Psychological Research-Psychologische Forschung最新文献

To establish whether humans possess a rapid implicit mentalizing system enabling efficient social interaction, researchers have extensively investigated spontaneous visual perspective taking using paradigms such as the dot perspective task. Yet the validity of this task has been challenged by the submentalizing account, which attributes the observed self-consistency effects (altercentric interferences) to domain-general attentional orienting. We devised a novel mirror-reflection paradigm that equates visual information between participant and avatar while preserving the avatar's directional cue to isolate the contributions of directional attention versus visual content alignment. In two within-subjects experiments (n = 50 and 53), participants judged the number of targets visible either to themselves or to an avatar whose body orientation was consistent or inconsistent with target location. Crucially, mirrors ensured that the avatar always shared the participant's visual access; in control (blackboard) scenes, visual access could differ. Robust consistency effects emerged and, critically, the magnitude of the altercentric interferences was not modulated by the scene type. A blocked-perspective replication (Experiment 2) ruled out perspective-switching costs as an alternative explanation. These findings demonstrate that directional attentional orienting, rather than spontaneous perspective-taking, underlies performance in the dot-perspective task, providing compelling evidence for the submentalizing account and cautioning against the use of the task as a pure index of implicit theory of mind.

Cognitive-motor interference refers to the interaction between cognitive and motor processes occurring at the same time. Recently, balance control parameters while standing on a force plate were analysed using an event-related approach while participants performed a Simon task. Resolving response conflict in incongruent trials reduced balance adjustments prior to manual response execution, suggesting a bottleneck for concurrent cognitive and balance control. In the present study, we combined this approach with a cognitive dual task which comprised a visual-vocal short-term memory task with a delayed vocal response and an auditory-manual reaction time (RT) task. This hybrid psychological refractory period (PRP) paradigm created a functional processing bottleneck during memory consolidation in the visual-vocal short-term memory task. To examine how this cognitive bottleneck influences balance control, 48 participants per experiment stood quietly on a force plate, and balance control was quantified as moment variability (mN·m) in 100 ms sliding windows. We varied the stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA: 100 vs. 1,000 ms) between the targets (Experiment 1) and task load (report vs. ignore the visual object; Experiment 2). As expected, auditory-manual RTs increased at short SOA, showing dual-task interference that persisted in ignore trials, consistent with task-set inertia. Force-plate data were analysed using cluster permutation analysis to identify time-specific effects. Participants were less likely to adjust balance during cognitive task processing and more likely after task completion, independent of the presence of a cognitive bottleneck. These findings suggest that balance control flexibly delays or advances balance adjustments based on cognitive demands, thereby reducing cognitive-motor interference. PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: This study shows that when people are performing demanding cognitive tasks, such as remembering information while responding to auditory signals, balance adjustments can be temporarily reduced or altered, particularly when the cognitive tasks are difficult. These findings highlight the interaction of cognitive tasks and balance and specifically provide insights into how cognitive processes influence stability during standing. Our understanding of the mechanisms linking cognition and balance may guide future studies on how such interactions change with age or cognitive impairment.

Introduction: The Corsi Block Tapping Test (CBT) assesses short-term visuospatial memory, while the Walking Corsi Test (WalCT) introduces greater motor and spatial demands. The impact of visual trajectory presentation on these tests remains debated.

Aim: To examine the effect of visual presentation of the trajectory on visuospatial short-term memory and topographic memory during the CBT and WalCT.

Methods: A total of 37 students completed the Corsi task paradigm under two conditions: CBT and WalCT. Both were performed in classical versions (with visual trajectory presentation) and automated versions (without visual trajectory presentation). Each test was conducted in forward and backward modalities. Span and Total Product values were recorded. Sex, age and physical activity level were considered in the analysis.

Results: For Span, only the type of test influenced performance, with higher results observed in the CBT (7.29 ± 1.13) compared to the WalCT (6.18 ± 1.55) (p < 0.001). Regarding Total Product, significant effects were found for both the type of test (CBT = 84.83 ± 26.21; WalCT = 58.76 ± 28.99; p = 0.026) and the modality (Forward = 74.85 ± 31.56; Backward = 68.74 ± 29.23; p = 0.026). Age significantly interacted as a covariate in both analyses (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: The visual presentation of the trajectory did not improve performance. However, the type and modality of the test directly influenced final performance. Additionally, age emerged as a factor affecting performance in the Corsi paradigms, while physical activity level and sex showed no significant effects.

The present experiments measure a form of preparatory control over selective attention in a two-target task. We used a skeletal two-target method in which the first of two target words (T1) is presented with or without an accompanying distractor word. When T1 is displayed with a distractor, a stark identification deficit (an attentional blink) is produced for the second target word (T2). In our adaptation of this method, we inserted a stimulus immediately prior to each two-target trial to measure sequence effects on selective attention to T1, and the resulting two-target cost for T2. Generally speaking, neither T1 nor T2 identification were influenced by the stimulus/response features of the event that preceded T1. However, both T1 and T2 identification were influenced by the task instructions for the event that preceded T1. These results point to a strong contribution of preparatory state on selective attention in a two-target task.

Instruction-based learning (IBL) is an essential human skill, enabling flexible and efficient application of novel rules. Previous studies focused on instructions specifying affirmative (or positive) stimulus-response (S-R) rules (i.e., if condition A, then execute action X). Despite their frequent occurrence in our daily lives, negative instructions (i.e., if condition B, then do not execute action X but execute alternative action Y or Z) remain underrepresented in IBL research. In the present study, we conducted three experiments in order to assess the basic behavioral characteristics of this particular instruction type. Experiment 1 revealed reduced implementation efficiency relative to positive instructions as indicated by persistently prolonged response times, suggesting a continued impact of the negated 'instruction-related' S-R (B-X) association. At the same time, a distinct affirmative 'implementation-related' S-R (B-Y or B-Z) association gained strength over the course of repeated rule implementation, as evidenced by a decreasing tendency to alternate between correct response options. This pattern was replicated in Experiment 3. Experiment 2 employed neutral S-R instructions for which type information (positive or negative) was available only during later implementation. The comparison between Experiments 1 and 2 revealed an implementation benefit of advance instruction type information for negative instructions. This suggests that the negation is proactively integrated into the task model for the benefit of upcoming implementation. Overall, our results highlight the unique properties of negative instructions in the context of IBL. In particular, the dual representational nature could enable disambiguation of functional states in rule transformation processes crucial to rapid, novel learning.

Evidence indicates that faces are rapidly detected and prioritized in visual processing due to their social relevance. Crucially, research has shown that faces capture attention even when they are task-irrelevant, suggesting the existence of an automatic, domain-specific attentional mechanism. This prioritization appears to extend to face pareidolia-the illusory perception of faces in objects-indicating that face detection may rely on a broadly tuned mechanism that classifies stimuli as faces or non-faces based on relatively minimal information, such as the T-shaped configuration common to all faces. To explore whether such a configuration is sufficient to automatically capture attention, we conducted three behavioral experiments using a visual search paradigm. In Experiments 1A (online) and 1B (lab-based), participants searched for a butterfly target while either a real or an illusory face appeared among object distractors. Contrary to expectations, neither real nor illusory faces captured attention. In Experiment 2, in different blocks, participants were asked to search for a real face, an illusory face, or a butterfly presented among object distractors. The results showed that real faces were detected more efficiently than illusory faces or butterfly targets. Crucially, illusory faces showed a search disadvantage even compared to butterflies. Overall, these findings challenge the assumption that a minimal face configuration automatically captures attention. More importantly, these findings challenge the notion that attentional capture by irrelevant faces is entirely automatic, suggesting instead that such capture may be influenced by contextual factors or task demands.

We explore the concept of an expanded present by examining how individuals perceive the "age" of an event, product, or artefact in relation to their own age. We hypothesized that a certain age acts as a kind of tipping point for an "old" versus "new/recent/current" connotation. Events occurring before that age connote a halo of "oldness," whereas events occurring after that age connote a halo of "recency." We used movies as a case study and employed a response priming design, presenting movie posters from different decades (1960s to 2010s) as briefly presented primes, preceding target movie posters from the 1960s and 2010s, which had to be categorized as "old" or "new." Participants were from four age cohorts (born in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s). Results supported the hypothesis, showing that individuals tend to spontaneously categorize movies released in their adolescence or later as "new/current" and earlier movies as "old."

Interval timing is essential for adapting behaviour in dynamic environments. While previous research has shown that time perception is influenced by movement, the role of movement type in this interaction remains poorly understood. The present study aimed to further investigate this interaction, by comparing temporal performance (i.e., temporal accuracy and precision) across two movement types: whole-body reaching (WBR) movements and finger movements. Fourteen participants reproduced time intervals while performing both movement types using five target durations centred around the natural duration of the WBR movement. We observed lower temporal variability with WBR movements compared to finger movements. This can be explained by a Bayesian cue combination framework or an increase of the pacemaker rate within the Scalar Expectancy Theory. Regarding temporal accuracy, intervals were over-reproduced with finger movements compared to WBR movements, possibly due to fluctuations in attentional allocation during finger movements or an increase of the pacemaker rate during WBR movements. Additionally, within the WBR condition, shorter intervals were over-reproduced, which may reflect either subjective time compression induced by faster movements, or the influence of biomechanical constraints. These findings extend current models by suggesting that motor execution actively shapes temporal performance, serving as more than just a final output mechanism. This could hold implications for training and rehabilitation strategies, where engaging whole-body movements may help reduce temporal variability.

We investigated the impact of motor skills on performance in two pen-and-paper tests of selective attention, the d2-R and the FAIR-2. Both tests require a visual search for target stimuli presented in a random order with distractor stimuli. In the d2-R, participants have to mark each target with a short stroke. In the FAIR-2, participants are required to draw a continuous line under each stimulus series that remains below the distractors, whereas targets are marked by drawing an upward spike into the target. The purpose of continuous marking in the FAIR-2 is to make the direction and order of participants' visual search apparent to the experimenter. We tested 120 participants with the d2-R, the FAIR-2, and five subtests (aiming, pegboard, steadiness, tapping, line-tracking) of the MLS, a test battery of fine motor skills. Our results revealed similarities and differences between the motor demands of the two tests. Performance on both tests correlated with tapping (hits) and line-tracking (time). In contrast, only FAIR-2 performance correlated with pegboard (time) and steadiness (errors). Regression analyses showed that MLS performance explained a significant amount of variance in FAIR-2 performance, but not in d2-R performance. When directly compared, the differences in explained variance were not significant, however. Hence, the results suggest that the sum of motor demands in the d2-R and the FAIR-2 are comparable, although there are some differences in specific motor requirements.