Your browser doesn't support javascript.
loading
Show: 20 | 50 | 100
Results 1 - 20 de 27
Filter
Add more filters










Publication year range
1.
NPJ Sci Learn ; 9(1): 41, 2024 Jul 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38951543

ABSTRACT

Intelligence and personality are both key drivers of learning. This study extends prior research on intelligence and personality by adopting a behavioral-process-related eye-tracking approach. We tested 182 adults on fluid intelligence and the Big Five personality traits. Eye-tracking information (gaze patterns) was recorded while participants completed the intelligence test. Machine learning models showed that personality explained 3.18% of the variance in intelligence test scores, with Openness and, surprisingly, Agreeableness most meaningfully contributing to the prediction. Facet-level measures of personality explained a larger amount of variance (7.67%) in intelligence test scores than the trait-level measures, with the largest coefficients obtained for Ideas and Values (Openness) and Compliance and Trust (Agreeableness). Gaze patterns explained a substantial amount of variance in intelligence test performance (35.91%). Gaze patterns were unrelated to the Big Five personality traits, but some of the facets (especially Self-Consciousness from Neuroticism and Assertiveness from Extraversion) were related to gaze. Gaze patterns reflected the test-solving strategies described in the literature (constructive matching, response elimination) to some extent. A combined feature vector consisting of gaze-based predictions and personality traits explained 37.50% of the variance in intelligence test performance, with significant unique contributions from both personality and gaze patterns. A model that included personality facets and gaze explained 38.02% of the variance in intelligence test performance. Although behavioral data thus clearly outperformed "traditional" psychological measures (Big Five personality) in predicting intelligence test performance, our results also underscore the independent contributions of personality and gaze patterns in predicting intelligence test performance.

2.
Sci Rep ; 13(1): 20627, 2023 11 23.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37996437

ABSTRACT

Humans spontaneously take the perspective of others when encoding spatial information in a scene, especially with agentive action cues present. This functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) study explored how action observation influences implicit spatial perspective-taking (SPT) by adapting a left-right spatial judgment task to investigate whether transformation strategies underlying altercentric SPT can be predicted on the basis of cortical activation. Strategies associated with two opposing neurocognitive accounts (embodied versus disembodied) and their proposed neural correlates (human mirror neuron system; hMNS versus cognitive control network; CCN) are hypothesized. Exploratory analyses with 117 subjects uncover an interplay between perspective-taking and post-hoc factor, consistency of selection, in regions alluding to involvement of the CCN. Descriptively, inconsistent altercentric SPT elicited greater activation than consistent altercentric SPT and/or inconsistent egocentric SPT in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and left motor cortex (MC), but not the inferior parietal lobules (IPL). Despite the presence of grasping cues, spontaneous embodied strategies were not evident during implicit altercentric SPT. Instead, neural trends in the inconsistent subgroups (22 subjects; 13 altercentric; 9 egocentric) suggest that inconsistency in selection modulates the decision-making process and plausibly taps on deliberate and effortful disembodied strategies driven by the CCN. Implications for future research are discussed.


Subject(s)
Judgment , Prefrontal Cortex , Humans , Prefrontal Cortex/diagnostic imaging , Parietal Lobe/physiology , Cues
3.
Sci Rep ; 13(1): 15310, 2023 Sep 15.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37714915

ABSTRACT

The release and rapid diffusion of ChatGPT have caught the attention of educators worldwide. Some educators are enthusiastic about its potential to support learning. Others are concerned about how it might circumvent learning opportunities or contribute to misinformation. To better understand reactions about ChatGPT concerning education, we analyzed Twitter data (16,830,997 tweets from 5,541,457 users). Based on topic modeling and sentiment analysis, we provide an overview of global perceptions and reactions to ChatGPT regarding education. ChatGPT triggered a massive response on Twitter, with education being the most tweeted content topic. Topics ranged from specific (e.g., cheating) to broad (e.g., opportunities), which were discussed with mixed sentiment. We traced that authority decisions may influence public opinions. We discussed that the average reaction on Twitter (e.g., using ChatGPT to cheat in exams) differs from discussions in which education and teaching-learning researchers are likely to be more interested (e.g., ChatGPT as an intelligent learning partner). This study provides insights into people's reactions when new groundbreaking technology is released and implications for scientific and policy communication in rapidly changing circumstances.

4.
PLoS One ; 17(3): e0264316, 2022.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35349582

ABSTRACT

Understanding the main factors contributing to individual differences in fluid intelligence is one of the main challenges of psychology. A vast body of research has evolved from the theoretical framework put forward by Cattell, who developed the Culture-Fair IQ Test (CFT 20-R) to assess fluid intelligence. In this work, we extend and complement the current state of research by analysing the differential and combined relationship between eye-movement patterns and socio-demographic information and the ability of a participant to correctly solve a CFT item. Our work shows that a participant's eye movements while solving a CFT item contain discriminative information and can be used to predict whether the participant will succeed in solving the test item. Moreover, the information related to eye movements complements the information provided by socio-demographic data when it comes to success prediction. In combination, both types of information yield a significantly higher predictive performance than each information type individually. To better understand the contributions of features related to eye movements and socio-demographic information to predict a participant's success in solving a CFT item, we employ state-of-the-art explainability techniques and show that, along with socio-demographic variables, eye-movement data. Especially the number of saccades and the mean pupil diameter, significantly increase the discriminating power. The eye-movement features are likely indicative of processing efficiency and invested mental effort. Beyond the specific contribution to research on how eye movements can serve as a means to uncover mechanisms underlying cognitive processes, the findings presented in this work pave the way for further in-depth investigations of factors predicting individual differences in fluid intelligence.


Subject(s)
Eye Movements , Saccades , Demography , Humans , Intelligence , Intelligence Tests
5.
Sci Data ; 8(1): 154, 2021 06 16.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34135342

ABSTRACT

We present the TüEyeQ data set - to the best of our knowledge - the most comprehensive data set generated on a culture fair intelligence test (CFT 20-R), i.e., an IQ Test, consisting of 56 single tasks, taken by 315 individuals aged between 18 and 30 years. In addition to socio-demographic and educational information, the data set also includes the eye movements of the individuals while taking the IQ test. Along with distributional information we also highlight the potential for predictive analysis on the TüEyeQ data set and report the most important covariates for predicting the performance of a participant on a given task along with their influence on the prediction.


Subject(s)
Eye Movements , Intelligence Tests , Adolescent , Adult , Demography , Educational Status , Female , Germany , Humans , Leisure Activities , Male , Psychological Distance , Young Adult
6.
Front Psychol ; 12: 572437, 2021.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33841227

ABSTRACT

Serious games have become an important tool to train individuals in a range of different skills. Importantly, serious games or gamified scenarios allow for simulating realistic time-critical situations to train and also assess individual performance. In this context, determining the user's cognitive load during (game-based) training seems crucial for predicting performance and potential adaptation of the training environment to improve training effectiveness. Therefore, it is important to identify in-game metrics sensitive to users' cognitive load. According to Barrouillets' time-based resource-sharing model, particularly relevant for measuring cognitive load in time-critical situations, cognitive load does not depend solely on the complexity of actions but also on temporal aspects of a given task. In this study, we applied this idea to the context of a serious game by proposing in-game metrics for workload prediction that reflect a relation between the time during which participants' attention is captured and the total time available for the task at hand. We used an emergency simulation serious game requiring management of time-critical situations. Forty-seven participants completed the emergency simulation and rated their workload using the NASA-TLX questionnaire. Results indicated that the proposed in-game metrics yielded significant associations both with subjective workload measures as well as with gaming performance. Moreover, we observed that a prediction model based solely on data from the first minutes of the gameplay predicted overall gaming performance with a classification accuracy significantly above chance level and not significantly different from a model based on subjective workload ratings. These results imply that in-game metrics may qualify for a real-time adaptation of a game-based learning environment.

7.
Br J Educ Psychol ; 91(4): 1291-1309, 2021 Dec.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33822372

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: It is well established that successful learning with multimedia is challenging, especially for younger learners. AIMS: It was investigated whether students would profit from instructional support regarding the use of multimedia learning strategies. SAMPLE: Participants were high school students in 8th , 9th , and 10th grade (N = 168). METHODS: Participants were assigned to a no-support control group or one of four experimental groups. In the experimental groups, students received either only a multimedia strategy training before learning (training group) or the training was enriched by prompts (prompts before or during learning) or if-then plans (implementation intentions). In the training, multimedia learning strategies were introduced (e.g., linking information from text and picture). The prompts and implementation intentions were aimed at enhancing the application of the multimedia strategies conveyed through the training. Students learned about the process of mitosis by studying multimedia instructions and were tested regarding the acquired knowledge. It was expected that solely training students to use adequate multimedia learning strategies would not promote learning compared with the control group, rather, that additional support like prompts or implementation intentions would be necessary to enhance learning. RESULTS: Although in the experimental groups, multimedia learning strategies were used more frequently especially in the beginning of the instructional unit, there were no effects on learning outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Promoting multimedia strategy use did not improve learning. The quality of the different instructional support measures and their suitability for the target groups are discussed as possible explanations for these findings.


Subject(s)
Intention , Multimedia , Humans , Knowledge , Learning , Students
8.
Emotion ; 21(1): 220-225, 2021 Feb.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31414834

ABSTRACT

Approaching positive objects and avoiding negative ones are general action tendencies in human behavior. Interestingly, hand or arm positions connoting approach (arm flexion) or avoidance (arm extension) have also been shown to influence how the valence of a stimulus is evaluated. However, this causal effect on valence evaluation has been typically examined within experimental paradigms that do not require acting upon objects such as when touching or moving them. Accordingly, the current study attempts to integrate approach-avoidance paradigms with findings suggesting that manipulating visual stimuli directly by hand modulates their cognitive processing. Sixty participants evaluated the valence of 40 emotional pictures from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) twice, first after watching them on a monitor (i.e., baseline evaluations) and second after swiping them on a touchscreen, either toward or away from their body (i.e., interactions regulating distance). Our findings confirmed that, in contrast to just watching the pictures, (a) swiping positive pictures closer and negative pictures away led to positively change their valence evaluation (i.e., reinforcing the perceived valence of positive pictures and attenuating the perceived valence of negative pictures). However, (b) swiping negative pictures closer and positive pictures away barely changed their initial valence evaluation. Against this background, we argue that swiping emotional pictures closer or away directly by hand, may intensify the attentional prioritization to interactions leading to more desirable consequences, namely, approaching positive and avoiding negative stimuli. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).


Subject(s)
Emotions/physiology , Photic Stimulation/methods , Reinforcement, Psychology , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Young Adult
9.
Int J Psychophysiol ; 158: 201-214, 2020 12.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33080289

ABSTRACT

Using and combining eye-tracking and EEG frequency band power as process measures, in the current study we were interested in the mental processing demands during learning of text-picture combinations that either enabled or prohibited text-picture integration (TPI). In the mismatch condition, the textual and pictorial information being dissimilar, TPI was not possible, whereas in the match and the partial-match condition, the textual and pictorial information being identical respective complementary, TPI was possible. We expected mental processing demands to be higher in the mismatch condition, when pictorial and textual information had to be processed and memorized as separate representations, compared to the match and partial-match conditions when TPI was possible. As expected, on virtually all process measures we observed increased mental processing demands when two mental representations had to be processed and memorized compared to the two conditions where TPI was possible. The EEG alpha and theta frequency band power data corroborated and extended the eye-tracking measures of mental processing demands. In addition, we performed a fixation-related EEG frequency band power analysis that also corroborated the results of the classic stimulus-locked EEG frequency band power analysis, exemplifying the use of this former methodology in the context of complex multimedia task materials.


Subject(s)
Electroencephalography , Eye-Tracking Technology , Humans , Learning
10.
Front Psychol ; 11: 603984, 2020.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33536974

ABSTRACT

An active engagement with arts in general and visual arts in particular has been hypothesized to yield beneficial effects beyond arts itself. So-called cognitive and socio-emotional "transfer" effects into other domains have been claimed. However, the empirical basis of these hopes is limited. This is partly due to a lack of experimental comparisons, theory-based designs, and objective measurements in the literature on transfer effects of arts education. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to design and experimentally investigate a theory-based visual-arts education program for adolescents aged between 12 and 19 years (M age = 15.02, SD age = 1.75). The program was delivered in a museum context in three sessions and was expected to yield specific and objectively measurable transfer effects. To conduct a randomized field trial, three strictly parallelized and standardized art courses were developed, all of which addressed the topic of portrait drawing. The courses mainly differed regarding their instructional focus, which was either on periods of art history, on the facial expression of emotions, or on the self-perception of a person in the context of different social roles. In the first and more "traditional" course portrait drawing was used to better understand how portraits looked like in former centuries. The two other courses were designed in a way that the artistic engagement in portrait drawing was interwoven with practicing socio-emotional skills, namely empathy and emotion recognition in one course and understanding complex self-concept structures in the other. We expected positive socio-emotional transfer effects in the two "psychological" courses. We used an animated morph task to measure emotion recognition performance and a self-concept task to measure the self-complexity of participants before and after all three courses. Results indicate that an instructional focus on drawing the facial expressions of emotions yields specific improvements in emotion recognition, whereas drawing persons in different social roles yields a higher level of self-complexity in the self-concept task. In contrast, no significant effects on socio-emotional skills were found in the course focussing on art history. Therefore, our study provides causal evidence that visual-arts programs situated in an art-museum context can advance socio-emotional skills, when designed properly.

11.
Psychol Res ; 84(1): 23-31, 2020 Feb.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29330594

ABSTRACT

The Body-Specificity Hypothesis postulates that the space surrounding the dominant hand is perceived as positive due to the motor fluency of this hand, whereas the space surrounding the non-dominant hand is perceived as negative. Experimental studies based on this theoretical framework also revealed associations between affective valence and hand dominance (i.e., dominant hand-positive; non-dominant hand-negative), or lateral movements of the hands (i.e., right hand toward the right space-positive; left hand toward the left space-positive). Interestingly, these associations have not been examined with regard to how lateral actions of the hands may influence affective experiences as, for example, in valence appraisals of affective objects that have been manipulated. The study presented here has considered this question in light of the emerging interest of embodied cognition approaches to interactive technologies, particularly in affective experiences with touchscreen interfaces. Accordingly, right-handed participants evaluated the valence of positive and negative emotional pictures after interacting with them either with the dominant right or with the non-dominant left hand. Specifically, they moved the pictures either from left to right or from right to left sides of a touchscreen monitor. The results indicated that a valence matching between the hand used for the interactions, the picture's valence category, and the movement's starting side reinforced the valence appraisals of the pictures (i.e., positive/negative pictures were more positively/negatively evaluated). The findings are discussed against the background of the Theory of Event Coding, which accounts for both the affective properties of the stimuli and the affective connotation of the related action.


Subject(s)
Cognition/physiology , Emotions/physiology , Functional Laterality/physiology , Hand/physiology , Movement/physiology , Psychomotor Performance/physiology , Adult , Female , Humans , Reinforcement, Psychology , Young Adult
12.
Front Psychol ; 10: 2787, 2019.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31920833

ABSTRACT

Embodiment approaches to cognition and emotion have put forth the idea that the way we think and talk about affective events often recruits spatial information that stems, to some extent, from our bodily experiences. For example, metaphorical expressions such as "being someone's right hand" or "leaving something bad behind" convey affectivity associated with the lateral and sagittal dimensions of space. Action tendencies associated with affect such as the directional fluency of hand movements (dominant right hand-side - positive; non-dominant left hand-side - negative) and approach-avoidance behaviors (forward - positive; backwards - negative) might be mechanisms supporting such associations. Against this background, experimental research has investigated whether positive and negative words are freely allocated into space (e.g., close or far from one's body) or resonate with congruent (vs. incongruent) predefined manual actions usually performed by joysticks or button presses (e.g., positive - right; negative - left, or vice versa). However, to date, it is unclear how the processing of affective concepts resonate with directional actions of the whole body, the more if such actions are performed freely within a context enabling both, lateral and sagittal movements. Accordingly, 67 right-handed participants were to freely step on an 8-response pad (front, back, right, left, front-right, front-left, back-right, or back-left) after being presented in front of them valence-laden personal life-events submitted before the task (e.g., words or sentences such as "graduation" or "birth of a child"). The most revealing finding of this study indicates that approach-avoidance behaviors and space-valence associations across laterality are interwoven during whole body step actions: Positive events induced steps highly biased to front-right whereas negative events induced steps highly biased to back-left.

13.
Biol Psychol ; 139: 163-172, 2018 11.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30403970

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: According to current theoretical models of working memory (WM), executive functions (EFs) like updating, inhibition and shifting play an important role in WM functioning. The models state that EFs highly correlate with each other but also have some individual variance which makes them separable processes. Since this theory has mostly been substantiated with behavioral data like reaction time and the ability to execute a task correctly, the aim of this paper is to find evidence for diversity (unique properties) of the EFs updating and inhibition in neural correlates of EEG data by means of using brain-computer interface (BCI) methods as a research tool. To highlight the benefit of this approach we compare this new methodology to classical analysis approaches. METHODS: An existing study has been reinvestigated by applying neurophysiological analysis in combination with support vector machine (SVM) classification on recorded electroencephalography (EEG) data to determine the separability and variety of the two EFs updating and inhibition on a single trial basis. RESULTS: The SVM weights reveal a set of distinct features as well as a set of shared features for the two EFs updating and inhibition in the theta and the alpha band power. SIGNIFICANCE: In this paper we find evidence that correlates for unity and diversity of EFs can be found in neurophysiological data. Machine learning approaches reveal shared but also distinct properties for the EFs. This study shows that using methods from brain-computer interface (BCI) research, like machine learning, as a tool for the validation of psychological models and theoretical constructs is a new approach that is highly versatile and could lead to many new insights.


Subject(s)
Cerebral Cortex/physiology , Electroencephalography , Executive Function/physiology , Inhibition, Psychological , Memory, Short-Term/physiology , Psychomotor Performance/physiology , Support Vector Machine , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Young Adult
14.
PLoS One ; 13(7): e0199972, 2018.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30020949

ABSTRACT

Embodied cognition research suggests that bodily experiences might ground mental representations of emotional valence in the vertical dimension of space (i.e., positive is up and negative is down). Accordingly, recent studies show that upward and downward arm movements may also influence the evaluation of valence-laden stimuli, suggesting that upward (downwards) movements lead to more positive (negative) evaluations. Interestingly, these studies typically did not investigate paradigms that require a direct hand interaction with the stimuli. With the advent of touchscreen devices and their use for experimental environments, however, a direct and more natural hand interaction with the stimuli has come to the fore. In this regard, the goal of the present study is to examine how direct hand interaction with valence-laden stimuli on a touchscreen monitor affects their perceived valence. To do so, participants evaluated emotional pictures after touching and moving them either upwards or downwards across a vertically mounted touchscreen. In contrast to previous findings, the results suggest that positive pictures were evaluated as more positive after downward movements while negative pictures were evaluated as less negative following upward movements. This finding may indicate that a matching between the pictures' valence and the valence associated with their vertical touch location leads to more positive evaluations. Thus, the present study extends earlier results by an important point: Touching the emotional pictures during movement may influence their valence processing.


Subject(s)
Emotions , Motion , Space Perception , Adult , Computers , Female , Humans , Male , Photic Stimulation , Young Adult
15.
Front Psychol ; 9: 573, 2018.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29731734

ABSTRACT

The GES framework postulates a hierarchical order between grounded, embodied, and situated representations. Against this background, the present study investigated the relation of two effects: (i) a semantic priming between number cues and words with referents up or down in the world according to the number's magnitude which is supposed to be grounded (cf. Lachmair et al., 2014) and (ii) the compatibility between number cues and the grammatical word form of the words according to the number's multitude which is supposed to be embodied (cf. Roettger and Domahs, 2015). In two experiments words referring to objects up or down in the world and spatially neutral words were presented subsequent to the numbers "1" and "9." In Experiment 1 words were presented in singular word form and in Experiment 2 in plural word form. For the first time, Virtual Reality was used in such an experimental setup in order to reduce spatial predispositions of participants and to provide a homogeneous experimental environment for replication purposes. According to GES it was expected that the spatial semantic priming should occur in both grammatical word forms. However, the compatibility with grammatical number should only occur for the plural word form due to its markedness. The results of Experiment 1 support the spatial-semantic-priming-hypothesis but not the grammatical-number-hypothesis. The results of Experiment 2 supported only the grammatical-number-hypothesis. It is argued that the grounded spatial effect of Experiment 1 was not affected by grammatical number. However, in Experiment 2 this effect vanished due to an activated embodied reference frame according to grammatical number.

16.
Front Hum Neurosci ; 11: 370, 2017.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28769776

ABSTRACT

Most brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) focus on detecting single aspects of user states (e.g., motor imagery) in the electroencephalogram (EEG) in order to use these aspects as control input for external systems. This communication can be effective, but unaccounted mental processes can interfere with signals used for classification and thereby introduce changes in the signal properties which could potentially impede BCI classification performance. To improve BCI performance, we propose deploying an approach that potentially allows to describe different mental states that could influence BCI performance. To test this approach, we analyzed neural signatures of potential affective states in data collected in a paradigm where the complex user state of perceived loss of control (LOC) was induced. In this article, source localization methods were used to identify brain dynamics with source located outside but affecting the signal of interest originating from the primary motor areas, pointing to interfering processes in the brain during natural human-machine interaction. In particular, we found affective correlates which were related to perceived LOC. We conclude that additional context information about the ongoing user state might help to improve the applicability of BCIs to real-world scenarios.

17.
Front Hum Neurosci ; 11: 286, 2017.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28611615

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we demonstrate a closed-loop EEG-based learning environment, that adapts instructional learning material online, to improve learning success in students during arithmetic learning. The amount of cognitive workload during learning is crucial for successful learning and should be held in the optimal range for each learner. Based on EEG data from 10 subjects, we created a prediction model that estimates the learner's workload to obtain an unobtrusive workload measure. Furthermore, we developed an interactive learning environment that uses the prediction model to estimate the learner's workload online based on the EEG data and adapt the difficulty of the learning material to keep the learner's workload in an optimal range. The EEG-based learning environment was used by 13 subjects to learn arithmetic addition in the octal number system, leading to a significant learning effect. The results suggest that it is feasible to use EEG as an unobtrusive measure of cognitive workload to adapt the learning content. Further it demonstrates that a promptly workload prediction is possible using a generalized prediction model without the need for a user-specific calibration.

18.
Front Hum Neurosci ; 11: 6, 2017.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28179880

ABSTRACT

According to theoretical accounts, both, N-back and complex span tasks mainly require working memory (WM) processing. In contrast, simple span tasks conceptually mainly require WM storage. Thus, conceptually, an N-back task and a complex span task share more commonalities as compared to a simple span task. In the current study, we compared an N-back task, a complex operation span task (Ospan), and a simple digit span task (Dspan) by means of typical WM load-related measures of the Electroencephalogram (EEG) like the parietal alpha and beta frequency band power, the frontal theta frequency band power, and the P300 amplitude, to examine whether these tasks would show commonalities or differences in WM processing-load. We expected that increasing WM-load would generally lead to a decreased alpha and beta frequency band power, an increased theta frequency band power, and a decreased P300 amplitude. Yet, based on the conceptual considerations, we hypothesized that the outcomes of these measures would be more comparable between the N-back and the Ospan as compared to the Dspan. Our hypotheses were partly confirmed. The N-back and the Ospan showed timely more prolonged alpha frequency band power effects as compared to the Dspan. This might indicate higher demands on WM processing in the former two tasks. The theta frequency band power and the P300 amplitude were most pronounced in the N-back task as compared to both span tasks. This might indicate specific demands on cognitive control in the N-back task. Additionally, we observed that behavioral performance measures correlated with changes in EEG alpha power of the N-back and the Ospan, yet not of the Dspan. Taken together, the hypothesized conceptual commonalities between the N-back task and the Ospan (and, for the Dspan, differences) were only partly confirmed by the electrophysiological WM load-related measures, indicating a potential need for reconsidering the theoretical accounts on WM tasks and the value of a closer link to electrophysiological research herein.

19.
Front Hum Neurosci ; 11: 616, 2017.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-29311875

ABSTRACT

Most brain-based measures of the electroencephalogram (EEG) are used in highly controlled lab environments and only focus on narrow mental states (e.g., working memory load). However, we assume that outside the lab complex multidimensional mental states are evoked. This could potentially create interference between EEG signatures used for identification of specific mental states. In this study, we aimed to investigate more realistic conditions and therefore induced a combination of working memory load and affective valence to reveal potential interferences in EEG measures. To induce changes in working memory load and affective valence, we used a paradigm which combines an N-back task (for working memory load manipulation) with a standard method to induce affect (affective pictures taken from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) database). Subjective ratings showed that the experimental task was successful in inducing working memory load as well as affective valence. Additionally, performance measures were analyzed and it was found that behavioral performance decreased with increasing workload as well as negative valence, showing that affective valence can have an effect on cognitive processing. These findings are supported by changes in frontal theta and parietal alpha power, parameters used for measuring of working memory load in the EEG. However, these EEG measures are influenced by the negative valence condition as well and thereby show that detection of working memory load is sensitive to affective contexts. Unexpectedly, we did not find any effects for EEG measures typically used for affective valence detection (Frontal Alpha Asymmetry (FAA)). Therefore we assume that the FAA measure might not be usable if cognitive workload is induced simultaneously. We conclude that future studies should account for potential context-specifity of EEG measures.

20.
PLoS One ; 11(11): e0165795, 2016.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-27812155

ABSTRACT

The aim of the present study was to test the functional relevance of the spatial concepts UP or DOWN for words that use these concepts either literally (space) or metaphorically (time, valence). A functional relevance would imply a symmetrical relationship between the spatial concepts and words related to these concepts, showing that processing words activate the related spatial concepts on one hand, but also that an activation of the concepts will ease the retrieval of a related word on the other. For the latter, the rotation angle of participant's body position was manipulated either to an upright or a head-down tilted body position to activate the related spatial concept. Afterwards participants produced in a within-subject design previously memorized words of the concepts space, time and valence according to the pace of a metronome. All words were related either to the spatial concept UP or DOWN. The results including Bayesian analyses show (1) a significant interaction between body position and words using the concepts UP and DOWN literally, (2) a marginal significant interaction between body position and temporal words and (3) no effect between body position and valence words. However, post-hoc analyses suggest no difference between experiments. Thus, the authors concluded that integrating sensorimotor experiences is indeed of functional relevance for all three concepts of space, time and valence. However, the strength of this functional relevance depends on how close words are linked to mental concepts representing vertical space.


Subject(s)
Feedback, Sensory/physiology , Memory, Short-Term/physiology , Orientation, Spatial/physiology , Word Association Tests , Adult , Female , Humans , Language , Male , Young Adult
SELECTION OF CITATIONS
SEARCH DETAIL
...