Amodal completion as reflected by gaze durations

In two experiments amodal completion of partly occluded shapes was investigated by recording eye movements in a directed visual-search task. Participants searched arrays of shapes in a prescribed order for target figures that could partly be occluded. Longer gaze durations were found on occlusion patterns than on truncated control patterns for targets but not for non-targets. This effect of occlusion was restricted to a subset of the stimuli. A second experiment was carried out to establish whether this restriction resulted from structural properties of the stimuli or their familiarity. Occlusion patterns in this experiment were ambiguous with respect to structure, allowing both local and global completions. One of the completions was always less familiar than the other. The results showed longer gazes only for the less familiar completions, irrespective of whether they were local or global.     

The neural effect of stimulus-response modality compatibility on dual-task performance: an fMRI study

Recent fMRI studies suggest that the inferior frontal sulcus (IFS) is involved in the coordination of interfering processes in dual-task situations. The present study aims to further specify this assumption by investigating whether the compatibility between stimulus and response modalities modulates dual-task-related activity along the IFS. It has been shown behaviorally that the degree of interference, as measured by dual-task costs, increases in modality-incompatible conditions (e.g. visual–vocal tasks combined with auditory–manual tasks) as compared to modality-compatible conditions (e.g. visual–manual tasks combined with auditory–vocal tasks). Using fMRI, we measured IFS activity when participants performed modality-compatible and modality-incompatible single and dual tasks. Behaviorally, we replicated the finding of higher dual-task costs for modality-incompatible tasks compared to modality-compatible tasks. The fMRI data revealed higher activity along the IFS in modality-incompatible dual tasks compared with modality-compatible dual tasks when inter-individual variability in functional brain organization is taken into account. We argue that in addition to temporal order coordination (Szameitat et al., 2002), the IFS is involved in the coordination of cognitive processes associated with the concurrent mapping of sensory information onto corresponding motor responses in dual-task situations.     

Virtually perfect time sharing in dual-task performance: uncorking the central cognitive bottleneck

A fundamental issue for psychological science concerns the extent to which people can simultaneously perform two perceptual-motor tasks. Some theorists have hypothesized that such dual-task performance is severely and persistently constrained by a central cognitive 'bottleneck,' whereas others have hypothesized that skilled procedural decision making and response selection for two or more tasks can proceed at the same time under adaptive executive control. The three experiments reported here support this latter hypothesis. Their results show that after relatively modest amounts of practice, at least some participants achieve virtually perfect time sharing in the dual-task performance of basic choice reaction tasks. The results also show that observed interference between tasks can be modulated by instructions about differential task priorities and personal preferences for daring (concurrent) or cautious (successive) scheduling of tasks. Given this outcome, future research should investigate exactly when and how such sophisticated skills in dual-task performance are acquired.     

Aging and the psychological refractory period: task-coordination strategies in young and old adults

The apparently deleterious effect of aging on dual-task performance is well established, but there is little agreement about the source of this effect. Studies of the psychological refractory period (PRP) indicate that young adults can flexibly control dual-task performance through task-coordination strategies. Thus, the performance of older adults might differ from young adults because older adults use different task-coordination strategies. To test this hypothesis, the executive-process interactive control (EPIC) architecture was applied to quantify the reaction time data from two PRP experiments conducted with young (age 18-26) and older (age 60-70) adults. The results show that participants' ability to coordinate the processing of two tasks did not decline with age. However, dual-task time costs were greater in the older adults. Three sources for this increase were found: generalized slowing, process-specific slowing, and the use of more cautious task-coordination strategies by the older adults.     

Reserve price and competing bids: Reference points for product evaluations in online auctions?

With an increasing number of products sold in online auctions, the effect of reference points on consumers' product valuations has received much attention in the literature. Two potentially relevant factors affecting bidders' preferences are the sellers' reserve price and the competing bids by other bidders. The current evidence regarding these reference points is mixed. We argue that a focus on studying bids prevents a clear identification of reference point effects. Directly observing product valuations, in two experiments, we find that willingness to pay in online auctions is affected by both reserve prices and competing bids, supporting the constructed values paradigm. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Religious Coping and Psychological and Behavioral Adjustment After Hurricane Katrina

Positive and negative religious coping are related to positive and negative psychological adjustment, respectively. The current study examined the relation between religious coping and PTSD, major depression, quality of life, and substance use among residents residing in Mississippi at the time of Hurricane Katrina. Results indicated that negative religious coping was positively associated with major depression and poorer quality of life and positive religious coping was negatively associated with PTSD, depression, poorer quality of life, and increased alcohol use. These results suggest that mental health providers should be mindful of the role of religious coping after traumatic events such as natural disasters.     

Content and context in incremental processing: “the ham sandwich” revisited

The interplay of content and context is observable in a moment to moment manner as propositional content unfolds. The current contribution illustrates this through data from real-time language comprehension indicating that propositional content is not computed in isolation but relies in important ways on context during every step of the computation of meaning. The relevant notion of context that we have to adopt includes all aspects of possible worlds and draws on a variety of knowledge representations, which in a first processing phase serve to generate expectations for upcoming words. In a second phase, the discourse representation is assessed and if necessary updated by means of inferential reasoning and enrichment to reflect the speaker’s intended meaning.     

A Comparison of Underage,Young, Middle,and Late Adults in Indicated Prevention Following Impaired Driving

The authors examined age differences in baseline features and program response in individuals completing indicated prevention (Prime For Life^®) for impaired driving. Risk perception, substance use, and support differed by age at baseline and, despite improvements, continued to differ postprogram.     

Anaphoric Pronouns and the Computation of Prominence Profiles

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research - Previous research has investigated anaphoric resolution at the anaphor. Using a self-paced reading study we show that prominence profiles, i.e. the ranking of...     

Implicit sequence learning is represented by stimulus—response rules

For nearly two decades, researchers have investigated spatial sequence learning in an attempt to identify what specifically is learned during sequential tasks (e.g., stimulus order, response order, etc.). Despite extensive research, controversy remains concerning the information-processing locus of this learning effect. There are three main theories concerning the nature of spatial sequence learning, corresponding to the perceptual, motor, or response selection (i.e., central mechanisms underlying the association between stimulus and response pairs) processes required for successful task performance. The present data investigate this controversy and support the theory that stimulus—response (S—R) rules are critical for sequence learning. The results from two experiments demonstrate that sequence learning is disrupted only when the S—R rules for the task are altered. When the S—R rules remain constant or involve only a minor transformation, significant sequence learning occurs. These data implicate spatial response selection as a likely mechanism mediating spatial sequential learning.