Perception of movement patterns: tracking of movement

The tracking of complex two-dimensional movement patterns was studied. Subjects were blindfolded, and their right hand moved around stencil patterns in the midsagittal plane, while the left hand concurrently reproduced the right-hand movement. The accuracy with which the left hand shadowed the criterion movements of the right hand was measured in shape and size. Right-hand movements were active or passive. Present tracking performance was contrasted with errors in recall reported by Bairstow and Laszlo (1978). Results showed that tracking performance was accurate. Active and passive criterion movements were tracked differently. Tracking was clearly superior to recall performance.     

A new tactile illusion: temporal limits on the processing of spatiotemporal patterns

A novel illusion was observed when 12 tactile point-stimulators arranged in a circle were sequentially activated so that each quadrant was first traced in a clockwise manner, then counterclockwise, and again in a clockwise manner, after which the next quadrant was similarly traced. Under certain temporal conditions this stimulus pattern was experienced as a point moving through an overall circular path but looping inwardly about once per quandrant. The effects of variations in rate of presentation of such stimuli were investigated by having subjects make drawings of their perceptual experiences. Three skin surfaces were used (palm, fingers, and forearm), and all produced similar results except for lower confidence and reliability of drawings made from forearm stimulation. Pattern presentation rate, however, had a consistent and powerful effect, with the looping illusion most frequently observed at rates around 25 pattern points per s and with different perceptual organizations dominating as rates departed widely from this optimum. The illusory perceptual organizations were interpreted as compromises between past and present stimulation necessitated by the relative slowness of tactile processing of spatiotemporal patterns.     

Modeling the categorical perception of speech sounds: A step toward biological plausibility

Our native language has a lifelong effect on how we perceive speech sounds. Behaviorally, this is manifested as categorical perception, but the neural mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are still unknown. Here, we constructed a computational model of categorical perception, following principles consistent with infant speech learning. A self-organizing network was exposed to a statistical distribution of speech input presented as neural activity patterns of the auditory periphery, resembling the way sound arrives to the human brain. In the resulting neural map, categorical perception emerges from most single neurons of the model being maximally activated by prototypical speech sounds, while the largest variability in activity is produced at category boundaries. Consequently, regions in the vicinity of prototypes become perceptually compressed, and regions at category boundaries become expanded. Thus, the present study offers a unifying framework for explaining the neural basis of the warping of perceptual space associated with categorical perception.     

The movement-induced self-reference effect: enhancing memorability through movement toward the self

Much evidence suggests that bodily actions affect cognitive states. In particular, pulling owned objects toward the self improves memory for those objects compared to memory for objects pushed away from the self. Experiments 1 and 2 examined the effect of incidental joystick movement on static stimuli, hypothesizing that using the physical self (rather than a computer monitor) as a reference point would enhance memory for items categorized via a toward-the-self action but not toward-the-computer-monitor action. Experiment 3 examined whether movement toward an external representation of self, one’s cellular phone, would enhance memory compared to the same movement toward an unfamiliar phone. Recognition memory was enhanced for both words and pictures evaluated during movements toward a representation of the self, regardless of whether the representation was a physical self or a disembodied self. Furthermore, movement toward the self enhanced memory, rather than movement away from the self depressing memory. These results suggest that self-referential processing can be induced by an approach motor action and impact episodic memory regardless of intention to learn, stimulus type, or motion of the stimuli. They also suggest that self-referential memory advantage can be disembodied.     

A first step toward cognitive remediation of voices: a case study

Several studies have shown that source-monitoring errors are related to verbal hallucinations in schizophrenia. An exploratory pilot study has been carried out to investigate the possibility of training patients in how to avoid errors in source-monitoring. One patient with paranoid schizophrenia and persistent thought insertions was trained for 6 hours to use mnemonic techniques to compensate specific deficits in source-monitoring. Results show that the patient was able to improve his performance and maintain the acquired progress at a 1-month follow-up assessment. These preliminary results are interesting for developing a larger controlled study of cognitive remediation of source-monitoring deficits.     

Optogenetic tools for analyzing the neural circuits of behavior

In order to understand how the brain generates behaviors, it is important to be able to determine how neural circuits work together to perform computations. Because neural circuits are made of a great diversity of cell types, it is critical to be able to analyze how these different kinds of cell work together. In recent years, a toolbox of fully genetically encoded molecules has emerged that, when expressed in specific neurons, enables the electrical activity of the targeted neurons to be controlled in a temporally precise fashion by pulses of light. We describe this optogenetic toolbox, how it can be used to analyze neural circuits in the brain and how optogenetics is impacting the study of cognition.     

Another Look at the Impact of Juror Sentiments toward Defendants on Juridic Decisions

Abstract

This experiment tested the hypothesis that jurors' preexisting biases (sentiments) toward an accused would have a much stronger impact on the sentences that jurors recommended than on the verdicts they rendered. Specifically, a balance theory analysis of juridic decisions specifies that predeliberation sentiments toward the defendant would have little if any direct effect on jury verdicts and would be associated with verdicts rendered only if the information establishing these sentiments also implied a unit relation between the defendant and the crime. Six-person juries deliberated the case of an accused robber and murderer who had no prior criminal record, a prior conviction for a dissimilar crime, or a prior conviction for a similar crime. While on the witness stand, the defendant either withheld information or provided answers for all questions. The results provided strong support for the hypothesis. In addition, jurors' predeliberation sentiments toward the accused were unrelated either to the tone of juridic deliberations or to postdeliberation assessments of the defendant's guilt. By contrast, juror sentiments toward the defendant were a solid predictor of the severity of sentences assigned by those who voted to convict the accused.     

Unfixed action patterns: social behavior and the brain

The 2000 Karger Workshop: ‘Social Modulation of Brain and Behavior’, New Orleans, LA, USA, 3 November 2000.     

Pushing Pentecostalism toward the respectable: on the mainstreaming of a countercultural religious movement in Chile

ABSTRACT

Pentecostalism used to be the stigmatized religion of the marginal sectors of Chilean society and has often been interpreted by scholars in terms of symbolic protest. However, a new generation of Pentecostals is now attempting to redefine their religion as more legitimate and respectable. This process involves attempts at gaining more public recognition and it implies revisiting Pentecostal stylistic and religious practices. Many younger Pentecostals tend to distance themselves, both from certain kinds of emotional expressions and from what they perceive as the rigid formalism of classical Pentecostalism. This is prevalent, both in Pentecostal worship which carefully balances effusiveness and liveliness with control, and in testimonies of younger Pentecostals who tend to downplay the sensationalist aspects of conversion (as caused by an instant revelation) and rather portray it as a gradual process of maturation. My paper explores how mainstreaming processes unfold at different levels and occasionally cause tensions among Chilean Pentecostals.     

A computer-controlled matrix system for presentation to the skin of complex spatiotemporal patterns

A system for presenting complex spatiotemporal patterns to the skin is described. The computer-controlled device consists of a matrix of 64 piezoceramic benders mounted in a support system that can be fitted to steeply contoured skin surfaces such as the thigh. Vibrotactile patterns that include movement across the skin’s surface and/or intensitive variation within or across display epochs are programmed and presented in a frame-by-frame manner, similar to the production of motion pictures. Patterns can be predefined, or modified by observers’ responses to allow for an interactive haptographic display. Design considerations for the construction of the tactile matrix, computer interface, and software are discussed.     

Atttudes and behavior: Implications of attitudes toward behavioral alternatives

The relationship between attitudes and behavior was considered. An attitudinal model of behavioral alternatives was presented and its applied and theoretical implications explicated. Three investigations were reported that tested the initial viability of the approach. Support for the model was observed in all three investigations.     

Dimensions of online behavior: toward a user typology.

Online behavior refers to organized (e.g., search) and unorganized (e.g., browse) interactions with both human (e.g., chat) and nonhuman (e.g., database) elements in online environments. The salient features of online behavior are conceptualized as sociability (human connection motives), utility (efficiency orientation), and reciprocity (cognitive stimulation and active involvement). Recently published factor analytic studies support the validity of these three dimensions of online behavior. The proposed Brief Test of Online Behavior (BTOB) contains five rating scale items that determine user position on each dimension of online behavior (i.e., 15 items in total). A typology of online behavior emerges as BTOB scores position users in the three-dimensional space created by the intersection of sociability, utility, and reciprocity. Subsequent research may validate the proposed dimensions of online behavior, establish practical applications of the BTOB, and connect type of user with cognitive, social, and emotional outcomes. For example, users who score high on sociability and reciprocity but low on utility may learn best in interactive and stimulating online environments, which necessarily include self-regulating software.     

Benevolent ageism: Attitudes of overaccommodative behavior toward older women

ABSTRACT

Stereotypes of older adults fit a paternalistic pattern, including elevated warmth and lowered competence, yet little effort has been made to elucidate this in an everyday context. This phenomenon was examined with an experimental vignette, in which a woman was offered unnecessary help; specifically, the age (young vs. old) and the independence (accepting vs. declining assistance) of the woman were manipulated. Attributions from a college-age sample toward the woman were examined. In the older conditions, hypotheses were confirmed that participants approved overaccommodative behaviors, endorsed higher warmth and lower competence, and attitudes were modified when the older women contradicted the paternalistic stereotype by declining assistance. That is, competence was modifiable for older women, whereas warmth was not. Implications of these findings as possible evidence of benevolent ageism and the malleability of the Stereotype Content Model are discussed.