Cognitive precedence for local information in hierarchical stimulus processing by pigeons

Four experiments investigated the processing of hierarchical stimuli by pigeons. Using a 4 alternative divided-attention task, 4 pigeons were food-reinforced for accurately identifying letters arranged as either hierarchical global- or local-relevant stimuli or as size-matched filled stimuli. Experiment 1 found that task acquisition was faster with local-relevant than global-relevant stimuli. This difference was not due to letter size. Experiment 2 demonstrated successful transfer to a novel irrelevant letter configuration. Experiments 3 and 4 tested pigeons' responses to conflict probe stimuli composed of equally discriminable relevant letters at each level. These tests revealed that all of the pigeons showed a cognitive precedence for local information early in processing, with the pigeons using different cues to initiate the processing of global information. This local advantage contrasts with previously reported results for humans and pigeons but is similar to that reported for nonhuman primates. Alternatives attempting to reconcile these contrasting comparative results are considered.     

Variation in working memory capacity and cognitive control: goal maintenance and microadjustments of control

Variation in working memory capacity (WMC) and cognitive control was examined in four experiments. In the experiments high- and low-WMC individuals performed a choice reaction time task (Experiment 1), a version of the antisaccade task (Experiment 2), a version of the Stroop task (Experiment 3), and an arrow version of the flanker task (Experiment 4). An examination of response time distributions suggested that high- and low-WMC individuals primarily differed in the slowest responses in each experiment, consistent with the notion that WMC is related to active maintenance abilities. Examination of two indicators of microadjustments of control (posterror slowing and conflict adaptation effects) suggested no differences between high- and low-WMC individuals. Collectively these results suggest that variation in WMC is related to some, but not all, cognitive control operations. The results are interpreted within the executive attention theory of WMC.     

Strategy use in the reading span test: An analysis of eye movements and reported encoding strategies

Strategy use in the traditional reading span test was examined by recording participants’ eye movements during the task (Experiment 1) and by interviewing participants about their strategy use (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, no differences between individuals with a low, medium, and high span were observed in how they distributed processing time between task elements. In all three groups, fixation times on words up to the to-be-remembered (TBR) word became shorter and the time spent on the TBR longer as memory load in the task increased. The results of Experiment 2, however, show that span groups differ in the use of memory encoding strategies: individuals with a low span use mainly rehearsal, whereas individuals with a high span use almost exclusively semantic elaboration. The results indicate that the use of elaborative strategies may enhance span performance but that not all individuals are necessarily able to use such strategies efficiently.     

Strategy use in the reading span test: an analysis of eye movements and reported encoding strategies

Strategy use in the traditional reading span test was examined by recording participants' eye movements during the task (Experiment 1) and by interviewing participants about their strategy use (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, no differences between individuals with a low, medium, and high span were observed in how they distributed processing time between task elements. In all three groups, fixation times on words up to the to-be-remembered (TBR) word became shorter and the time spent on the TBR longer as memory load in the task increased. The results of Experiment 2, however, show that span groups differ in the use of memory encoding strategies: individuals with a low span use mainly rehearsal, whereas individuals with a high span use almost exclusively semantic elaboration. The results indicate that the use of elaborative strategies may enhance span performance but that not all individuals are necessarily able to use such strategies efficiently.     

Cognitive control: A role for implicit learning?

We investigated the influence of implicit learning on cognitive control. In a sequential Stroop task, participants implicitly learned a sequence placed on the color of the Stroop words. In Experiment 1, Stroop conflict was lower in sequenced than in random trials (learning-improved control). However, as these results were derived from an interaction between learning and conflict, they could also be explained by improved implicit learning (difference between random and sequenced trials), under incongruent compared with congruent trials (control-improved learning). Therefore, we further unraveled the direction of the interaction in 2 additional experiments. In Experiment 2, participants who learned the color sequence were no better at resolving conflict than participants who did not undergo sequence training. This shows that implicit knowledge does not directly reduce conflict (no learning-improved control). In Experiment 3, the amount of conflict did not directly improve learning either (no control-improved learning). However, conflict had a significant impact on the expression of implicit learning, as most knowledge was expressed under the highest amount of conflict. Thus, task-optimization was accomplished by an increased reliance on implicit sequence knowledge under high conflict. These findings demonstrate that implicit learning processes can be flexibly recruited to support cognitive control functions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Emotion concepts and emotional states in social judgment and categorization

An objection to conclusions of research investigating effects of emotions on cognitive processes is that the effects are due to the activation of semantic concepts rather than to emotional feelings. A sentence unscrambling task was developed to prime concepts of happiness, sadness, or neutral ideas. Pilot studies demonstrated that unscrambling emotional sentences did not affect emotional state but did prime semantically related words. Experiment 1 showed that the induction of emotional state but not the sentence unscrambling task produced emotion-congruent judgments. Results of Experiment 2 showed that individuals in emotional states categorized according to emotional equivalence more often than participants in a neutral state. Sentence unscrambling had no effect on emotional response categorization. The influences of emotions and emotion knowledge in cognition and emotion are discussed.     

The Joint Impact of Achievement Goals and Performance Feedback on Information Giving

This research examined how performance feedback moderates the effects of individuals' achievement goals on information exchange when carrying out a novel and complex task. Experiment 1 demonstrated that mastery goal individuals who received positive performance feedback gave less modified information about their task performance to their exchange partner relative to both mastery goal individuals who received negative feedback and performance goal individuals (who received either negative or positive feedback). In Experiment 2, we found that relative to performance goals, mastery goals led to a stronger reciprocity orientation and a weaker exploitation orientation. Also, mastery goal individuals provided information of higher quality than performance goal individuals, thereby explaining the observed findings in Experiment 1.     

Internal sense of direction and landmark use in pigeons (Columba livia)

The relative importance of an internal sense of direction based on inertial cues and landmark piloting for small-scale navigation by White King pigeons (Columba livia) was investigated in an arena search task. Two groups of pigeons differed in whether they had access to visual cues outside the arena. In Experiment 1, pigeons were given experience with 2 different entrances and all pigeons transferred accurate searching to novel entrances. Explicit disorientation before entering did not affect accuracy. In Experiments 2-4, landmarks and inertial cues were put in conflict or tested 1 at a time. Pigeons tended to follow the landmarks in a conflict situation but could use an internal sense of direction to search when landmarks were unavailable.     

Do elderly couples have a better prospective memory than other elderly people when they collaborate?

A naturalistic study investigated how memory tasks affected group productivity for two individuals working in three kinds of group constellations: old married couples, old non‐friend pairs, and nominal groups of two individuals working on their own. The retrospective memory task was to recall episodic information given on a visit to a university campus. The prospective memory task was to remind the participants of actions to be performed during the visit. The prospective memory tasks were event‐based or time‐based. The delay or retention interval was also manipulated. In addition, an interview on how the elderly handled remembering during daily life was included. The results suggest that: (1) dyads suffered from collaboration relative to the predicted potential, replicating earlier research; old married couples did not reduce the same productivity loss as clearly as friends did in former studies; the couples who claimed that they used a transactive memory system, however, achieved the same productivity as the nominal pairs (i.e. the predicted potential; (2) the task effects produced unexpected results, some of which could be accounted for by the naturalistic setting used. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

结构、任务类型和导航对超文本信息搜索的影响

通过两个实验考察了结构、任务类型和导航对超文本信息搜索绩效的影响。实验一采用2（层次结构,混合结构）×2（特定任务,关系任务）的被试内设计,探讨了超文本结构和任务类型对信息搜索的影响;实验二在实验一的基础上,采用2（层次结构,混合结构）×2（有导航图,无导航图）的被试内设计,考察超文本结构和导航对关系任务信息搜索的影响。结果表明：（1）超文本结构和任务类型对信息搜索绩效有显著的交互影响,就关系任务而言,混合结构超文本优于层次结构超文本,但就特定任务而言,两者无显著差异;（2）导航对信息搜索行为有指导作用,尤其对层次结构超文本有利;（3）两种主观指标的结果与客观指标存在一定程度的一致性。     

False memory for associated word lists in individuals and collaborating groups

Using the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm, we investigated recall of presented and nonpresented associated words by collaborating groups, nominal groups, and individuals. In Experiment 1, participants recalled individually and then recalled in collaborating groups. Nominal groups made up of individual recall produced more presented and nonpresented associated words than did collaborating groups. Collaborating groups recalled more presented words than did individuals, but not more nonpresented words. In Experiment 2, collaborating groups versus individuals was a between-subjects variable, and everyone made two recall attempts. For recall, the pattern was the same as that in Experiment 1, in that collaborating groups recalled more presented words than did individuals but about the same number of nonpresented words. In a DRM paradigm, collaborating groups were able to produce more presented words than were individuals, without increasing their false recall.     

Episodic Future Thinking Reduces Delay Discounting of Gains and Losses: The Role of Regulatory Focus1,2

We examined the moderating effect of regulatory foci on the efficacy of episodic future thinking in reducing delay discounting. We hypothesized that the impact of imagining positive future events (vs. recent positive events) on delay discounting of gains would be stronger for individuals with a high promotion focus than for those with a high prevention focus (Hypothesis 1). Conversely, the effects of imagining adverse future events (vs. recent negative events) on delay discounting of losses would be stronger for individuals with a high prevention focus than for those with a high promotion focus (Hypothesis 2). We conducted two experiments in which participants, randomly allocated to episodic future thinking (EFT) or episodic recent thinking (ERT) groups, completed a delayed discounting task of gain (Experiment 1) or loss (Experiment 2). Experiment 1 (N = 73) weakly supported Hypothesis 1; Experiment 2 (N = 99) did not support Hypothesis 2. Our findings suggest positive EFT is particularly effective for individuals with a high promotion focus compared to individuals with a high prevention focus, which further reveals how EFT attenuates delay discounting.     

Cognitive control: dynamic, sustained, and voluntary influences

The cost of incongruent stimuli is reduced when conflict is expected. This series of experiments tested whether this improved performance is due to repetition priming or to enhanced cognitive control. Using a paradigm in which Word and Number Stroop alternated every trial, Experiment 1 assessed dynamic trial-to-trial changes. Incongruent trials led to task-specific reduction of conflict (trial n + 2) without cross-task modulation (trial n + 1), but this was fully explained by repetition priming. In contrast, an increased ratio of incongruent words did lead to sustained task-specific enhancement, above and beyond repetition priming (Experiment 2). Experiments 3 and 4 assessed the voluntary modulation of cognitive control: A cue predicted the congruency of the incoming trial, allowing participants to establish the correct mindset (Word Stroop in Experiment 3, Flanker task in Experiment 4). Preparing oneself to process an incongruent word (or flanker) enhanced conflict resolution in the subsequent Number Stroop, an example of cross-task modulation. Taken together, these experiments reveal the multifaceted aspects of conflict resolution: Trial-to-trial changes are often due to repetition priming; sustained modulations brought about by task demands are task specific; and voluntary modulations are task general.     

Evidence for task conflict in the Stroop effect

C. M. MacLeod and P. A. MacDonald (2000) suggested that congruent and incongruent Stroop stimuli cause more task conflict than neutral stimuli because the anterior cingulate cortex is more activated with these stimuli. This study investigated behavioral expression for this pattern. Experiment 1 reduced task conflict control by increasing the proportion of nonword neutrals. Additionally, half the trials had conflict or neutral cues. The control reduction revealed the task conflict. For noncued trials, response time was longer for congruent stimuli than for neutral stimuli (reverse facilitation effect). In addition, response time for congruent stimuli was longer when stimuli were uncued vs. cued. Experiment 2 increased task conflict control by changing the neutral stimuli to noncolor words. Consequently, the task conflict expression disappeared.     

Conflict of Interests and Commitment in Groups1

Behavioral commitment levels of group members were examined under conflict of interests between individual and collective tasks in a work-group scenario. Commitment was conceptualized as the amount of time and effort resources that individuals chose to allocate to the group task. Seventeen groups of three allocated 100 time and effort resource units to individual and group tasks for each of four trials. The level of commitment to group work increased, partially because over-rewarded persons increased group contributions more than underrewarded persons decreased them. However, the variance of allocations to the group task did not decrease over trials. Potential implications of the findings for organizational research and practice concerning work groups are discussed in terms of the roles of equity, comparative referent use, and information exchange.     

Breaking a habit: A further role of the phonological loop in action control

Recent research has suggested that keeping track of a task goal in rapid task switching may depend on the phonological loop component of working memory. In this study, we investigated whether the phonological loop plays a similar role when a single switch extending over several trials is required after many trials on which one has performed a competing task. Participants were shown pairs of digits varying in numerical and physical size, and they were required to decide which digit was numerically or physically larger. An experimental cycle consisted of four blocks of 24 trials. In Experiment 1, participants in the task change groups performed the numerical-size judgment task during the first three blocks, and then changed to the physical-size judgment task in the fourth. Participants in the continuation groups performed only the physical-size judgment task throughout all four blocks. We found negative effects of articulatory suppression on the fourth block, but only in the task change groups. Experiment 2 was a replication, with the modification that both groups received identical instructions and practice. Experiment 3 was a further replication using numerical-size judgment as the target task. The results showed a pattern similar to that from Experiment 1, with negative effects of articulatory suppression found only in the task change group. The congruity of numerical and physical size had a reliable effect on performance in all three experiments, but unlike the task change, it did not reliably interact with articulatory suppression. The results suggest that in addition to its well-established role in rapid task switching, the phonological loop also contributes to active goal maintenance in longer-term action control.     

Brainstorming and task performance in groups constrained by evidence

Group brainstorming is usually considered a task of divergent thinking, and the ideas produced in most research on brainstorming are counted and scored for creativity but put to no further use. We studied brainstorming by embedding it in a rule induction task that initially requires divergent thinking but increasingly requires convergent thinking as evidence accumulates across trials. We also tested whether brainstorming facilitated performance on the induction task itself. The experimental design was a 2 (nominal or interacting groups) × 3 (brainstorming early in the task, late in the task, or none) factorial. For brainstorming performance, nominal groups of 4 individuals outperformed face-to-face groups of 4 individuals. But as predicted from an analysis of the effects of constraining hypotheses by evidence, the advantage for nominal groups declined when brainstorming took place late in the task where there was a large amount of accumulated evidence to consider. Brainstorming did not generally affect performance on the induction task, although early group brainstorming resulted in more correct hypotheses than late group brainstorming. Group brainstorming was perceived as more effective than individual brainstorming by both interacting and nominal group members, a finding that extends the illusion of group productivity in brainstorming to tasks of convergent thinking.     

广泛性焦虑个体的注意偏向

探讨广泛性焦虑个体在一般情境和不确定性情境下注意偏向的特点。采用点探测注意搜索任务研究了在一般情境下和不确定性情境下广泛性焦虑个体的注意偏向, 结果表明高广泛性焦虑个体的注意偏向以对威胁性刺激的注意转移困难为主, 不确定性情境会让广泛性焦虑个体更容易处于紧张焦虑的状态当中, 从而对情绪性刺激尤其是消极刺激表现出更多的注意偏向和对情绪性刺激直接的注意敏感性。     

Off‐Task Social Breaks and Group Creativity

This study investigates the effect of off‐task breaks, where individuals engage in a collective off‐task activity, on group creativity. Using an experimental method comprising 36 groups of 5 individuals, the relationships between different types of off‐task group break and performance in creative tasks post‐break are explored. When compared to the no‐break case, it is seen that off‐task breaks, in which all individuals participate in the group activity, lead to more original ideas being generated post‐break. On the other hand, individual incubation breaks and self‐organizing group breaks, lead to lower levels of post‐break idea originality when compared with the no‐break case. This research thus highlights the positive benefits of off‐task breaks involving full member participation, on the creative process in groups.