Perceiving one’s own movements when using a tool

The present study examined what participants perceive of their hand movements when using a tool. In the experiments different gains for either the x-axis or the y-axis perturbed the relation between hand movements on a digitizer tablet and cursor movements on a display. As a consequence of the perturbation participants drew circles on the display while their covered hand movements followed either vertical or horizontal ellipses on the digitizer tablet. When asked to evaluate their hand movements, participants were extremely uncertain about their trajectories. By varying the amount of visual feedback, findings indicated that the low awareness of one’s own movements originated mainly from an insufficient quality of the humans’ tactile and proprioceptive system or from an insufficient spatial reconstruction of this information in memory.     

Evaluating bicyclists’ risk perception using video clips: Comparison of frequent and infrequent city cyclists

Hazard and risk perception has been studied extensively among car drivers, and their link to crash involvement is established. Bicyclists, in particular, are vulnerable road users. Better understanding of their risk and hazard perception could help to improve their traffic safety.In this study, we investigated the risk perception of bicyclists in a city environment. Two groups of bicyclists were compared: 19 frequent and 19 infrequent bicyclists. Participants were shown video clips taken with a camera attached to the handlebar of a bicycle, and they were asked to continuously indicate with a slider how much caution the situation needed.The frequent cyclists had more frequent rises in the caution estimate, which suggest that they anticipated or detected more hazards than infrequent cyclists. This is in line with the classical hazard perception results, which link the car driving experience to faster and more accurate hazard perception. The overall level or caution was not directly related to the rise event rate or bicycling frequency. Those cyclists who reported typically cycling faster than others showed elevated overall level of caution on sidewalks compared with others, but there was no difference on bike paths.     

Pedestrians’ road crossing decisions and body parts’ movements

This study aims to examine pedestrians' crossing decision, body parts' movement and full body movement, just before and during road crossing in a simulated setup. To accomplish this, a novel experimental setup for analyzing pedestrians’ crossing behavior and motion was developed where the simulated display was synchronized with a 3D motion capturing system. Twenty participants, divided into control and an experimental time pressure group, observed sixteen short (less than 30 s) and long road (70 s or more) crossing scenarios with varying crossing opportunities. Based on the crossing opportunities they were asked to cross a 3.6 m wide one-lane one way urban road. It was found that the crossing initiation process consists of four incremental movements of body parts: the head and the shoulder first; the hip, wrist and elbow second; the knee as a separate joint, and finally the ankle. Results showed that pedestrians’ decision to cross and body parts movement are influenced by time pressure and wait time for a safe crossing opportunity. Specifically, pedestrians prepare their body parts earlier, initiate their crossing earlier, and adjust their speed to compensate for the risk taken in less safe or non-safe crossing opportunities. Within the control group, women tended to be more risk avoiding than men, however those differences disappeared in the time pressure group. Most importantly, the findings provide initial evidence that this novel simulation configuration can be used to gain precise knowledge of pedestrians’ decision-making and movement processes.     

The format of children’s mental images: Penetrability of spatial images

To investigate the format of mental images and the penetrability of mental imagery performance to top-down influences in the form of gravity information, children (4-, 6-, 8- and 10-year-olds) and adults (N = 112) performed mental rotation tasks. A linear increase in response time with rotation angle emerged at 6-years, suggesting that spatial properties are represented in children’s mental images. Moreover, 6-, 8-, and 10-year-olds, but not 4-year-olds or adults, took longer to respond to rotated stimuli pairs when gravity information was incongruent with the direction of rotation rather than congruent. Overall, findings suggest that in contrast to adults’, 6- to 10-year-olds’ mental rotation performance was penetrated by top-down information. This research (a) provides insight into the format of young children’s mental images and (b) shows that children’s mental rotation performance is penetrable by top-down influences.     

Seeking one’s heading through eye movements

A study of eye movements during simulated travel toward a grove of four stationary trees revealed that observers looked most at pairs of trees that converged or decelerated apart. Such pairs specify that one’s direction of travel, calledheading, is to the outside of the near member of the pair. Observers looked at these trees more than those that accelerated apart; such pairs do not offer trustworthy heading information. Observers also looked at gaps between trees less often when they converged or diverged apart, and heading can never be between such pairs. Heading responses were in accord with eye movements. In general, if observers responded accurately, they had looked at trees that converged or decelerated apart; if they were inaccurate, they had not. Results support the notion that observers seek out their heading through eye movements, saccading to and fixating on the most informative locations in the field of view.     

Are animals moral?: Zhu Xi and Jeong Yakyong’s views on nonhuman animals

One significant feature of Jeong Yakyong’s丁若鏞 (1762–1836) thought is his deconstruction of Zhu Xi’s 朱熹 (1130–1200) moral universe based on li 理 and qi 氣. For Zhu Xi, the world in its entirety was a moral place, but Jeong Yakyong distinguished nonmoral domains from the moral domain. One question that follows in pursuing a comparison of their philosophies on this topic is what each thinker meant by ‘moral’ and, in particular, whether they meant the same thing. In this paper, I delve deeper into this topic by comparing their respective perspectives on whether nonhuman animals are moral. Interestingly, they held exactly opposite views: Zhu Xi believed that certain actions on the part of nonhuman animals manifest moral values, whereas Jeong Yakyong claimed that none of the actions of nonhuman animals has moral value. In comparing their views, I introduce Mark Rowlands’ distinction between ‘moral subjects’ and ‘moral agents.’     

Adults’ number-line estimation strategies: Evidence from eye movements

Although the development of number-line estimation ability is well documented, little is known of the processes underlying successful estimators’ mappings of numerical information onto spatial representations during these tasks. We tracked adults’ eye movements during a number-line estimation task to investigate the processes underlying number-to-space translation, with three main results. First, eye movements were strongly related to the target number’s location, and early processing measures directly predicted later estimation performance. Second, fixations and estimates were influenced by the size of the first number presented, indicating that adults calibrate their estimates online. Third, adults’ number-line estimates demonstrated patterns of error consistent with the predictions of psychophysical models of proportion estimation, and eye movement data predicted the specific error patterns we observed. These results support proportion-based accounts of number-line estimation and suggest that adults’ translation of numerical information into spatial representations is a rapid, online process.     

‘Random’ saccadic eye movements during verbal-linguistic and visual-imaginal tasks

Previous research has suggested that questions eliciting visual imagery are associated with lower rates of saccadic eye movements as compared to questions eliciting verbal processes. Two experiments reported here examined the roles of external visual stimulation and speech output in this effect. In both experiments, questions designed to elicit verbal-linguistic or visual-imaginal processing, and which required either syntactically complex or simple responses, were administered while eye movements were recorded by electrooculography. In experiment 1, 42 subjects responded while viewing either the interviewer's face or a gray oval on a video monitor. Imaginal questions elicited a lower rate of eye movements than did verbal questions regardless of the display on the monitor. In experiment 2, 17 subjects responded in conditions of light and darkness. Imaginal questions elicited lower rates of eye movements in both light and dark. Neither cognitive mode nor speech output requirements interacted with stimulus conditions in either experiment. The failure of visual conditions to influence the verbal-imaginal difference in eye movement rate is viewed as inconsistent with a visual interference interpretation of the relationship of eye movements to cognitive activity. Alternate interpretations are discussed.     

‘Theory of mind’ in animals: ways to make progress

Whether any non-human animal can attribute mental states to others remains the subject of extensive debate. This despite the fact that several species have behaved as if they have a ‘theory of mind’ in various behavioral tasks. In this paper, we review the reasons of skeptics for their doubts: That existing experimental setups cannot distinguish between ‘mind readers’ and ‘behavior readers’, that results that seem to indicate ‘theory of mind’ may come from studies that are insufficiently controlled, and that our own intuitive biases may lead us to interpret behavior more ‘cognitively’ than is necessary. The merits of each claim and suggested solution are weighed. The conclusion is that while it is true that existing setups cannot conclusively demonstrate ‘theory of mind’ in non-human animals, focusing on this fact is unlikely to be productive. Instead, the more interesting question is how sophisticated their social reasoning can be, whether it is about ‘unobservable inner experiences’ or not. Therefore, it is important to address concerns about the setup and interpretation of specific experiments. To alleviate the impact of intuitive biases, various strategies have been proposed in the literature. These include a deeper understanding of associative learning, a better knowledge of the limited ‘theory of mind’ humans actually use, and thinking of animal cognition in an embodied, embedded way; that is, being aware that constraints outside of the brain, and outside of the body, may naturally predispose individuals to produce behavior that looks smart without requiring complex cognition. To enable this kind of thinking, a powerful methodological tool is advocated: Computational modeling, namely agent-based modeling and, particularly, cognitive modeling. By explicitly simulating the rules and representations that underlie animal performance on specific tasks, it becomes much easier to look past one’s own biases and to see what cognitive processes might actually be occurring.     

Don’t look! don’t touch! inhibitory control of eye and hand movements

Inhibitory control of eye and hand movements was compared in the stop-signal task. Subjects moved their eyes to the right or left or pressed keys on the right or left in response to visual stimuli. The stimuli were either central (angle brackets pointing left or right) or peripheral (plus signs turning into Xs left or right of fixation), and the task was either pro (respond on the same side as the stimulus) or anti (respond on the opposite side). Occasionally, a stop signal was presented, which instructed subjects to inhibit their responses to the go stimulus. Stop-signal reaction times (SSRTs) were faster overall for eye movements than for hand movements, and they were affected differently by stimulus conditions (central vs. peripheral) and task (pro vs. anti), suggesting that the eyes and hands are inhibited by different processes operating under similar principles (i.e., a race between stop and go processes).     

Reasoning about ‘irrational’ actions: When intentional movements cannot be explained,the movements themselves are seen as the goal

Infants and adults are thought to infer the goals of observed actions by calculating the actions’ efficiency as a means to particular external effects, like reaching an object or location. However, many intentional actions lack an external effect or external goal (e.g. dance). We show that for these actions, adults infer that the agents’ goal is to produce the movements themselves: Movements are seen as the intended outcome, not just a means to an end. We test what drives observers to infer such movement-based goals, hypothesizing that observers infer movement-based goals to explain actions that are clearly intentional, but are not an efficient means to any plausible external goal. In three experiments, we separately manipulate intentionality and efficiency, equating for movement trajectory, perceptual features, and external effects. We find that participants only infer movement-based goals when the actions are intentional and are not an efficient means to external goals. Thus, participants appear to infer that movements are the goal in order to explain otherwise mysterious intentional actions. These findings expand models of goal inference to account for intentional yet ‘irrational’ actions, and suggest a novel explanation for overimitation as emulation of movement-based goals.     

Prereaders’ eye movements during shared storybook reading are language-mediated but not predictive

When viewing a visual scene, eye movements are often language-mediated: people look at objects as those objects are named. Eye movements can even reflect predictive language processing, moving to an object before it is named. Children are also capable of making language-mediated eye movements, even predictive ones, and prediction may be involved in language learning. The present study explored whether eye movements are language-mediated in a more naturalistic task – shared storybook reading. Research has shown that children fixate illustrations during shared storybook reading, ignoring text. The present study used high-precision eye-tracking to replicate this finding. Further, prereader participants showed increased likelihood of fixating relevant storybook illustrations as words were read aloud, indicating that their eye movements were language mediated like the adult participants. Language-mediated eye movements to illustrations were reactive, not predictive, in both participant groups.     

The effects of violent video games and shyness on individuals’ aggressive behaviors

The general aggression model (GAM) has suggested that the interaction between person factors (e.g., personality variables) and situation factors (e.g., playing violent video games [VVGs]) can increase individuals’ aggressive behaviors through their cognition (e.g., hostile attributions), affect (e.g., negative affect), and/or arousal. The present study employed a modified competitive reaction time task to test the effects of shyness, violent (vs. nonviolent) gameplay, and shyness on individuals’ positive–negative affect, hostile attributions, and aggressive behaviors. In addition, the present study also employed structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the mediation (by cognition and affect) and moderation (by shyness). Results showed that playing a VVG increased aggressive behaviors, negative affect, and hostile attributions primarily among shy participants. In addition, the results of SEM also revealed that this moderating role was mediated by negative affect and hostile attributions. The present study supported GAM and showed that individuals’ aggressive behaviors are differentially susceptible to VVGs, depending on their level of shyness in a “for bad and for worse” manner.     

The portrayal of women’s images in magazine advertisements: Goffman’s gender analysis revisited

The research objective of this paper was to study the specific behaviors mentioned above and determine what gender behavior patterns have been most prevalent in magazine advertisements in 1979 and 1991. In this research, comparisons were made regarding gender displays between the years of 1979 and 1991 with random samples of print advertisements. The basic and essential starting question of this research project is: What messages about women have been given to society through magazine advertisements? This study was intended to be a conceptual replication of Erving Gofian’s study of Gender Advertisements to see how gender images in print advertisements have changed since Goffman’s study. For this research, advertisements were analyzed the gender behavior portrayed, utilizing Goffman’s categories of decoding behavior: relative size, feminine touch, function ranking, ritualization of subordination, and licensed withdrawal. Body display and IndependencelSelf-assertiveness categories were added. Advertisements that featured human subjects were collected from 1979 and 1991 women’s popular magazines. The random sampling procedure resulted in 252 samples in 1979 magazine advertisements and 252 samples in 1991 counterparts. This research showed that few changes have been made in the images of women in magazine advertisements since Goffman’s 1979 study. The findings indicate that the images of women in 1991 advertisements did not significantly change from the images found in 1979 advertisements. However; distribution or dispersion of stereotypical portrayal of women did change. In the categories of licensed withdrawal and body display, the magazine advertisements from 1991 showed more stereotyping of women than those from 1979. Two of Goffman’s categories-Relative Size and Function Ranking-were not prevalent depictions in magazine advertisements.     

Cyclists’ intentions to yield for automated cars at intersections when they have right of way: Results of an experiment using high-quality video animations

What will cyclists do in future conflict situations with automated cars at intersections when the cyclist has the right of way? In order to explore this, short high-quality animation videos of conflicts between a car and a cyclist at five different intersections were developed. These videos were ‘shot’ from the perspective of the cyclist and ended when a collision was imminent should the car or the bicyclist not slow down. After each video participants indicated whether they would slow down or continue cycling, how confident they were about this decision, what they thought the car would do, and how confident they were about what the car would do. The appearance of the approaching car was varied as within-subjects variable with 3 levels (Car type): automated car, automated car displaying its intentions to the cyclists, and traditional car. In all situations the cyclist had right of way. Of each conflict, three versions were made that differed in the moment that the video ended by cutting off fractions from the longest version, thus creating videos with an early, mid, and late moment for the cyclist to decide to continue cycling or to slow down (Decision moment). Before the video experiment started the participants watched an introductory video about automated vehicles that served as prime. This video was either positive, negative, or neutral about automated vehicles (Prime type). Both Decision moment and Prime type were between subject variables. After the experiment participants completed a short questionnaire about trust in technology and trust in automated vehicles. 1009 participants divided in nine groups (one per Decision moment and Prime) completed the online experiment in which they watched fifteen videos (5 conflicts × 3 car types). The results show that participants more often yielded when the approaching car was an automated car than when it was a traditional car. However, when the approaching car was an automated car that could communicate its intentions, they yielded less often than for a traditional car. The earlier the Decision moment, the more often participants yielded but this increase in yielding did not differ between the three car types. Participants yielded more often for automated cars (both types) after they watched the negative prime video before the experiment than when they watched the positive video. The less participants trusted technology, and the capabilities of automated vehicles in particular, the more they were inclined to slow down in the conflict situations with automated cars. The association between trust and yielding was stronger for trust in the capabilities of automated vehicles than for trust in technology in general.     

Five-year-olds’ beliefs about the discreteness of category boundaries for animals and artifacts

Research on adult concepts indicates that category structure varies by domain; adults view membership in animal categories as absolute but membership in artifact categories as graded. In this study, we examined domain differences in beliefs about category boundaries among young children (5-year-olds). The results indicated that young children, like adults, were less likely to endorse graded category membership for animal than for artifact categories. These domain differences could not be attributed to domain differences in typicality. Implications for conceptual development and for models of domain specificity in adult cognition are discussed.     

Exploring the ability to identify visual search differences when observing drivers’ eye movements

How can we improve learner drivers’ visual skills? Much research has demonstrated that learner drivers have an impoverished spread of search during driving and that this is partly due to lack of knowledge of where and when to look, rather than simply an issue of cognitive load. Several training interventions have tried to improve scanning in these drivers with limited success. We propose that exposing drivers to examples of good and bad scanning behaviour may prove to be a useful tool in training visual search. The success of this approach, however, requires drivers to be able to distinguish between examples of good and bad scanning. To this end, two studies were undertaken where video clips of simulated driving with an overlaid eye movement trace were presented to participants who had to judge whether the eye movements were that of a learner driver or a driving instructor. Overall, participants found this discrimination task very difficult. However, the findings suggested that novice and learner drivers were able to correctly classify those eye movement traces of other learner drivers better than chance. It was also demonstrated that the ability to distinguish between the eye movements of learner drivers and driving instructors improved as the number of objective differences between the two groups increased across specific scenarios (as determined by frame-by-frame analysis using a priori categories). The results suggest that, under certain situations, drivers can extract information about the appropriateness of a particular scanning strategy just by watching a video of the eye movement trace. The implications for training interventions are discussed.