The relation between consciousness and attention: An empirical study using the priming paradigm

Dehaene et al., 2006, Koch and Tsuchiya, 2007 recently proposed taxonomies that distinguish between four processing states, based on bottom-up stimulus strength and top-down attentional amplification. The aim of the present study was to empirically test these processing states using the priming paradigm. Our results showed that attention (prime attended or not) and stimulus strength (prime presented subliminally or not) significantly modulated priming effects: either receiving top-down attention or possessing sufficient bottom-up strength was a prerequisite for a stimulus to elicit priming. When both top-down attention and sufficient bottom-up strength were present, the priming effect was boosted. The origins of the observed priming effects also varied between different processing states. We can conclude that our empirical study using the priming paradigm confirmed the presence of four processing states, which displayed a differential pattern of response priming effects and differential origins of the response priming effects.     

Using addition to solve large subtractions in the number domain up to 20

This study examined 25 university students’ use of addition to solve large single-digit subtractions by contrasting performance in the standard subtraction format (12 − 9 = .) and in the addition format (9 + . = 12). In particular, we investigated the effect of the relative size of the subtrahend on performance in both formats. We found a significant interaction between format, the magnitude of the subtrahend (S) compared to the difference (D) (S > D vs. S < D), and the numerical distance between subtrahend and difference. When the subtrahend was larger than the difference and S and D were far from each other (e.g., 12 − 9 = .), problems were solved faster in the addition than in the subtraction format; when the subtrahend was smaller than the difference and S and D were far from each other (e.g., 12 − 3 = .), problems were solved faster in the subtraction than in the addition format. However, when the subtrahend and the difference were close to each other (e.g., 13 − 7 = .), there were no significant reaction time differences between both formats. These results suggest that adults do not rely exclusively and routinely on addition to solve large single-digit subtractions, but select either addition-based or subtraction-based strategies depending on the relative size of the subtrahend.     

Know thyself: Metacognitive networks and measures of consciousness

Subjective measures of awareness rest on the assumption that conscious knowledge is knowledge that participants know they possess. Post-Decision Wagering (PDW), recently proposed as a new measure of awareness, requires participants to place a high or a low wager on their decisions. Whereas advantageous wagering indicates awareness of the knowledge on which the decisions are based, cases in which participants fail to optimize their wagers suggest performance without awareness. Here, we hypothesize that wagering and other subjective measures of awareness reflect metacognitive capacities subtended by self-developed metarepresentations that inform an agent about its own internal states. To support this idea, we present three simulations in which neural networks learn to wager on their own responses. The simulations illustrate essential properties that are required for such metarepresentations to influence PDW as a measure of awareness. Results demonstrate a good fit to human data. We discuss the implications of this modeling work for our understanding of consciousness and its measures.     

How is phonological processing related to individual differences in children’s arithmetic skills?

While there is evidence for an association between the development of reading and arithmetic, the precise locus of this relationship remains to be determined. Findings from cognitive neuroscience research that point to shared neural correlates for phonological processing and arithmetic as well as recent behavioral evidence led to the present hypothesis that there exists a highly specific association between phonological awareness and single‐digit arithmetic with relatively small problem sizes. The present study examined this association in 37 typically developing fourth and fifth grade children. Regression analyses revealed that phonological awareness was specifically and uniquely related to arithmetic problems with a small but not large problem size. Further analysis indicated that problems with a high probability of being solved by retrieval, but not those typically associated with procedural problem‐solving strategies, are correlated with phonological awareness. The specific association between phonological awareness and arithmetic problems with a small problem size and those for which a retrieval strategy is most common was maintained even after controlling for general reading ability and phonological short‐term memory. The present findings indicate that the quality of children’s long‐term phonological representations mediates individual differences in single‐digit arithmetic, suggesting that more distinct long‐term phonological representations are related to more efficient arithmetic fact retrieval.     

Should supervisors communicate goals or visions? The moderating role of subordinates' psychological distance

There is an ongoing debate about how supervisors should communicate desired end‐states to subordinates, that is, whether they should set concrete goals (according to goal setting theory) or communicate abstract visions (according to transformational leadership theory). In this paper, we draw on construal level theory (CLT) to reconcile both views and develop a model of when supervisors communicating concrete goals versus abstract visions are seen as more effective. According to CLT, being psychologically removed from (vs. near to) an event or object makes people construe the event or object in a more abstract (vs. concrete) way, which, in turn, leads people to process abstract (vs. concrete) information more fluently and thus evaluate the sender of this information more favorably. Accordingly, supervisor effectiveness may be higher in conditions where communication and psychological distance to the supervisor converge (vision/far and goals/close) rather than diverge (vision/close and goals/far). We tested this hypothesis in two experiments, using different operationalizations of psychological distance. In these studies, we found supervisor effectiveness to be higher when vision was communicated at a far versus near distance and goals were communicated at a near versus far distance.     

The Structure of Grandparental Role Meaning

The present study explored the viability of Kivnick's 5-factor model of grandparental meaning (Kivnick, 1983), wherein this model was tested and subsequently refined on a sample of traditional grandparents (N = 102), and then cross-validated using a sample of custodial grandparents (N = 101). The data suggested that Kivnick's model of grandparental meaning was untenable in both grandparent samples. Instead, a single-factor model was supported in both samples. This suggests that grandparental meaning is best understood without regard to Kivnick's distinctions (Kivnick, 1983). This may reflect a cohort effect in the meaning of grandparenting, as evidenced in the diversity of roles into which grandparents are thrust, increased role confusion, as well as the idiosyncratic manner in which grandparents are often forced to define their roles in today's society.     

The Ethics of Smart Stadia: A Stakeholder Analysis of the Croke Park Project

Science and Engineering Ethics - The development of “smart stadia”, i.e. the use of “smart technologies” in the way sports stadia are designed and managed, promises to...     

What Does it Take to Break the Silence in Teams: Authentic Leadership and/or Proactive Followership?

Leadership may help break the silence in teams, but this may not be equally true for all employees. Using behavioral plasticity theory, we propose that authentic leadership—a set of leadership behaviors through which leaders enact their true selves—reduces silence and motivates speaking up in employees low on proactive personality, but hardly affects employees who are proactive by nature, because proactive employees are less susceptible to social influences. Using data from 223 employees (nested in 45 work teams), we indeed find authentic leadership to reduce silence in employees with less proactive personalities, but not in more proactive employees. We discuss theoretical and practical implications for silence and authentic leadership.     

Social relationships and ambulatory blood pressure: structural and qualitative predictors of cardiovascular function during everyday social interactions.

Healthy normotensive men and women (N = 102) underwent a 3-day ambulatory blood pressure (BP) assessment in which a BP reading was taken 5 min into each social interaction. After each interaction, participants completed a diary that included structural categorization of the relationship and ratings of the quality of the relationship with the interaction partner. Random regression analyses revealed that interactions with family members and spouses were associated with lower ambulatory BP. Interactions with ambivalent network members (characterized by both positive and negative feelings) were associated with the highest ambulatory systolic BP, an effect that was independent of the familial effects on BP. Although there were psychological correlates associated with both structural and functional aspects of relationships, no evidence was found that these mediated the primary findings involving ambulatory BP. These data highlight the influence of both structural and qualitative aspects of relationships on ambulatory BP and possibly health.