those available in text-based collaborative contexts, such as Google Docs) can function as a rich paralinguistic cue about a partner's epistemic state. In Experiment 1, we collected production data showing that manipulations of typist certainty, instantiated through both the ease of message formulation and repeated experience with the task, are reflected in measures of typing fluency and speed. Then, in Experiment 2, we presented select screen recordings of the typing behaviours from Experiment 1 to a group of independent observers who made epistemic judgements about the typist. Our results show that observable differences in typing speed and fluency contribute to perceptions of typist knowledge and confidence, which has implications for interfaces that enable real-time text-based collaboration.

In the spatial Stroop task, an arrow target produces a spatial Stroop effect, whereas a gaze target elicits a reversed congruency effect. The reversed congruency effect has been explained by the unique attentional mechanisms of eye gaze. However, recent studies have shown that not only gaze but arrow targets produced a reversed congruency effect when embedded in a complex background. The present study investigated whether non-gaze targets produce a reversed congruency effect. In Experiments 1 and 2, we used the tongue, which is not commonly used to indicate spatial directions in daily life, as a target in the spatial Stroop task, in addition to the conventional gaze and arrows. In Experiment 3, we used arrow stimuli embedded in a complex background as a target. Participants judged the left/right direction of the target presented in the left or right visual field. Although arrow and gaze targets replicated previous findings (spatial Stroop and reversed congruency effect, respectively), the tongue target produced a reversed congruency effect (Experiments 1 and 2). The spatial Stroop effect of arrow targets disappeared when they were in a complex background (Experiment 3). These results are inconsistent with previous accounts emphasising the unique status of eye gaze. We propose that temporal decay of the location code and response inhibition are responsible for the reversal of spatial interference.

This study investigated the hypothesis of nonselective access to phonological representations in an integrated lexicon across logographic and alphabetic writing systems among Chinese L1 (first language)-English L2 (second language) bilinguals. We employed three experiments to test this hypothesis, including a lexical decision task (LDT) and a word naming task in Experiments 1 and 2 using the masked priming paradigm, and a self-paced sentence reading task in Experiment 3. Results from the LDT and the word naming task showed a significant homophone priming effect from L1 to L2, but not from L2 to L1. In the sentence reading task, we compared processing time between homophone error words and control words in the critical and spill-over regions. A slower processing effect in the homophone condition was observed in the spill-over region. Overall, these findings suggest that phonological priming occurs across a logographic and an alphabetic script in different tasks, whether reading isolated words or sentences. Bilingual reading involves an integrated bilingual lexicon that is independent of script similarity.

The approach/avoidance (AA) compatibility effect refers to the fact that individuals respond faster by an approach movement to positive than to negative stimuli, whereas they respond faster by an avoidance movement to negative than to positive stimuli. Although this effect has been observed in many studies, the underlying mechanisms remain still unclear. On the basis of recent studies suggesting a key role of sensorimotor information in the emergence of the AA compatibility effect, the present study aimed to investigate the specific role of visual information, operationalised through word imageability, in the production of the AA compatibility effect. We orthogonally manipulated the emotional valence (positive/negative) and the imageability (low/high) of words in an incidental online-AA task (i.e., in the absence of valence processing goals) using a stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) of 300 ms. In line with previous studies, Experiment 1 revealed an AA compatibility effect in the absence of valence processing goals. However, this effect was not moderated by word imageability. In Experiment 2, we examined whether the absence of influence of word imageability could be due to the short SOA (300 ms) used in this experiment. We used the same design as in Experiment 1 and manipulated the SOA (400 vs 600 ms). We again observed an AA compatibility effect which was not moderated by word imageability, whatever the SOA used. The results of both experiments suggest the absence of any influence of sensorimotor information in the AA compatibility effect, at least when provided by the to-be-approached/avoided stimulus.

Semantic cognition refers to the storage and appropriate use of knowledge acquired over the lifespan and underpins our everyday verbal and non-verbal behaviours. Successful semantic cognition requires representation of knowledge and control processes which ensure that currently relevant aspects of knowledge are retrieved and selected. Although these abilities have been widely studied in healthy young populations and semantically impaired patients, it is unclear how they change as a function of healthy ageing, especially for non-verbal semantic processing. Here, we addressed this issue by comparing the performance profiles of young and older people on a semantic knowledge task and a semantic control task, across verbal (word) and non-verbal (picture) versions. The results revealed distinct patterns of change during adulthood for semantic knowledge and semantic control. Older people performed better in both verbal and non-verbal knowledge tasks than young people. However, although the older group showed preserved controlled retrieval for verbal semantics, they demonstrated a specific impairment for non-verbal semantic control. These findings indicate that the effects of ageing on semantic cognition are more complex than previously assumed, and that input modality plays an important role in the shifting cognitive architecture of semantics in later life.

To facilitate the study of learning in plants, we share our experiences of trying to replicate the pea plant experiment of Gagliano et al. In the course of our efforts, we identified 11 issues that must be addressed when attempting to replicate these experiments. The issues range from germination and transplantation of seedlings to experimental design and apparatus issues. We propose a number of solutions to overcome these hurdles.