Authorship effects in the prediction of handwriting strokes: Evidence for action simulation during action perception

Does the action system contribute to action perception? Recent evidence suggests that actions are simulated while being observed. Given that the planning and simulating system are the same only when one observes one's own actions, it might be easier to predict the future outcomes of actions when one has carried them out oneself earlier on. In order to test this hypothesis, three experiments were conducted in which participants observed parts of earlier self- and other-produced trajectories and judged whether another stroke would follow or not. When the trajectories were produced without constraints, participants accomplished this task only for self-produced trajectories. When the trajectories were produced under narrow constraints, the predictions were equally accurate for self- and for other-generated trajectories. These results support the action simulation assumption. The more the actions that one observes resemble the way one would carry them out oneself, the more accurate the simulation.     

Psychological skills and mindfulness training effects on the psychological wellbeing of undergraduate music students: An exploratory study

This study explored the efficacy of psychological skills and mindfulness training intervention on the psychological wellbeing of undergraduate music students. Participants were undergraduate music students (n = 36) from the Department of Music at a South African university, 21 of whom were elected to take the psychological skills and mindfulness training intervention. Data on their self-reported psychological wellbeing, psychological skills, mindfulness and performance anxiety levels were collected pre-and post-intervention. The analysis applied non-parametric procedures to determine changes in students’ psychological wellbeing after the seven-week intervention programme. Findings suggest improvements in psychological wellbeing, psychological skills, mindfulness and performance anxiety with training. Psychological skills and mindfulness training may have benefits to the psychological wellbeing of music students.     

Continuous selection

Summary A model of target selection in continuous search tasks is outlined. The model was designed to account for two basic observations that are difficult to cover within the framework of the traditional target-control-type models of search, namely, pure detection (detection without identification) and pseudotarget detection (detection of new items not to be searched for). The model combines two basic assumptions: first, that targets are detected by default, that is, by virtue of the fact that they do not fit into an internal model of to-be-expected events (target detection by default) and second, that this internal model is generated, maintained, and updated on the basis of the nontarget information encountered during search (integration of non-target information). Furthermore, it is assumed that non-target integration and target detection can both be carried out at several processing levels simultaneously. The evidence available to support and develop the model is reviewed, and some of its general implications for a theory of selective attention are discussed.This paper is a selective summary of experimental work done in collaboration with Dieter Nattkemper and Cristina Meinecke and supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant Pr 118/5)     

Effects of secondary tasks on search performance

Summary Two experiments studied the effect of secondary task load on continuous visual search. Two effects were observed when a secondary task was applied. Search speed (which is assumed to reflect the efficiency of nontarget rejection) was impaired, whereas target detection distance (which presumably reflects the efficiency of target detection) increased. These findings are explained in the framework of a two-process model of visual search which assumes that two operations are performed simultaneously during each fixation, that is, automatic detection and controlled search. The secondary task interferes with the operation of controlled search which reacts to this impairment by way of a compensatory slow-down of search speed. This gain in time also benefits the operation of automatic detection which converts the temporal gain into a spatial extension of the area under its control.     

Attention and sensitivity in visual search

Summary In continuous visual search, targets can be detected within a certain area around the fixation point (control area). Recent observations have suggested that these areas are asymmetrical in their vertical extent, i.e., that targets can be detected at greater distances below than above the fixation point. In order to obtain more direct evidence on this asymmetry, two experiments were conducted using a contingent-display technique. Pronounced asymmetry of the vertical detection span was observed. A model is presented according to which the asymmetry results from the superposition of two sources: the permanent distribution of sensitivity and the actual distribution of attention along the vertical axis of the visual field. The detectability of a target at a given location is a joint function of the strength of these two factors at that location.     

The pupil evaluation inventory

The Pupil Evaluation Inventory was developed to assess peer ratings of the behavior of male and female children in grades one through nine. Three homogeneous and stable factors emerged from a factor analysis: Aggression, Withdrawal and Likeability. High interrater agreement between male and female raters, stability of factorial structure, high internal consistency, and moderate concurrent validity were found across sex and grade levels. Test-retest reliability was high for a separate sample of third and sixth graders. There was a tendency for higher internal consistency and teacher-peer correlations for the Aggression factor.This research was supported by grant MH 21145 from the National Institute of Mental Health and by funds from the D. Grant Foundation, Inc. We wish also to acknowledge the support of the many school districts who have assisted us in this research.     

Component processes in multiattribute stimulus classification

Summary In an attempt to analyze some aspects of the task requirements in multiattribute stimulus classification (MASC), actual task demands are contrasted with nominal (i.e. theoretically assumed) task demands. On the basis of theoretical considerations and some experimental data corrections of the usually adopted picture of the task are suggested in three respects: 1. For many MASC tasks the component processes involved can better be conceived to be feature detection operations than dimensional discrimination processes. 2. When few dimensions are relevant, irrelevant interrogation may interfere with relevant processing. 3. When many dimensions are relevant, attribute chunking may occur, i.e. there may actually be fewer component processes than is theoretically assumed. — It is concluded that using multiattribute stimulus sets does not help to solve the problem of controlling or identifying functional units of information processing.

---

Zusammenfassung Es wird ein Versuch unternommen, einige Aspekte der Aufgabenanforderungen in Klassifikationsaufgaben mit mehrdimensional variierendem Figurenmaterial (MASC) zu analysieren und sie mit den entsprechenden nominellen (d. h. theoretisch postulierten) Aufgabenanforderungen zu vergleichen. Aufgrund von theoretischen Überlegungen und experimentellen Ergebnissen werden drei Korrekturen des allgemein akzeptierten Bildes dieser Art von Klassifikationsaufgaben vorgeschlagen: 1. Die Teilprozesse sind in vielen MASC-Aufgaben eher vom Typus der Merkmalsdetektion als vom Typus der dimensionalen Diskrimination. 2. Wenn nur ein Teil der variierenden Dimensionen relevant ist, kann irrelevante Variation mit der Verarbeitung der relevanten Information interferieren. 3. Wenn viele Dimensionen relevant sind, kann die Zahl der tatsächlichen Teilprozesse durch Zusammenfassung von Merkmalen reduziert sein, so daß in Wirklichkeit weniger Teilprozesse ablaufen als theoretisch angenommen wird. — Die Untersuchung führt zu der Schlußfolgerung, daß das Problem der Identifikation oder Kontrolle von funktionalen Einheiten der Verarbeitung durch die Verwendung von mehrdimensional variierendem Figurenmaterial nicht gelöst wird.

     

Nicht-visueller Transfer in einer visuellen Suchaufgabe

Zusammenfassung Der Begriff der Verarbeitungsstufe (level of processing) im Sinne Posners wird kritisch diskutiert. Es wird vorgeschlagen, von der von diesem Autor herausgearbeiteten Konzeption der expliziten nicht-visuellen Kodierung eine bisher nur ansatzweise untersuchte Verarbeitungsform zu unterscheiden: die implizite oder latente nicht-visuelle Kodierung, die stillschweigend bei verbalem Material auch dann stattfindet, wenn in der Versuchssituation nicht-visuelle Komponenten keine Rolle spielen. Zum Nachweis dieses Phänomens wird ein Transferversuchsplan mit einer Buchstabensuchtechnik nach Neisser verwendet. Es zeigt sich, daß Transfer zwischen verschiedenen Suchaufgaben sowohl auf visueller als auch auf nicht-visueller Ebene stattfindet. Darüberhinaus kann Transfer auf Target- und Kontextbasis unterschieden werden. Die Beziehungen zwischen der Kodierungsebene (visuell/nicht-visuell) und der Target-Kontextbindung des Transfers werden diskutiert; beide Dimensionen werden als orthogonal angenommen.

---

Non-visual transfer in a visual-search task

Summary The notion of level of processing sensu Posner is critically examined. It is proposed to distinguish between two kinds of non-visual coding of visually presented verbal material: explicit (viz. instruction-produced) and implicit or latent non-visual coding. The latter is supposed to go on silently even if Ss are not instructed to pay attention to other than visual aspects of the stimulus situation. A transferdesign with a visual-search technique after Neisser is used to trace the effects of latent non-visual coding. It is shown that search transfer takes place on visual and on non-visual level as well. Moreover, transfer may be target-based or context-based. Relations between level of processing (visual/non-visual) and basis of transfer (target vs. context) are discussed; both aspects are supposed to be independent of each other.

---

---

Die hier mitgeteilten Experimente wurden von S. Hartlich und W. Lahmeyer im Rahmen von Diplomarbeiten durchgeführt.