Tactile detection response task: Metrics for assessing drivers’ cognitive workload

The Tactile Detection Response Task (TDRT) has been used to assess the cognitive workload of driver distraction with response time and miss rate as metrics of cognitive workload. However, it is not clear which metric is more sensitive and whether sensitivity is maintained for visual tasks. The objective of this study was to assess the sensitivity of the TDRT to changes in cognitive workload and to examine whether the sensitivity depends on task modality. A driving simulator study was conducted with 24 participants. The study included restaurant selection tasks with three presentation modalities (auditory, visual, and hybrid) and two difficulty levels (low and high). The high difficulty level was designed to be more cognitively demanding than the low difficulty level. Mixed-effects models were applied to examine the TDRT metrics and task difficulty level. The model controlled for age group, gender, and included a random effect for participants. The high difficulty level of the auditory tasks significantly increased the likelihood of missing a TDRT stimulus. No statistically significant differences were observed for visual and hybrid tasks. TDRT response time was not significantly associated with the difficulty level, regardless of task modality. In this study, the binary outcome TDRT miss was thus considered a more sensitive metric of cognitive workload than TDRT response time. TDRT response time can still be used to measure cognitive workload when tasks are relatively easy and the TDRT miss rate is close to zero. In addition, the sensitivity of the TDRT miss diminished for tasks that involved a visual component. Researchers who use TDRT to measure the cognitive workload associated with visual tasks should be aware of this limitation.     

认知负荷取向下基于记忆-反应冲突的欺骗检测

欺骗检测一直是心理学的重要研究问题。基于欺骗理论的认知视角, 研究者提出欺骗检测的认知负荷取向。采用隐瞒信息测试这一测谎范式, 通过操纵认知负荷影响个体在虚假反应时的记忆-反应冲突解决过程, 考察增加认知负荷对欺骗检测的影响, 以期更好地揭示欺骗检测的认知机制。在此基础上, 以普通人群和犯罪嫌疑人为被试探查基于记忆-反应冲突的欺骗检测的行为和生理指标, 并根据获得的行为和生理指标, 采用机器学习方法进行建模, 预测个体的欺骗行为。研究结果将服务于司法、安防和人际交往等领域的欺骗检测。     

进化观点下的智力研究

综述了进化心理学探讨智力所取得的研究成果,内容包括智力的起源（如进化环境与智力的关系）、进化心理学视角下智力的分类。同时,该文认为一般智力是一种特殊的认知模块,即专门智力。最后,讨论了对智力进行进化心理学研究的重要意义与未来研究取向。     

Signal Detection Models with Random Participant and Item Effects

The theory of signal detection is convenient for measuring mnemonic ability in recognition memory paradigms. In these paradigms, randomly selected participants are asked to study randomly selected items. In practice, researchers aggregate data across items or participants or both. The signal detection model is nonlinear; consequently, analysis with aggregated data is not consistent. In fact, mnemonic ability is underestimated, even in the large-sample limit. We present two hierarchical Bayesian models that simultaneously account for participant and item variability. We show how these models provide for accurate estimation of participants’ mnemonic ability as well as the memorability of items. The model is benchmarked with a simulation study and applied to a novel data set. This research is supported by NSF grants SES-0095919 and SES-0351523, NIH grant R01-MH071418, a University of Missouri Research Leave grant and fellowships from the Spanish Ministry of Education and the University of Leuven, Belgium.     

Can mismatch negativity be linked to synaptic processes? A glutamatergic approach to deviance detection

This article aims to provide a theoretical framework to elucidate the neurophysiological underpinnings of deviance detection as reflected by mismatch negativity. A six-step model of the information processing necessary for deviance detection is proposed. In this model, predictive coding of learned regularities is realized by means of long-term potentiation with a crucial role for NMDA receptors. Mismatch negativity occurs at the last stage of the model, reflecting the increase in free energy associated with the switching on of silent synapses and the formation of new neural circuits required for adaptation to the environmental deviance. The model is discussed with regard to the pathological states most studied in relation to mismatch negativity: alcohol intoxication, alcohol withdrawal, and schizophrenia.     

中医望诊中眼神跟踪与分析综述

望诊是中医四诊中的一种,也是中医查病的第一步。而眼睛是心灵的窗户,医师通过望眼神能够诊测一个人的身体健康状况,眼睛与身体的对应有众多说法,如"五轮八廓"等,因此眼神的跟踪与分析对于中医望诊十分重要。使用电脑对眼神的进行自动跟踪首先需要进行眼睛各部位的精确定位,包括眼皮、眼角、白睛、眼结膜、虹膜、瞳孔以及眼袋等;接着需要对眼睛的动作进行跟踪,包括眼球的转动、瞳孔的放缩等。对眼神的分析在定位与跟踪之后,由眼球各部分的形状、颜色、移动速度等信息结合相应的规则对病位、病性作出判断。本文综述了中医中望眼的一些经验总结,并给出了目前用于眼睛定位、跟踪的算法与思路。     

Traditional difference-score analyses of reasoning are flawed

Studies of the belief bias effect in syllogistic reasoning have relied on three traditional difference score measures: the logic index, belief index, and interaction index. Dube, Rotello, and Heit (2010, 2011) argued that the interaction index incorrectly assumes a linear receiver operating characteristic (ROC). Here, all three measures are addressed. Simulations indicated that traditional analyses of reasoning experiments are likely to lead to incorrect conclusions. Two new experiments examined the role of instructional manipulations on the belief bias effect. The form of the ROCs violated assumptions of traditional measures. In comparison, signal detection theory (SDT) model-based analyses were a better match for the form of the ROCs, and implied that belief bias and instructional manipulations are predominantly response bias effects. Finally, reanalyses of previous studies of conditional reasoning also showed non-linear ROCs, violating assumptions of traditional analyses. Overall, reasoning research using traditional measures is at risk of drawing incorrect conclusions.     

Blur detection is unaffected by cognitive load

Blur detection is affected by retinal eccentricity, but is it also affected by attentional resources? Research showing effects of selective attention on acuity and contrast sensitivity suggests that allocating attention should increase blur detection. However, research showing that blur affects selection of saccade targets suggests that blur detection may be pre-attentive. To investigate this question, we carried out experiments in which viewers detected blur in real-world scenes under varying levels of cognitive load manipulated by the N-back task. We used adaptive threshold estimation to measure blur detection thresholds at 0°, 3°, 6°, and 9° eccentricity. Participants carried out blur detection as a single task, a single task with to-be-ignored letters, or an N-back task with four levels of cognitive load (0, 1, 2, or 3-back). In Experiment 1, blur was presented gaze-contingently for occasional single eye fixations while participants viewed scenes in preparation for an easy picture recognition memory task, and the N-back stimuli were presented auditorily. The results for three participants showed a large effect of retinal eccentricity on blur thresholds, significant effects of N-back level on N-back performance, scene recognition memory, and gaze dispersion, but no effect of N-back level on blur thresholds. In Experiment 2, we replicated Experiment 1 but presented the images tachistoscopically for 200 ms (half with, half without blur), to determine whether gaze-contingent blur presentation in Experiment 1 had produced attentional capture by blur onset during a fixation, thus eliminating any effect of cognitive load on blur detection. The results with three new participants replicated those of Experiment 1, indicating that the use of gaze-contingent blur presentation could not explain the lack of effect of cognitive load on blur detection. Thus, apparently blur detection in real-world scene images is unaffected by attentional resources, as manipulated by the cognitive load produced by the N-back task.     

Conflict detection,dual processes,and logical intuitions: Some clarifications

Recent studies on conflict detection during thinking suggest that reasoners are sensitive to possible conflict between their heuristic judgement and elementary logical or probabilistic principles. I have argued that this conflict sensitivity calls for the postulation of logical intuitions and has implications for the way we conceive the interaction between System-1 and System-2 in dual process theories. In this paper I clarify potential misconceptions about this work, discuss the link with other approaches, and sketch directions for further research.     

Metacognitive sensitivity of subjective reports of decisional confidence and visual experience

Previous studies provided contradicting results regarding metacognitive sensitivity estimated from subjective reports of confidence in comparison to subjective reports of visual experience. We investigated whether this effect of content of subjective reports is influenced by the statistical method to quantify metacognitive sensitivity. Comparing logistic regression and meta-d in a masked orientation task, a masked shape task, and a random-dot motion task, we observed metacognitive sensitivity of reports regarding decisional confidence was greater than of reports about visual experience irrespective of mathematical procedures. However, the relationship between subjective reports and the logistic transform of accuracy was often not linear, implying that logistic regression is not a consistent measure of metacognitive sensitivity. We argue that a science of consciousness would benefit from the assessment of both visual experience and decisional confidence, and recommend meta-d as measure of metacognitive sensitivity for future studies.