Gestalt grouping cues can improve filtering performance in visual working memory The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake.

Implicit preference towards slim bodies and weight-stigma modulate the understanding of observed familiar actions Abstract Mounting research evidence suggests that motor resonance (MR, i.e., the mapping of others’ actions onto one’s own motor repertoire) can be influenced by diverse factors related to individual differences. However, no evidence has been reported so far on the effects of physical appearance and negative attitudes toward obesity to the mechanism of MR. Thirty-six participants (18 normal-weight and 18 overweight) performed a weight discrimination task, in which they were observing amateur actors reaching and grasping a light or heavy cube with or without deception (true vs. fake actions). At the end of each video clip, participants were instructed to indicate the correct cube size (light or heavy). Importantly, body similarity between observers and actors was manipulated by presenting videos of normal-weight or overweight actors. Fat phobic attitudes and automatic preference for normal-weight than obese people were also examined. Signal detection analysis (d′) on the acquired accuracy data has shown that both normal- and overweight participants were able to better discriminate truthful actions when performed by the normal-weight as compared to overweight actors. Furthermore, this finding was negatively correlated with increased scores of fat phobic attitudes in both groups. Hence, for the first time, we provide experimental evidence of action simulation being modulated by an implicit visual sensitivity towards slim bodies.

The attentional blink: why does Lag-1 sparing occur when the dependent measure is accuracy, but Lag-1 deficit when it is RT? Abstract Perception of the second of two targets (T1, T2) displayed in rapid sequence is impaired if it comes shortly after the first (attentional blink, AB). In an exception, known as Lag-1 sparing, T2 is virtually unimpaired if it is presented directly after T1. Three experiments examined the seemingly inconsistent findings that Lag-1 sparing occurs in accuracy but Lag-1 deficit occurs in RT. Experiment 1 pointed to masking of T2 as the critical factor. When T2 was not masked, the results replicated the conventional findings. The novel finding was that Lag-1 sparing occurred in RT, provided that T2 was masked. An account was provided by a psychological refractory period-based model in which processing was said to occur in two broadly sequential stages: stimulus selection and response planning. Experiments 2 and 3 tested predictions from the PRP-based model regarding Lag-1 sparing/Lag-1 deficit. In Experiment 2, we increased T2 salience, notionally reducing the duration of the T2 selection stage, with corresponding reduction in Lag-1 sparing. In Experiment 3, we manipulated the compatibility between the T1 stimulus and the response to notionally decrease/increase the duration of the T1 response-planning stage with corresponding increment/decrement in Lag-1 sparing. The results of both experiments confirmed predictions from the PRP-based model.

Spatial mental representations: the influence of age on route learning from maps and navigation Abstract Experiencing an environment by navigating in it or reading a map (route and survey views, respectively) is a typical activity of everyday life. Previous research has demonstrated that aging coincides with a decline in spatial learning, but it is unclear whether this depends to some degree on how the learning conditions relate to the method used to assess the recall. The present study aims to shed light on this issue. Forty-six young, 43 young-old and 38 old-old adults learned outdoor environments from a map and a video, then performed sketch map and route repetition tasks. Participants were assessed on their visuo-spatial working memory (VSWM), and reported their self-assessed visuo-spatial inclinations. The results showed that young adults completed the sketch maps more accurately after learning from a map rather than a video. The same was true of the young-old participants (but not of the old-old), though their performance was not as good as the younger group’s. The learning condition had no effect on the route repetition task, however, and only age-related differences emerged, with both older groups performing less well than the young adults. After controlling for learning condition and age group, VSWM and participants’ reported propensity to explore places predicted their accuracy in both types of spatial task. The overall results, discussed in the light of spatial cognitive and aging models, show that learning condition (combined with recall tasks) and visuo-spatial factors influence spatial representations, even in aging.

Task-set control, chunking, and hierarchical timing in rhythm production Abstract We investigated task-set control processes and chunking in 16 novices and 16 amateur musicians, who produced unimanual rhythms in three experimental conditions: low-level timing tasks required isochronous tapping at constant target durations; sequencing tasks consisted of individual rhythmic patterns comprising multiple target durations; the task-set control condition required alternations between two rhythmic patterns. According to our hierarchical timing control model conditions differed in their task-set control demands necessary to provide rhythm programs for the sequencing of individual intervals. Transitions at predicted chunk boundaries were marked by increased frequencies of sequence errors, relative lengthening of intervals preceding the switch to a new rhythm chunk, and increased variabilities in intervals immediately following a switch. Amateur musicians showed superior timing (less variability) in complex rhythm tasks. Moreover, they made fewer sequence errors than novices at set-switch points with their error patterns suggesting that they relied on larger chunks compared with novices. Our findings elucidate the time course of task reconfiguration processes in rhythm production and the role of chunking in the context of musical skill.

Conflict modification: predictable production of congruent situations facilitates responding in a stroop task Abstract Humans cope with cognitive conflict in various ways, such as focusing on task-relevant instead of task-irrelevant information or avoiding situations where conflict is likely. These adaptations to conflict resemble those used to cope with negative affect. We examined whether situation modification, a strategy derived from the extended process model of emotion regulation, may influence responding in cognitive conflict tasks. This should be evident by a facilitation of actions that consistently modify situations towards congruent (positive) situations rather than to incongruent (negative) situations. In four experiments, participants modified stimuli in a color-word Stroop task towards congruent or incongruent stimuli of (un)predictable identity. A modification effect emerged insofar as participants were faster when they foreseeably produced congruent stimuli of predictable identity than when they produced incongruent stimuli or stimuli of unpredictable identity. Our results add to the body of evidence connecting affect and cognitive conflict, and reveal a constraint when using situation modification as a means to regulate cognitive conflict.

Interaction dynamics between grouping principles in touch: phenomenological and psychophysical evidence Abstract In two experiments, we investigated the interactions between the grouping principles of spatial proximity and texture similarity in touch. For that purpose, we adapted to touch two paradigms widely employed in vision. In Experiment 1, we used an experimental phenomenological task consisting of rating the strength of grouping in both acting alone and conjoined cooperative and competitive conditions. In Experiment 2, participants performed a psychophysical task in which an objective (in)correct response was defined by selectively attending to one grouping cue in different blocks of trials. The results showed that spatial proximity dominated over texture similarity when the two principles were conjoined in competition. In addition, the present results are compatible with an additive model of grouping effects as indicated by the greater grouping effect in the cooperative condition and the smaller grouping effect in the competitive condition relative to a.0cting alone grouping principles. The similarities and differences between vision and touch are discussed.

How different direct association routes influence the indirect route in the same Simon-like task Abstract The location-, word-, and arrow-based Simon effects are usually attributed to the result of a direct route (the spatially corresponding stimulus–response association, activated automatically) that interferes with an indirect route (the association of task-relevant information and response, activated in accordance with the instructed stimulus–response mapping). We examined whether and how distinct direct routes (stimulus-location–response position and location word–response position or arrow direction–response position associations) affect responding on the basis of the same indirect route (a stimulus color–response association) in a Simon-like task. For this task, left–right keypresses were made to indicate the ink colors of location words or left- or right-pointing arrows, presented eccentrically in left or right locations. The location-based Simon effect occurred at the levels of mean reaction time (RT) and RT distribution in the word Simon-like task, whereas the word-based Simon effect only occurred at the level of RT distribution. In the arrow Simon-like task, the location-based Simon effect did not occur at the level of mean RT, but did at the level of RT distribution, whereas the opposite pattern occurred for the arrow-based Simon effect. These results could imply that one direct route influences the effects of the other direct route on the responses, depending on the task context.

Deep, effortless concentration: re-examining the flow concept and exploring relations with inattention, absorption, and personality Abstract Conceptualizing the construct of flow in terms of ‘deep and effortless concentration’, we developed two measurement scales designed to index individual differences in flow during ‘internal’ tasks, such as thinking (deep effortless concentration: internal—DECI) and during ‘external’ tasks, such as while playing a sport (deep effortless concentration: external—DECE). These scales were highly correlated, indicating that individuals prone to experiencing flow in external contexts are also prone to experience flow in internal contexts. Nonetheless, a measurement model construing internal and external flow as related, but separate, constructs was found to fit the data significantly better than a model where they were construed as a single construct. We then explored associations between flow and various forms of everyday inattention. In addition, we explored the relation between flow and the Tellegen Absorption Scale (TAS), an index of absorption, as well as the Big Five personality traits. Amongst other things, we found that flow was negatively related to inattention, indicating that people who experience flow more frequently may experience relatively less inattention in everyday contexts.

Cognitive flexibility and religious disbelief Abstract Cognitive flexibility is operationalized in the neuropsychological literature as the ability to shift between modes of thinking and adapt to novel or changing environments. Religious belief systems consist of strict rules and rituals that offer adherents certainty, consistency, and stability. Consequently, we hypothesized that religious adherence and practice of repetitive religious rituals may be related to the persistence versus flexibility of one’s cognition. The present study investigated the extent to which tendencies towards cognitive flexibility versus persistence are related to three facets of religious life: religious affiliation, religious practice, and religious upbringing. In a large sample (N = 744), we found that religious disbelief was related to cognitive flexibility across three independent behavioural measures: the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Remote Associates Test, and Alternative Uses Test. Furthermore, lower frequency of religious service attendance was related to cognitive flexibility. When analysing participants’ religious upbringing in relation to their current religious affiliation, it was manifest that current affiliation was more influential than religious upbringing in all the measured facets of cognitive flexibility. The findings indicate that religious affiliation and engagement may shape and be shaped by cognitive control styles towards flexibility versus persistence, highlighting the tight links between flexibility of thought and religious ideologies.