Journal of Experimental Psychology-Human Perception and Performance最新文献

This study introduces the diet-choice problem in foraging as a framework to investigate search and decision making in an uncertain environment. Using a mathematical model based on signal detection-based optimal foraging theory and conducting behavioral experiments, we examined whether the choice of uncertain options in a visual foraging task followed the optimal strategy. In addition, we explored whether search history affects behavior by changing the environment in a stepwise manner. We used a visual foraging task in which participants searched for visual stimuli and selected them using mouse clicks. To introduce uncertainty, the stimuli were designed in a way that they could not be completely discriminated by visual inspection. The study consisted of four sessions, during which the ratio of the number of gains to loss stimuli in Experiment 1 and the magnitude of loss in Experiment 2 were varied in a stepwise manner. Although search strategies can adapt to environmental changes, this adjustment is not always optimal. Specifically, although both the rising and falling groups experienced the same environment, their performance differed depending on the order in which participants experienced changing environments. Search strategy can be adjusted in the presence of environmental uncertainty, but it deviates from the optimal strategy due to the influence of the search history in the experienced environment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Humans respond more quickly with the left hand to a small stimulus, and with the right hand to a large stimulus, as compared to the reverse mapping (spatial-size association of response codes [SSARC] effect). We investigated the hypothesis that strength differences between the hands contribute to the origin of this effect. Therefore, 80 left-handers and 80 right-handers participated in two experiments. In Experiment 1, participants performed a manual choice-response task in which we manipulated the mapping between physical stimulus size and responding hand. In addition, we measured the strengths of participants' left and right effectors (i.e., finger, hand, and arm). In Experiment 2, we measured the SSARC effect in vocal responses of the same sample. There were four main results. First, participants' dominant effectors were stronger than their nondominant effectors. Second, the SSARC effect occurred in manual and vocal responses with similar size. Third, in both modalities, the SSARC effect was larger in right-handers than in left-handers. Finally, strength differences between effectors (fingers and hands) correlated with the size of the SSARC effect. In sum, results support the hypothesis that functional differences between the hands contribute to the origin of the SSARC effect. In addition, the results suggest that size-space associations have generalized across motor systems, and formed a modality-independent association. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Considering working memory capacity limitations, representing all relevant data simultaneously is unlikely. What remains unclear is why some items are better remembered than others when all data are equally relevant. While trying to answer this question, the literature has identified a pattern named the mixed-category benefit in which performance is enhanced when presenting stimuli from different categories as compared to presenting a similar number of items that all belong to just one category. Moreover, previous studies revealed an asymmetry in performance while mixing certain categories, suggesting that not all categories benefit equally from being mixed. In a series of three change-detection experiments, the present study investigated the role of low-level perceptual similarities between categories in determining the mixed-category asymmetric advantages. Our primary conclusion is that items' similarity at the perceptual level has a significant role in the asymmetric performance in the mixed-category phenomenon. We measured sensitivity (d') to detect a change between sample and test displays and found that the mixed-category advantage dropped when the mixed categories shared basic features. Furthermore, we found that sensitivity to novel items was impaired when presented with another category sharing its basic features. Finally, increasing the encoding interval improved performance for the novel items, but novel items' performance was still impaired when these items were mixed with another category that shared their basic features. Our findings highlight the significant role low-level similarities play in the asymmetric mixed-category performances, for both novel and familiar categories. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The Ponzo illusion is a famous optical illusion that is not well understood so far. Here we suggest that its origin is closely linked to distribution of spatial attention. In essence, it arises because the size of the attentional field varies between different parts of the stimulus layout, which comes with different spatial resolution and, as a consequence, different apparent sizes of the objects in the stimulus display. We report four experiments (conducted in 2022 and 2023), which support this approach. The illusion substantially decreases when the stimulus layout is modified so that the size of the supposed attentional field is equalized for the crucial parts (Experiment 1). Moreover, we induce a Ponzo-like illusion by means of attentional cues only (Experiment 2). The perceived spatial frequency differs for different parts of the stimulus layout consistent with predicted changes in spatial resolution (Experiment 3). Attentional cuing exerts an analogous influence on the apparent spatial frequency (Experiment 4). The presented approach provides a novel look at the origin of the Ponzo illusion and related phenomena. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

According to theories of visual search, observers generate a visual representation of the search target (the "attentional template") that guides spatial attention toward target-like visual input. In real-world vision, however, objects produce vastly different visual input depending on their location: your car produces a retinal image that is 10 times smaller when it is parked 50 compared to 5 m away. Across four experiments, we investigated whether the attentional template incorporates viewing distance when observers search for familiar object categories. On each trial, participants were precued to search for a car or person in the near or far plane of an outdoor scene. In "search trials," the scene reappeared and participants had to indicate whether the search target was present or absent. In intermixed "catch-trials," two silhouettes were briefly presented on either side of fixation (matching the shape and/or predicted size of the search target), one of which was followed by a probe-stimulus. We found that participants were more accurate at reporting the location (Experiments 1 and 2) and orientation (Experiment 3) of probe stimuli when they were presented at the location of size-matching silhouettes. Thus, attentional templates incorporate the predicted size of an object based on the current viewing distance. This was only the case, however, when silhouettes also matched the shape of the search target (Experiment 2). We conclude that attentional templates for finding objects in scenes are shaped by a combination of category-specific attributes (shape) and context-dependent expectations about the likely appearance (size) of these objects at the current viewing location. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Previous studies suggest that interference control may be unaffected by sleep deprivation based on the unchanged interference effects (reaction time [RT] differences between incongruent and congruent conditions), while ignoring the overall slower RTs after sleep deprivation. In the present study, we interpreted these results from a new angle using a variant of diffusion model, diffusion model for conflict tasks (DMC), and investigated whether and how interference control is affected by sleep deprivation. Mathematical derivations and model simulations showed that unchanged task-irrelevant information processing (i.e., unaffected interference control) may not lead to the observed unchanged interference effects when considering the overall slower RTs after sleep deprivation (due to either decreased drift rate of task-relevant information or increased decision boundary). Therefore, the unchanged interference effects do not necessarily indicate unchanged interference control. We then conducted a Simon task following one night of sleep deprivation or normal sleep, and fitted the DMC to the data. Experimental results showed that the Simon effect was reversed when most of the trials were incongruent, indicating that participants used learned spatially incompatible stimulus-response associations to predict responses. However, the Simon effects in both mean RTs and RT distributions were not significantly modulated by sleep deprivation. Model fits showed that the drift rate of task-relevant information decreased and the time-to-peak of task-irrelevant activation increased after sleep deprivation. These results suggest that central information processing was degraded after sleep loss, and most importantly, task-irrelevant activation increased after sleep deprivation as interference control was impaired. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

We conceptually replicated the one previous study (see record 2009-13549-001) revealing that individuals who practice a motor skill under psychological pressure (anxiety training-AT) avoid performance deterioration when exposed to higher levels of pressure. We used a >3× larger sample size than the original study and attempted to shed light on mechanisms whereby AT may promote performance under pressure by measuring variables related to three theories of choking under pressure: attentional control theory (ACT), reinvestment theory, and the biopsychosocial model (BPSM) of challenge and threat. Eighty-four participants practiced 300 golf putts over 2 days with mild psychological pressure manipulations (AT group) or no pressure manipulations (control group). On the third day, all participants completed putting posttests with no pressure manipulations, mild pressure manipulations, or high-pressure manipulations. We had participants report their mental effort, movement reinvestment, and perceived challenge/threat after each posttest to investigate ACT, reinvestment theory, and the BPSM of challenge and threat, respectively. Results showed the AT group maintained their performance across posttests, whereas the control group performed worse under pressure. Additionally, results indicated that AT moderated changes in mental effort and movement reinvestment during pressure, although neither mechanism mediated the relationship between AT and performance under pressure. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Statistical learning, the process of extracting regularities from the environment, is one of the most fundamental abilities playing an essential role in almost all aspects of human cognition. Previous studies have shown that attentional selection is biased toward locations that are likely to contain a target and away from locations that are likely to contain a distractor. The current study investigated whether participants can also learn to extract that a specific motor response is more likely when the target is presented at specific locations within the visual field. To that end, the additional singleton paradigm was adapted such that when the singleton target was presented at one specific location, one response (e.g., right index finger) was more likely than the other (e.g., right middle finger) and the reverse was true for another location. The results show that participants learned to extract that a particular motor response is more likely when the singleton target (which was unrelated to the response) was presented at a specific location within the visual field. The results also suggest that it is the location of the target and not its shape that is associated with the biased response. This learning cannot be considered as being top-down or conscious as participants showed little, if any, awareness of the response biases present. The results are discussed in terms of the event coding theory. The study increases the scope of statistical learning and shows how individuals adapt automatically, without much awareness, to the regularities present in the environment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

A growing amount of attention has been given to examining the domain-general auditory processing of individual acoustic dimensions as a key driving force for adult L2 acquisition. Whereas auditory processing has traditionally been conceptualized as a bottom-up and encapsulated phenomenon, the interaction model (Kraus & Banai, 2007) proposes auditory processing as a set of perceptual, cognitive, and motoric abilities-the perception of acoustic details (acuity), the selection of relevant and irrelevant dimensions (attention), and the conversion of audio input into motor action (integration). To test this hypothesis, we examined the relationship between each component and the L2 outcomes of 102 adult Chinese speakers of English who varied in age, experience, and working memory background. According to the results of the statistical analyses, (a) the tests scores tapped into essentially distinct components of auditory processing (acuity, attention, and integration), and (b) these components played an equal role in explaining various aspects of L2 learning (phonology, morphosyntax) with large effects, even after biographical background and working memory were controlled for. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Can people perform two novel tasks in parallel? Available evidence and prevailing theories overwhelmingly indicate that the answer is no, due to stubborn capacity limitations in central stages (e.g., a central bottleneck). Here we propose a new hypothesis, which suggests otherwise: people are capable of fully parallel central processing (i.e., bypassing the central bottleneck), yet often fail to do so, mainly due to preparation neglect. This preparation-neglect hypothesis was evaluated in four dual-task experiments pairing novel tasks (Task 1 and Task 2) using arbitrary stimulus-response mappings. Experiment 1, using a classic psychological refractory period (PRP) procedure, replicated the finding of dozens of previous PRP studies: none of the participants bypassed the bottleneck, instead exhibiting large dual-task interference on Task 2 (445 ms). In Experiment 2, the same dual-task PRP trials were randomly intermixed with single-task trials on Task 2, to boost preparation on that task. Here, nearly half the sample of participants bypassed the central bottleneck, exhibiting small dual-task interference on Task 2 (48 ms). Two additional experiments showed that initial practice does not by itself enable bottleneck bypassing, but boosting preparation of Task 2 (via intermixing single-task trials of Task 2) does. We conclude that, when properly prepared, people are capable of far more dual-task automaticity than was previously believed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).