The rhythm aftereffect: support for time sensitive neurons with broad overlapping tuning curves

Ivry [Ivry, R. B. (1996). The representation of temporal information in perception and motor control. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 6, 851-857.] proposed that explicit coding of brief time intervals is accomplished by neurons that are tuned to a preferred temporal interval and have broad overlapping tuning curves. This proposal is analogous to the orientation selective cells in visual area V1. To test this proposal, we used a temporal analog to the visual tilt aftereffect. After adapting to a fast auditory rhythm, a moderately fast test rhythm (400 ms between beats) seemed slow and vice versa. If the speed of the adapting rhythm was made too disparate from speed of the test rhythm the effect was diminished. The effect occurred whether the adapting and test stimuli were presented to the same or different ears, but did not occur when an auditory adapting rhythm was followed by a visual test rhythm. Results support the proposition that explicit time information is coded by neural units tuned to specific temporal intervals with broad overlapping tuning curves. In addition, it appears that there is a single timing mechanism for each incoming sensory mode, but distinct timers for different modes.     

Tomorrow I’ll be me: The effect of time perspective on the activation of idealistic versus pragmatic selves

It is widely accepted that the self-system is dynamic and consists of multiple selves that emerge under different contexts. The present research describes two types of diverging self-conceptions, the idealistic and pragmatic selves. Building on a synthesis of construal level theory with research on the self, we propose that a more distal time perspective activates an idealistic versus a pragmatic self. Self-activation, in turn, influences the preference between two major motives: maximizing identity versus instrumental benefits. A series of five studies supported this conceptualization by demonstrating that: (a) distal rather than proximal time perspective enhances the preference for identity over instrumental benefits; (b) people construe themselves as relatively more idealistic than pragmatic when primed with a distal than proximal time perspective, and (c) self-activation mediates the effect of time perspective on preference. The studies also investigate boundary conditions and process measures that shed light on the interface between time, self, and preference. The final section discusses the theoretical implications for the literatures on construal level, self, and justice and the practical implications for organizational behavior, political psychology, and human decision-making.     

Demographic Indicators as Predictors of Future Time Perspective

The present investigation examined the relationships between five demographic variables (age, sex, income, marital status, and education) and future time perspective. From a theoretical perspective, these demographic indicators were conceptualized as proxy measures for the social forces that influence the adult expression of this personality dimension. Data were drawn from six investigations in which a brief measure of future time perspective (Hershey and Mowen in The Gerontologist 40:687–697, 2000) had been administered to one thousand four hundred and ninety eight individuals. Higher future time perspective scores (i.e., longer future orientations) were associated with being male, increased age, income, and educational level. These main effects, however, were mitigated by a significant three-way interaction among sex, age, and level of education. These findings suggest that a complex interplay of variables is responsible for the expression of personality traits at the individual level.     

Regulatory focus and investment decisions in small groups

Regulatory Focus Theory was applied to small interactive groups. Based on previous research, it was expected that groups with a promotion focus would discuss gain-relevant information, whereas groups with a prevention focus would be concerned with potential losses. Furthermore, promotion groups were expected to make riskier decisions than prevention groups. Regulatory focus was manipulated by rewarding good or penalizing poor group performance on a preliminary task. Subsequently, three-person groups discussed several investment funds and made a consensual investment decision. Results supported the hypotheses and suggested that regulatory focus requires time to exert its influence in groups.     

Three obstructions: forms of causation,chronotopoids, and levels of reality

The thesis is defended that the theories of causation, time and space, and levels of reality are mutually interrelated in such a way that the difficulties internal to theories of causation and to theories of space and time can be understood better, and perhaps dealt with, in the categorial context furnished by the theory of the levels of reality. The structural condition for this development to be possible is that the first two theories be opportunely generalized.

THE ROLE OF CONSCIOUSNESS AS MEANING MAKER IN SCIENCE, CULTURE, AND RELIGION

Two hundred years ago, Friedrich Schleiermacher took critical issue with Immanuel Kant's intellectual notion of intuition as applied to human nature (Wellmon 2006). He found it necessary to modify—"hermeneutically," as he said—Kant's notion of anthropology by enabling it to include as human the new and strange human tribes Captain Cook found in the Pacific South Seas. A similar hermeneutic move is necessary if physics is to include the local contextual empirical syntheses of relativity and quantum physics. In this hermeneutical revision the synthesis is formed around the notion of a Hilbert Vector Space as the universal grammar of physics, adding to it the dynamic of the Schrödinger equation, and representing empirical "observables" by projection operators that map the subspaces of definite measurable values. Among the set of observable projection operators, some pairs share the same subspace, commute with one another, and share a common laboratory setting. Other pairs do not share this property and are described as being mutually complementary. Complementary symmetries introduce into the discursive language of physics the commonsense notion of contextuality. The new synthesis, proposed by Eugene Wigner, John von Neumann, and (in his own way) Paul Dirac, brought physics into the community of common language and established it as a work of general human achievement. ¹     

Looking before you leap: A theory of motivated control of action

The acquisition of volitional control depends, in part, on developing the ability to countermand a planned action. Many tasks have been used to tap the efficiency of this process, but few studies have investigated how it may be modulated by participants’ motivation. Multiple mechanisms may be involved in the deliberate exercise of caution when incentives are provided. For example, control may involve modulation of the efficiency of the countermanding process, and/or inhibitory modulation of the impulse to go. One of the most commonly used paradigms to assess control of action is the Stop Signal Task, in which a primary Go stimulus is occasionally followed by a countermanding Stop signal, allowing a Stop Signal Reaction Time (SSRT) to be inferred as the outcome of a “horse race” between the go and countermanding processes. Here, we present a computational model in which high task motivation modulates proactive pre-stimulus inhibition of the go response. This allows responses to be calibrated so as to fall within a time-window that maximizes the probability of success, regardless of trial type, but does not decrease the observed SSRT. We report empirical support for the model from a sample of typically developing children, and discuss the broader implications for operationalizing measures of volitional control.     

A General Factor of Personality in the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III, the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology, and the Personality Assessment Inventory

A General Factor of Personality (GFP) occupies the apex of the hierarchy in three prominent personality disorder inventories. On the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III, a GFP accounted for 41% of the variance in two second-order factors, 31% of the variance in five first-order factors, and 26% of the variance in all 24 scales. On the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology, a GFP accounted for 61% of the variance in six first-order factors and 36% of the variance in all 18 scales. In a cross-validation study of the Personality Assessment Inventory, a GFP accounted for 65% of the variance in two second-order factors, 47% of the variance in five first-order factors, and 27% of the variance in all 18 scales.     

The time course effect of moderate intensity exercise on response execution and response inhibition

This research aimed to investigate the time course effect of a moderate steady-state exercise session on response execution and response inhibition using a stop-task paradigm. Ten participants performed a stop-signal task whilst cycling at a carefully controlled workload intensity (40% of maximal aerobic power), immediately following exercise and 30 min after exercise cessation. Results showed that moderate exercise enhances a subjects’ ability to execute responses under time pressure (shorter Go reaction time, RT without a change in accuracy) but also enhances a subjects’ ability to withhold ongoing motor responses (shorter stop-signal RT). The present outcomes reveal that the beneficial effect of exercise is neither limited to motor response tasks, nor to cognitive tasks performed during exercise. Beneficial effects of exercise remain present on both response execution and response inhibition performance for up to 52 min after exercise cessation.     

The egocentric reference for visual exploration and orientation

Clinical signs of damage to the egocentric reference system range from the inability to detect stimuli in the real environment to a defect in recovering items from an internal representation. Despite clinical dissociations, current interpretations consider all symptoms as due to a single perturbation, differentially expressed according to the medium explored (perceptual or representational). We propose an alternative account based on the functional distinction between two separate egocentric mechanisms: one allowing construction of the immediate point of view, the other extracting a required perspective within a mental representation. Support to this claim comes from recent results in the domain of navigation, showing that separate cognitive mechanisms maintain the egocentric reference when actively exploring the visual space as opposed to moving according to an internal map. These mechanisms likely follow separate developmental pathways, seemingly depend on distinct neural pathways and are used independently by healthy adults, reflecting task demands and individual cognitive style. Implications for spatial cognition and social skills are discussed.