Do time-on-task effects reveal face specificity in object cognition?

ABSTRACT

Multiple experimental, neuropsychological, and individual differences studies indicated that faces are processed (e.g. perceived and memorized) differently from non-face objects. It was suggested that face specificity is a result of configural processing which is different from a rather part-based processing of other objects. In this research, we investigated the specificity of face cognition in terms of processing style. To this aim, we estimated Time-on-Task Effects (ToTEs) that allow inferring the level of automaticity of face and house processing. We collected data from 219 participants by applying four perception and recognition tasks. Generalized linear mixed-effects modelling was used to estimate fixed and random effects. Random slopes were interpreted as individual differences in ToTEs. Findings suggested that in the majority of tasks, face processing was dissociable from the processing of non-face objects. Thereby, these results offer a new perspective on the nature of differences in face and object processing.     

Searching in the sand: Protracted video deficit in U.S. preschoolers' spatial recall using a continuous search space

Young children exhibit a video deficit for spatial recall, learning less from on-screen than in-person demonstrations. Some theoretical accounts emphasize memory constraints (e.g., insufficient retrieval cues, competition between memory representations). Such accounts imply memory representations are graded, yet video deficit studies measuring spatial recall operationalize memory retrieval as dichotomous (success or failure). The current study tested a graded-representation account using a spatial recall task with a continuous search space (i.e., sandbox) rather than discrete locations. With this more sensitive task, a protracted video deficit for spatial recall was found in children 4–5 years old (n = 51). This may be due to weaker memory representations in the screen condition, evidenced by higher variability and greater perseverative bias. In general, perseverative bias decreased with repeated trials. The discussion considers how the results support a graded-representation account, potentially explaining why children might exhibit a video deficit in some tasks but not others.

Research Highlights

• The task used a continuous search space (sandbox), making it more difficult and sensitive than spatial recall tasks used in prior video deficit research.
• Spatial recall among 4- and 5-year-old children was more variable after watching hiding events on screen via live video feed than through a window.
• Children's spatial recall from screens was more susceptible to proactive interference, evidenced by more perseverative bias in an A-not-B design.
• The results demonstrate memory representations blend experiences that accumulate over time and explain why the video deficit may be protracted for more difficult tasks.

     

No intrinsic number bias: Evaluating the role of perceptual discriminability in magnitude categorization

Accumulating evidence suggests that there is a spontaneous preference for numerical, compared to non-numerical (e.g., cumulative surface area), information. However, given a paucity of research on the perception of non-numerical magnitudes, it is unclear whether this preference reflects a specific bias towards number, or a general bias towards the more perceptually discriminable dimension (i.e., number). Here, we found that when the number and area of visual dot displays were matched in mathematical ratio, number was more perceptually discriminable than area in both adults and children. Moreover, both adults and children preferentially categorized these ratio-matched stimuli based on number, consistent with previous work. However, when number and area were matched in perceptual discriminability, a different pattern of results emerged. In particular, children preferentially categorized stimuli based on area, suggesting that children's previously observed number bias may be due to a mismatch in the perceptual discriminability of number and area, not an intrinsic salience of number. Interestingly, adults continued to categorize the displays on the basis of number. Altogether, these findings suggest a dominant role for area during childhood, refuting the claim that number is inherently and uniquely salient. Yet they also reveal an increased salience of number that emerges over development. Potential explanations for this developmental shift are discussed.

Research Highlights

• Previous work found that children and adults spontaneously categorized dot array stimuli by number, over other magnitudes (e.g., area), suggesting number is uniquely salient.
• However, here we found that when number and area were matched by ratio, as in prior work, number was significantly more perceptually discriminable than area.
• When number and area were made equally discriminable (‘perceptually-matched’), children, contra adults, spontaneously categorized stimuli by area over number (and other non-numerical magnitudes).
• These findings suggest that area may be uniquely salient early in childhood, with the previously-observed number bias not emerging until later in development.

     

客体和空间工作记忆中三维图形的特征加工时程

采用单探测变化觉察范式，对三维图形的特征在客体和空间工作记忆中的加工时程进行了探讨。实验一的材料是由不同颜色和形状组成的规则立体图形。实验二的材料是由不同颜色和图案组成的六棱柱。实验结果显示：（1）客体和空间工作记忆绩效均随识记项目数的增加而显著下降；（2）随着刺激呈现时间的延长，客体工作记忆绩效显著提高，空间工作记忆绩效无明显增加；且在三种呈现时间条件下，空间工作记忆绩效均高于客体工作记忆；（3）三维图形中颜色特征的检测绩效优于形状、图案和特征捆绑。这些结果表明，视觉工作记忆中三维图形的特征加工存在显著的时程效应，空间位置加工最早完成，其次是颜色加工，然后是形状与颜色-形状的捆绑，最后是图案与颜色-图案的捆绑。