The role of attention in eye-movement awareness

People are unable to accurately report on their own eye movements most of the time. Can this be explained as a lack of attention to the objects we fixate? Here, we elicited eye-movement errors using the classic oculomotor capture paradigm, in which people tend to look at sudden onsets even when they are irrelevant. In the first experiment, participants were able to report their own errors on about a quarter of the trials on which they occurred. The aim of the second experiment was to assess what differentiates errors that are detected from those that are not. Specifically, we estimated the relative influence of two possible factors: how long the onset distractor was fixated (dwell time), and a measure of how much attention was allocated to the onset distractor. Longer dwell times were associated with awareness of the error, but the measure of attention was not. The effect of the distractor identity on target discrimination reaction time was similar whether or not the participant was aware they had fixated the distractor. The results suggest that both attentional and oculomotor capture can occur in the absence of awareness, and have important implications for our understanding of the relationship between attention, eye movements, and awareness.     

Effects of diurnal variation and caffeine consumption on Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA) performance in healthy young adults

The Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA) is a continuous performance test (CPT) that assesses attention, impulsivity, and processing speed. CPTs are used in the assessment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, but more young adults are being assessed for ADHD as well. The TOVA norms are based on a standardization sample that was tested early in the day, and any TOVA administered after 1:00 p.m. will be flagged as potentially invalid. Whereas the testing time recommendations make sense for pediatric samples, it is unclear whether they are appropriate for young adults in college, who typically show significant phase delay in their diurnal rhythms. In addition, many college students consume large amounts of caffeine, and it is unclear how caffeine consumption affects TOVA performance. The current study examined the impact of time of day, self-reported diurnal preference, and caffeine consumption on TOVA performance in a double-blind, placebo-controlled experiment with healthy college students. There was evidence of diurnal variation on average response time and impulsivity but not on overall ADHD score, with participants tested in the afternoon responding faster but making more commission errors than did participants tested in the morning. Caffeine consumption led to significantly faster response times, but only for participants who typically consumed relatively little caffeine. We conclude that the TOVA can be administered to young adults outside the recommended time constraints without compromising the validity of test score interpretation but that the caffeine consumption of participants should be closely monitored.     

Can false memories be corrected by feedback in the DRM paradigm?

Normal processes of comprehension frequently yield false memories as an unwanted by-product. The simple paradigm now known as the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm takes advantage of this fact and has been used to reliably produce false memory for laboratory study. Among the findings from past research is the difficulty of preventing false memories in this paradigm. The purpose of the present experiments was to examine the effectiveness of feedback in correcting false memories. Two experiments were conducted, in which participants recalled DRM lists and either received feedback on their performance or did not. A subsequent recall test was administered to assess the effect of feedback. The results showed promising effects of feedback: Feedback enhanced both error correction and the propagation of correct recall. The data replicated other data of studies that have shown substantial error perseveration following feedback. These data also provide new information on the occurrence of errors following feedback. The results are discussed in terms of the activation-monitoring theory of false memory.     

Who Cares What She Thinks, What Does He Say? Links between Masculinity, In-Group Bonding and Gender Harassment

Previous research has linked threats to masculinity and gender harassment, the most pervasive form of sexual harassment. Using a computer harassment paradigm, an ingroup bonding explanation of this link was directly examined. The study was conducted with heterosexual male undergraduate students from an inner city Australian university. Participants received a threat to masculinity before being exposed to an ostensible gender ingroup member whose reaction to sexist jokes was manipulated. Data from 74 participants revealed that men high on conformity to masculine norms altered their behavior to correspond with feedback from the gender ingroup member after a masculinity threat, whereas men low on conformity to masculine norms rejected gender ingroup feedback after a masculinity threat. A variable examining reported liking of the gender ingroup member produced a similar pattern, while no changes were observed in reported liking of a gender outgroup member These results suggest that the perceived response of other members of the gender ingroup, but not members of the gender outgroup, influence men’s proclivity to enact gender harassing behaviors.     

Dairy-product intake and hip fracture among older women: issues for health behavior

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between dairy-product intake and hip fracture among a national sample of women aged 50 years and older. Univariate analyses using SAS procedures showed dairy-product intake was significantly associated with hip fracture. Women who had suffered hip fracture reported higher dairy use than women who had not experienced these fractures, a finding that is dramatically inconsistent with the literature. This finding may reflect positive behavioral changes resulting from the hip fracture event. Further research must focus on changes in health behavior after fracture, which may assist in understanding the roles of specific theories of health behavior. Application of principles of health behavior could improve the effectiveness of preventive treatment programs for osteoporosis.     

Physiological and symptom responses to hyperventilation: A comparison of frequent and infrequent panickers

Ten subjects with panic disorder and ten subjects with infrequent panic attacks were assessed during 2 min of voluntary hyperventilation using four measures of physiological arousal (heart rate, upper trapezious EMG, skin conductance, and digital skin temperature). Immediately following hyperventilation, subjects were asked to rate their degree of distress on 13 panic symptoms, derived from DSM-III criteria for panic disorder. Results indicated that frequent panickers had significant overall elevations in trapezious EMG, relative to infrequent panickers, and demonstrated a slight increase in muscle tension following hyperventilation. In contrast, infrequent panickers showed a trend toward greater vasodilation preceding and during hyperventilation, with subsequent vasoconstriction upon resumption of normal breathing. Increases in skin conductance and heart rate were noted for both samples during hyperventilation, as reported in prior research. Symptom distress ratings indicated that the infrequent panickers reported significantly greater distress from dizziness and trembling in response to overbreathing, contrary to prediction. Implications of these findings are discussed in light of current accounts of cognitive and physiological factors in the etiology of panic attacks and panic disorder.This research was supported by Biomedical Research Support Grant #507RR07147, National Institutes of Health.     

Haptic identification of letters using the left or right hand

The present study investigated the effects of the use of the right and left hands on haptic identification of letters of the alphabet. Each of the 64 right-handed subjects was given three series of randomly ordered presentations of the 26 letters of the alphabet. The subjects were asked to feel each letter and name correctly each letter as quickly but as accurately as possible. Analysis showed faster identification by those subjects using their left hands on Series 1 with no hand-differences appearing on Series 2 and 3. Significant over-all improvement in identification time occurred with practice. The results were interpreted in terms of a novelty hypothesis of right-hemisphere function and an explanation of perceptual learning of letter identification.     

Laws: Projectability and uniformity

It is argued that the problem of the necessity and projectability of laws may be solved by distinguishing between the fact of necessity and explanations of its nature. This reduces the problem of necessity to that of induction, which in consequences must be solved without reference to necessity using ‘self‐supporting’ arguments. The consequences for the analysis of ‘counterfactual conditionals and the problem of language dependence is discussed.