A discriminated rapid-acquisition laboratory procedure for human continuous choice

Previous continuous choice laboratory procedures for human participants are either prohibitively time-intensive or result in inadequate fits of the generalized matching law (GML). We developed a rapid-acquisition laboratory procedure (Procedure for Rapidly Establishing Steady-State Behavior, or PRESS-B) for studying human continuous choice that reduces participant burden and produces data that is well-described by the GML. To test the procedure, 27 human participants were exposed to 9 independent concurrent random-interval random-interval reinforcement schedules over the course of a single, 37-min session. Fits of the GML to the participants' data accounted for large proportions of variance (median R²: 0.94), with parameter estimates that were similar to those previously found in human continuous choice studies [median a: 0.67; median log(b): -0.02]. In summary, PRESS-B generates human continuous choice behavior in the laboratory that conforms to the GML with limited experimental duration.     

Compliance, conversion, and category induction

When children hear an object referred to with a label that is moderately discrepant from its appearance, they frequently make inferences about that object consistent with the label rather than its appearance. We asked whether 3-year-olds actually believe these unexpected labels (i.e., conversion) or whether their inferences simply reflect a desire to comply with the considerable experimental demands of the induction task (i.e., compliance). Specifically, we asked how likely children would be to pass an unexpected label on to another person who had not been present during the labeling event. Results showed that children who used an unexpected label as the basis for inference passed that label on to another person about as often as they could remember it. This suggests that children’s label-based inferences do reflect conversion rather than mere compliance.     

Qualitative differences in the representation of abstract versus concrete words: Evidence from the visual-world paradigm

In the present visual-world experiment, participants were presented with visual displays that included a target item that was a semantic associate of an abstract or a concrete word. This manipulation allowed us to test a basic prediction derived from the qualitatively different representational framework that supports the view of different organizational principles for concrete and abstract words in semantic memory. Our results confirm the assumption of a primary organizational principle based on association for abstract words, different from the semantic similarity principle proposed for concrete words, and provide the first piece of evidence in support of this view obtained from healthy participants. The results shed light on the representational structure of abstract and concrete concepts.     

Social Information Processing Skills in Children with Histories of Heavy Prenatal Alcohol Exposure

Based on caregiver report, children with prenatal alcohol exposure have difficulty with social functioning, but little is known about their social cognition. The current study assessed the social information processing patterns of school-age children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure using a paradigm based on Crick and Dodge’s reformulated six-stage model. Fifty-two children (aged 7–11) with and without heavy prenatal alcohol exposure were tested using a structured interview measure of social information processing involving 18 videotaped vignettes of children in group entry and provocation situations. Alcohol-exposed children displayed maladaptive processing patterns on the goal, response generation, and response evaluation steps in group entry situations, and encoding, attribution, response evaluation, and enactment steps during provocation situations. Children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure also had difficulty on the Test of Problem Solving, and performance correlated with social information processing measures. Such difficulties may lead to problems in social functioning and warrant early intervention.     

Long-term negative priming: Support for retrieval of prior attentional processes

Negative priming reveals that participants respond slowly to a probe target that was a task-irrelevant distractor in the preceding prime display (e.g., Tipper, 1985) and is thought to reflect processes mediating short-term behaviour. However, since the first surprising reports that negative priming is found with meaningless stimuli across delays of 30 days (e.g., DeSchepper & Treisman, 1996), researchers have questioned the existence of long-term negative priming effects. Because long-term negative priming could indicate that task-irrelevant information leaves a memory trace that impacts performance over time, such a finding is of immense theoretical importance. Indeed, the current research finds support for the existence of long-term negative priming as well as its generality across different stimuli and conditions. The authors propose that the initial processes that prevent response to irrelevant stimuli may be stored in memory, where retrieval of these processes can mediate behaviour over time.     

Increased experience amplifies the activation of task-irrelevant category representations

Prior research has demonstrated the benefits (i.e., task-relevant attentional selection) and costs (i.e., task-irrelevant attentional capture) of prior knowledge on search for an individual target or multiple targets from a category. This study investigated whether the level of experience with particular categories predicts the degree of task-relevant and task-irrelevant activation of item and category representations. Adults with varying levels of dieting experience (measured via 3 subscales of Disinhibition, Restraint, Hunger; Stunkard & Messick, Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 29(1), 71–83, 1985) searched for targets defined as either a specific food item (e.g., carrots), or a category (i.e., any healthy or unhealthy food item). Apart from the target-present trials, in the target-absent “foil” trials, when searching for a specific item (e.g., carrots), irrelevant items from the target’s category (e.g., squash) were presented. The ERP (N2pc) results revealed that the activation of task-relevant representations (measured via Exemplar and Category N2pc amplitudes) did not differ based on the degree of experience. Critically, however, increased dieting experience, as revealed by lower Disinhibition scores, predicted activation of task-irrelevant representations (i.e., attentional capture of foils from the target item category). Our results suggest that increased experience with particular categories encourages the rapid activation of category representations even when category information is task irrelevant, and that the N2pc in foil trials could potentially serve as an indication of experience level in future studies on categorization.     

Effects of context on auditory stream segregation

The authors examined the effect of preceding context on auditory stream segregation. Low tones (A), high tones (B), and silences (-) were presented in an ABA- pattern. Participants indicated whether they perceived 1 or 2 streams of tones. The A tone frequency was fixed, and the B tone was the same as the A tone or had 1 of 3 higher frequencies. Perception of 2 streams in the current trial increased with greater frequency separation between the A and B tones (Delta f). Larger Delta f in previous trials modified this pattern, causing less streaming in the current trial. This occurred even when listeners were asked to bias their perception toward hearing 1 stream or 2 streams. The effect of previous Delta f was not due to response bias because simply perceiving 2 streams in the previous trial did not cause less streaming in the current trial. Finally, the effect of previous ?f was diminished, though still present, when the silent duration between trials was increased to 5.76 s. The time course of this context effect on streaming implicates the involvement of auditory sensory memory or neural adaptation.     

Smartphone distraction-addiction: Examining the relationship between psychosocial variables and patterns of use

The use of smartphones has been increasing worldwide. Usage of these devices has been associated with addiction and adverse emotional states. This study employs a mixed methods approach to study these relationships in an Australian sample. The study comprised of 164 participants aged between 18–70 who completed the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale, the Smartphone Addiction Scale, and the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale. Seven participants were also interviewed providing answers of a qualitative nature. Smartphone addiction significantly predicted higher levels of smartphone usage. Additionally, smartphone addiction, and distractibility also significantly predicted higher levels of stress, depression and anxiety. Qualitative results identified themes such as convenience, time of the day and activities in relation to smartphone usage as well as short-and long-term effects of this usage. Findings indicated that both distraction and addiction have an influence in the use of smartphones and that an increased usage has detrimental consequences to emotional health. Themes such as dependence and temptation and interferences appear congruent and consistent with the results of scales used.