Correlational cuing as a function of target complexity and target-flanker similarity

It is generally assumed that the correlational cuing effect (CE) between targets and correlated flankers is due to learning association between the flankers and their correlated responses. The present study challenges this view. Experiment 1 shows that the CE for targets composed of color is eliminated as soon as the correlation is removed. Experiment 2 shows that the CE during training is not due to association of the flankers with responses. Experiment 3 shows that at least some of the CE during training with the correlation is due to repetition priming of the display. Experiment 4 replicates the results of Experiment 1 for orientation targets. In Experiments 5-7, more typical tasks with letter targets are examined, and it is demonstrated that preexperimental similarity between targets and correlated flankers is crucial. The CE for correlated but dissimilar target-flanker pairs, similar to that for color and orientation targets, is confined to on-line processes that occur during training. The CE is transferred, however, for correlated and similar target-flanker pairs. We propose that, at least for the simple stimulus to response mapping used in our study, the CE is not due to learning at all. Instead it is due to (1) on-line processes, such as repetition priming, that occur during training with the correlation and (2) a regular flanker effect (see, e.g., B. A. Eriksen & C. W. Eriksen, 1974) that occurs for similar target-flanker pairs.     

Virtuelle Objekte und ihre Verwendung

Zusammenfassung. Wir leben in einer Epoche, die man als Post-Gutenberg-Epoche bezeichnen kann. Das dominierende Zeichensystem ist nicht mehr die Schrift, sondern das elektronische Zeichen. Ungef?hr das Jahr 1950 wird als Wendepunkt zwischen diesen beiden Epochen angesehen, und zwar deshalb, weil in den Jahren nach dem 2. Weltkrieg die amerikanischen Haushalte mit Fernsehger?ten ges?ttigt waren und sich somit dieses neue Zeichensystem durchgesetzt hatte. Thema dieses Aufsatzes ist die Ver?nderung unserer Zeichensysteme und damit unserer Symbolwelten, der Wandel von der Welt des Schriftzeichens zur Welt des elektronischen Zeichens, die dadurch entstandene M?glichkeit, elektronische Objekte zu schaffen, die ich virtuelle Objekte nennen m?chte, die Manipulation von Objektwahl und Objektbeziehung, die damit einhergeht und die Rolle, die uns Analytikern in einer solchen Welt zukommt. Diese elektronischen Zeichen haben mit gro?em Tempo ein Eigenleben entwickelt, es ist eine ganze Klasse neuer Objekte entstanden, die Klassen der virtuellen Objekte. Dies sind elektronisch ver?nderte, erg?nzte oder rein elektronisch produzierte Objekte. Damit verbunden ist eine Industrialisierung von Objektwahl und Objektbeziehung. Es entsteht die manipulierte Objektwahl und Objektbeziehung und die Verdr?ngung natürlicher Objekte durch virtuelle. Dieser Vorgang ist auch mit einem Wechsel des Sozial- und Kulturverst?ndnisses verbunden. Es entstehen neue Muster des Sozial- und Kulturverst?ndnisses, die man als Industriefeudalismus bezeichnen k?nnte. Ziel des Beitrags ist es, über die Ver?nderung unserer Zeichenwelt und die damit verbundene Industrialisierung von Objektbeziehung zu reflektieren und sie, soweit schon m?glich, zu deuten.

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Virtual objects and their application: about the industrial production of object relationships

Summary. We live in an epoch that could be designated as the post-Gutenberg-era. Writing is no longer the dominant sign system. It is replaced by electronic signs. We consider approximately the year 1950 as the turning-point between these two epochs, because by then, in the years after the 2nd World War the American households were saturated with televisions. Thereby, the new sign system asserted itself. The topic of this article is the transformation of our sign system and thereby of our worlds of symbols, the leap from the world of written signs into the world of electronic signs, and the possibility born out of it to create electronic objects, which I prefer to call virtual objects. The manipulation of object-choice and object-relationships accompanying this change and the role assigned to analysts in this new world will be considered as well. These electronic signs developed quickly a life of their own. A totally new class of objects came into being, the class of virtual objects. These are electronically transformed, completed or wholly electronically produced objects. This procedure is accompanied by an industrialization of object-choice and object-relationships. The manipulated object-choice and object-relationship is born and, moreover, a displacement of natural objects through virtual ones. A change of the socio-cultural understanding is also a consequence of this process. New patterns of socio-cultural understanding develop, that could be described as industrial feudalism. The goal of this article is to describe the transformation of our world of signs and the connected industrialization of object relationships, and to interprete them according to our present possibilities.

     

Evidence for attenuated affective processing in obesity

Attenuated affective processing is hypothesized to play a role in the development and maintenance of obesity. Using an affective priming task measuring automatic affective processing of verbal stimuli, a group of 30 obese participants in a weight-loss program at the Psychosomatic University Clinic Bonn (M age = 48.3, SD = 10.7) was compared with a group of 25 participants of normal weight (M age = 43.6, SD = 12.5). A smaller affective priming effect was observed for participants with obesity, indicating less pronounced reactions to valenced adjectives. The generally reduced affective processing in obese participants was discussed as a possible factor in the etiology of obesity. Individuals who generally show less pronounced affective reactions to a given stimulus may also react with less negative affect when confronted with weight gain or less positive affect when weight is lost. Consequently, they could be expected to be less motivated to stop overeating or to engage in dieting and will have a higher risk of becoming or staying obese.     

Perceived control and emotions: interactive effects on performance in achievement settings

Individual differences in cognitions and emotions play a critical role in difficult academic situations, such as the transition into college, a period infused with uncertainty. Perceived academic control (low vs. high) and emotions (course boredom, anxiety, and enjoyment) were examined to determine how they jointly predicted 620 first-year students’ achievement and attrition over an entire academic year. It was expected that students’ emotions would moderate the effects of high perceived control on achievement (final psychology grade, cumulative GPA) and attrition (overall course credits dropped). Regression results revealed several Perceived Control  ×  Emotion interactions that supported this moderation hypothesis: negative emotions impeded the benefits of high control (i.e., boredom and anxiety predicted worse performance in high-control students); positive emotions enhanced the benefits of high control (i.e., enjoyment predicted better performance in high-control students). Conversely, achievement emotions did not predict performance among low-control students. Together, these findings indicate that for a high level of perceived control to enhance students’ academic achievement and inhibit attrition, “adaptive” levels of emotions (lower boredom, lower anxiety, or higher enjoyment) are required. Implications for maximizing academic success among both low- and high-control students are discussed.

EMuJoy: Software for continuous measurement of perceived emotions in music

An adequate study of emotions in music and film should be based on the real-time measurement of selfreported data using a continuous-response method. The recording system discussed in this article reflects two important aspects of such research: First, for a better comparison of results, experimental and technical standards for continuous measurement should be taken into account, and second, the recording system should be open to the inclusion of multimodal stimuli. In light of these two considerations, our article addresses four basic principles of the continuous measurement of emotions: (1) the dimensionality of the emotion space, (2) data acquisition (e.g., the synchronization of media and the self-reported data), (3) interface construction for emotional responses, and (4) the use of multiple stimulus modalities. Researcher-developed software (EMuJoy) is presented as a freeware solution for the continuous measurement of responses to different media, along with empirical data from the self-reports of 38 subjects listening to emotional music and viewing affective pictures. Behavior Research Methods