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Meyen S, Vadillo MA, von Luxburg U, Franz VH. No evidence for contextual cueing beyond explicit recognition. Psychon Bull Rev 2024; 31:907-930. [PMID: 37845567 PMCID: PMC11192686 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-023-02358-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 10/18/2023]
Abstract
Many studies claim that visual regularities can be learned unconsciously and without explicit awareness. For example in the contextual cueing paradigm, studies often make claims using a standard reasoning based on two results: (1) a reliable response time (RT) difference between repeated vs. new stimulus displays and (2) a close-to-chance sensitivity when participants are asked to explicitly recognize repeated stimulus displays. From this pattern of results, studies routinely conclude that the sensitivity of RT responses is higher than that of explicit responses-an empirical situation we call Indirect Task Advantage (ITA). Many studies further infer from an ITA that RT effects were driven by a form of recognition that exceeds explicit memory: implicit recognition. However, this reasoning is flawed because the sensitivity underlying RT effects is never computed. To properly establish a difference, a sensitivity comparison is required. We apply this sensitivity comparison in a reanalysis of 20 contextual cueing studies showing that not a single study provides consistent evidence for ITAs. Responding to recent correlation-based arguments, we also demonstrate the absence of evidence for ITAs at the level of individual participants. This lack of ITAs has serious consequences for the field: If RT effects can be fully explained by weak but above-chance explicit recognition sensitivity, what is the empirical content of the label "implicit"? Thus, theoretical discussions in this paradigm-and likely in other paradigms using this standard reasoning-require serious reassessment because the current data from contextual cueing studies is insufficient to consider recognition as implicit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sascha Meyen
- Department of Computer Science, University of Tübingen, Sand 6, 72076, Tübingen, Germany.
| | | | - Ulrike von Luxburg
- Department of Computer Science, University of Tübingen, Sand 6, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
- Tübingen AI Center, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Volker H Franz
- Department of Computer Science, University of Tübingen, Sand 6, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
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2
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Flowers CS, Legge GE, Engel SA. Customizing spatial remapping of letters to aid reading in the presence of a simulated central field loss. J Vis 2024; 24:17. [PMID: 38635281 PMCID: PMC11033602 DOI: 10.1167/jov.24.4.17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Reading is a primary concern of patients with central field loss (CFL) because it is typically performed with foveal vision. Spatial remapping offers one potential avenue to aid in reading; it entails shifting occluded letters to retinal areas where vision is functional. Here, we introduce a method of creating and testing different remapping strategies-ways to remap text-customized for CFL of different shapes. By simulating CFL in typically-sighted individuals, we tested the customization hypothesis-that the benefits of different remapping strategies will depend on the properties of the CFL. That is, remapping strategies will aid reading differentially in the presence of differently shaped CFL. In Experiment 1, letter recognition in the presence of differently shaped CFL was assessed in and around central vision. Using these letter recognition "maps" different spatial remappings were created and tested in Experiment 2 using a word recognition task. Results showed that the horizontal gap remapping, which did not remap any letters vertically, resulted in the best word recognition. Results were also consistent with the customization hypothesis; the benefits of different remappings on word recognition depended on the different CFL shapes. Although the horizontal gap remapping resulted in very good word recognition, tailoring remapping strategies to the shape of patients' CFL may aid reading with the wide range of sizes and shapes encountered by patients with CFL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colin S Flowers
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Gordon E Legge
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Center for Applied and Translational Sensory Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Stephen A Engel
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Center for Applied and Translational Sensory Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
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3
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Chen C, Lee VG. Contribution of peripheral vision to attentional learning. Atten Percept Psychophys 2024; 86:95-108. [PMID: 37985596 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-023-02808-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/22/2023]
Abstract
Attention is tuned towards locations that frequently contain a visual search target (location probability learning; LPL). Peripheral vision, covering a larger field than the fovea, often receives information about the target. Yet what is the role of peripheral vision in attentional learning? Using gaze-contingent eye tracking, we examined the impact of simulated peripheral vision loss on location probability learning. Participants searched for a target T among distractor Ls. Unbeknownst to them, the T appeared disproportionately often in one quadrant. Participants searched with either intact vision or "tunnel vision," restricting the visible search items to the central 6.7º (in diameter) of the current gaze. When trained with tunnel vision, participants in Experiment 1 acquired LPL, but only if they became explicitly aware of the target's location probability. The unaware participants were not faster finding the target in high-probability than in low-probability locations. When trained with intact vision, participants in Experiment 2 successfully acquired LPL, regardless of whether they were aware of the target's location probability. Thus, whereas explicit learning may proceed with central vision alone, implicit LPL is strengthened by peripheral vision. Consistent with Guided Search (Wolfe, 2021), peripheral vision supports a nonselective pathway to guide visual search.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen Chen
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, 75 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
| | - Vanessa G Lee
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, 75 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
- Center for Cognitive Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
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Fischer M, Moscovitch M, Fukuda K, Alain C. Ready for action! When the brain learns, yet memory-biased action does not follow. Neuropsychologia 2023; 189:108660. [PMID: 37604333 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2023] [Revised: 05/23/2023] [Accepted: 08/11/2023] [Indexed: 08/23/2023]
Abstract
Does memory prepare us to act? Long-term memory can facilitate signal detection, though the degree of benefit varies and can even be absent. To dissociate between learning and behavioral expression of learning, we used high-density electroencephalography (EEG) to assess memory retrieval and response processing. At learning, participants heard everyday sounds. Half of these sound clips were paired with an above-threshold lateralized tone, such that it was possible to form incidental associations between the sound clip and the location of the tone. Importantly, attention was directed to either the sound clip (Experiment 1) or the tone (Experiment 2). Participants then completed a novel detection task that separated cued retrieval from response processing. At retrieval, we observed a striking brain-behavior dissociation. Learning was observed neurally in both experiments. Behaviorally, however, signal detection was only facilitated in Experiment 2, for which there was an accompanying explicit memory for tone presence. Further, implicit neural memory for tone location correlated with the degree of response preparation, but not response execution. Together, the findings suggest 1) that attention at learning affects memory-biased action and 2) that memory prepared action via both explicit and implicit associative memory, with the latter triggering response preparation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manda Fischer
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychology, Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Hospital, Toronto, Canada.
| | - Morris Moscovitch
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychology, Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Hospital, Toronto, Canada.
| | - Keisuke Fukuda
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
| | - Claude Alain
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychology, Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Hospital, Toronto, Canada.
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5
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Teoh YY, Hutcherson CA. The Games We Play: Prosocial Choices Under Time Pressure Reflect Context-Sensitive Information Priorities. Psychol Sci 2022; 33:1541-1556. [PMID: 35994687 PMCID: PMC9630724 DOI: 10.1177/09567976221094782] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2021] [Accepted: 03/15/2022] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Time pressure is a powerful experimental manipulation frequently used to arbitrate between competing dual-process models of prosocial decision-making, which typically assume that automatic responses yield to deliberation over time. However, the use of time pressure has led to conflicting conclusions about the psychological dynamics of prosociality. Here, we proposed that flexible, context-sensitive information search, rather than automatic responses, underlies these divergent effects of time pressure on prosociality. We demonstrated in two preregistered studies (N = 304 adults from the United States and Canada; Prolific Academic) that different prosocial contexts (i.e., pure altruism vs. cooperation) have distinct effects on information search, driving people to prioritize information differently, particularly under time pressure. Furthermore, these information priorities subsequently influence prosocial choices, accounting for the different effects of time pressure in altruistic and cooperative contexts. These findings help explain existing inconsistencies in the field by emphasizing the role of dynamic context-sensitive information search during social decision-making, particularly under time pressure.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Cendri A. Hutcherson
- Department of Psychology, University of
Toronto
- Department of Marketing, Rotman School
of Management, University of Toronto
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Simulated central vision loss does not impair implicit location probability learning when participants search through simple displays. Atten Percept Psychophys 2021; 84:1901-1912. [PMID: 34921336 PMCID: PMC8682040 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-021-02416-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Central vision loss disrupts voluntary shifts of spatial attention during visual search. Recently, we reported that a simulated scotoma impaired learned spatial attention towards regions likely to contain search targets. In that task, search items were overlaid on natural scenes. Because natural scenes can induce explicit awareness of learned biases leading to voluntary shifts of attention, here we used a search display with a blank background less likely to induce awareness of target location probabilities. Participants searched both with and without a simulated central scotoma: a training phase contained targets more often in one screen quadrant and a testing phase contained targets equally often in all quadrants. In Experiment 1, training used no scotoma, while testing alternated between blocks of scotoma and no-scotoma search. Experiment 2 training included the scotoma and testing again alternated between scotoma and no-scotoma search. Response times and saccadic behaviors in both experiments showed attentional biases towards the high-probability target quadrant during scotoma and no-scotoma search. Whereas simulated central vision loss impairs learned spatial attention in the context of natural scenes, our results show that this may not arise from impairments to the basic mechanisms of attentional learning indexed by visual search tasks without scenes.
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Raising awareness about measurement error in research on unconscious mental processes. Psychon Bull Rev 2021; 29:21-43. [PMID: 34131891 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-021-01923-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Experimental psychologists often neglect the poor psychometric properties of the dependent measures collected in their studies. In particular, a low reliability of measures can have dramatic consequences for the interpretation of key findings in some of the most popular experimental paradigms, especially when strong inferences are drawn from the absence of statistically significant correlations. In research on unconscious cognition, for instance, it is commonly argued that the lack of a correlation between task performance and measures of awareness or explicit recollection of the target stimuli provides strong support for the conclusion that the cognitive processes underlying performance must be unconscious. Using contextual cuing of visual search as a case study, we show that given the low reliability of the dependent measures collected in these studies, it is usually impossible to draw any firm conclusion about the unconscious character of this effect from correlational analyses. Furthermore, both a psychometric meta-analysis of the available evidence and a cognitive-modeling approach suggest that, in fact, we should expect to see very low correlations between performance and awareness at the empirical level, even if both constructs are perfectly related at the latent level. Convincing evidence for the unconscious character of contextual cuing and other effects will most likely demand richer and larger data sets, coupled with more powerful analytic approaches.
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Pollmann S, Rosenblum L, Linnhoff S, Porracin E, Geringswald F, Herbik A, Renner K, Hoffmann MB. Preserved Contextual Cueing in Realistic Scenes in Patients with Age-Related Macular Degeneration. Brain Sci 2020; 10:brainsci10120941. [PMID: 33297319 PMCID: PMC7762266 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci10120941] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Revised: 11/30/2020] [Accepted: 12/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Foveal vision loss has been shown to reduce efficient visual search guidance due to contextual cueing by incidentally learned contexts. However, previous studies used artificial (T- among L-shape) search paradigms that prevent the memorization of a target in a semantically meaningful scene. Here, we investigated contextual cueing in real-life scenes that allow explicit memory of target locations in semantically rich scenes. In contrast to the contextual cueing deficits in artificial scenes, contextual cueing in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) did not differ from age-matched normal-sighted controls. We discuss this in the context of visuospatial working-memory demands for which both eye movement control in the presence of central vision loss and memory-guided search may compete. Memory-guided search in semantically rich scenes may depend less on visuospatial working memory than search in abstract displays, potentially explaining intact contextual cueing in the former but not the latter. In a practical sense, our findings may indicate that patients with AMD are less deficient than expected after previous lab experiments. This shows the usefulness of realistic stimuli in experimental clinical research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Pollmann
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke-University, Postfach 4120, 39016 Magdeburg, Germany; (L.R.); (S.L.); (E.P.); (F.G.)
- Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Otto-von-Guericke-University, 39016 Magdeburg, Germany;
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition and School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +49-391-67-58474; Fax: +49-391-67-11947
| | - Lisa Rosenblum
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke-University, Postfach 4120, 39016 Magdeburg, Germany; (L.R.); (S.L.); (E.P.); (F.G.)
| | - Stefanie Linnhoff
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke-University, Postfach 4120, 39016 Magdeburg, Germany; (L.R.); (S.L.); (E.P.); (F.G.)
| | - Eleonora Porracin
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke-University, Postfach 4120, 39016 Magdeburg, Germany; (L.R.); (S.L.); (E.P.); (F.G.)
| | - Franziska Geringswald
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke-University, Postfach 4120, 39016 Magdeburg, Germany; (L.R.); (S.L.); (E.P.); (F.G.)
- Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives UMR 7291, Aix-Marseille Université & CNRS, 13331 Marseille, France
| | - Anne Herbik
- Department of Ophthalmology, Otto-von-Guericke-University, 39016 Magdeburg, Germany;
| | - Katja Renner
- Eye Clinic Am Johannisplatz, 04103 Leipzig, Germany;
| | - Michael B. Hoffmann
- Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Otto-von-Guericke-University, 39016 Magdeburg, Germany;
- Department of Ophthalmology, Otto-von-Guericke-University, 39016 Magdeburg, Germany;
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Zang X, Huang L, Zhu X, Müller HJ, Shi Z. Influences of luminance contrast and ambient lighting on visual context learning and retrieval. Atten Percept Psychophys 2020; 82:4007-4024. [PMID: 32888173 PMCID: PMC7593298 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-020-02106-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Invariant spatial context can guide attention and facilitate visual search, an effect referred to as "contextual cueing." Most previous studies on contextual cueing were conducted under conditions of photopic vision and high search item to background luminance contrast, leaving open the question whether the learning and/or retrieval of context cues depends on luminance contrast and ambient lighting. Given this, we conducted three experiments (each contains two subexperiments) to compare contextual cueing under different combinations of luminance contrast (high/low) and ambient lighting (photopic/mesopic). With high-contrast displays, we found robust contextual cueing in both photopic and mesopic environments, but the acquired contextual cueing could not be transferred when the display contrast changed from high to low in the photopic environment. By contrast, with low-contrast displays, contextual facilitation manifested only in mesopic vision, and the acquired cues remained effective following a switch to high-contrast displays. This pattern suggests that, with low display contrast, contextual cueing benefited from a more global search mode, aided by the activation of the peripheral rod system in mesopic vision, but was impeded by a more local, fovea-centered search mode in photopic vision.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuelian Zang
- Institutes of Psychological Sciences, College of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 311121, People's Republic of China
- Center for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, 310015, People's Republic of China
| | - Lingyun Huang
- Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Xiuna Zhu
- General and Experimental Psychology, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80802, Munich, Germany
| | - Hermann J Müller
- General and Experimental Psychology, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80802, Munich, Germany
| | - Zhuanghua Shi
- General and Experimental Psychology, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80802, Munich, Germany.
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Clayden AC, Fisher RB, Nuthmann A. On the relative (un)importance of foveal vision during letter search in naturalistic scenes. Vision Res 2020; 177:41-55. [PMID: 32957035 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2020.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2020] [Revised: 07/10/2020] [Accepted: 07/13/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The importance of high-acuity foveal vision to visual search can be assessed by denying foveal vision using the gaze-contingent Moving Mask technique. Foveal vision was necessary to attain normal performance when searching for a target letter in alphanumeric displays, Perception & Psychophysics, 62 (2000) 576-585. In contrast, foveal vision was not necessary to correctly locate and identify medium-sized target objects in natural scenes, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 40 (2014) 342-360. To explore these task differences, we used grayscale pictures of real-world scenes which included a target letter (Experiment 1: T, Experiment 2: T or L). To reduce between-scene variability with regard to target salience, we developed the Target Embedding Algorithm (T.E.A.) to place the letter in a location for which there was a median change in local contrast when inserting the letter into the scene. The presence or absence of foveal vision was crossed with four target sizes. In both experiments, search performance decreased for smaller targets, and was impaired when searching the scene without foveal vision. For correct trials, the process of target localization remained completely unimpaired by the foveal scotoma, but it took longer to accept the target. We reasoned that the size of the target may affect the importance of foveal vision to the task, but the present data remain ambiguous. In summary, the data highlight the importance of extrafoveal vision for target localization, and the importance of foveal vision for target verification during letter-in-scene search.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam C Clayden
- Psychology Department, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK; School of Engineering, Arts, Science and Technology, University of Suffolk, UK
| | | | - Antje Nuthmann
- Psychology Department, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK; Institute of Psychology, University of Kiel, Germany.
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12
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Marek N, Pollmann S. Contextual-Cueing beyond the Initial Field of View-A Virtual Reality Experiment. Brain Sci 2020; 10:brainsci10070446. [PMID: 32668806 PMCID: PMC7407752 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci10070446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2020] [Revised: 06/30/2020] [Accepted: 07/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
In visual search, participants can incidentally learn spatial target-distractor configurations, leading to shorter search times for repeated compared to novel configurations. Usually, this is tested within the limited visual field provided by a computer monitor. While contextual cueing is typically investigated on two-dimensional screens, we present for the first time an implementation of a classic contextual cueing task (search for a T-shape among L-shapes) in a three-dimensional virtual environment. This enabled us to test if the typical finding of incidental learning of repeated search configurations, manifested by shorter search times, would hold in a three-dimensional virtual reality (VR) environment. One specific aspect that was tested by combining virtual reality and contextual cueing was if contextual cueing would hold for targets outside the initial field of view (FOV), requiring head movements to be found. In keeping with two-dimensional search studies, reduced search times were observed after the first epoch and remained stable in the remaining experiment. Importantly, comparable search time reductions were observed for targets both within and outside of the initial FOV. The results show that a repeated distractors-only configuration in the initial FOV can guide search for target locations requiring a head movement to be seen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nico Marek
- Department of Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany;
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +49-(0)391-67-51929
| | - Stefan Pollmann
- Department of Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany;
- Center for Brain and Behavioral Sciences, Otto-von-Guericke Universität Magdeburg, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition and School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China
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Pollmann S, Geringswald F, Wei P, Porracin E. Intact Contextual Cueing for Search in Realistic Scenes with Simulated Central or Peripheral Vision Loss. Transl Vis Sci Technol 2020; 9:15. [PMID: 32855862 PMCID: PMC7422911 DOI: 10.1167/tvst.9.8.15] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2019] [Accepted: 05/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose Search in repeatedly presented visual search displays can benefit from implicit learning of the display items' spatial configuration. This effect has been named contextual cueing. Previously, contextual cueing was found to be reduced in observers with foveal or peripheral vision loss. Whereas this previous work used symbolic (T among L-shape) search displays with arbitrary configurations, here we investigated search in realistic scenes. Search in meaningful realistic scenes may benefit much more from explicit memory of the target location. We hypothesized that this explicit recall of the target location reduces visuospatial working memory demands on search considerably, thereby enabling efficient search guidance by learnt contextual cues in observers with vision loss. Methods Two experiments with gaze-contingent scotoma simulation (Experiment 1: central scotoma, Experiment 2: peripheral scotoma) were carried out with normal-sighted observers (total n = 39/40). Observers had to find a cup in pseudorealistic indoor scenes and discriminate the direction of the cup's handle. Results With both central and peripheral scotoma simulation, contextual cueing was observed in repeatedly presented configurations. Conclusions The data show that patients suffering from central or peripheral vision loss may benefit more from memory-guided visual search than would be expected from scotoma simulation and patient studies using abstract symbolic search displays. Translational Relevance In the assessment of visual search in patients with vision loss, semantically meaningless abstract search displays may gain insights into deficient search functions, but more realistic meaningful search scenes are needed to assess whether search deficits can be compensated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Pollmann
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition and School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China.,Department of Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke-University, Magdeburg, Germany.,Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Otto-von-Guericke-University, Magdeburg, Germany
| | | | - Ping Wei
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition and School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Eleonora Porracin
- Department of Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke-University, Magdeburg, Germany
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14
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Revisiting contextual cueing effects: The role of perceptual processing. Atten Percept Psychophys 2020; 82:1695-1709. [DOI: 10.3758/s13414-019-01962-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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15
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Jiang YV, Sisk CA, Toh YN. Implicit guidance of attention in contextual cueing: Neuropsychological and developmental evidence. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 105:115-125. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2019] [Revised: 05/28/2019] [Accepted: 07/01/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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16
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Garhofer G, Datlinger P, Tittl M, Geyer W, Maar N, Schmetterer L. Qualitative assessment of visual impairment in patients with age-related macular degeneration using standardized, image-based questionnaires. BRITISH JOURNAL OF VISUAL IMPAIRMENT 2019. [DOI: 10.1177/0264619619833718] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The purpose of the study is to test a simple approach for characterizing subjective perception in patients with choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This multi-center study was performed in four private ophthalmology practices including 20 patients with CNV. Subjects were presented the original image on the affected eye and afterwards modified candidate images to the contralateral eye. Then they chose one image that most closely matched the perception on the affected eye. This was repeated with three different images representing three everyday life scenes manipulated to mimic visual perception with reduced color perception (image 1), central scotomas (image 2), and blurring with four varying sizes (image 3). The frequency of response to the forced choice questionnaire experiment for each image was recorded. Our results show that images manipulated using a Gaussian blur filter, a brightness filter, and a sinusoidal distortion filter were selected by 9, 10, and 1 patients, respectively. Size of modification was not associated with visual acuity in image 1 or image 3. In image 2, however, the size of the modification was dependent on visual acuity ( p = .01). In conclusion, subjective perception in patients with AMD may significantly differ between individual patients. A better understanding of the visual disturbance will facilitate communication and involvement of patients in treatment decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Noemi Maar
- Private Ophthalmology Practitioner, Jois, Austria
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18
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Pollmann S. Working memory dependence of spatial contextual cueing for visual search. Br J Psychol 2018; 110:372-380. [PMID: 29745430 DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2018] [Revised: 04/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
When spatial stimulus configurations repeat in visual search, a search facilitation, resulting in shorter search times, can be observed that is due to incidental learning. This contextual cueing effect appears to be rather implicit, uncorrelated with observers' explicit memory of display configurations. Nevertheless, as I review here, this search facilitation due to contextual cueing depends on visuospatial working memory resources, and it disappears when visuospatial working memory is loaded by a concurrent delayed match to sample task. However, the search facilitation immediately recovers for displays learnt under visuospatial working memory load when this load is removed in a subsequent test phase. Thus, latent learning of visuospatial configurations does not depend on visuospatial working memory, but the expression of learning, as memory-guided search in repeated displays, does. This working memory dependence has also consequences for visual search with foveal vision loss, where top-down controlled visual exploration strategies pose high demands on visuospatial working memory, in this way interfering with memory-guided search in repeated displays. Converging evidence for the contribution of working memory to contextual cueing comes from neuroimaging data demonstrating that distinct cortical areas along the intraparietal sulcus as well as more ventral parieto-occipital cortex are jointly activated by visual working memory and contextual cueing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Pollmann
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke-University, Magdeburg, Germany.,Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Otto-von-Guericke-University, Magdeburg, Germany
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Abstract
The scientific community has witnessed growing concern about the high rate of false positives and unreliable results within the psychological literature, but the harmful impact of false negatives has been largely ignored. False negatives are particularly concerning in research areas where demonstrating the absence of an effect is crucial, such as studies of unconscious or implicit processing. Research on implicit processes seeks evidence of above-chance performance on some implicit behavioral measure at the same time as chance-level performance (that is, a null result) on an explicit measure of awareness. A systematic review of 73 studies of contextual cuing, a popular implicit learning paradigm, involving 181 statistical analyses of awareness tests, reveals how underpowered studies can lead to failure to reject a false null hypothesis. Among the studies that reported sufficient information, the meta-analytic effect size across awareness tests was dz = 0.31 (95 % CI 0.24–0.37), showing that participants’ learning in these experiments was conscious. The unusually large number of positive results in this literature cannot be explained by selective publication. Instead, our analyses demonstrate that these tests are typically insensitive and underpowered to detect medium to small, but true, effects in awareness tests. These findings challenge a widespread and theoretically important claim about the extent of unconscious human cognition.
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Zang X, Geyer T, Assumpção L, Müller HJ, Shi Z. From Foreground to Background: How Task-Neutral Context Influences Contextual Cueing of Visual Search. Front Psychol 2016; 7:852. [PMID: 27375530 PMCID: PMC4894892 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00852] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2016] [Accepted: 05/23/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Selective attention determines the effectiveness of implicit contextual learning (e.g., Jiang and Leung, 2005). Visual foreground-background segmentation, on the other hand, is a key process in the guidance of attention (Wolfe, 2003). In the present study, we examined the impact of foreground-background segmentation on contextual cueing of visual search in three experiments. A visual search display, consisting of distractor 'L's and a target 'T', was overlaid on a task-neutral cuboid on the same depth plane (Experiment 1), on stereoscopically separated depth planes (Experiment 2), or spread over the entire display on the same depth plane (Experiment 3). Half of the search displays contained repeated target-distractor arrangements, whereas the other half was always newly generated. The task-neutral cuboid was constant during an initial training session, but was either rotated by 90° or entirely removed in the subsequent test sessions. We found that the gains resulting from repeated presentation of display arrangements during training (i.e., contextual-cueing effects) were diminished when the cuboid was changed or removed in Experiment 1, but remained intact in Experiments 2 and 3 when the cuboid was placed in a different depth plane, or when the items were randomly spread over the whole display but not on the edges of the cuboid. These findings suggest that foreground-background segmentation occurs prior to contextual learning, and only objects/arrangements that are grouped as foreground are learned over the course of repeated visual search.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuelian Zang
- China Centre for Special Economic Zone Research, Research Centre of Brain Function and Psychological Science, Shenzhen UniversityShenzhen, China; General and Experimental Psychology, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MunichMunich, Germany
| | - Thomas Geyer
- General and Experimental Psychology, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich Munich, Germany
| | - Leonardo Assumpção
- General and Experimental Psychology, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich Munich, Germany
| | - Hermann J Müller
- General and Experimental Psychology, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MunichMunich, Germany; Department of Psychological Science, Birkbeck, University of LondonLondon, UK
| | - Zhuanghua Shi
- General and Experimental Psychology, Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich Munich, Germany
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Abstract
Detecting the gaze direction of others is critical for many social interactions. We explored factors that may make the perception of mutual gaze more difficult, including the degradation of the stimulus and simulated vision impairment. To what extent do these factors affect the complex assessment of mutual gaze? Using an interactive virtual head whose eye direction could be manipulated by the subject, we conducted two experiments to assess the effects of simulated vision impairments on mutual gaze. Healthy subjects had to demarcate the center and the edges of the cone of gaze-that is, the range of gaze directions that are accepted for mutual gaze. When vision was impaired by adding a semitransparent white contrast reduction mask to the display (Exp. 1), judgments became more variable and more influenced by the head direction (indicative of a compensation strategy). When refractive blur was added (Exp. 1), the gaze cone shrank from 12.9° (no blur) to 11.3° (3-diopter lens), which cannot be explained by a low-level process but might reflect a tightening of the criterion for mutual gaze as a response to the increased uncertainty. However, the overall effects of the impairments were relatively modest. Elderly subjects (Exp. 2) produced more variability but did not differ qualitatively from the younger subjects. In the face of artificial vision impairments, compensation mechanisms and criterion changes allow us to perform better in mutual gaze perception than would be predicted by a simple extrapolation from the losses in basic visual acuity and contrast sensitivity.
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Boucart M, Delerue C, Thibaut M, Szaffarczyk S, Hayhoe M, Tran THC. Impact of Wet Macular Degeneration on the Execution of Natural Actions. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2016; 56:6832-8. [PMID: 26513497 DOI: 10.1167/iovs.15-16758] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE To use eye movements to investigate how people with a central scotoma might be impaired in the execution of natural actions and whether task familiarity affects performance. METHODS Sixteen participants with AMD and 16 age-matched controls performed two natural actions: (1) a familiar sandwich-making task and (2) a less familiar model-building task. In each action, task-relevant and task-irrelevant objects were placed on a table, covering 90°. The participants were asked to execute the actions without a time constraint. Eye movements were recorded. RESULTS The people with AMD were significantly slower than the controls, both in the exploration phase (before the first reaching movement) and in the working phase (execution of action), especially in the unfamiliar task. Gaze duration was longer on relevant than irrelevant objects in both groups and tasks, as might be expected. However, for the participants with AMD, gaze durations were longer on all of the objects, whether relevant or irrelevant, except in the more familiar task. This suggests that participants with AMD take longer to extract the information they need but that this can be counteracted when the task items are familiar. The number of saccades/min of the task was significantly greater for the people with AMD than for the controls. CONCLUSIONS The present results show that people with AMD can accomplish natural actions efficiently, but need longer gaze durations and more eye movements than normally sighted people. This effect can be reduced when executing a familiar task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muriel Boucart
- Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et Affectives (SCALab) Université de Lille, CNRS, Lille, France
| | - Celine Delerue
- Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et Affectives (SCALab) Université de Lille, CNRS, Lille, France
| | - Miguel Thibaut
- Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et Affectives (SCALab) Université de Lille, CNRS, Lille, France
| | - Sebastien Szaffarczyk
- Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et Affectives (SCALab) Université de Lille, CNRS, Lille, France
| | - Mary Hayhoe
- Psychology Department, Center for Perceptual Systems, University of Texas, Austin, Texas, United States
| | - Thi Ha Chau Tran
- Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital Saint Vincent de Paul, Lille, France
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Herbik A, Geringswald F, Thieme H, Pollmann S, Hoffmann MB. Prediction of higher visual function in macular degeneration with multifocal electroretinogram and multifocal visual evoked potential. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt 2014; 34:540-51. [PMID: 25160891 DOI: 10.1111/opo.12152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2014] [Accepted: 07/17/2014] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Visual search can be guided by past experience of regularities in our visual environment. This search guidance by contextual memory cues is impaired by foveal vision loss. Here we compared retinal and cortical visually evoked responses in their predictive value for contextual cueing impairment and visual acuity. METHODS Multifocal electroretinograms to flash stimulation (mfERGs; 103 locations; 55.8° diameter) and visual evoked potentials to pattern-reversal stimulation (mfVEPs; 60 locations; 48.6° diameter) were recorded monocularly in participants with age-related macular degeneration (n = 14 and 16, respectively). Response magnitudes were calculated as the respective signal-to-noise ratios for each eccentricity. Visual acuities (logMAR, range: 0.0-1.2) and contextual cueing effects on visual search (reaction time gain, range: -0.14-0.15) were correlated with the signal-to-noise ratios. A step-wise regression analysis was applied separately to the mfERG- and mfVEP-dataset to determine the eccentricity range and the processing stage that is critical for these visual functions. RESULTS Central mfERGs (1.0-3.2°) were the sole predictor of contextual cueing of visual search (p = 0.006), but they were not significant predictors of visual acuity. In contrast, central mfVEPs (1.3-3.2°) were the sole predictor of visual acuity (p < 0.001), but they were not significant predictors of contextual cueing. CONCLUSIONS Contextual cueing is more dependent on parafoveal mfERG magnitude while visual acuity is more dependent on parafoveal mfVEP magnitude. The relation of contextual cueing to parafoveal mfERG magnitudes indicates the predictive value of retinal bipolar cell activity for this advanced level of visual function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Herbik
- Department of Ophthalmology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
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Contextual cueing under working memory load: selective interference of visuospatial load with expression of learning. Atten Percept Psychophys 2014; 75:1103-17. [PMID: 23636949 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-013-0466-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
In a series of experiments, we investigated the dependence of contextual cueing on working memory resources. A visual search task with 50 % repeated displays was run in order to elicit the implicit learning of contextual cues. The search task was combined with a concurrent visual working memory task either during an initial learning phase or a later test phase. The visual working memory load was either spatial or nonspatial. Articulatory suppression was used to prevent verbalization. We found that nonspatial working memory load had no effect, independent of presentation in the learning or test phase. In contrast, visuospatial load diminished search facilitation in the test phase, but not during learning. We concluded that visuospatial working memory resources are needed for the expression of previously learned spatial contexts, whereas the learning of contextual cues does not depend on visuospatial working memory.
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Van der Stigchel S, Bethlehem RAI, Klein BP, Berendschot TTJM, Nijboer TCW, Dumoulin SO. Macular degeneration affects eye movement behavior during visual search. Front Psychol 2013; 4:579. [PMID: 24027546 PMCID: PMC3759795 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2012] [Accepted: 08/12/2013] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Patients with a scotoma in their central vision (e.g., due to macular degeneration, MD) commonly adopt a strategy to direct the eyes such that the image falls onto a peripheral location on the retina. This location is referred to as the preferred retinal locus (PRL). Although previous research has investigated the characteristics of this PRL, it is unclear whether eye movement metrics are modulated by peripheral viewing with a PRL as measured during a visual search paradigm. To this end, we tested four MD patients in a visual search paradigm and contrasted their performance with a healthy control group and a healthy control group performing the same experiment with a simulated scotoma. The experiment contained two conditions. In the first condition the target was an unfilled circle hidden among c-shaped distractors (serial condition) and in the second condition the target was a filled circle (pop-out condition). Saccadic search latencies for the MD group were significantly longer in both conditions compared to both control groups. Results of a subsequent experiment indicated that this difference between the MD and the control groups could not be explained by a difference in target selection sensitivity. Furthermore, search behavior of MD patients was associated with saccades with smaller amplitudes toward the scotoma, an increased intersaccadic interval and an increased number of eye movements necessary to locate the target. Some of these characteristics, such as the increased intersaccadic interval, were also observed in the simulation group, which indicate that these characteristics are related to the peripheral viewing itself. We suggest that the combination of the central scotoma and peripheral viewing can explain the altered search behavior and no behavioral evidence was found for a possible reorganization of the visual system associated with the use of a PRL. Thus the switch from a fovea-based to a PRL-based reference frame impairs search efficiency.
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A behavioral task for the validation of a gaze-contingent simulated scotoma. Behav Res Methods 2013; 45:1313-21. [DOI: 10.3758/s13428-013-0321-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Manginelli AA, Baumgartner F, Pollmann S. Dorsal and ventral working memory-related brain areas support distinct processes in contextual cueing. Neuroimage 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.11.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022] Open
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