Prediction accuracy of text recall: Ease, effort and familiarity

Prediction accuracy of text recall was studied in two experiments. Text characteristics (i.e., consistency and distinctiveness) were manipulated in Experiment 1, and familiarity with the reading-task in Experiment 2. The results were also analyzed and discussed in terms of easy processing (Experiment 1), and in terms of increased and more active processing (Experiment 2). Text characteristics did not affect prediction accuracy. However, being familiar with the reading-task led to good and long-lasting prediction accuracy. Thus, subjects reading a school-book text, instructed to learn the contents of it demonstrated reliable memory awareness, both for immediate recall and for delay of one week. It was also suggested that increased processing demands and active reading enhances prediction accuracy.     

Compatibility between stimulated eye, target location and response location

Responses to stimuli are faster when the stimulus location spatially corresponds to the required response (standard Simon effect). Recently, a similar effect has been observed with monocular stimuli. Responses were faster when the response location and the stimulated eye corresponded (monocular Simon effect). It has been suggested that distinct mechanisms may underlie these two Simon effects. Here, we attempted to study these two mechanisms simultaneously. For mean reaction time, a finding of perfect additivity was obtained. These behavioral data coupled with surface electrophysiological measures support the view that two different mechanisms contribute independently to the monocular and standard Simon effect.     

Sociolinguistic inference and intercultural coorientation.

We present a model that examines the effects of cultural differences on coorientation (the ability of communicators to accurately encode and interpret the referential and relational meanings of messages). Intercultural coorientation is made problematic by the absence of certain shared communication system knowledge, which in same‐culture interactions is used in the dynamic sociolinguistic negotiation of relational rights and obligations. We propose that the process of sociolinguistic negotiation of meanings relies fundamentally on probabilistic inference and have constructed a model based on Bayes' theorem. The model predicts the effects of the communication situation, communicator stereotypes and prejudice, and some other‐culture speaker errors on conclusions the receiver draws about the message. Using the model, we distinguish between the ethnocentric error of interpreting a communication in terms of one's own culture and the error of not seeing the communication as diagnostic. Among our predictions are: (a) the less diagnostic the communication, the more impact cultural stereotypes will have on attributions; (b) although evidence of sociolinguistic incompetence sometimes causes misunderstanding, it sometimes prevents misunderstanding; (c) multiple consistent features make intentions clearer than would a single cue, but multiple features violating co‐occurrence norms often lead to the attribution of incompetence.     

Electrophysiological evidence for temporal overlap among contingent mental processes.

A series of studies assessed perceptual-motor transmission of stimulus information by measuring lateralization of movement-related brain potentials in a choice reaction task with no-go trials. When stimuli varied in shape and size, lateralized potentials on no-go trials suggested that easily recognized shape information was used to initiate motor preparation and that this preparation was aborted when size analysis signified that the response should be withheld. This indicates that movement preparation can begin once partial perceptual information about a stimulus becomes available, contrary to an assumption of fully discrete models of information processing. By contrast, when stimuli varied only in size, no evidence for preliminary response preparation was obtained, contrary to an assumption of fully continuous models but consistent with asynchronous discrete coding models (Miller, 1982, 1988).     

Effects of preliminary information in a Go versus No-go task

A series of studies using a Go versus No-go task examined the question of whether preliminary information available early in the recognition of a stimulus is made available to later processes before stimulus recognition is finished, a question relevant to the controversy between discrete and continuous models. Experiment 1 showed that a Go response is faster following a cue indicating that the response probably would be required than following a cue indicating it probably would not be required. Experiments 2-7 were conducted to find out whether analogous preparation occurred when probability of the Go response was signalled by easily discriminable features of a single stimulus rather than a separate cue. The effect was observed when the easily discriminable features uniquely determined the name of the stimulus letter, but not when they merely indicated that the stimulus name was one of two visually similar letters. These results are consistent with the Asynchronous Discrete Coding model, in which the perceptual system makes available to later processes only preliminary information corresponding to discretely activated stimulus attributes.     

The locus of temporal preparation effects: Evidence from the psychological refractory period paradigm

In reaction time (RT) tasks, responses are especially fast when participants can anticipate the onset of an imperative response signal. Although this RT facilitation is commonly attributed to temporal preparation, it is unclear whether this preparation shortens the duration of early or late processes. We used the effect propagation property of the psychological refractory period paradigm to localize the effect of temporal preparation. Manipulation of temporal uncertainty affected the RT of Task 1, regardless of the level of stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA). Consistent with the prediction of an early locus of temporal preparation, this effect propagated completely to the RT of Task 2 at short SOAs, but propagation diminished virtually to zero at long SOAs.     

Preparation for Donders' type B and C reaction tasks

Several variants of a precued reaction time experiment were performed to assess preparation for Choice (Donders' type B) or Go/No-Go (type C) reaction tasks. On each trial, the imperative stimulus could necessitate either a keypress with the left forefinger, the right forefinger, or no response. A precue given at lead times of 50-750 ms either informed the subject whether the task was a type B task (left or right forefinger response), a type C task (e.g., left forefinger or No Go), or carried no information (all three possibilities remained open). The noninformative cue produced minor facilitation of reaction time at long lead times only. At lead times of 50-250 ms, the other two precues speeded reactions by about 50 ms. At precue intervals of 400-750 ms, Go/No-Go reactions averaged 25 ms faster than Choice reactions in an experiment which utilized appropriate controls for stimulus and task parameters. The mixed-trial design rules out gross motor (e.g., postural) adjustments as an explanation for the advantage of C over B reactions. An interpretation in terms of a two-stage theory of motor preparation is discussed.     

Information processing in patients with first episode major depression

Hammar, Å., Kildal, A. B. & Schmid, M. (2012). Information processing in patients with first episode major depression. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53, 445–449. Few studies have investigated cognitive functioning in a group of patients experiencing a first episode of depression. The aim of this study was to investigate how patients diagnosed with a first episode of depression perform in effortful and non‐effortful information processing compared to healthy controls. An experimental paradigm based on a visual search test was applied. Thirty‐one patients and thirty‐one healthy controls were included in the study. All patients experienced a severe level of symptom load at the time of testing. Results showed no significant differences between groups under any of the conditions. Findings in the present study indicate that patients with a first episode of depression perform equally to healthy controls in tasks requiring visual attention in both effortful and non‐effortful information processing.     

Decomposition of warning effects in Parkinson's disease

Neutral warning signals speed voluntary reactions by reducing temporal uncertainty and by triggering a brief burst of arousal. We attempted to isolate the phasic arousal mechanism in people with Parkinson's disease (PD) using a clock display to minimize temporal uncertainty. In this condition, the speeding of responses in a color-discrimination task by an accessory stimulus was the fully equivalent to the effect in age-matched control subjects. This indicates preserved phasic arousal in PD. Temporal preparation based on warning cues also appeared to be normal. By contrast, in a condition with high temporal uncertainty, the accessory stimulus (an air puff to the foot) impaired accuracy for the patients but not the neurologically normal subjects. The data are consistent with the view that PD disrupts internal but not external control of alertness.