Leg Perception of Object Heaviness

ABSTRACT

Perceived heaviness is a function of both the muscle activity used to wield an object and the resulting movement. Wielding reveals invariant properties of the effector-object system, such as rotational inertia. Recent research has proposed a psychophysiological mechanism for perceiving the heaviness of a handheld object through dynamic touch that captures how arm muscle activity and angular movement combined reveal this invariance (Waddell, Fine, Likens, Amazeen & Amazeen, 2016 Waddell, M. L., Fine, J. M., Likens, A. D., Amazeen, E. L., & Amazeen, P. G. (2016). Perceived heaviness in the context of Newton's Second Law: Combined effects of muscle activity and lifting kinematics. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 42, 363–374.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The current study extends this hypothesis by investigating the dynamics of heaviness perception with the leg. Participants lifted objects of varying mass with knee extension lifts while reporting perceived heaviness. During each lift, the electromyogram (EMG) was recorded from the quadriceps, and peak angular acceleration was recorded about the knee. The resulting psychophysiological function revealed the hypothesized ratio of muscle activity to movement, similar to that found in Waddell et al. (2016) Waddell, M. L., Fine, J. M., Likens, A. D., Amazeen, E. L., & Amazeen, P. G. (2016). Perceived heaviness in the context of Newton's Second Law: Combined effects of muscle activity and lifting kinematics. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 42, 363–374.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]. This suggests that the dynamics for heaviness perception in the leg is similar to that shown in the arm in previous work.     

Processing of musical structure by high-functioning adolescents with autism spectrum disorders

Enhanced pitch perception and memory have been cited as evidence of a local processing bias in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This bias is argued to account for enhanced perceptual functioning (Mottron &; Burack, 2001 Mottron, L. and Burack, J. A. 2001. “Enhanced perceptual functioning in the development of autism”. In The development of autism: Perspectives from theory to research, Edited by: Burack, J. A., Charman, T., Yirmiya, N. and Zelazo, P. R. 131–147. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.  [Google Scholar]; Mottron, Dawson, Soulières, Hubert, &; Burack, 2006 Mottron, L., Dawson, M., Soulières, I., Hubert, B. and Burack, J. 2006. Enhanced perceptual functioning in autism: An update, and eight principles of autistic perception. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36(1): 27–43. doi:10.1007/s10803-005-0040-7[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and central coherence theories of ASD (Frith, 1989 Frith, U. 1989. Autism: Explaining the enigma, Oxford: United Kingdom: Blackwell.  [Google Scholar]; Happé &; Frith, 2006 Happé, F. and Frith, U. 2006. The weak coherence account: Detail-focused cognitive style in autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36(1): 5–25. doi:10.1007/s10803-005-0039-0[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). A local processing bias confers a different cognitive style to individuals with ASD (Happé, 1999 Happé, F. 1999. Autism: Cognitive deficit or cognitive style?. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 3(6): 216–222. doi:10.1016/S1364-6613(99)01318-2[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), which accounts in part for their good visuospatial and visuoconstructive skills. Here, we present analogues in the auditory domain, audiotemporal or audioconstructive processing, which we assess using a novel experimental task: a musical puzzle. This task evaluates the ability of individuals with ASD to process temporal sequences of musical events as well as various elements of musical structure and thus indexes their ability to employ a global processing style. Musical structures created and replicated by children and adolescents with ASD (10–19 years old) and typically developing children and adolescents (7–17 years old) were found to be similar in global coherence. Presenting a musical template for reference increased accuracy equally for both groups, with performance associated to performance IQ and short-term auditory memory. The overall pattern of performance was similar for both groups; some puzzles were easier than others and this was the case for both groups. Task performance was further found to be correlated with the ability to perceive musical emotions, more so for typically developing participants. Findings are discussed in light of the empathizing-systemizing theory of ASD (Baron-Cohen, 2009 Baron-Cohen, S. 2009. Autism: The Empathizing-Systemizing (E-S) Theory. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1156: 68–80. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04467.x[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and the importance of describing the strengths of individuals with ASD (Happé, 1999 Happé, F. 1999. Autism: Cognitive deficit or cognitive style?. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 3(6): 216–222. doi:10.1016/S1364-6613(99)01318-2[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Heaton, 2009 Heaton, P. 2009. Assessing musical skills in autistic children who are not savants. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Biological Sciences, 364: 1443–1447. doi:10.1098/rstb.2008.0327[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]).     

Culture and Context-sensitive Self: The Amount and Meaning of Context-sensitivity of Phenomenal Self Differ Across Cultures

Self-concepts change from context to context. The experience that one's self is context-sensitive may be universal, however the amount and meaning of context-sensitive self vary across cultures. Cross-cultural differences in the amount and meaning of context-sensitive self were investigated in three Western cultures (Australia, Germany, and UK) and two East Asian cultures (Japan and Korea). The amount of context-sensitivity of self was greater in Japan than in Western cultures and Korea. The meaning of context-sensitive self also varied across cultures. In the Western cultures, a context-invariant self was seen to be clear and true; however, these patterns were not observed in the East Asian cultures. In Korea, a context-invariant self was interpreted to be exhibiting a relational self, which adheres to the ethics of care. In Japan, it was a context-sensitive self that was seen to be true, implying that the true self in Japan may mean to be true to the self-in-context, rather than the transcendental, decontextualized self. The results suggest the importance of differentiating East Asian cultures such as Japan and Korea. The utility of quantitative methods in explicating cultural meaning was highlighted.     

The effects of sport dance on brain connectivity and body intelligence

Dancing is characterised by physical movement in accordance with rhythm perception. Twelve sport dancers and 12 age- and sex-matched young adults who had no dance experience (control group) were recruited. Body intelligence and brain activity were assessed in both groups using the Body Intelligence Scale (BIS) and resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging. BIS scores of dancers were higher than those of control subjects. The dancer group showed increased functional connectivity from the precentral gyrus to the right cingulate gyrus, right occipital fusiform gyrus, right inferior frontal gyrus, right medial frontal gyrus, left inferior frontal gyrus, right parietal postcentral gyrus, and right frontal lobe compared with control subjects. Sport dancers had increased body intelligence sensitivity compared with matched controls. In addition, the characteristics of dance, including physical movement in accordance with rhythm perception, might be associated with increased brain activity in the somatosensory and rhythm perception networks.     

The predictive validity of self-efficacy in training performance: little more than past performance

Past research on the influence of self-efficacy in training has provided mixed results. Key differences between studies pertain to whether past performance is operationalized as a residual variable or as an unadjusted variable and to the type of task used. In this study, the authors conducted and performed a reanalysis to examine the influence of self-efficacy using both operationalizations of past performance in 2 experimental tasks. Results indicate that, regardless of task version or type, self-efficacy predicted performance only when a residual measure of past performance was used, but not when past performance was unadjusted. However, when past performance was adjusted, the findings for self-efficacy were likely a statistical artifact. These results suggest that self-efficacy is a consequence rather than a cause of performance in training.     

The role of self‐esteem and anxiety in decision making for self versus others in relationships

Previous research has documented a tendency for people to make more risk‐seeking decisions for others than for themselves in relationship scenarios. Two experiments investigated whether this self–other difference is moderated by participants' self‐esteem and anxiety levels. In Experiment 1, lower self‐esteem and higher anxiety levels were associated with more risk‐averse choices for personal decisions but not for decisions for others. Therefore, participants with lower self‐esteem/higher anxiety showed greater self–other differences in comparison to participants with higher self‐esteem/lower anxiety levels. Experiment 2 demonstrated that this effect was largely mediated by participants' expectations of success and feelings about potential negative outcomes. These results are discussed in the context of “threats to the self,” with a central role played by anxiety and self‐esteem threats in personal decision making but not in decision making for others. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Amodal processing of visual speech as revealed by priming

This study investigated the linguistic processing of visual speech (video of a talker's utterance without audio) by determining if such has the capacity to prime subsequently presented word and nonword targets. The priming procedure is well suited for the investigation of whether speech perception is amodal since visual speech primes can be used with targets presented in different modalities. To this end, a series of priming experiments were conducted using several tasks. It was found that visually spoken words (for which overt identification was poor) acted as reliable primes for repeated target words in the naming, written and auditory lexical decision tasks. These visual speech primes did not produce associative or reliable form priming. The lack of form priming suggests that the repetition priming effect was constrained by lexical level processes. That priming found in all tasks is consistent with the view that similar processes operate in both visual and auditory speech processing.