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Elizabeth Milne 1, Marcin Szczerbinski 2Global and local perceptual style, field-independence, and central coherence: An attempt at concept validation.
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volume 5 issue 5, pages 1-26 |
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Global and local perceptual style, field-independence, and central coherence: An attempt at concept validation. |
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Elizabeth Milne 1, Marcin Szczerbinski 2 |
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1 Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TP, UK
2 Department of Human Communication Sciences, University of Sheffield, 31 Claremont Crescent, Sheffield S10 2TA, UK
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Historically, the concepts of field-independence, closure flexibility, and weak central coherence have been used to denote a locally, rather globally, dominated perceptual style. To date, there has been little attempt to clarify the relationship between these constructs, or to examine the convergent validity of the various tasks purported to measure them. To address this, we administered 14 tasks that have been used to study visual perceptual styles to a group of 90 neuro-typical adults. The data were subjected to exploratory factor analysis. We found evidence for the existence of a narrowly defined weak central coherence (field-independence) factor that received loadings from only a few of the tasks used to operationalise this concept. This factor can most aptly be described as representing the ability to dis-embed a simple stimulus from a more complex array. The results suggest that future studies of perceptual styles should include tasks whose theoretical validity is empirically verified, as such validity cannot be established merely on the basis of a priori task analysis. Moreover, the use of multiple indices is required to capture the latent dimensions of perceptual styles reliably.
Keywords: central coherence, perceptual style, global/local perception, field-independence, closure flexibility, visual perception, factor analysis
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volume 5 issue 5, pages 27-41 |
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Flexibility of temporal expectations for triple subdivision of a beat |
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Bruno H. Repp 1, Haitham Jendoubi 2 |
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1 Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, Connecticut
2 Cognitive Science Program, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
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When tapping in synchrony with an isochronous sequence of beats, participants respond automatically to an unexpectedly early or late beat by shifting their next tap; this is termed the phase correction response (PCR). A PCR has also been observed in response to unexpected perturbations of metrical subdivisions of a beat, which suggests that participants have temporal expectancies for subdivisions to occur at particular time points. It has been demonstrated that a latent temporal expectancy at 1/2 of the inter-beat interval (IBI) exists even in the absence of explicit duple subdivision in previous IBIs of a sequence. The present study asked whether latent expectancies at 1/3 and 2/3 of the IBI can be induced by a global experimental context of triple subdivision, and whether a local context of consistently phase-shifted triple subdivisions can induce different expectancies. Using the PCR as the dependent variable, we find weak evidence for latent expectancies but strong evidence for context-induced shifts in expectancies. These results suggest that temporal referents between beats, which typically are linked to simple ratios of time spans, are flexible and context-dependent. In addition, we show that the PCR, a response to expectancy violation, is independent of and sometimes contrary to the simultaneous phase adaptation required by a change in subdivision timing.
Keywords: synchronization, subdivision, timing, expectation, phase correction
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volume 5 issue 5, pages 54-55 |
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1 Psychophysiology Laboratory, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland
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Najate Jebara, Delphine Pins, Pascal Despretz, and Muriel BoucartFace or building superiority in peripheral vision reversed by task requirements
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volume 5 issue 5, pages 42-53 |
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Face or building superiority in peripheral vision reversed by task requirements |
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Najate Jebara, Delphine Pins, Pascal Despretz, and Muriel Boucart |
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Laboratoire de Neurosciences Fonctionnelles et Pathologies, CNRS, Université Lille Nord de France, CHRU Lille, Lille, France
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volume 5 issue 5, pages 56-58 |
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Specifying attentional top-down infuences on subsequent unconscious semantic processing |
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Ulla Martens 1,
Markus Kiefer 2 |
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1 Department of General Psychology I, University of Osnabrück, Germany
2 Department of Psychiatry, University of Ulm, Germany
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Classical theories assume that unconscious automatic processes are autonomous and independ-
ent of higher-level cognitive infuences. In contrast, we propose that automatic processing de-
pends on a specifc confguration of the cognitive system by top-down control. In 2 experiments,
we tested the infuence of available attentional resources and previously activated task sets on
masked semantic priming in a lexical decision task. In experiment 1, before masked prime pres-
entation, participants were engaged in an easy or hard primary task that diferentially aforded
attentional resources. Semantic priming was attenuated when the primary task was hard, that is,
when only little attentional resources were available. In experiment 2, a semantic or perceptual in-
duction task diferentially modulated subsequent masked semantic priming. hence, unconscious
automatic processing depends on the availability of attentional resources and is susceptible to
top-down control.
Keywords: automatic processes, unconscious cognition, attentional control, semantic priming, subliminal perception
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volume 5 issue 5, pages 69-83 |
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Acquired and congenital
disorders of sung performance:
A review |
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Magdalena Berkowska 1,
Simone Dalla Bella 1, 2 |
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1
Department of Cognitive Psychology, WSFiZ in Warsaw, Poland
2 BRAMS Laboratories, Montreal, Canada
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Many believe that the majority of people are unable to carry a tune. Yet, this widespread idea underestimates the singing abilities of the layman. Most occasional singers can sing in tune and in
time, provided that they perform at a slow tempo. Here we characterize profcient singing in the
general population and identify its neuronal underpinnings by reviewing behavioral and neuroimaging studies. in addition, poor singing resulting from a brain injury or neurogenetic disorder (i.e.,
tone deafness or congenital amusia) is examined. Diferent lines of evidence converge in indicating
that poor singing is not a monolithic defcit. A variety of poor-singing "phenotypes" are described,
with or without concurrent perceptual defcits. In addition, particular attention is paid to the dissociations between specifc abilities in poor singers (e.g., production of absolute vs. relative pitch,
pitch vs. time accuracy). Such diversity of impairments in poor singers can be traced to diferent
faulty mechanisms within the vocal sensorimotor loop, such as pitch perception and sensorimotor
integration.
Keywords: singing profciency, musical disorders, tone deafness, congenital amusia, song system, neurosciences of music
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Catherine J. Stevens 1 ,
David Brennan, 1,
Agnes Petocz 1 ,
Clare Howell 1 Designing informative warning
signals: Efects of indicator type,
modality, and task demand on
recognition speed and accuracy
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volume 5 issue 5, pages 84-90 |
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Designing informative warning
signals: Efects of indicator type,
modality, and task demand on
recognition speed and accuracy |
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Catherine J. Stevens 1 ,
David Brennan, 1,
Agnes Petocz 1 ,
Clare Howell 1 |
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1 School of Psychology and MARCS Auditory Laboratories, University of Western Sydney
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An experiment investigated the assumption that natural indicators which exploit existing learned
associations between a signal and an event make more efective warnings than previously unlearned symbolic indicators. Signal modality (visual, auditory) and task demand (low, high) were
also manipulated. Warning efectiveness was indexed by accuracy and reaction time (RT) recorded
during training and dual task test phases. Thirty-six participants were trained to recognize 4 natural
and 4 symbolic indicators, either visual or auditory, paired with critical incidents from an aviation
context. As hypothesized, accuracy was greater and RT was faster in response to natural indicators
during the training phase. This pattern of responding was upheld in test phase conditions with
respect to accuracy but observed in RT only in test phase conditions involving high demand and
the auditory modality. Using the experiment as a specifc example, we argue for the importance of
considering the cognitive contribution of the user (viz., prior learned associations) in the warning
design process. drawing on semiotics and cognitive psychology, we highlight the indexical nature
of so-called auditory icons or natural indicators and argue that the cogniser is an indispensable element in the tripartite nature of signifcation.
Keywords: auditory warnings, workload, modality, icons, semiotics
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Marco R. Furtner 1,
John F. Rauthmann 1,
and Pierre Sachse 1Nomen est omen: Investigating the dominance of nouns in word comprehension
with eye movement analyses
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volume 5 issue 5, pages 91-104 |
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Nomen est omen: Investigating the dominance of nouns in word comprehension
with eye movement analyses |
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Marco R. Furtner 1,
John F. Rauthmann 1,
and Pierre Sachse 1 |
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1 Department of Psychology, University of Innsbruck, Austria
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Although nouns are easily learned in early stages of lexical development, their role in adult word
and text comprehension remains unexplored thus far. To investigate the role of diferent word
classes (open-class words: nouns, adjectives, verbs; closed-class words: pronouns, prepositions,
conjunctions, etc.), 141 participants read a transposed German text while recording eye movements. Subsequently, participants indicated words they found difcult and reproduced the story.
then, participants were presented an untransposed text version while also tracking eye movements. Word difculty, subjectively assessed by an interview and objectively by eye movement
criteria (general fxation rate, number of fxations on specifc words), text comprehension scores,
and regressive fxations from one word class to another in the transposed text indicated that the
noun was the most infuential word class in enhancing the comprehension of other words. devel-
opmental, intercultural, and neurophysiological aspects of noun dominance are discussed.
Keywords: word class, noun?verb debate, word comprehension, transposed word reading, eye movements
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Michael B. Steinborn 1
, Hagen C. Flehmig 2
, Karl Westhof 2
, and Robert Langner 3Diferential efects of prolonged
work on performance measures
in self-paced speed tests
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volume 5 issue 5, pages 105-113 |
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Diferential efects of prolonged
work on performance measures
in self-paced speed tests |
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Michael B. Steinborn 1
, Hagen C. Flehmig 2
, Karl Westhof 2
, and Robert Langner 3 |
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1
Department of Cognitive and Biological Psychology, University of Tübingen, germany,
2
Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany
3
Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
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Time-related changes in the speeded performance of complex cognitive tasks are considered to
arise from the combined efects of practice and mental fatigue. Here we explored the diferential
contributions of practice and fatigue to performance changes in a self-paced speeded mental addition and comparison task of about 50 min duration, administered twice within one week?s time.
Performance measures included average response speed, accuracy, and response speed variability. The results revealed diferential efects of prolonged work on diferent performance indices:
Practice efects, being more pronounced in the frst session, were refected in an improvement of
average response speed, whereas mental fatigue, occurring in both sessions, was refected in an
increase of response speed variability. This demonstrates that efects of mental fatigue on average
speed of performance may be masked by practice efects but still be detectable in the variability of
performance. Therefore, besides experimental factors such as the length and complexity of tasks,
indices of response speed variability should be taken into consideration when interpreting diferent aspects of performance in self-paced speed tests.
Keywords: reaction time, mental fatigue, sustained performance, time on task, practice efects
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Bruno H. Repp 1 and Meijin Bruttomesso 2A flled duration illusion in music:
Efects of metrical subdivision
on the perception and production
of beat tempo
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volume 5 issue 5, pages 114-134 |
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A flled duration illusion in music:
Efects of metrical subdivision
on the perception and production
of beat tempo |
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Bruno H. Repp 1 and Meijin Bruttomesso 2 |
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1
Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, Connecticut,
2
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
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This study replicates and extends previous fndings suggesting that metrical subdivision slows the
perceived beat tempo (Repp, 2008). Here, musically trained participants produced the subdivisions
themselves and were found to speed up, thus compensating for the perceived slowing. This
was shown in a synchronization-continuation paradigm (Experiment 1) and in a reproduction task
(Experiment 2a). Participants also judged the tempo of a subdivided sequence as being slower
than that of a preceding simple beat sequence (Experiment 2b). Experiment 2 also included nonmusician
participants, with similar results. Tempo measurements of famous pianists? recordings of
two variation movements from Beethoven sonatas revealed a strong tendency to play the frst
variation (subdivided beats) faster than the theme (mostly simple beats). A similar tendency was
found in musicians? laboratory performances of a simple theme and variations, despite instructions
to keep the tempo constant (Experiment 3a). When playing melodic sequences in which only
one of three beats per measure was subdivided, musicians tended to play these beats faster and
to perceive them as longer than adjacent beats, and they played the whole sequence faster than a
sequence without any subdivisions (Experiments 3b and 3c). The results amply demonstrate a flled
duration illusion in rhythm perception and music performance: Intervals containing events seem
longer than empty intervals and thus must be shortened to be perceived as equal in duration.
Keywords: timing, tempo perception, interval subdivision, flled duration illusion, music performance
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