反应选项对时序知觉重复启动效应的影响

先前研究采用两项反应任务发现了时序知觉重复启动效应, 这可能是反应选项导致的虚假效应, 本研究采用三项反应任务对此进行了检验。实验1运用三项判断任务以消除缺乏中间选项所致的反应偏向, 结果发现重复启动显著影响“哪个图形先出现”和“两个图形同时出现”的时序判断; 实验2在实验1的基础上对“同时出现”反应选项进行两种指导语操作, 实验结果不仅与实验1一致, 而且“有把握时判断为同时出现”和“有无把握都判断为同时出现”之间没有显著差异, 说明被试能够识别时序加以判断, 不支持反应偏向的前提条件。因此, 时序知觉重复启动效应不是反应选项产生的反应偏向引发的虚假效应, 重复启动对“系列性”和“同时性”时序知觉都存在显著影响。     

Measuring the duration of perception

An analysis is presented of ways in which the total duration of perception of transient visual stimuli may be determined by means of psychophysical judgments of the simultaneity (or relative precedence) of two sensory events. This analysis yields a new method for measuring the duration of perception that only requires judgments of the simultaneity of the offset of one visual target with the onset of another (“offset-onset” judgments), and is thus free of differential biases between onset-onset and offset-onset judgments of simultaneity which could be involved in previous measurements. When three or more perceived durations need to be determined, the new method is more efficient than earlier methods; it requires measurement of only one PSE in order to evaluate one response duration as compared to two PSEs per response duration for previous methods. We also describe ways of determining the presence of some kinds of biases and quantitatively evaluating the magnitude of bias in the new method, as well as bias in onset-onset or offset-offset judgments of simultaneity alone; such evaluations of differential bias were not possible for the earlier methods. An experimental example of a bias analysis is described. No significant biasing effects were detected in the measures of perceived duration that were extracted as either retinal location or background luminance was changed, although background luminance itself markedly influenced the values of perceived duration.     

The interaction between time and number in a temporal bisection task: a reply to Vicario (2011)

Abstract. We discuss the results of Vicario (2011, Perception 40 23-29), in the light of an experiment designed to bypass some of the limits of that study. There, participants were asked to perform a temporal bisection on numerical stimuli (small or large digits) presented either for 700/900 ms or 2000/2200 ms. For the two longest durations only, bisections of larger digits occurred later than those of smaller digits. Here, subjects judged the temporal position of a flick occurring during the visual presentation of a digit (1, 5, or 9) which lasted on the screen for either 700 ms or 2000 ms. Results revealed no difference in the perceived temporal midpoints of large compared to small digits. In contrast, they showed a response bias: only with the shortest-duration stimuli the digit's magnitude affected the subject's response.     

Retrieval dynamics in self-terminated memory search

Attended stimuli are perceived as occurring earlier than unattended stimuli. This phenomenon of prior entry is usually identified by a shift in the point of subjective simultaneity (PSS) in temporal order judgements (TOJs). According to its traditional psychophysical interpretation, the PSS coincides with the perception of simultaneity. This assumption is, however, questionable. Technically, the PSS represents the temporal interval between two stimuli at which the two alternative TOJs are equally likely. Thus it also seems possible that observers perceive not simultaneity, but uncertainty of temporal order. This possibility is supported by prior-entry studies, which find that perception of simultaneity is not very likely at the PSS. The present study tested the percept at the PSS in prior entry, using peripheral cues to orient attention. We found that manipulating attention caused varying temporal perceptions around the PSS. On some occasions observers perceived the two stimuli as simultaneous, but on others they were simply uncertain about the order in which they had been presented. This finding contradicts the implicit assumption of most models of temporal order perception, that perception of simultaneity inevitably results if temporal order cannot be discriminated.     

数量加工单方向干扰时间知觉的认知与神经机制

近年来,数量加工对时间知觉的单方向干扰效应受到广泛关注,然而关于该效应的认知和神经机制的研究却缺乏深度的文献梳理和理论分析。本文从抽象数量、数字符号等认知加工如何干扰时间知觉的角度,系统总结了近期数量加工单方向影响时间知觉的研究进展;并在对相关文献加以梳理的基础上,详细分析了该效应可能的认知和神经机制,并提出若干未来研究的设想。     

知觉组织对时序知觉的双重影响:同时判断任务的证据

本研究探讨知觉组织对时序知觉的双重影响。实验采用三条线段构成的C形为实验材料,操纵图形朝向和SOA水平(实验1和实验2)、图形颜色(实验3)以及反应限制(实验4),要求被试完成同时判断任务。结果发现,在不同的SOA条件下,图形对向条件的同时判断频率均显著高于图形反向条件(实验1),即使在知觉组织线索弱化时这种现象仍然存在(实验2和实验3),而且知觉组织对时序知觉的影响不是由于被试的反应偏向导致的(实验4)。结果说明知觉组织对时序知觉存在双重影响:当两个刺激同时出现时,知觉组织能够提高时序知觉表现; 而当两个刺激非同时出现时,知觉组织显著降低时序知觉表现。     

No effect of synesthetic congruency on temporal ventriloquism

A sound presented in temporal proximity to a light can alter the perceived temporal occurrence of that light (temporal ventriloquism). Recent studies have suggested that pitch-size synesthetic congruency (i.e., a natural association between the relative pitch of a sound and the relative size of a visual stimulus) might affect this phenomenon. To reexamine this, participants made temporal order judgements about small- and large-sized visual stimuli while high- or low-pitched tones were presented before the first and after the second light. We replicated a previous study showing that, at large sound-light intervals, sensitivity for visual temporal order was better for synesthetically congruent than for incongruent pairs. However, this congruency effect could not be attributed to temporal ventriloquism, since it disappeared at short sound-light intervals, if compared with a synchronous audiovisual baseline condition that excluded response biases. In addition, synesthetic congruency did not affect temporal ventriloquism even if participants were made explicitly aware of congruency before testing. Our results thus challenge the view that synesthetic congruency affects temporal ventriloquism.     

Components of visual prior entry

The prior entry hypothesis contends that attention accelerates sensory processing, shortening the time to perception. Typical observations supporting the hypothesis may be explained equally well by response biases, changes in decision criteria, or sensory facilitation. In a series of experiments conducted to discriminate among the potential mechanisms, observers judged the simultaneity or temporal order of two stimuli, to one of which attention was oriented by exogenous, endogenous, gaze-directed, or multiple exogenous cues. The results suggest that prior entry effects are primarily caused by sensory facilitation and attentional modifications of the decision mechanism, with only a small part possibly due to an attention-dependent sensory acceleration.     

知觉组织影响时序知觉的认知机制:ERP研究的证据

以往研究显示,知觉组织影响时序知觉,采用ERP技术拟探讨知觉组织影响时序知觉的认知机制。采集23名被试完成同时判断任务的脑电数据。行为结果发现,知觉组织影响时序知觉,具体表现为知觉组织条件的同时判断频率显著高于非知觉组织条件。ERPs结果发现,在P1和P2成分上,知觉组织条件与非知觉组织条件引发的波幅没有显著差异; 而在N1成分上,知觉组织条件诱发的N1波幅显著大于非知觉组织条件。这表明,知觉组织对时序知觉的影响可能发生在视觉刺激加工的早期阶段,视觉刺激的知觉组织先于时序信息加工。     

Asymmetries in visuomotor recalibration of time perception: Does causal binding distort the window of integration?

The recalibration of perceived visuomotor simultaneity to vision-lead and movement-lead temporal discrepancies is marked by an underlying causal asymmetry, if the movement (button press) is voluntary and self-initiated; a visual stimulus lagging the button press may be interpreted as causally linked sensory feedback (intentional or causal binding), a leading visual stimulus not. Here, we test whether this underlying causal asymmetry leads to directional asymmetries in the temporal recalibration of visuomotor time perception, using an interval estimation paradigm. Participants were trained to the presence of one of three temporal discrepancies between a motor action (button press) and a visual stimulus (flashed disk): 100 ms vision-lead, simultaneity, and 100 ms movement-lead. By adjusting a point on a visual scale, participants then estimated the interval between the visual stimulus and the button press over a range of discrepancies. Comparing the results across conditions, we found that temporal recalibration appears to be implemented nearly exclusively on the movement-lead side of the range of discrepancies by a uni-lateral lengthening or shortening of the window of temporal integration. Interestingly, this marked asymmetry does not lead to a significantly asymmetrical recalibration of the point of subjective simultaneity or to significant differences in discriminability. This seeming contradiction (symmetrical recalibration of subjective simultaneity and asymmetrical recalibration of interval estimation) poses a challenge to common models of temporal order perception that assume an underlying time measurement process with Gaussian noise. Using a two-criterion model of the window of temporal integration, we illustrate that a compressive bias around perceived simultaneity (temporal integration) even prior to perceptual decisions about temporal order would be very hard to detect given the sensitivity of the psychophysical procedures commonly used.     

Aspects of temporal information processing: A dimensional analysis

A major controversy in the field of prospective temporal information processing refers to the question of whether performance in various temporal tasks can be accounted for by the general assumption of an internal clock rather than by distinct, task-specific timing mechanisms. Therefore, the present study was designed to identify dimensions of temporal information processing. For this purpose, 120 subjects performed eight psychophysical temporal tasks. Correlational and principal factor analyses suggested a common pacemaker-based interval timing mechanism involved in duration discrimination, temporal generalization, and temporal order judgment. On the other hand, rhythm perception and perceived simultaneity/successiveness appeared to be controlled by task-specific processes unrelated to interval-based timing.     

Temporal perception in joint action: This is MY action

Here we investigated the temporal perception of self- and other-generated actions during sequential joint actions. Participants judged the perceived time of two events, the first triggered by the participant and the second by another agent, during a cooperative or competitive interaction, or by an unspecified mechanical cause. Results showed that participants perceived self-generated events as shifted earlier in time (anticipation temporal judgment bias) and non-self-generated events as shifted later in time (repulsion temporal judgment bias). This latter effect was observed independently from the kind of cause (i.e., agentive or mechanical) or interaction (i.e., cooperative or competitive). We suggest that this might represent a mental process which allows discriminating events that cannot plausibly be linked to one’s own action. When an event immediately follows a self-generated one, temporal judgment biases operate as self-serving biases in order to separate self-generated events from events of another physical causality.     

A left hemisphere, but not right hemispace, advantage for tactual simultaneity judgments

Hemispheric asymmetries for tactile simultaneity judgments were investigated in 34 dextral adults. Pairs of vibrotactile stimuli with simultaneous or successive onsets were delivered unilaterally to the left or right hand. Participants made a forced-choice, bipedal response, indicating whether a stimulus was simultaneous or successive. The effect of hemispatial attentional biases was investigated, using ipsilateral (arms uncrossed) and contralateral (arms crossed) hand placements. Trials presented to the right hand were associated with fewer errors and a trend for faster response times than were those presented to the left hand. There was no asymmetry in response bias. Manipulations of hemispace did not affect the right hand advantage. These results confirm the existence of a left hemisphere temporal-processing advantage but fail to demonstrate that the asymmetry is the result of a rightward attentional bias. The implications of these results for absolute and relative models of hemispheric specialization are discussed.     

Place and summation coding for canonical and non-canonical finger numeral representations

Fingers can be used to express numerical magnitudes, and cultural habits about the fixed order in which fingers are raised determine which configurations become canonical and which non-canonical. Although both types of configuration carry magnitude information, it has been shown that the canonical ones are recognized faster and directly linked to number semantics. Here we tested whether this difference is a consequence of differences in the qualitative way of processing the two types of configurations. When participants named Arabic digits (Experiment 1) or verbal numerals (Experiment 2) primed by canonical and non-canonical finger configurations, qualitatively different priming patterns were observed for the two types of configurations. Canonical configurations activated a place coding representation, with priming spreading to close smaller and larger magnitudes as a function of the prime–target distance. Conversely, non-canonical configurations activated a summation coding representation priming smaller and equal magnitudes independently of the prime–target distance, and larger targets depending on this distance.     

Attentional and interpretative biases in appearance concern: An investigation of biases in appearance-related information processing

The present study examined associations between high levels of appearance concern and information processing biases in interpretation and attention. An opportunity sample (N = 79) categorised ambiguous stimuli as related or unrelated to appearance. Participants then responded to the same stimuli in a modified visual dot-probe task assessing attentional bias. Participant responses were assessed in relation to level of appearance concern. The results indicated a valence specific bias towards interpretation of ambiguous stimuli as negative and appearance-related in individuals with higher levels of concern. There was also evidence of attentional bias towards information perceived as appearance-related in participants with higher levels of appearance concern. The study findings suggest that association between appearance-orientated information processing biases and level of appearance concern; this association may lead to mutually reinforcing bias and concern.     

Your neighbors define your value: A study of spatial bias in number comparison

Several chronometric biases in numerical cognition have informed our understanding of a mental number line (MNL). Complementing this approach, we investigated spatial performance in a magnitude comparison task. Participants located the larger or smaller number of a pair on a horizontal line representing the interval from 0 to 10. Experiments 1 and 2 used only number pairs one unit apart and found that digits were localized farther to the right with “select larger” instructions than with “select smaller” instructions. However, when numerical distance was varied (Experiment 3), digits were localized away from numerically near neighbors. This repulsion effect reveals context-specific distortions in number representation not previously noticed with chronometric measures.     

Asymmetries in the processing of Arabic digits and number words

Numbers can be represented as Arabic digits ("6") or as number words ("six"). The present study investigated potential processing differences between the two notational formats. In view of the previous finding (e.g., Potter & Faulconer, 1975) that objects are named slower, but semantically categorized faster, than corresponding words, it was investigated whether a similar interaction between stimulus format and task could be obtained with numbers. Experiment 1 established that number words were named faster than corresponding digits, but only if the two notation formats were presented in separate experimental blocks. Experiment 2 contrasted naming with a numerical magnitude judgment task and demonstrated an interaction between notation and task, with slower naming but faster magnitude judgment latencies for digits than for number words. These findings suggest that processing of the two notation formats is asymmetric, with digits gaining rapid access to numerical magnitude representations, but slower access to lexical codes, and the reverse for number words.     

Audiovisual synchrony and temporal order judgments: effects of experimental method and stimulus type

When an audio-visual event is perceived in the natural environment, a physical delay will always occur between the arrival of the leading visual component and that of the trailing auditory component. This natural timing relationship suggests that the point of subjective simultaneity (PSS) should occur at an auditory delay greater than or equal to 0 msec. A review of the literature suggests that PSS estimates derived from a temporal order judgment (TOJ) task differ from those derived from a synchrony judgment (SJ) task, with (unnatural) auditory-leading PSS values reported mainly for the TOJ task. We report data from two stimulus types that differed in terms of complexity--namely, (1) a flash and a click and (2) a bouncing ball and an impact sound. The same participants judged the temporal order and synchrony of both stimulus types, using three experimental methods: (1) a TOJ task with two response categories ("audio first" or "video first"), (2) an SJ task with two response categories ("synchronous" or "asynchronous"; SJ2), and (3) an SJ task with three response categories ("audio first," "synchronous," or "video first"; SJ3). Both stimulus types produced correlated PSS estimates with the SJ tasks, but the estimates from the TOJ procedure were uncorrelated with those obtained from the SJ tasks. These results suggest that the SJ task should be preferred over the TOJ task when the primary interest is i n perceived audio-visualsynchrony.     

判断框架对时序知觉位置启动效应的影响

研究采用包含两种判断框架（判断刺激出现的先后次序）的时序判断任务探讨了决策偏向对时序知觉位置启动效应的影响。实验结果表明,时序知觉中存在着位置启动效应,而且在两个靶刺激出现时间间隔不同时,被试在“哪个靶刺激先出现”和“哪个靶刺激后出现”两种判断框架下的正确率存在显著差异,但在两个靶刺激同时出现时并没有出现显著的判断框架效应。因此,本研究推测时序知觉位置启动效应的作用机制不仅包括知觉增强加工过程,而且也与认知决策有关,这为反应偏向理论提供了新的支持证据。     

Larger,smaller, odd or even? Task-specific effects of optokinetic stimulation on the mental number space

Previous studies have shown that number processing can induce spatial biases in perception and action and can trigger the orienting of visuospatial attention. Few studies, however, have investigated how spatial processing and visuospatial attention influences number processing. In the present study, we used the optokinetic stimulation (OKS) technique to trigger eye movements and thus overt orienting of visuospatial attention. Participants were asked to stare at OKS, while performing parity judgements (Experiment 1) or number comparison (Experiment 2), two numerical tasks that differ in terms of demands on magnitude processing. Numerical stimuli were acoustically presented, and participants responded orally. We examined the effects of OKS direction (leftward or rightward) on number processing. The results showed that rightward OKS abolished the classic number size effect (i.e., faster reaction times for small than large numbers) in the comparison task, whereas the parity task was unaffected by OKS direction. The effect of OKS highlights a link between visuospatial orienting and processing of number magnitude that is complementary to the more established link between numerical and visuospatial processing. We suggest that the bidirectional link between numbers and space is embodied in the mechanisms subserving sensorimotor transformations for the control of eye movements and spatial attention.