Evidence that a transient but cognitively demanding process underlies forward blocking

Blocking is a learning phenomenon in which prior experience inhibits learning about novel cues. Though the phenomenon itself has been well documented, the details of blocking-related processes still remain contentious. Two experiments investigated whether participants were engaged in demanding cognitive processing during different portions of a standard blocking paradigm. Participants in Experiment 1 engaged in a simple secondary task while completing a standard blocking procedure. Results showed that performance on the secondary task was briefly diminished early in the second phase of the blocking paradigm, when the novel cue is first paired with the pretrained cue. Participants in Experiment 2 performed a difficult cognitive load task during either the early or the late portions of the second phase of blocking. The blocking effect was eliminated when learners were under load early in the second phase, but not when learners were under load late in the second phase. These results suggest that blocking relies on a cognitively demanding process with a distinct time course. Computational simulations illustrate how a model that includes top-down (i.e., cognitively demanding) attentional modulation can reproduce the observed behaviour. This suggests that purely associative processes are not sufficient to explain the observed behaviour. Implications for current accounts of blocking are discussed.     

A sham drug improves a demanding prospective memory task

Every day, people rely on prospective memory—our ability to remember to perform a future action—to carry out myriad tasks. We examined how a sham cognitive enhancing drug might improve people's performance on a prospective memory task. We gave some people (but not others) the sham drug, and asked everyone to perform a high-effort prospective memory task. People who received the sham drug performed better on the prospective memory task. They also took longer to perform their ongoing task, suggesting that they increased their effortful monitoring. These results fit with research showing that suggestions can lead people to increase cognitive effort and increase memory performance.     

A sham drug improves a demanding prospective memory task

Every day, people rely on prospective memory--our ability to remember to perform a future action--to carry out myriad tasks. We examined how a sham cognitive enhancing drug might improve people's performance on a prospective memory task. We gave some people (but not others) the sham drug, and asked everyone to perform a high-effort prospective memory task. People who received the sham drug performed better on the prospective memory task. They also took longer to perform their ongoing task, suggesting that they increased their effortful monitoring. These results fit with research showing that suggestions can lead people to increase cognitive effort and increase memory performance.     

Modeling behavior in a clinically diagnostic sequential risk-taking task

This article models the cognitive processes underlying learning and sequential choice in a risk-taking task for the purposes of understanding how they occur in this moderately complex environment and how behavior in it relates to self-reported real-world risk taking. The best stochastic model assumes that participants incorrectly treat outcome probabilities as stationary, update probabilities in a Bayesian fashion, evaluate choice policies prior to rather than during responding, and maintain constant response sensitivity. The model parameter associated with subjective value of gains correlates well with external risk taking. Both the overall approach, which can be expanded as the basic paradigm is varied, and the specific results provide direction for theories of risky choice and for understanding risk taking as a public health problem.     

Prior self-control exertion and perceptions of pain during a physically demanding task

ObjectivesExertion of self-control has been associated with impaired performance on subsequent physical tasks also requiring self-control, but it remains unknown why this occurs. This study, therefore, explored whether a) prior self-control exertion reduces subsequent persistence on a physically demanding task, and b) whether any observed performance decrements could be explained by changes in perceptions of pain.MethodIn a within-subject design, sixty-three individuals completed an easy (congruent) Stroop task or a difficult (incongruent) Stroop task that required self-control. Participants were then required to remain in a physically demanding posture (i.e., a ‘wall-sit’) until voluntary exhaustion and their perception of pain was recorded during the task.ResultsWhen participants completed the difficult Stroop task, they quit the wall-sit sooner. This decrement in performance was explained by greater perceptions of pain at the beginning of the wall-sit.ConclusionsPerceptions of pain may, therefore, be an important attentional mechanism explaining why self-control use interferes with subsequent persistence during physically effortful tasks.     

The influence of desire for control on drivers' risk-taking behaviour

Increases in perceived control over the driving task are known to increase intended driving speeds. Also, some people like being in control more than others. In the present study, we compared drivers with a high desire for control and drivers with a low desire for control, as measured on Burger and Cooper's (1979) [Motivation and Emotion 3 (4) (1979) 381] Desirability of Control Scale. Using validated video simulation techniques, we found that drivers with a high desire for control intended to drive at faster speeds and were willing to pull out into smaller gaps in traffic. We discuss the results in terms of an illusion of control and we describe implications for road safety interventions.     

The influence of sad mood on cognition

Neuroimaging has identified an overlapping network of brain regions whose activity is modulated by mood and cognition. Studies of depressed individuals have shown changes in perception, attention, memory, and executive functions. This suggests that mood has a pervasive effect on cognition. Direct evidence of the effect of sad mood on cognition is surprisingly limited, however. Published studies have generally addressed a single cognitive ability per study because the fleeting nature of laboratory-induced mood precludes extended testing, and robust findings are limited to mood effects on memory for emotional stimuli. In this study, sad mood was induced and prolonged, enabling the effects of mood to be assessed for an array of abilities, including those that share neural substrates with sad mood and those affected by depression. Sad mood affected memory for emotional words and facial emotion recognition, but not the other processes measured, with a significant nonuniformity of effect over tasks. These results are consistent with circumscribed effects of sad mood on certain emotion-related cognitive processes, but not on cognition more generally.     

Healthy ageing,perceived motor‐efficacy,and performance on cognitively demanding action tasks

Current measures assessing older adults' functional ability detect existing limitations on essential tasks rather than changes in other aspects of functioning that could indicate future limitations. The perceived motor‐efficacy scale was developed to measure capability beliefs of healthy older adults across a range of daily action tasks. Subscales were developed through interviews with older volunteers and academics, then administered to participants aged 60–96 (N=300). Factor analysis of subscale scores produced 10 subscales. These demonstrated strong internal reliability, which was replicated with a second sample aged 60–92 (N=167). The influence of perceived motor‐efficacy on performance of cognitively demanding action tasks was investigated with a third sample aged 60–88 (N=134). On a task assessing the inhibition of an inappropriate action, older adults in their 80s with high confidence produced minor errors, whereas those with lower confidence produced extreme errors. On another task assessing the ability to inhibit a previously learnt action, those with high levels of perceived motor‐efficacy performed better amongst those least able to inhibit, but more poorly among those most able. Perceived motor‐efficacy may therefore be useful in identifying older adults at risk of functional limitations and enabling interventions before the onset of illness.     

The influence of induced mood on music preference

The purpose of this study was to clarify the impact of different self-centered moods on music preference without listening to music. Participants’ affective state (sad vs. happy vs. neutral) were experimentally manipulated through the mood induction procedure, and then their preferences for music were ascertained through self-reports. To understand participants’ internal motivations for their choices, we also asked them to indicate how appropriate he/she felt it would be to select the different music types as well as why they made such choices. Results suggested that participants in a sad mood were inclined to listen to sad (and slow) music, those in a happy mood preferred to listen to happy (and fast) music, and those in a neutral mood did not consistently prefer to listen to neutral music. In addition, participants were averse to sad music when they were in a happy or neutral mood; while they showed no aversion to happy music when they were in a sad mood. In conclusion, individuals select valence-consistent music when they are in an autobiographical memory-induced mood state.     

The influence of response compatibility on a semantic classification task

An experiment was carried out in which Ss had to decide whether or not a target word was a member of a prespecified semantic category. Poorly representative, or low conjoint frequency (LCF) exemplars were accepted less rapidly than representative, or high conjoint frequency (HCF) exemplars. This effect was considerably enhanced by requiring an incompatible response in which the Ss were asked to say ‘No’ when the target was a member of the category. The results show that the category membership judgement is a natural affirmative, and that the semantic distance effect of conjoint frequency has a magnitude dependent upon the processing demands of the task in which it is measured. The results are discussed in relation to theories of the mechanisms of category membership judgements. It is suggested that the influence of compatibility may be in load sharing between activation of a response rule and the judgement task per se.     

The influence of personality on induced depressive mood

An experimental group (n = 40) of normal female undergraduates underwent a Velten type of depressive mood-induction procedure (DMIP) and was compared with a control group (n = 40) which underwent a neutral mood-induction procedure (NMIP). Ss were selected on the basis of scores on the EPI to give a composition in each group of 10 neurotic introverts (NI), 10 neurotic extraverts (NE), 10 stable introverts (SI) and 10 stable extraverts (SE). Depressive mood was assessed before and after each MIP using a measure of psychomotor retardation (writing speed). An ANOVA applied to residualized change scores on the writing-speed measure showed that the DMIP produced a significantly greater depressive effect on mood than the NMIP and that neurotic Ss displayed a significantly greater degree of depressive deficit than stable Ss regardless of type of MIP undertaken. However, a significant interaction between neuroticism and type of MIP showed that neurotic Ss were especially prone to depressive deficits in the DMIP. No effects of extraversion/introversion on susceptibility to depressed mood were detected. The results are discussed in terms of Eysenck and Gray's theory of personality predisposition to depression and it is suggested that the Velten technique may have limitations for the induction of depressed mood.     

Impact of elicited mood on movement expressivity during a fitness task

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the impact of four mood conditions (control, positive, negative, aroused) on movement expressivity during a fitness task. Motion capture data from twenty individuals were recorded as they performed a predefined motion sequence. Moods were elicited using task-specific scenarii to keep a valid context. Movement qualities inspired by Effort-Shape framework (Laban & Ullmann, 1971) were computed (i.e., Impulsiveness, Energy, Directness, Jerkiness and Expansiveness). A reduced number of computed features from each movement quality was selected via Principal Component Analyses. Analyses of variance and Generalized Linear Mixed Models were used to identify movement characteristics discriminating the four mood conditions. The aroused mood condition was strongly associated with increased mean Energy compared to the three other conditions. The positive and negative mood conditions showed more subtle differences interpreted as a result of their moderate activation level. Positive mood was associated with more impulsive movements and negative mood was associated with more tense movements (i.e., reduced variability and increased Jerkiness). Findings evidence the key role of movement qualities in capturing motion signatures of moods and highlight the importance of task context in their interpretations.     

同伴对青少年冒险行为的影响及其作用机制

青少年更倾向于从事冒险或鲁莽行为, 并且更容易受到同伴影响。从个人特质和社交互动等多个角度探讨的研究结果表明, 同伴对青少年冒险行为存在助长作用, 即当同伴在场时, 青少年的行为会更加冒险。同伴对青少年冒险行为的作用机制可以从心理、神经、遗传、社会文化等多个层面进行解释：在心理层面, 这种影响源于青少年寻求同伴认可和归属感的需要, 以及社会学习的作用; 在神经机制层面, 源于认知控制网络和刺激处理系统的相互作用; 在遗传层面, 源于特定基因的易感性等; 在社会文化层面, 同伴影响会因文化差异而带来程度与表现上的差异。未来研究应从发展、文化心理、构建复杂模型网络等视角深入探究同伴对青少年冒险行为的影响。     

The influence of mood on perceptions of social interactions

Interpreting our own and others' social behaviors is an important cognitive task in everyday life. Recent work in cognitive psychology suggests that temporary mood states may have a significant effect on the way information about common social events is processed. This study investigated how (a) a person's current mood, (b) the target of the judgments (self vs other), and (c) the characteristics of the social episode (formal-informal; intimate-nonintimate) influenced people's assessment of, and memory for, social behaviors. Subjects were videotaped while engaging in four different kinds of interactions with trained confederates. One day later subjects were hypnotized, and a happy, positive, or depressed, negative mood was induced. They then watched and rated their own and their partner's interactions on the videotape. Results showed strong mood influence on behavior assessments and recall memory, and significant effects due to target (self vs other) and the type of interaction episode. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for contemporary research on social cognition, and their relevance to cognitively based theories of social maladjustment and depression are considered.     

The influence of story context on a working memory span task

The purpose of the present study was to examine factors that could influence whether recall performance in the reading span task (Daneman & Carpenter, 1980 Daneman, M. and Carpenter, P. 1980. Individual differences in working memory and reading. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 19: 450–466. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) would benefit from the contextual information from the sentences in the processing component of the task. More specifically, we investigated whether people would benefit from sentence sets that formed short stories or when the entire span task was one continuous story. Overall, there was a clear benefit for contextually related sentence sets (i.e., the story span tasks) compared to the traditional reading span task. However, the benefit was eliminated when the entire set formed one continuous story. These results support the recall reconstruction hypothesis for working memory (Towse, Cowan, Hitch, & Horton, 2008 Towse, J. N., Cowan, N., Hitch, G. J. and Horton, N. J. 2008. The recall of information from working memory: Insights from behavioural and chronometric perspectives. Experimental Psychology, 55: 371–383. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), which suggests that people may strategically use the content of the sentences from the processing component of the reading span task as memorial cues to reconstruct the target words of the storage component. However, this benefit is constrained to scenarios when the contextual cues are unique to a specific set.     

The influence of story context on a working memory span task

The purpose of the present study was to examine factors that could influence whether recall performance in the reading span task (Daneman & Carpenter, 1980 ) would benefit from the contextual information from the sentences in the processing component of the task. More specifically, we investigated whether people would benefit from sentence sets that formed short stories or when the entire span task was one continuous story. Overall, there was a clear benefit for contextually related sentence sets (i.e., the story span tasks) compared to the traditional reading span task. However, the benefit was eliminated when the entire set formed one continuous story. These results support the recall reconstruction hypothesis for working memory (Towse, Cowan, Hitch, & Horton, 2008 ), which suggests that people may strategically use the content of the sentences from the processing component of the reading span task as memorial cues to reconstruct the target words of the storage component. However, this benefit is constrained to scenarios when the contextual cues are unique to a specific set.     

Alcohol use as a situational influence on young women's pregnancy risk-taking behaviors

Recent studies have found that many young women just beginning their sexual lives use alcohol prior to intercourse. A large number appear to drink heavily enough prior to sex to compromise their ability to use contraceptives. The question emerges whether there is a relationship between drinking before intercourse, the nonuse of birth control methods, and unplanned pregnancies. The present research describes 43 instances of intercourse which resulted in unplanned pregnancies in 14- to 21-year-olds. Variables examined included alcohol use prior to sex, amount of alcohol consumed, the use of other drugs, the planning of intercourse, respondents' stated reasons for nonuse of contraceptives, and other general demographic data.