Psychological Research-Psychologische Forschung最新文献

When irrelevant stimuli are processed and then bound to relevant stimuli in memory, it is known as hyper-binding. Hyper-binding has been demonstrated consistently in older-aged participants, but university-aged participants do not typically show hyper-binding. This phenomenon has been attributed to older individuals having greater difficulty filtering out irrelevant information compared to younger adults. Emotions can also influence how individuals attend to and process information, and older individuals report feeling greater positive, and less negative, affect than younger adults. Low arousal positive affect is associated with greater cognitive breadth and reduced distractor suppression. Therefore, it is possible that differences in affect contribute to the differences in hyper-binding demonstrated for younger versus older adults. In four studies, we measured hyper-binding using a standard hyper-binding task and examined whether individual differences in hyper-binding could be predicted by individual differences in self-reported affect. Study 1 included an online community sample between 18 and 45 years of age. Study 2 included university undergraduate students that were tested online. Study 3 participants included university undergraduate students that were tested in the lab. Study 4 participants included an older aged sample that was tested online. Overall, there were no significant relationships between affect and hyper-binding across age samples. Surprisingly, however, significant hyper-binding was observed for all age groups and was not larger for older individuals. The results suggest that individual differences in naturally occurring affect do not meaningfully predict hyper-binding, but the prevalence of hyper-binding across all studies demonstrates it may not be unique to older adults.

Studies have shown that observers can accurately estimate the point-light walker (PLW) directions and bias their estimates towards the previous directions, exhibiting a serial dependence. Additionally, it has been demonstrated that the inversion of PLWs disrupts their global information and impairs the perception of certain attributes of PLWs. However, it remained unclear whether the global information of PLWs affected the estimation accuracy and serial dependence in the PLW direction estimation. In the current study, participants were presented with either a single or four PLW directions in each trial. In one condition, the PLW was upright; while in another condition, the PLW was inverted. Participants were asked to estimate the direction of the single PLW or the average direction of the four PLWs (i.e., ensemble direction), and each condition was finished by an independent group of participants. The results showed that the estimates of PLW directions were systematically compressed towards the reference direction (0°), showing a reference-attraction bias, and the inversion of the PLWs significantly decreased the estimation accuracy in the ensemble direction perception but not in the single direction perception. Moreover, a stronger serial dependence was observed when four PLWs were presented in previous trials as opposed to just one, and its magnitude was also reduced when the four PLWs were inverted. Therefore, the current study demonstrated the effects of global information on the estimation of PLW directions.

In dual-task (DT) situations, performance deteriorates compared with single-task situations. Such performance decrements are frequently explained with the serial scheduling of the response selection stages constituting a bottleneck. Proof of this assumption stems from the observation that response times for the second task (task 2; RT 2) increase with decreasing stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA).In this study, we investigated how the reward prospect for task 1 performance affects task 1 and task 2 processing. For that purpose, we relied on the psychological refractory period paradigm (PRP) as a chronometric tool, to determine the locus of the reward effect in the processing chain of both tasks.We obtained improved task 1 and task 2 performance; as indicated by reduced RTs in the reward compared to the no reward condition of task 1 and task 2. Furthermore, the reward effect propagated at short SOA from task 1 onto task 2, suggesting that the locus of the reward effect can be pinpointed before or at the bottleneck of task 1. Importantly, the mean reward effect on task 1 was increased compared to task 2, thus indicating that parts of the reward effect were not propagated onto task 2, therefore affecting task 1 motor processes.In Experiment 2, we tested for the locus of the effect propagation to task 2. Therefore, we implemented a difficulty manipulation of the response selection of task 2. The results indicate that the reward effect is propagated from task 1 onto the response selection stage of task 2.

Sociomotor theory - an extension of ideomotor theory - suggests that actions can also be represented in terms of the effects they elicit from others. But what if those others violate one's action effect anticipations? Here, we introduce a novel joint goal-setting paradigm to investigate effects of co-actors' occasional and overall unreliability on an individual's goal selection. In a first step, the participant moved a target halfway from the bottom center to the top left or right corner of the computer screen. In the second step, the co-actor moved the target to its final left or right position. In a learning block, the co-actor always continued the participant's target movements. In the test block(s), the co-actor produced congruent action effects in 50% (unreliable) vs. 80% (reliable co-actor) of the trials. Experiment 1 consisted of one (between-participants), Experiment 2 and 3 of two (within-participants) test blocks; in Experiment 3, the co-actor changed between blocks. Results of Experiments 1 and 3 reveal that participants repeated their corner choice more often after incongruent trials, but only when the co-actor was generally reliable. Implications in terms of sociomotor action control and joint action are discussed.

Human odometry refers to an individual's ability to travel between locations without eyesight and without designating a conscious effort toward spatially updating themselves as they travel through the environment. A systematic review on human odometry was completed for the purpose of establishing the state-of-the-art of the topic, and based on this information, develop meaningful hypotheses using Strong Inference. The following databases were searched up to February 16, 2023, and accessed through University of Nebraska at Omaha proxied databases: IEEEXplore, PsycArticles, PsycInfo, PubMed Central, SCOPUS, and Web of Science. Of the 7,060 articles reviewed, 23 met our inclusion criteria and were accumulated for their contents and quality. Methodologies, limitations, strengths, and future solutions based on those 23 articles are discussed. In summary, young healthy adults are the typical population examined, and distance perception can be manipulated with distance or gait type. Odometry can be studied using simple measurement tools, participants are often given 3-4 attempts to correctly perceive an average distance of 14.3 m, and the average article is of moderate quality with a mean score of 6.13. Many literature gaps, variability in methodology, and insufficient detail, can be amended by the addition of slightly more detailed manuscripts in future publications.

Based on the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions and embodied cognition theory, this study explored the effects of two different forms of pleasure on the perception of object weight through two experiments. Experiment 1 induced pleasure by having participants watch a funny video and further investigated the effect of pleasure on weight perception. The results showed that the weight estimation of the pleasure group participants was significantly lower than that of the calm group. Experiment 2 induced pleasure through embodied pleasure postures and further investigated the effect of pleasure on weight perception. The results showed that subjects in the embodied pleasure posture group had lighter weight estimates compared to the calm posture and no posture groups. This study suggests that pleasure affects individuals' perception of the weight of objects, and pleasure makes individuals more optimistic in their perception of object weight.

With attentional mechanisms, humans select and de-select information from the environment. But does selective attention modulate implicit learning? We tested whether the implicit acquisition of contingencies between features are modulated by the task-relevance of those features. We implemented the contingencies in a novel variant of the contextual cueing paradigm. In such a visual search task, participants could use non-spatial cues to predict target location, and then had to discriminate target shapes. In Experiment 1, the predictive feature for target location was the shape of the distractors (task-relevant). In Experiment 2, the color feature of distractors (task-irrelevant) cued target location. Results showed that participants learned to predict the target location from both the task-relevant and the task-irrelevant feature. Subsequent testing did not suggest explicit knowledge of the contingencies. For the purpose of further testing the significance of task-relevance in a cue competition situation, in Experiment 3, we provided two redundantly predictive cues, shape (task-relevant) and color (task-irrelevant) simultaneously, and subsequently tested them separately. There were no observed costs of single predictive cues when compared to compound cues. The results were not indicative of overshadowing effects, on the group and individual level, or of reciprocal overshadowing. We conclude that the acquisition of contingencies occurs independently of task-relevance and discuss this finding in the framework of the event coding literature.

Many children are exposed to a heritage language in the home context, and they learn mathematics in the school context in the societal language (Italian in the present study). More evidence is needed on how Heritage Bilinguals (HBs) perform in different subtypes of numeracy and mathematics skills in a longitudinal perspective. This longitudinal study aimed to analyze the mathematical skills of heritage bilingual children. 220 HBs (50.5% female, from different linguistic/ethnic groups, including Indo-Iranian, Arabic, Chinese, Romanian, Albanian and Slavic languages) and 440 monolinguals (46.8% female, mostly Italian) were followed from second to third grade (aged between 7 and 9 years). The following tasks were administered: dictation, symbolic comparison, number line, mental calculation, multiplication tables, approximate calculation, problem-solving and written calculations. The results showed an advantage for HBs in approximate calculation, but they underperformed in problem-solving, multiplication tables, and mental calculations. A profile analysis highlighted the percentages of children at risk for math impairment. The study provides a longitudinal profile of strengths and weaknesses in the mathematics profile of children with HBs, with developmental trajectories that vary according to verbal load. The discussion focuses on the role of verbal load in math tasks in the assessment of HBs, and implications for clinical and educational contexts.

This study explored the effects of music on the perception of outdoor urban environments, both built and natural. The participants (n = 74) evaluated five environments located on one walking route in terms of emotional and spatio-cognitive dimensions while listening to one of two types of music: upbeat and conventional or reflective and complex. We found only a very slight effect of music on the evaluation of the emotional and spatio-cognitive dimensions of the environment. The less complex upbeat and conventional music increased the perceived complexity of environments but only if participants took the route from less complex to more complex environments. The liking music mediated the effect of music in the evaluation of emotional dimensions of the environment. Furthermore, a less-liked environment negatively affected the liking of music heard in that environment. Reflective and complex music was perceived as more congruent with the environment than upbeat and conventional music, which is explained by musical fit theory. The features of the environments that were evaluated had a stronger effect on listeners than the music. Natural environments were perceived as more coherent, mysterious, pleasant, interesting, and energetic than built environments, regardless of the music. Moreover, a contrast effect was observed in which the features of the first environment evaluated influenced the evaluation of subsequent environments. It is suggested that the intensity of music may be an important factor for environmental evaluations, in addition to the specific situations in which the music is heard.

Multisensory integration is essential for learning and sensorimotor coding, facilitating learners' adaptation to environmental changes. Recent findings confirm that introducing unreliability into visual feedback enhances the use of motor coding, probably because proprioceptive cues are given greater weight. The present study was designed to test this hypothesis and, more generally, to explore the impact of visual versus proprioceptive cue reliability on learning processes. Participants performed a 12-target pointing sequence 100 times with different combinations of visual and proprioceptive feedback: reliable versus unreliable. Retention tests and intermanual transfer tests were administered 24 h later. Results showed that learning and sensorimotor coding were both affected by the different combinations of visual and proprioceptive cue reliability. Fully reliable feedback allowed for the best retention, while fully unreliable feedback resulted in the worst retention. Visual reliability alone mediated the level of visuospatial coding performance in visuospatial transfer, regardless of the level of proprioceptive reliability, and conversely, reliable proprioception combined with unreliable vision provided the optimum sensory environment for motor coding in the motor transfer test. Overall, our study highlighted the essential role of both visual cue reliability and proprioceptive cue reliability -and their interactions- in motor learning and its generalization.