Utilization of reward-prospect enhances preparatory attention and reduces stimulus conflict

The prospect of gaining money is an incentive widely at play in the real world. Such monetary motivation might have particularly strong influence when the cognitive system is challenged, such as when needing to process conflicting stimulus inputs. Here, we employed manipulations of reward-prospect and attentional-preparation levels in a cued-Stroop stimulus conflict task, along with the high temporal resolution of electrical brain recordings, to provide insight into the mechanisms by which reward-prospect and attention interact and modulate cognitive task performance. In this task, the cue indicated whether or not the participant needed to prepare for an upcoming Stroop stimulus and, if so, whether there was the potential for monetary reward (dependent on performance on that trial). Both cued attention and cued reward-prospect enhanced preparatory neural activity, as reflected by increases in the hallmark attention-related negative-polarity ERP slow wave (contingent negative variation [CNV]) and reductions in oscillatory Alpha activity, which was followed by enhanced processing of the subsequent Stroop stimulus. In addition, similar modulations of preparatory neural activity (larger CNVs and reduced Alpha) predicted shorter versus longer response times (RTs) to the subsequent target stimulus, consistent with such modulations reflecting trial-to-trial variations in attention. Particularly striking were the individual differences in the utilization of reward-prospect information. In particular, the size of the reward effects on the preparatory neural activity correlated across participants with the degree to which reward-prospect both facilitated overall task performance (shorter RTs) and reduced conflict-related behavioral interference. Thus, the prospect of reward appears to recruit attentional preparation circuits to enhance processing of task-relevant target information.     

Developing New Academic Programs in the Medical/Health Humanities: A Toolkit to Support Continued Growth

Journal of Medical Humanities - Academic programs in the medical/health humanities have proliferated widely in recent years, and the professional, academic, and cultural drivers of this growth...     

Test-induced priming increases false recognition in older but not younger children

The effect of test-induced priming on false recognition was investigated in children aged 5, 7, 9, and 11 years using lists of semantic associates, category exemplars, and phonological associates. In line with effects previously observed in adults, nine- and eleven-year-olds showed increased levels of false recognition when critical lures were preceded by four studied items. This pattern was present with all three list types. In contrast, no effects of test-induced priming were observed in five- or seven-year-olds with any list type. The results also support those of previous studies in showing a developmental shift from phonological to semantic false memories. The findings are discussed in terms of current theories of children's false memories.     

Models of recognition, repetition priming, and fluency: exploring a new framework

We present a new modeling framework for recognition memory and repetition priming based on signal detection theory. We use this framework to specify and test the predictions of 4 models: (a) a single-system (SS) model, in which one continuous memory signal drives recognition and priming; (b) a multiple-systems-1 (MS1) model, in which completely independent memory signals (such as explicit and implicit memory) drive recognition and priming; (c) a multiple-systems-2 (MS2) model, in which there are also 2 memory signals, but some degree of dependence is allowed between these 2 signals (and this model subsumes the SS and MS1 models as special cases); and (d) a dual-process signal detection (DPSD1) model, 1 possible extension of a dual-process theory of recognition (Yonelinas, 1994) to priming, in which a signal detection model is augmented by an independent recollection process. The predictions of the models are tested in a continuous-identification-with-recognition paradigm in both normal adults (Experiments 1-3) and amnesic individuals (using data from Conroy, Hopkins, & Squire, 2005). The SS model predicted numerous results in advance. These were not predicted by the MS1 model, though could be accommodated by the more flexible MS2 model. Importantly, measures of overall model fit favored the SS model over the others. These results illustrate a new, formal approach to testing theories of explicit and implicit memory.     

Simulating murder: the aversion to harmful action

Diverse lines of evidence point to a basic human aversion to physically harming others. First, we demonstrate that unwillingness to endorse harm in a moral dilemma is predicted by individual differences in aversive reactivity, as indexed by peripheral vasoconstriction. Next, we tested the specific factors that elicit the aversive response to harm. Participants performed actions such as discharging a fake gun into the face of the experimenter, fully informed that the actions were pretend and harmless. These simulated harmful actions increased peripheral vasoconstriction significantly more than did witnessing pretend harmful actions or to performing metabolically matched nonharmful actions. This suggests that the aversion to harmful actions extends beyond empathic concern for victim harm. Together, these studies demonstrate a link between the body and moral decision-making processes.     

Anticipation of visual form independent of knowing where the form will occur

We investigated how selective preparation for specific forms is affected by concurrent preknowledge of location when upcoming visual stimuli are anticipated. In three experiments, participants performed a two-choice response time (RT) task in which they discriminated between standard upright and rotated alphanumeric characters while fixating a central fixation cross. In different conditions, we gave the participants preknowledge of only form, only location, both location and form, or neither location nor form. We found main effects of both preknowledge of form and preknowledge of location, with significantly lower RTs when preknowledge was present than when it was absent. Our main finding was that the two factors had additive effects on RTs. A strong interaction between the two factors, such that preknowledge of form had little or no effect without preknowledge of location, would have supported the hypothesis that form anticipation relies on depictive, perception-like activations in topographically organized parts of the visual cortex. The results provided no support for this hypothesis. On the other hand, by an additive-factors logic Sternberg (Sternberg, Acta Psychologica 30:276?C315, 1969), the additivity of our effects suggested that preknowledge of form and location, respectively, affected two functionally independent, serial stages of processing. We suggest that the two stages were, first, direction of attention to the stimulus location and, subsequently, discrimination between upright and rotated stimuli. Presumably, preknowledge of location advanced the point in time at which attention was directed at the stimulus location, whereas preknowledge of form reduced the time subsequently taken for stimulus discrimination.     

The Role of Range Restriction and Criterion Contamination in Assessing Differential Validity by Race/Ethnicity

Purpose

Berry et al.’s (J Appl Psychol 96:881–906, 2011) meta-analysis of cognitive ability test validity data across employment, college admissions, and military domains demonstrated that validity is lower for Black and Hispanic subgroups than for Asian and White subgroups. However, Berry et al. relied on observed test-criterion correlations and it is therefore not clear whether validity differences generalize beyond observed validities. The present study investigates the roles that range restriction and criterion contamination play in differential validity.

Design/Methodology/Approach

A large dataset (N > 140,000) containing SAT scores and college grades of Asian, Black, Hispanic, and White test takers was used. Within-race corrections for multivariate range restriction were applied. Differential validity analyses were carried out using freshman GPA versus individual course grades as criteria to control for the contaminating influence of individual differences between students in course choice.

Findings

Observed validities underestimated the magnitude of validity differences between subgroups relative to when range restriction and criterion contamination were controlled. Analyses also demonstrate that validity differences would translate to larger regression slope differences (i.e., differential prediction).

Implications

Subgroup differences in range restriction and/or individual differences in course choice cannot account for lower validity of the SAT for Black and Hispanic subgroups. Controlling for these factors increased subgroup validity differences. Future research must look to other explanations for subgroup validity differences.

Originality

The present study is the first differential validity study to simultaneously control for range restriction and individual differences in course choice, and answers a call to investigate potential causes of differential validity.