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The internal representation of temporal orienting: A temporal pulse-accumulation and attentional-gating-based account. Atten Percept Psychophys 2020; 83:331-355. [PMID: 33230732 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-020-02176-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Timing can be processed explicitly or implicitly. Temporal orienting is a typical implicit timing through which we can anticipate and prepare an optimized response to forthcoming events. It is, however, not yet clear whether mechanisms such as temporal-pulse accumulation and attentional gating (more attention, more accumulated temporal pulses) underly the internal representations of temporal orienting, as in explicit timing. To clarify this, a dual-task paradigm, consisting of a temporal orienting and an interference task, was adopted. Consistent with the temporal-pulse-accumulation and attentional-gating model, reaction times to the target detection of temporal orienting increased as the interference stimuli were temporally closer to the target, i.e., a location effect for temporal orienting. This effect is likely due to attention being diverted away from temporal orienting to monitor the occurrence of the interference stimuli for a longer time, resulting in greater temporal pulse loss and less accurate temporal orienting for conditions with later interference stimuli. The temporal-pulse-accumulation aspect in temporal orienting received further support by taking an explicit duration reproduction (containing a second temporal-pulse accumulation) as the interference task. On the one hand, temporal orienting became less accurate with increased temporal-pulse-accumulation overlaps between the dual tasks; on the other hand, two-way (one for temporal orienting and the other for duration reproduction), rather than one-way, location effects were observed, implying processing conflicts between the two temporal-pulse accumulations. Taken together, these results suggest that implicit and explicit timing may share common mechanisms upon internal temporal representations.
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Cheng X, Lin C, Lou C, Zhang W, Han Y, Ding X, Fan Z. Small numerosity advantage for sequential enumeration on RSVP stimuli: an object individuation-based account. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2019; 85:734-763. [PMID: 31696296 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-019-01264-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2019] [Accepted: 10/28/2019] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Although there is a large literature demonstrating rapid and accurate enumeration of small sets of simultaneously presented items (i.e., subitizing), it is unclear whether this small numerosity advantage (SNA) can also manifest in sequential enumeration. The present study thus has two aims: to establish a robust processing advantage for small numerosities during sequential enumeration using a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigm, and to examine the underlying mechanism for a SNA in sequential enumeration. The results indicate that a small set of items presented in fast sequences can be enumerated accurately with a high precision and a SOA (stimulus onset asynchrony)-sensitive capacity limit, essentially generalizing the large literature on small numerosity advantage from spatial domain to temporal domain. A resource competition hypothesis was proposed and confirmed in further experiments. Specifically, sequential enumeration and other cognitive process, such as visual working memory (VWM), compete for a shared resource of object individuation by which items are segregated as individual entities. These results implied that the limited resource of object individuation can be allocated within time windows of flexible temporal scales during simultaneous and sequential enumerations. Taken together, the present study calls for attention to the dynamic aspect of the enumeration process and highlights the pivotal role of object individuation in underlying a wide range of mental operations, such as enumeration and VWM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaorong Cheng
- Central China Normal University, School of Psychology, 430079, Wuhan, China
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education, 430079, Wuhan, China
- Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, 430079, Wuhan, China
| | - Chunyan Lin
- Central China Normal University, School of Psychology, 430079, Wuhan, China
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education, 430079, Wuhan, China
- Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, 430079, Wuhan, China
| | - Chunmiao Lou
- Central China Normal University, School of Psychology, 430079, Wuhan, China
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education, 430079, Wuhan, China
- Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, 430079, Wuhan, China
| | - Weiwei Zhang
- Department of Psychology, University of California at Riverside, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA
| | - Yaqian Han
- Central China Normal University, School of Psychology, 430079, Wuhan, China
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education, 430079, Wuhan, China
- Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, 430079, Wuhan, China
| | - Xianfeng Ding
- Central China Normal University, School of Psychology, 430079, Wuhan, China.
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education, 430079, Wuhan, China.
- Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, 430079, Wuhan, China.
| | - Zhao Fan
- Central China Normal University, School of Psychology, 430079, Wuhan, China.
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education, 430079, Wuhan, China.
- Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, 430079, Wuhan, China.
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Farooqui AA, Manly T. We do as we construe: extended behavior construed as one task is executed as one cognitive entity. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2019; 83:84-103. [PMID: 30022243 PMCID: PMC6373351 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-018-1051-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2017] [Accepted: 07/06/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
We select and execute extended task episodes ('make tea') as one entity and not individually execute their very many components (find kettle, boil water, etc.). Such hierarchical execution is thought to occur in familiar task situations with pre-existing task episode-related scripts that once selected, control the identity and sequence of component steps. Here, in contrast, we show hierarchical execution of extended behavior in situations, where the identity and sequence of component steps were unknown and a predetermined script could not have existed. Participants performed a rule-switching task in which the rule to be applied on each trial could not be predicted. Crucially, they were biased into construing a recurring instance of three or five trials as a single task episode. Behavioral signs of hierarchical execution, identical to those seen during memorized task-sequence executions, were present. These included longer reaction time on the first trial of each episode that was proportionate to the length of that episode, and absence of rule switch costs only between those consecutive trials that crossed episode boundaries. Hierarchical execution thus occurs every time the to-be-executed behavior is construed as one task episode, and is not limited to predictable sequences. We suggest that hierarchical execution occurs because task episodes are controlled and executed through goal-related entities assembled at the beginning of execution that subsume the execution and instantiate purposive control across time until the goal is complete.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ausaf A Farooqui
- MRC-Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge, CB2 7EF, UK.
| | - Tom Manly
- MRC-Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge, CB2 7EF, UK
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Strobach T, Schütz A, Schubert T. On the importance of Task 1 and error performance measures in PRP dual-task studies. Front Psychol 2015; 6:403. [PMID: 25904890 PMCID: PMC4387374 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2014] [Accepted: 03/22/2015] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The psychological refractory period (PRP) paradigm is a dominant research tool in the literature on dual-task performance. In this paradigm a first and second component task (i.e., Task 1 and Task 2) are presented with variable stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) and priority to perform Task 1. The main indicator of dual-task impairment in PRP situations is an increasing Task 2-RT with decreasing SOAs. This impairment is typically explained with some task components being processed strictly sequentially in the context of the prominent central bottleneck theory. This assumption could implicitly suggest that processes of Task 1 are unaffected by Task 2 and bottleneck processing, i.e., decreasing SOAs do not increase reaction times (RTs) and error rates of the first task. The aim of the present review is to assess whether PRP dual-task studies included both RT and error data presentations and statistical analyses and whether studies including both data types (i.e., RTs and error rates) show data consistent with this assumption (i.e., decreasing SOAs and unaffected RTs and/or error rates in Task 1). This review demonstrates that, in contrast to RT presentations and analyses, error data is underrepresented in a substantial number of studies. Furthermore, a substantial number of studies with RT and error data showed a statistically significant impairment of Task 1 performance with decreasing SOA. Thus, these studies produced data that is not primarily consistent with the strong assumption that processes of Task 1 are unaffected by Task 2 and bottleneck processing in the context of PRP dual-task situations; this calls for a more careful report and analysis of Task 1 performance in PRP studies and for a more careful consideration of theories proposing additions to the bottleneck assumption, which are sufficiently general to explain Task 1 and Task 2 effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tilo Strobach
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt University Berlin , Berlin, Germany ; Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg , Hamburg, Germany
| | - Anja Schütz
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt University Berlin , Berlin, Germany
| | - Torsten Schubert
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt University Berlin , Berlin, Germany
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Dehaene S, Charles L, King JR, Marti S. Toward a computational theory of conscious processing. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2013; 25:76-84. [PMID: 24709604 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2013.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 213] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2013] [Revised: 11/01/2013] [Accepted: 12/05/2013] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The study of the mechanisms of conscious processing has become a productive area of cognitive neuroscience. Here we review some of the recent behavioral and neuroscience data, with the specific goal of constraining present and future theories of the computations underlying conscious processing. Experimental findings imply that most of the brain's computations can be performed in a non-conscious mode, but that conscious perception is characterized by an amplification, global propagation and integration of brain signals. A comparison of these data with major theoretical proposals suggests that firstly, conscious access must be carefully distinguished from selective attention; secondly, conscious perception may be likened to a non-linear decision that 'ignites' a network of distributed areas; thirdly, information which is selected for conscious perception gains access to additional computations, including temporary maintenance, global sharing, and flexible routing; and finally, measures of the complexity, long-distance correlation and integration of brain signals provide reliable indices of conscious processing, clinically relevant to patients recovering from coma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stanislas Dehaene
- Collège de France, F-75005 Paris, France; Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, U992, F-91191 Gif/Yvette, France; NeuroSpin Center, Institute of BioImaging Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique, F-91191 Gif/Yvette, France; Université Paris 11, Orsay, France.
| | - Lucie Charles
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, U992, F-91191 Gif/Yvette, France; NeuroSpin Center, Institute of BioImaging Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique, F-91191 Gif/Yvette, France; Université Paris 11, Orsay, France
| | - Jean-Rémi King
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, U992, F-91191 Gif/Yvette, France; NeuroSpin Center, Institute of BioImaging Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique, F-91191 Gif/Yvette, France; Université Paris 11, Orsay, France
| | - Sébastien Marti
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, U992, F-91191 Gif/Yvette, France; NeuroSpin Center, Institute of BioImaging Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique, F-91191 Gif/Yvette, France; Université Paris 11, Orsay, France
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Piai V, Roelofs A. Working memory capacity and dual-task interference in picture naming. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2013; 142:332-42. [PMID: 23419811 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2013.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2012] [Revised: 01/09/2013] [Accepted: 01/12/2013] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Researchers have found no agreement on whether dual-task interference in language performance, such as dual-task interference from tone discrimination on picture naming, reflects passive queuing or active scheduling of processes for each task. According to a passive-queuing account, while a central response-selection bottleneck is occupied by the tone discrimination task, picture naming is held in a passive queue until the bottleneck is freed. In contrast, according to an active-scheduling account, participants determine the order in which the tasks proceed, monitor progress on the tasks, suspend picture naming and hold it in working memory, and determine when to resume picture naming. Here, we report a study that assessed the relative merits of the queuing and scheduling accounts by examining whether the magnitude of dual-task interference in picture naming is associated with individual differences in the capacity of monitoring and updating of working memory representations, as assessed by the operation-span task. We observed that the updating/monitoring ability correlated with the speed of picture naming and with the magnitude of the interference from tone discrimination on picture naming. These results lend support to the active-scheduling account of dual-task interference in picture naming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vitória Piai
- Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Cognition, Montessorilaan 3, 6525 HR Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
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Fan Z, Muthukumaraswamy SD, Singh KD, Shapiro K. The role of sustained posterior brain activity in the serial chaining of two cognitive operations: a MEG study. Psychophysiology 2012; 49:1133-44. [PMID: 22681405 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2012.01391.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2011] [Accepted: 04/11/2012] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
A fundamental necessity in human cognition is to link sequential mental operations where appropriate execution of the second task requires input from the first. The present study explores the neural basis of such "chaining" using a novel psychological refractory period (PRP) task. Participants were required to make speeded responses to two sequential visual tasks that were chained or independent. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) signals were recorded simultaneously to reveal the brain's response to these similar but fundamentally different conditions. RTs to Task 1 and 2 were slower in the Chained condition, and their temporal coupling weakened, relative to the Independent condition. MEG analysis of the accompanying event-related fields (ERFs) revealed an increased sustained posterior component in the Chained condition beginning approximately 350 ms after Task 2 onset and lasting for 450 ms. Beamformer localization of this ERF effect revealed a left hemisphere source near the junction of the temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes. These results extend our understanding of the behavioral and corresponding neural mechanisms required by everyday decision making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhao Fan
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education, Wuhan, China
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