Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology-Revue Canadienne De Psychologie Experimentale最新文献

In this article, I describe my academic journey as a Canadian researcher in the field of mathematical cognition. The article is a version of the talk I gave when I was presented with the Donald O. Hebb Award from the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science in July 2023 at the University of Guelph. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Ordinal number processing skills are important for adults and children. Recent work demonstrates that children have difficulty with judging the ordinality of sequences that are in-order but do not match the typical count-list (i.e., in-order non-adjacent sequences, such as 2-4-6). Limited evidence in the literature suggests that dyscalculic children show a similar pattern of behavior. In the present study, we sought to explicitly test the hypothesis that children with developmental dyscalculia struggle primarily with extending notions of ordinality to sequences outside of the count-list. We test this hypothesis using a sample of children with persistent developmental dyscalculia, and a comparison group of typically performing children. Both groups completed an ordinality judgment task, in which triplet sequences were judged as being in-order (e.g., 3-4-5; 2-4-6) or in mixed-order (e.g., 3-5-4; 2-6-4). In line with our prediction, results demonstrate that children with persistent developmental dyscalculia make more errors, compared to typically performing children, but only on the in-order non-adjacent trials (e.g., 2-4-6). Broadly, this finding suggests that ordinality processing abilities are impaired in children with developmental dyscalculia, and that this characteristic appears primarily in extending notions of ordinality beyond adjacent sequences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Numeracy is the ability to understand, manipulate, and make sense of numerical information. It is crucial for everyday decision making that involves dealing with numbers. In this study, we tested whether we can help people make better choices in monetary lotteries by communicating numerical values (i.e., payoffs and probabilities) using visual aids. We also checked whether presenting this information in a visual form reduces affect negativity. Participants (N = 210) made choices in 10 monetary lotteries accompanied with visual aids (experimental condition) or without visual aids (control condition). After the lottery task, participants completed questionnaires measuring experienced emotions and numerical skills. Despite finding no hypothesized effect of visual aids on performance in a lottery task, the exploratory analysis revealed the interaction effect. In a visual aid condition, participants who were relatively less educated scored significantly higher in a lottery task in comparison to those in the control condition. Additionally, participants in the visual aid condition reported significantly lower intensity of negative emotions after the lottery task than those in the control condition. We discuss possible causes and mechanisms that can explain the results we obtained. We argue that visual aids are a promising tool for future learning, and their friendly format can positively influence people's reactions to decisions involving numerical information. However, we also point out the necessity for further research and exploration of the role of different designs of visual aids and individual differences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Children's early numerical abilities shape their trajectories for math learning throughout schooling, and task quantity representation (e.g., nonsymbolic vs. symbolic) affects their reasoning about numerical concepts. The role of quantity representation in early numerical ability has typically been studied using variable-centered approaches. The present study builds on past work by using latent profile analysis as a person-centered approach to investigate heterogeneity in U.S. preschoolers' (N = 200, M_age = 4 years, 6 months) numerical abilities across nonsymbolic, verbal symbolic, and written symbolic representation types. The aim was to determine whether numerical ability indicators across the three representation types would result in empirically distinct ability profiles and whether preschool ability profile would predict variance on a standardized assessment of math achievement a year later, in kindergarten. We found evidence of four distinct preschool number ability profiles: (a) consistently low; (b) consistently high; (c) intermediate, with an advantage on nonsymbolic items; and (d) intermediate, with an advantage on verbal symbolic items. Although children in the consistently low and consistently high profiles performed reliably lower and higher, respectively, on the assessment of kindergarten math achievement, the two intermediate profiles performed similarly. The results reveal heterogeneity in preschool numerical ability across quantity representations and suggest that proficiency with either nonsymbolic or verbal representations may be a helpful foundation for building future math achievement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Are there cognitive connections between humans' ability to make music and their understanding of math and numbers? This question has motivated centuries of speculation across the fields of philosophy and education and an increasing number of empirical studies of the topic. We review research at the intersection of numerical and music cognition, and establish its relevance both to the applied sphere (e.g., education) and to core theoretical issues in the cognitive sciences. Next, we identify notable limitations within the literature, and attempt to explain some of the likely causes of-and solutions to-these limitations. Finally, we propose specific themes of focus (spatialization and the mapping between symbolic and nonsymbolic representations) for future research aimed at understanding whether there is shared cognitive architecture for reasoning about number and math. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

There is an ongoing debate among visual attention researchers about whether top-down processes contribute to pop-out search. In the present study, we describe a new method to orthogonally manipulate top-down preparation and feature priming in a pop-out search task. On each trial, participants viewed a single-item (randomly blue or orange) followed by a pop-out search display (randomly blue target with orange distractors, or vice versa). Preparation was induced by instructing participants to respond to the single-item if it was a particular colour and to ignore it otherwise-but to respond to the odd-coloured target in all following pop-out search displays. This method allowed us to examine whether top-down preparation for the single-item influenced subsequent pop-out search. Our results revealed a large effect of preparation for the single-item on subsequent search response times. We discuss this result in relation to the interplay between top-down control and selection history effects in pop-out visual search. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Localisation of simple stimuli such as angle vertices may contribute to a plethora of illusory effects. We focus on the Müller-Lyer illusion in an attempt to measure and characterise a more elementary effect that may contribute to the magnitude of said illusion. Perceived location error of angle vertices (a single set of Müller-Lyer fins) and arcs in a 2D plane was measured with the aim to provide clarification of ambiguous results from studies of angle localisation and expand the results to other types of stimuli. In three experiments, we utilised the method of constant stimuli in order to determine perceived locations of angle vertices (Experiments 1 and 2) as well as circular and elliptical arcs (Experiment 3). The results show significant distortions of perceived compared to objective vertex locations (all effect sizes d > 1.01, p < .001). Experiment 2 revealed strong effects of angle size and fin length on localisation error. Mislocalization was larger for more acute angles and longer angle fins (both η_p² = .43, p < .001). In Experiment 3, localisation errors were larger for longer arcs (η_p² = .19, p = .001) irrespective of shape (circular or elliptical). We discuss the effect in the context of modern trends in research of the Müller-Lyer illusion as well as the widely popular centroid theory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Ambiguity is ubiquitous in language; lexical ambiguity refers to instances where a single word has multiple meanings. The current investigation examined homonyms, words that have the same orthography and pronunciation in English but multiple meanings (e.g., BANK, meaning "financial institution" or "river's edge"). The processing of homonyms requires the engagement of executive control processes, for example, to select the appropriate meaning of the homonym while reducing interference from other meanings. Executive function processes are known to change over the lifespan and may be impacted by experiential factors such as bilingualism. The present study uses event-related brain potentials as an index of lexical access to examine whether bilingualism influences homonym processing in older adults. The results indicate that patterns of lexical access differ as a function of bilingual status in older adults and compared to young adults, suggesting that language experience may moderate language processing in both young and older adults, at least in situations where language processing is demanding on executive function, such as in the processing of homonyms. Importantly, we show that older bilinguals show a somewhat similar pattern of ambiguity processing as their younger counterparts, while age differences were observed in monolinguals when comparing across studies. This suggests that bilingual language experience may have a mitigating impact on age-related changes in ambiguity processing. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

One of the most fundamental distinctions in cognitive psychology is between processing that is "controlled" and processing that is "automatic." The widely held automatic processing account of visual word identification asserts that, among other characteristics, the presentation of a well-formed letter string triggers sublexical, lexical, and semantic activation in the absence of any intention to do so. Instead, the role of intention is seen as independent of stimulus identification and as restricted to selection for action using the products of identification (e.g., braking in response to a sign saying "BRIDGE OUT"). We consider four paradigms with respect to the role of an intention-defined here as a "task set" indicating how to perform in the current situation-when identifying single well-formed letter strings. Contrary to the received automaticity view, the literature regarding each of these paradigms demonstrates that the relation between an intention and stimulus identification is constrained in multiple ways, many of which are not well understood at present. One thing is clear: There is no simple relation between an intention, in the form of a task set, and stimulus identification. Automatic processing of words, if this indeed ever occurs, certainly is not a system default. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

In daily interactions, individuals use irony and prosocial lies for various reasons, for example, to be humorous, to criticize, or to be polite. While some studies have examined individual differences in perceiving the politeness of such language, research using naturalistic, context-rich materials is lacking. To address this gap, we utilized short videos to assess politeness perception in literal, ironic, and prosocial lie scenarios while also exploring differences based on age, gender, and geographical location. Our sample included 288 participants from the United States and the United Kingdom. We focused on five different types of language: literal positive, blunt, sarcastic, teasing, and prosocial lies. Participants rated the politeness of these statements and completed surveys on communication preferences (Self-Reported Sarcasm Questionnaire and Conversational Indirectness Scale Questionnaire). While the demographic groups showed similarities, individual factors also shaped politeness perception. Older adults perceived teasing as less polite than middle-aged and younger adults, and male participants rated blunt and sarcastic statements as more polite. Geographical variations were found for prosocial lies, with U.K. participants rating them more polite than their U.S. counterparts. These findings underscore the importance of considering context-rich materials and individual factors in understanding the social functions of irony and prosocial lies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).