Order effects in stimulus discrimination challenge established models of comparative judgement: A meta-analytic review of the Type B effect.

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the Type B effect (TBE), a phenomenon reflected in the observation that discrimination sensitivity varies with the order of stimuli in comparative judgment tasks, such as the two-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) paradigm. Specifically, when the difference threshold is lower (higher) with the constant standard preceding rather than following the variable comparison, one speaks of a negative (positive) TBE. Importantly, prominent psychophysical difference models such as signal detection theory (Green & Swets, 1966) cannot easily account for the TBE, and are hence challenged by it. The present meta-analysis provides substantial evidence for the TBE across various stimulus attributes, suggesting that the TBE is a general feature of discrimination experiments when standard and comparison are presented successively. Thus, inconsistent with psychophysical difference models, subjective differences between stimuli are not merely a function of their physical differences but rather also depend on their temporal order. From the literature, we identify four classes of potential candidate theories explaining the origin of the TBE, namely (1) differential weighting of the stimulus magnitudes at the two positions (e.g., Hellström, Psychological Research, 39, 345-388 1977), (2) internal reference formation (e.g., Dyjas, Bausenhart, & Ulrich, Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 74, 1819-1841 2012), (3) Bayesian updating (e.g., de Jong, Akyürek, & van Rijn, Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 28, 1183-1190 2021), and (4) biased threshold estimation (García-Pérez & Alcalá-Quintana, Attention, Perception & Psychophysics, 72, 1155-1178 2010). As these models, to some extent, make differential predictions about the direction of the TBE, investigating the respective boundary conditions of positive and negative TBEs might be a valuable perspective for diagnostic future research.

Serial processing of proximity groups and similarity groups.

Proximity and feature similarity are two important determinants of perceptual grouping in vision. When viewing visual scenes conveying both grouping options simultaneously, people most usually detect proximity groups faster than similarity groups. This article demonstrates that perceptual judgments of grouping orientation guided by either proximity or contrast similarity are indicative of a sequential organization of grouping operations in the visual pathway, which lends a temporal processing advantage to proximity grouping (Experiment 1). Invoking the double-factorial paradigm, latent cognitive architecture for perceptual grouping is also investigated in a task with redundant signals (Experiment 2). Reaction time data from this task is assessed in terms of the race model inequality, workload capacity analysis, and interaction contrasts of means and survivor functions. Again, empirical benchmarks indicate serial processing of proximity groups and similarity groups, with a self-terminating stopping rule for processing. A subset of participants exhibit atypical performance metrics, hinting at possible individual differences in configural visual processing.

Speeded classification of visual events is sensitive to crossmodal intensity correspondence.

Crossmodal correspondences refer to systematic associations between stimulus attributes encountered in different sensory modalities. These correspondences can be probed in the speeded classification task where they tend to produce congruency effects. This study aimed to replicate and extend previous work conducted by Marks (1987, Experiment 3, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, Vol. 13, No. 3, 384-394) which demonstrated a crossmodal correspondence between auditory and visual intensity attributes. Experiment 1 successfully replicates Marks' original finding that performance in a brightness classification task is affected by whether the loudness of a concurrently presented auditory distractor matches the brightness of the visual target. Furthermore, in line with the original study, we found that this effect was absent in a lightness classification task. In Experiment 2, we demonstrate that loudness-brightness correspondence is robust even when the exact stimulus input changes. This finding suggests that there is a context-dependent mapping between loudness and brightness levels, rather than an absolute mapping between any particular intensity levels. Finally, exploratory analysis using the diffusion model for conflict tasks indicated that evidence from the task-irrelevant modality generates a burst of weak, short-lived automatic activation that can bias decision-making in difficult tasks, but not in easy tasks. Our results provide further evidence for the existence of a flexible crossmodal correspondence between brightness and loudness, which might be helpful in determining one's distance to a stimulus source during the early stages of multisensory integration. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Separating facilitation and interference in backward crosstalk.

When two speeded tasks have spatially overlapping responses, preactivated Task 2 (T2) response information influences Task 1 (T1) response selection, a phenomenon known as the backward crosstalk effect (BCE). Current models of the BCE implicitly assume that T2 response information is equally present in trials requiring compatible or incompatible responses, such that T1 performance improves when T2 requires a compatible response and deteriorates when T2 requires an incompatible response. Thus, T2 response information should have a facilitatory and an interfering effect on T1. Interestingly, this hypothesis has never been tested, and the present study (conducted between 2021 and 2023) attempts to fill this gap by using neutral trials in which T2 responses did not spatially overlap with those in T1. The results suggest that the BCE (in T1) reflects both facilitation and interference effects of comparable magnitude, thus corroborating current conceptualizations of the BCE. We also observed an unexpected pattern of effects for T2, with only an interference effect, but no facilitation effect. Additional experiments led us to conclude that the T2 result was sensitive to the specific task characteristics. Conclusions about how the crosstalk transfers from T1 to T2 when switching tasks are therefore not possible. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Wilhelm Wundt: His bumpy start in science at the University of Tübingen.

In 1851, Wilhelm Wundt embarked on his university journey at the University of Tübingen, initially enrolling as a medical student. This article draws from Wundt's autobiography and supplementary sources to illuminate the motivations behind his choice of Tübingen, shedding light on how this pivotal phase influenced both his scientific trajectory and his personal development. It offers insights into Wundt's perspectives on university and city life in Tübingen, providing a nuanced understanding of his formative years. Wundt's nonlinear entry into the realm of science serves as a source of reassurance and inspiration for contemporary psychology students facing similar initial challenges in their academic pursuits. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Mental association of time and valence.

Five experiments investigated the association between time and valence. In the first experiment, participants classified temporal expressions (e.g., past, future) and positively or negatively connotated words (e.g., glorious, nasty) based on temporal reference or valence. They responded slower and made more errors in the mismatched condition (positive/past mapped to one hand, negative/future to the other) compared with the matched condition (positive/future to one hand, negative/past to the other hand). Experiment 2 confirmed the generalization of the match effect to nonspatial responses, while Experiment 3 found no reversal of this effect for left-handers. Overall, the results of the three experiments indicate a robust match effect, associating the past with negative valence and the future with positive valence. Experiment 4 involved rating the valence of time-related words, showing higher ratings for future-related words. Additionally, Experiment 5 employed latent semantic analysis and revealed that linguistic experiences are unlikely to be the source of this time-valence association. An interactive activation model offers a quantitative explanation of the match effect, potentially arising from a favorable perception of the future over the past.

Time and visual-spatial illusions: Evidence for cross-dimensional interference between duration and illusory size.

Time and space are intimately related to each other. Previous evidence has shown that stimulus size can affect perceived duration even when size differences are illusory. In the present study, we investigated the effect of visual-spatial illusions on duration judgments in a temporal reproduction paradigm. Specifically, we induced the Ebbinghaus illusion (Exp. 1) and the horizontal-vertical illusion (Exp. 2) during the encoding phase of the target interval or the reproduction phase. The results showed (a) that illusory size affects temporal processing similarly to the way physical size does, (b) that the effect is independent of whether the illusion appeared during encoding or reproduction, and (c) that the interference between size and temporal processing is bidirectional. These results suggest a rather late locus of size-time interference in the processing stream.

The neutral condition in conflict tasks: On the violation of the midpoint assumption in reaction time trends.

Although the relation between congruent and incongruent conditions in conflict tasks has been the primary focus of cognitive control studies, the neutral condition is often set as a baseline directly between the two conditions. However, empirical evidence suggests that the average neutral reaction time (RT) is not placed evenly between the two opposing conditions. This article set out to establish two things: First, to reinforce the informative nature of the neutral condition and second, to highlight how it can be useful for modelling. We explored how RT in the neutral condition of conflict tasks (Stroop, Flanker, and Simon Tasks) deviated from the predictions of current diffusion models. Current diffusion models of conflict tasks predict a neutral RT that is the average of the congruent and incongruent RT, called the midpoint assumption. To investigate this, we first conducted a cursory limited search that recorded the average RT's of conflict tasks with neutral conditions. Upon finding evidence of a midpoint assumption violation which showed a larger disparity between average neutral and incongruent RT, we tested the previously mentioned conflict tasks with two different sets of stimuli to establish the robustness of the effect. The midpoint assumption violation is sometimes inconsistent with the prediction of diffusion models of conflict processing (e.g., the Diffusion Model of Conflict), suggesting possible elaborations of such models.

Modal and amodal cognition: an overarching principle in various domains of psychology.

Accounting for how the human mind represents the internal and external world is a crucial feature of many theories of human cognition. Central to this question is the distinction between modal as opposed to amodal representational formats. It has often been assumed that one but not both of these two types of representations underlie processing in specific domains of cognition (e.g., perception, mental imagery, and language). However, in this paper, we suggest that both formats play a major role in most cognitive domains. We believe that a comprehensive theory of cognition requires a solid understanding of these representational formats and their functional roles within and across different domains of cognition, the developmental trajectory of these representational formats, and their role in dysfunctional behavior. Here we sketch such an overarching perspective that brings together research from diverse subdisciplines of psychology on modal and amodal representational formats so as to unravel their functional principles and their interactions.

Assessing the Prevalence of Doping Among Elite Athletes: An Analysis of Results Generated by the Single Sample Count Method Versus the Unrelated Question Method.

In 2011, a group of researchers investigated the 12-month prevalence of doping at the 13th International Association of Athletics Federations World Championships in Athletics (WCA) in Daegu, South Korea, and also at the 12th Pan-Arab Games (PAG) in Doha, Qatar. The prevalence of doping at each event was estimated using an established randomized response method, the Unrelated Question Model (UQM). The study, published in 2018, found that the prevalence of past-year doping was at least 30% at WCA and 45% at PAG. At both events, separate data sets were collected in addition to the UQM data using a new method, the single sample count (SSC). Recently, Petróczi et al. have reported 12-month doping prevalence estimates for these two events based on the SSC data. These investigators obtained substantially lower prevalence estimates using the SSC and suggested that the 2018 estimates based on the UQM may have been too high. However, in this communication, we point out several possible shortcomings in the methods of Petróczi et al. and show that their SSC data would be equally compatible with a high 12-month doping prevalence comparable to the UQM estimates published in 2018.

Association between abstraction level and time: Are future and past more abstract than the present?

Construal level theory suggests that objects or events are represented differently depending on their psychological distance from ourselves. Specifically, objects and events should be represented more abstractly the farther they are removed from direct experience through distance in the spatial, temporal, social, or hypotheticality domains. Bar-Anan et al. reported a key finding supporting this assumed association of the various distance dimensions and abstraction level. In their study, participants responded faster in an Implicit Association Task when temporally near and concrete concepts, as well as temporally far and abstract concepts, were mapped to the same rather than different response keys. In this study, we conceptually replicated this basic finding when employing temporal adverbs relating to present versus future time, and nouns referring to concrete versus abstract concepts (Experiment 1). Evidence for such an association, however, was largely absent (and significantly weaker than in Experiment 1) when temporal adverbs relating to the past were employed as instances of the large temporal distance category (Experiment 2). We propose that the uncertainty associated with the future, as opposed to the past, might play an important role in this temporal asymmetry by increasing psychological distance.

On estimating the frequency of a target behavior from time-constrained yes/no survey questions: A parametric approach based on the Poisson process.

We propose a novel method to analyze time-constrained yes/no questions about a target behavior (e.g., "Did you take sleeping pills during the last 12 months?"). A drawback of these questions is that the relative frequency of answering these questions with "yes" does not allow one to draw definite conclusions about the frequency of the target behavior (i.e., how often sleeping pills were taken) nor about the prevalence of trait carriers (i.e., percentage of people that take sleeping pills). Here we show how this information can be extracted from the results of such questions employing a prevalence curve and a Poisson model. The applicability of the method was evaluated with a survey on everyday behavior, which revealed plausible results and reasonable model fit. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Exploring Effects of Age on Conflict Processing in the Light of Practice in a Large-Scale Dataset.

INTRODUCTION: The possible decline of cognitive functions with age has been in the focus of cognitive research in the last decades. The present study investigated effects of aging on conflict processing in a big dataset of a Stroop-inspired online training task. METHODS: We focused on the temporal dynamics of conflict processing in the light of task practice by means of inspecting delta plots and Lorenz-interference curves to gain insights on a process level. RESULTS: The results indicate a relatively constant increase of cognitive conflict over the course of adulthood and a decrease with practice. Furthermore, the latency of the automatic processing of conflicting information relative to the controlled processing of task-relevant information decreases relatively constantly with age. This effect is moderated by practice, that is, the relative latency of the automatic processing decreases less with age at high practice levels. CONCLUSION: As such, practice seems to be able to partially counteract age-related differences in conflict processing, on a process level.

The role of task-relevant and task-irrelevant information in congruency sequence effects: Applying the diffusion model for conflict tasks.

In conflict tasks, such as the Simon, Eriksen flanker, or Stroop task, the congruency effect is often reduced after an incongruent compared to a congruent trial: the congruency sequence effect (CSE). It was suggested that the CSE may reflect increased processing of task-relevant information and/or suppression of task-irrelevant information after experiencing an incongruent relative to a congruent trial. In the present study, we contribute to this discussion by applying the Diffusion Model for Conflict tasks (DMC) framework in the context of CSEs to flanker and Simon tasks. We argue that DMC independently models the task-relevant and task-irrelevant information and thus is a first good candidate for disentangling their unique contributions. As a first approach, we fitted DMC conjointly or separately to previously congruent or incongruent trials, using four empirical flanker and two Simon data sets. For the flanker task, we fitted the classical DMC version. For the Simon task, we fitted a generalized DMC version which allows the task-irrelevant information to undershoot when swinging back to zero. After considering the model fits, we present a second approach, where we implemented a cognitive control mechanism to simulate the influence of increased processing of task-relevant information or increased suppression of task-irrelevant information. Both approaches demonstrate that the suppression of task-irrelevant information is essential to create the typical CSE pattern. Increased processing of task-relevant information, however, could rarely describe the CSE accurately.

The influence of reward in the Simon task: Differences and similarities to the Stroop and Eriksen flanker tasks.

Previous studies have suggested that performance-contingent reward can modulate cognitive control by biasing irrelevant location-response associations in the Simon task. However, the influence of reward in the case of irrelevant words (Stroop task) or irrelevant flankers (Eriksen Flanker task) remains unclear. Across two preregistered experiments, the present study investigated the influence of reward on conflict processing with different types of distractors. Conflict effects on mean reaction time (RT) were reduced in the Simon task (Experiments 1 and 2) when incongruent versus congruent trials were rewarded, and this modulating effect of reward on conflict processing was also observed in the Eriksen flanker task (Experiment 2), but not in the Stroop task (Experiment 1). We propose that cognitive control adjustments to distractor-specific reward contingencies can be generalized across distractor types producing both perceptual-related (Flanker task) and motor-related (Simon task) conflict, but, if any, to a limited degree when distractors produce additional higher-level task conflict (Stroop task). In addition, distributional RT analyses (delta plots) revealed that rewarded distractor-response associations modulate cognitive control not only via biasing the strength (Simon and Eriksen tasks) but also the time-course of suppressing distractor processing (Eriksen task). Overall, the present study dissociated distractor-general and distractor-specific effects of reward on cognitive control.

Temporal aspects of two types of backward crosstalk in dual-tasks: An analysis of continuous mouse-tracking data.

A common explanation for processing limitations in dual-tasking is the existence of a bottleneck during response selection, meaning that the selection of responses can only occur serially for different tasks. However, a large body of data shows that features of a (secondary) Task 2 can already influence the processing of a (primary) Task 1. Such effects are referred to as backward crosstalk effects (BCEs). In the present study, two types of such BCEs were investigated: the compatibility-based BCE, which depends on the dimensional (often spatial) overlap between task features, and a BCE based on a go/no-go task in Task 2 (no-go BCE). Joining a line of research that suggests different mechanisms for these two types of BCEs, we investigated them using a mouse-tracking setup. Time continuous analyses revealed that the compatibility-based BCE triggered a spatial activation of the Task 2 response early during Task 1 processing, whereas the no-go BCE triggered an inhibitory effect in the case of a no-go Task 2, which spills over to Task 1 execution. This occurred, however, earlier in the time course than expected. The results are discussed with regard to recent models of dual-task processing.

Is there a cognitive link between the domains of deictic time and number?

This study reports the results of 4 experiments that addressed whether the domains of deictic time and number exert a cross-domain link. Such a link would be consistent with A Theory of Magnitude (i.e., ATOM). In contrast, no link between the two domains would support the conceptual metaphor theory (CMT), which assumes that each domain is only linked to space. In Experiment 1, participants made speeded decisions about temporal stimuli referring either to the past or to the future (e.g., tomorrow). In the spatial response condition, they vocally responded either with the word "left" or "right," whereas, in the number response condition, they responded with the word "1" or "9". A strong congruency effect was observed with spatial responses, but only a small one (in error rates) concerning number responses. In Experiment 2, the stimuli were the numbers 1 and 9. In the spatial response condition, participants responded again with the words "left" or "right," whereas, in the deictic time condition, they responded with "past" and "future." As before, a strong congruency effect was observed for the spatial condition; no or even a reversed congruency effect was obtained for the deictic time condition. Experiment 3 replicated this unexpected result, and Experiment 4 assessed whether this reversed congruency effect in the deictic time condition of Experiments 2 and 3 could be attributed to short versus long utterance duration. It is concluded that CMT provides the most parsimonious account for the obtained pattern of results, suggesting no direct link between deictic time and number processing. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Response activation and activation-transmission in response-based backward crosstalk: Analyses and simulations with an extended diffusion model.

In dual-task experiments, overlapping response characteristics of two subsequently performed tasks may not only affect performance in Task 2 but also in Task 1. This phenomenon is often explained through activated Task 2 response information influencing Task 1 response selection, which then possibly propagates again into Task 2. So far, however, only little is known about (a) the time course of this Task 2 response activation and (b) possible transmission/propagation mechanisms. The present study addressed both issues by testing 10 plausible drift-diffusion models with 5 data sets from dual-task experiments. To this end, we first examined if the temporal course of the response activation is linearly increasing or pulse like. The pulse-like model turned out to be superior, but the corresponding dynamics of the response activation often described a monotonically increasing function that reached its peak late during Task 1 processing. By extending the pulse-like model with an additional diffusion process, we then examined whether and how the Task 2 response information could affect subsequent Task 2 response selection. Concerning the transmission mechanisms, none of the assumed models proved to be entirely satisfactory. However, additional simulations suggest that Task 2 response activation-transmission does not occur at all. Instead, a model in which Task 2 started with a trace of the previous Task 1 response (i.e., irrespective of the preexisting Task 2 activation) turned out to be the most promising account. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The action-sentence compatibility effect (ACE): Meta-analysis of a benchmark finding for embodiment.

The embodied account of language comprehension has been one of the most influential theoretical developments in the recent decades addressing the question how humans comprehend and represent language. To examine its assumptions, many studies have made use of behavioral paradigms involving basic compatibility effects. The action-sentence compatibility effect (ACE) is one of the most influential of these compatibility effects and is the most widely cited evidence for the embodied account of language comprehension. However, recently there have been difficulties in extending or even in reliably replicating the ACE. The conflicting findings concerning the ACE and its extensions lead to the discussion of whether the ACE is indeed a reliable effect. In a first step we conducted a meta-analysis using a random-effects model. This analysis revealed a small but significant effect size of the ACE. Furthermore, the task-parameter Delay occurred as a factor of interest in whether the ACE appears with positive or negative effect direction. A second meta-analytic approach (Fisher's method) supports these findings. Additionally, an analysis of publication bias suggests that there is bias in the ACE literature. In post-hoc analyses of the recent multi-lab investigation of the ACE (Morey et al., 2021), evidence for individual differences in the ACE was found. However, further analyses indicate that these differences are likely due to item-specific variability and the specific way in which items were assigned to conditions in the counterbalancing lists.

The role of temporal order of relevant and irrelevant dimensions within conflict tasks.

Conflict tasks are commonly used to investigate control processes under situations of relevant and irrelevant sources of information. In addition to compatibility effects at a mean behavioral level, delta plot analyses of reaction time distributions reveal that the compatibility effect generally increases with time (i.e., positive delta plot slopes) across most conflict-like tasks. Critically, the underlying causes of the increasing delta plot slopes with different types of distractors are still poorly understood. The present study tested whether the relative onset of target-to-distractor processing affects the delta plot slope. Specifically, we manipulated the temporal order of relevant and irrelevant dimensions within an Eriksen flanker task (Experiment [Exp.] 1), an Arrow-Simon task (Exp. 2), and a manual Stroop task (Exp. 3a/3b). The results of the Eriksen flanker task and Arrow-Simon task revealed that the delta plots slopes were less increasing (and instead rather decreasing) when the irrelevant dimension appears first (IR condition) compared to the reversed order (RI condition)-consistent with the idea that the underlying mechanism driving the slope of the delta plot is the temporal overlap of activation between the relevant and irrelevant dimensions. In contrast, for the Stroop task, the delta plots in the RI condition were not more increasing than the ones for the IR condition. Overall, these results suggest that the temporal properties strongly influence delta plot shape, but that the temporal dynamics operating in the flanker task and the Arrow-Simon task differs from the Stroop task, at least under conditions where relevant and irrelevant information is presented sequentially. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).