Cognitive Processing

Floating novel object recognition in adult zebrafish: a pilot study Abstract The novel object recognition (NOR) tasks can be used to quantify memory function in zebrafish similarly to rodents. The development of zebrafish learning and memory tests provides a means for testing the effects of pharmacological manipulations of memory. Several authors reported on the successful application of different objects in NOR tests placed either at the bottom of test tanks or submerged into the tank water of zebrafish. This pilot study was designed to test the suitability of floating objects in NOR tests using adult zebrafish. Floating objects such as crumpled aluminum balls and pink plastic hollow pearls were found to be suitable for NOR tests when small groups of zebrafish are used as experimental animals. Adult zebrafish of both sexes were capable of distinguishing between the different colors and surface consistencies of certain floating objects. A significantly higher number of mouth-object contacts were recorded when either floating aluminum balls or floating plastic pearls were used as novel object during NOR tests.

Effects of attentional behaviours on infant visual preferences and object choice Abstract Many developmental studies have examined the effects of joint attention. However, it has been difficult to compare effects of initiating joint attention and responding to joint attention in infants. Here, we compared the effects of initiating joint attention and responding joint attention on object information processing, object preference, and facial preferences in infants. Thirty-seven infants (10 to 12 months of age) were shown stimuli in which a female gazed towards or away from an object. Participants were assigned to initiating joint attention condition or responding joint attention condition. Results suggest that initiating joint attention promoted object information processing, whereas responding joint attention did not. Both joint attention conditions affected the facial preference for the person who engaged joint attention. In addition, after initiating joint attention, infants chose objects gazed by other person more often than after responding joint attention. It appears that attentional behaviours that precede the perception of certain stimuli affect infants’ cognitive responses to those stimuli.

The experience of virtual reality: are individual differences in mental imagery associated with sense of presence? Abstract The concept of “presence” describes the quality of subjective experience in immersive virtual reality (IVR). Presence refers to a specific state of consciousness: we behave and feel as if we actually were in the virtual world even though we know there is nothing there. In their handbook of Virtual Reality, Burdea and Coiffet (Virtual reality technology, Wiley, New York, 2003) suggested that the experience of presence in IVR would emerge from the combination of three Is: Immersion or capacity to isolate from the external world, Interaction or capacity to naturally exploring the virtual environment, and Imagination or individual aptitudes with mental imagery. So far, several studies have investigated the technological and psychological factors affecting the degree of immersion and interaction. However, no study has explored the relationship between perceived presence and mental imagery. Here we aim at filling this gap through a correlational study comparing self-reports about sense of presence and mental imagery abilities. After experiencing two IVR scenarios (an art gallery and a living room), 142 male and female users were administered with questionnaires assessing the degree of presence (Igroup Presence Questionnaire), the degree of vividness (Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire) and control (Test of Visual Imagery Control) of subjective mental images. Results showed a clear positive correlation between presence and vividness: the higher the vividness of mental images the stronger the reported sense of presence felt in IVR scenarios. Instead, the capacity to control mental imagery showed a weaker association with presence. We may conclude that individual differences in the degree of perceived presence and mental imagery ability are associated.

Integrating visuospatial information across distinct experiences Abstract In two experiments, we examined whether the presence of stable visual information and the confluence of the viewpoints would cause participants to integrate in a single memory representation spatial locations they encoded at different points in time. Participants studied from the same or from different viewpoints two layouts of objects within a common visually cluttered room. Then, they carried out a series of pointing trials that involved objects from either the same or different layouts. Results showed that participants were faster for within- than between-layout judgments when they had studied the two layouts from different viewpoints but were equally fast across the two types of judgment after studying the layouts from the same viewpoint (Experiment 1). This finding suggests that they integrated locations into a single representation only when encoding the layouts from the same viewpoint. However, when participants’ memory for the layout studied first was refreshed prior to testing (Experiment 2), no difference in response time was found, suggesting that they had integrated all locations in a single representation before the beginning of testing.

The social Simon effect in the tactile sensory modality: a negative finding Abstract This study seeks to investigate whether users activate cognitive representations of their partner’s action when they are involved in tactile collaborative tasks. The social Simon effect is a spatial stimulus–response interference induced by the mere presence of a partner in a go/nogo task. It has been extensively studied in the visual and auditory sensory modalities, but never before in the tactile modality. We compared the performances of 28 participants in three tasks: (1) a standard Simon task where participants responded to two different tactile stimuli applied to their fingertips with either their left or right foot, (2) an individual go/nogo task where participants responded to only one stimulus and (3) a social go/nogo task where they again responded to only one stimulus, but were partnered with another person who responded to the complementary stimulus. The interference effect due to spatial incongruence between the side where participants received the stimulus and the foot used to answer increased significantly in the standard Simon task compared to the social go/nogo task. Such a difference was not observed between the social and individual go/nogo tasks. Performances were nevertheless enhanced in the social go/nogo task, but irrespectively of the stimulus–response congruency. This study is the first to report a negative result for the social Simon effect in the tactile modality. Results suggest that cognitive representation of the co-actor is weaker in this modality.

Parents’ beliefs in misinformation about vaccines are strengthened by pro-vaccine campaigns Abstract The main objective of this study was to determine whether one of the most commonly employed pro-vaccination strategies based on the “myths vs. facts” format can be considered an effective tool to counter vaccines misinformation. Sixty parents were randomly presented with either a control message or a booklet confronting some common myths about vaccines with a number of facts. Beliefs in the autism/vaccines link and in vaccines side effects, along with intention to vaccinate one’s child, were evaluated both immediately after the intervention and after a 7-day delay to reveal possible backfire effects. Data provided support for the existence of backfire effects associated with the use of the myths vs. facts format, with parents in this condition having stronger vaccine misconceptions over time compared with participants in the control condition. The myths vs. facts strategy proved to be ineffective. Efforts to counter vaccine misinformation should take into account the many variables that affect the parents’ decision-making.

Climate change images produce an attentional bias associated with pro-environmental disposition Abstract Humans have developed mechanisms to prioritize certain sensory input(s). Emotionally salient stimuli automatically capture observers’ attention at the cost of less salient information. This prioritized processing is called attentional bias. Images of climate change have been found to elicit emotional responses. Yet, to date, there is no research assessing the extent to which climate change-relevant images produce an attentional bias. In a sample of college students (N = 39), we found that (1) climate change-related images capture attention and that (2) this attentional bias is related to individual differences in environmental disposition. Thus, images of climate change are salient—attention grabbing—signals related to pro-environmental orientation.

Higher social power increases occupational gender stereotyping in Chinese culture Abstract Prior studies have used the perspective of the social function of social power (such as how power affects interpersonal interaction between the powerful and the powerless) to explore how powerful people stereotype powerless people. In the present research, we further explored how high and low levels of social power affect occupational gender stereotyping from the perspective of how social power affects cognitive processing, that is, social categorization. We proposed that higher social power-primed participants, compared to low social power-primed participants, would be more inclined to use category-based representation and thus use stereotyping. In two studies, we investigated these effects and found that high social power, compared to low social power, increased occupational gender stereotyping in Chinese culture.

Emotional real-world scenes impact visual search Abstract Research shows that emotional stimuli can capture attention, and this can benefit or impair performance, depending on the characteristics of a task. Additionally, whilst some findings show that attention expands under positive conditions, others show that emotion has no influence on the broadening of attention. The current study investigated whether emotional real-world scenes influence attention in a visual search task. Participants were asked to identify a target letter embedded in the centre or periphery of emotional images. Identification accuracy was lower in positive images compared to neutral images, and response times were slower in negative images. This suggests that real-world emotional stimuli have a distracting effect on visual attention and search. There was no evidence that emotional images influenced the spatial spread of attention. Instead, it is suggested that findings may provide support for the argument that positive emotion encourages a global processing style and negative emotion promotes local processing.

Memory for positional movements as a component of the visuospatial working memory Abstract Though the Corsi block-tapping task (CBT) is widely used for assessing visuospatial memory, information about what exactly it measures is still debated. We investigated such issue by observing how motor, visual, and spatial secondary tasks affect the performance on three versions of the CBT. Results showed a double dissociation pattern, wherein two motor secondary tasks had larger effects when the CBT was administered by the examiner tapping on the blocks. A spatial secondary task had larger effects when the CBT was administered by automatically illuminating the blocks. Finally, a visual secondary task had larger effects on a two-dimensional, computerized version of the CBT. These findings suggest that memory for movements plays a relevant role in the CBT, and are especially relevant due to their implications for assessment of brain-damaged patients, besides providing further evidence of a fractionation of visuospatial memory into multiple subcomponents.