Risky decision: Attention and path dependency as a function of response mode

It was previously shown and was here replicated that the amount of money required to induce a subject to exchange one gamble for a second and then the second for a third depends on the second (intermediate) gamble. This path dependency cannot be explained by any of the algebraic models (including SEU), nor can it be explained as a simple attention effect. A model was put forward which explains the effect in terms of differential masking depending on a kind of stimulus—response compatibility. The effect of response mode on path dependency was examined in this study; similarity judgements showed no consistent path dependency nor did difference in rated attractiveness of gambles presented in pairs, but rated attractiveness was different for gambles presented singly. Since it might be that monetary response emphasises the monetary aspects, that is, the winning amount of the gamble, it was thought that a probability response would emphasise the probability of winning. However, when subjects were asked to set the probability of winning $ 12 which would induce them to exchange one gamble for another, not only was no path dependency observed, but the subjects' responses seemed to depend only on the difference in expected value of the gambles. This suggests the possibility of developing response-display modes which would eliminate or at least attenuate the inconsistencies observed in risky decision processes.     

Attention and cognitive control as emergent properties of information representation in working memory

A hallmark of primate, and particularly human, behavior is cognitive control, the ability to integrate information from a multitude of sources and use that information to flexibly guide behavior in order to achieve an infinite number of goals. The neural mechanisms of cognitive control have yet to be fully elucidated, although the prefrontal cortex is known to play a critical role. Here, I review evidence suggesting that a unifying principle regarding the role of various portions of the prefrontal cortex in a wide range of cognitive tasks is the active maintenance in working memory of different types of currently relevant information-from specific stimulus features, to instructional cues, to motivational goals and contexts. I argue that the key to demonstrating the existence of this domain-dependent organization lies in a better understanding of the nature of the representation of this information and the ways in which this information itself controls cognition and behavior.     

Attention can retrospectively distort visual space

A brief visual cue that attracts attention repels the perceived location of a subsequent visual stimulus away from the focus of attention (attentional repulsion). In the first experiment reported here, we presented a visual cue after a visual target and found that the perceived location of the target stimulus shifted toward the location of the cue (attentional attraction). The subsequent experiments ruled out nonattentional hypotheses and indicated that the mislocalization effect is attributable to the attentional shift. The results of this study suggest that preceding and succeeding contexts differentially modulate the perceived location of a briefly presented stimulus. Our findings also underscore the importance of retrospective processes in visual attention.     

The impact of structuring information in a patient decision aid

The current study aims to investigate the relationship between the components of the Karasek model and burnout, somatic complaints and job satisfaction in teachers. Questionnaires were collected from 166 teachers from six secondary schools in the greater London area. The European reference group consisted of 2017 teachers from 10 other countries who participated in the EUROTEACH Project. Regression analyses show that of the Karasek components, job demands was the most consistent predictor for the study outcomes, whereas control and social support appeared to have less predictive power. The inclusion of other job aspects (e.g. physical exertion, environmental risks, and job meaningfulness) significantly added varying degrees to the explained variance of the outcomes. The addition of coping strategies marginally adds to overall explained variances of the burnout components. The UK teachers were considerably worse off than their European colleagues on all outcome measures, and the majority of the predictor variables. They appear to use different coping strategies, work under worse conditions and report lower levels of psychological and physical well-being.     

Attention as a predictor of learning in infants

A total of 240 fourteen-week-olds were rewarded with a pattern of lights and tones for kicking. The reward display interrupted a background of random alternation between two lights and tones. In experiment 1, attention to this background stimulus during a 1-min baseline was assessed using the number of fixations of alternating lights. During 6 min of reward, high-attention subjects showed significantly greater changes in kicking rate from baseline than low-attention subjects. In experiment 2, the proportion of subjects with low attention ratings increased dramatically during an extended 5-min baseline period, and those subjects with low attention ratings at the end of baseline did not show an increase in kicking from baseline to the reward phase, while high-attention subjects did show evidence of learning. Thus, an objective measure of attention, empirically separate from the dependent learning measure, provided a significant prediction of the effectiveness of subsequent reinforcement, and could be manipulated simply by extending the baseline by as little as 4 min.     

Attention and the crossmodal construction of space

Traditional studies of spatial attention consider only a single sensory modality at a time (e.g. just vision, or just audition). In daily life, however, our spatial attention often has to be coordinated across several modalities. This is a non-trivial problem, given that each modality initially codes space in entirely different ways. In the last five years, there has been a spate of studies on crossmodal attention. These have demonstrated numerous crossmodal links in spatial attention, such that attending to a particular location in one modality tends to produce corresponding shifts of attention in other modalities. The spatial coordinates of these crossmodal links illustrate that the internal representation of external space depends on extensive crossmodal integration. Recent neuroscience studies are discussed that suggest possible brain mechanisms for the crossmodal links in spatial attention.     

Attention and information storage in visual short-term memory

Schioldborg, P. Attention and information storage in visual short-term memory. Scand. J. Psychol., 1973, 14, 1–3.- Information retrieval from STM was examined with Sperling's (1960) method. Of nine letters displayed in rows of three, the number of letters correctly reported from each row differed significantly, the mean being 2.4, 2.2, and 1.6 letters for the middle, upper, and lower row, respectively. By increasing exposure time, number of correctly reported letters increased for each row at equal rate. However, by increasing the delay period of the selection signal, number of letters decreased at different rates, the reduction being 48%, 24%, and 10% for the lower, upper, and middle row respectively. The results are assumed to reflect differences in the initial attention level for the individual item; the smaller this level, the lower the level of information processing and the faster the erasure from STM.     

Biased information search in group decision making

Research has shown that people prefer supporting to conflicting information when making decisions. Whether this biased information search also occurs in group decision making was examined in three experiments. Experiment 1 indicated that groups as well as individuals prefer supporting information and that the strength of this bias depends on the distribution of the group members' initial decision preferences. The more group members had chosen the same alternative prior to the group discussion (group homogeneity), the more strongly the group preferred information supporting that alternative. Experiment 2 replicated these results with managers. Experiment 3 showed that the differences between homogeneous and heterogeneous groups reflect group-level processes. Higher commitment and confidence in homogeneous groups mediated this effect. Functional and dysfunctional aspects of biased information seeking in group decision making are discussed.     

关注儿童群体性癔病

什么是群体性癔病?简单一点讲,群体性癔病是一种由强烈情绪反应或心理暗示激发的急性流行性精神障碍,多见于情绪不稳定的青少年。在儿童中更易发生,这是因为,此年龄的人心理的适应能力与体格的发育明显不同步而很容易造成精神和心理上的异常。这种疾病是时有发生的,国外如此,在我国也不例外。例如,在我国湖北省某一小学校就曾发生过群体性癔病发作的事情:在这所学校,为了预防儿童的碘钙缺乏等,校方的一些人让学生们购买国内一家企业生产的碘钙营养片,并且,每天服用一片,一个疗程需要服用60天。全校共有140人服用了此药,均为3～4年级的小学生…     

Attention and implicit memory in the category-verification and lexical decision tasks

Prior research on implicit memory appeared to support 3 generalizations: Conceptual tests are affected by divided attention, perceptual tasks are affected by certain divided-attention manipulations, and all types of priming are affected by selective attention. These generalizations are challenged in experiments using the implicit tests of category verification and lexical decision. First, both tasks were unaffected by divided-attention tasks known to impact other priming tasks. Second, both tasks were unaffected by a manipulation of selective attention in which colored words were either named or their colors identified. Thus, category verification, unlike other conceptual tasks, appears unaffected by divided attention, and some selective-attention tasks, and lexical decision, unlike other perceptual tasks, appears unaffected by a difficult divided-attention task and some selective-attention tasks. Finally, both tasks were affected by a selective-attention task in which attention was manipulated across objects (rather than within objects), indicating some susceptibility to selective attention. The results contradict an analysis on the basis of the conceptual-perceptual distinction and other more specific hypotheses but are consistent with the distinction between production and identification priming.     

Attention to configural information in change detection for faces

In recent research the change-detection paradigm has been used along with cueing manipulations to show that more attention is allocated to the upper than lower facial region, and that this attentional allocation is disrupted by inversion. We report two experiments the object of which was to investigate how the type of information changed might be a factor in these findings by explicitly comparing the role of attention in detecting change to information thought to be 'special' to faces (second-order relations) with information that is more useful for basic-level object discrimination (first-order relations). Results suggest that attention is automatically directed to second-order relations in upright faces, but not first-order relations, and that this pattern of attentional allocation is similar across features.     

Logical information and epistemic space

Gaining information can be modelled as a narrowing of epistemic space. Intuitively, becoming informed that such-and-such is the case rules out certain scenarios or would-be possibilities. Chalmers’s account of epistemic space treats it as a space of a priori possibility and so has trouble in dealing with the information which we intuitively feel can be gained from logical inference. I propose a more inclusive notion of epistemic space, based on Priest’s notion of open worlds yet which contains only those epistemic scenarios which are not obviously impossible. Whether something is obvious is not always a determinate matter and so the resulting picture is of an epistemic space with fuzzy boundaries.     

Cognitive dissonance as a mechanism in vocational decision processes

This study examined changes in cognitive-dissonance-related variables during the professional training period. Differences in levels and change in satisfaction with career choice, importance of career, certainty of career decision, self-occupational perceptions, general attitude toward career, time since career decision, and past experience were observed when students who left a collegiate professional training program before program completion were compared with those who remained in the program. Data supports the validity of D. Hershenson and R. Roth's (1966, Journal of Counseling Psychology, 13, 368–370) and V. Harren's (1979, Journal of Vocational Behavior, 14, 119–133) theoretical models of vocational decision and the Assessment of Career Decision Making scale.