Handgrip Based Action Information Modulates Attentional Selection: An ERP Study.

Prior work shows that the possibility of action to an object (visual affordance) facilitates attentional deployment. We sought to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying this modulation of attention by examining ERPs to target objects that were either congruently or incongruently gripped for their use in the presence of a congruently or incongruently gripped distractor. Participants responded to the presence or absence of a target object matching a preceding action word with a distractor object presented in the opposite location. Participants were faster in responding to congruently gripped targets compared to incongruently gripped targets. There was a reduced N2pc potential when the target was congruently gripped, and the distractor was incongruently gripped compared to the conditions where targets were incongruently gripped or when the distractor, as well as target, was congruently gripped. The N2pc results indicate that target selection is easier when action information is congruent with an object's use.

Intermediate, Wholistic Shape Representation in Object Recognition: A Pre-Attentive Stage of Processing?

Evidence is presented for intermediate, wholistic visual representations of objects and non-objects that are computed online and independent of visual attention. Short-term visual priming was examined between visually similar shapes, with targets either falling at the (valid) location cued by primes or at another (invalid) location. Object decision latencies were facilitated when the overall shapes of the stimuli were similar irrespective of whether the location of the prime was valid or invalid, with the effects being equally large for object and non-object targets. In addition, the effects were based on the overall outlines of the stimuli and low spatial frequency components, not on local parts. In conclusion, wholistic shape representations based on outline form, are rapidly computed online during object recognition. Moreover, activation of common wholistic shape representations prime the processing of subsequent objects and non-objects irrespective of whether they appear at attended or unattended locations. Rapid derivation of wholistic form provides a key intermediate stage of object recognition.

A Preliminary Investigation Into a Range of Implicit and Explicit Offense Supportive Cognitions in Perpetrators of Physical Intimate Partner Violence.

The current study assessed a wide range of offense supportive cognitions in relation to the perpetration of physical intimate partner violence (IPV). This research used both implicit and explicit measures in a U.K. sample of 19 male IPV perpetrators recruited from a community-based IPV intervention program and 20 men from the community with no history of IPV. The study also explored the ability of the implicit measures to differentiate between the two groups. The cognitions assessed included gender-role stereotype, attitudes condoning violence against a partner, attitudes condoning violence in general, hostile attitudes toward women, sense of entitlement in the relationship and over the intimate partner (control and dominance), and general sense of entitlement. Participants completed a number of established self-report measures and a series of computer-based reaction time tasks including two implicit association tests, one go/no-go association task, and four sentence judgment tasks. Significant group differences emerged across all measures both at the explicit and at the implicit level. Most implicit measures had very good discriminatory power, and the combination of all implicit measures showed excellent discriminatory power, equal to that of the explicit measures combined. These findings suggest that some IPV perpetrators hold offense supportive cognitions that may have become fairly well established and have started to operate at an automatic level. Implicit measures could be useful tools for risk assessment purposes and identification of treatment needs alongside already established measures.

Attentional saliency and ingroup biases: From society to the brain.

There is ample evidence demonstrating intergroup biases on cognition and emotion. However, it remains unclear how exactly group identification influences these processes, with issues of context sensitivity and goal dependence remaining open to scrutiny. Providing a range of interdisciplinary material, the current review attempts to inform understanding of these issues. Specifically, we provide evidence revealing that individuals show enhanced attention for stimuli associated with an ingroup compared to an outgroup. At the attentional level, such biases can be explained by the assignment of different levels of saliency to ingroup versus outgroup targets. Critically, however, salience assignment is not fixed but varies as a function of context and goal-directed behavior. We suggest that the network in the brain previously associated with social and emotional saliency and attention - notably the anterior insula, posterior superior temporal sulcus, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex - underpins these effects. Moreover, although attention typically favors ingroup targets, outgroup members can be prioritized on occasion. The implications of this viewpoint and future lines of investigation are considered.

Cultural Orientation of Self-Bias in Perceptual Matching.

Previous research on cross-culture comparisons found that Western cultures tend to value independence and the self is construed as an autonomous individual, while Eastern cultures value interdependence and self-identity is perceived as embedded among friends and family members (Markus and Kitayama, 1991). The present experiment explored these cultural differences in the context of a paradigm developed by Sui et al. (2012), which found a bias toward the processing of self-relevant information using perceptual matching tasks. In this task, each neutral shape (i.e., triangle, circle, square) is associated with a person (i.e., self, friend, stranger), and faster and more accurate responses were found to formerly neutral stimuli tagged to the self compared to stimuli tagged to non-self. With this paradigm, the current study examined cross-cultural differences in the self-bias effect between participants from Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. Results demonstrated a reliable self-bias effect across groups consistent with previous studies. Importantly, a variation was identified in a larger self-bias toward stranger-associated stimuli in the United Kingdom participants than the Hong Kong participants. This suggested the cultural modulation of the self-bias effect in perceptual matching.

The relations between temporal and social perceptual biases: Evidence from perceptual matching.

We report a new "now-bias" effect on simple perceptual matching between shapes and labels and examined the relation between this now-bias effect and the self-bias previously established with this task (Sui, He, & Humphreys, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 38, 1105-1117, 2012). The perceptual biases favoring present-relevant and self-relevant information were correlated with each other, suggesting a common underlying mechanism. Nevertheless, temporal biases in decision making, specifically in temporal discounting, correlated with the perceptual self-bias but not with the perceptual now-bias. We suggest that common attentional biases to present-relevant and self-relevant information mediate perceptual prioritization, whereas temporal discounting is likely involved in a separate reward evaluation mechanism that relates to self-bias processes.

The central locus of self-prioritisation.

Self-related information is under many circumstances processed in a preferred and biased way, leading to what has been termed the self-prioritisation effect (SPE). The SPE has been demonstrated with arbitrary stimuli assigned to self and others, thereby controlling the influence of familiarity, and originally been attributed to facilitated perceptual processing of self-related stimuli. Subsequent studies, however, casted doubts on this interpretation and suggested further possible sources for the SPE. In the present four experiments, we used the well-established psychological refractory period paradigm together with the locus of slack and the effect propagation logic to pinpoint the source of the SPE. The data consistently demonstrated the SPE across all experiments. More important, the results converge on the notion that the SPE has its source in a capacity-limited stage of central processing. The implications of these results are discussed in light of possible candidate processes as sources for the SPE, such as memory-related processing.

Multisensory processing in event-based prospective memory.

Failures in prospective memory (PM) - that is, the failure to remember intended future actions - can have adverse consequences. It is therefore important to study those processes that may help to minimize such cognitive failures. Although multisensory integration has been shown to enhance a wide variety of behaviors, including perception, learning, and memory, its effect on prospective memory, in particular, is largely unknown. In the present study, we investigated the effects of multisensory processing on two simultaneously-performed memory tasks: An ongoing 2- or 3-back working memory (WM) task (20% target ratio), and a PM task in which the participants had to respond to a rare predefined letter (8% target ratio). For PM trials, multisensory enhancement was observed for congruent multisensory signals; however, this effect did not generalize to the ongoing WM task. Participants were less likely to make errors for PM than for WM trials, thus suggesting that they may have biased their attention toward the PM task. Multisensory advantages on memory tasks, such as PM and WM, may be dependent on how attention resources are allocated across dual tasks.

Neural mechanisms for learning self and other ownership.

Sense of ownership is a ubiquitous and fundamental aspect of human cognition. Here we used model-based functional magnetic resonance imaging and a novel minimal ownership paradigm to probe the behavioural and neural mechanisms underpinning ownership acquisition for ourselves, friends and strangers. We find a self-ownership bias at multiple levels of behaviour from initial preferences to reaction times and computational learning rates. Ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and anterior cingulate sulcus (ACCs) responded more to self vs. stranger associations, but despite a pervasive neural bias to track self-ownership, no brain area tracked self-ownership exclusively. However, ACC gyrus (ACCg) specifically coded ownership prediction errors for strangers and ownership associative strength for friends and strangers but not for self. Core neural mechanisms for associative learning are biased to learn in reference to self but also engaged when learning in reference to others. In contrast, ACC gyrus exhibits specialization for learning about others.

In-group biases and oculomotor responses: beyond simple approach motivation.

An in-group bias describes an individual's bias towards a group that they belong to. Previous studies suggest that in-group bias facilitates approach motor responses, but disrupts avoidance ones. Such motor biases are shown to be more robust when the out-group is threatening. We investigated whether, under controlled visual familiarity and complexity, in-group biases still promote pro-saccade and hinder anti-saccades oculomotor responses. Participants first learned to associate an in-group or out-group label with an arbitrary shape. They were then instructed to listen to the group-relevant auditory cue (name of own and a rival university) followed by one of the shapes. Half of the participants were instructed to look towards the visual target if it matched the preceding group-relevant auditory cue and to look away from it if it did not match. The other half of the participants received reversed instructions. This design allowed us to orthogonally manipulate the effect of in-group bias and cognitive control demand on oculomotor responses. Both pro- and anti-saccades were faster and more accurate following the in-group auditory cue. Independently, pro-saccades were performed better than anti-saccades, and match judgements were faster and more accurate than non-match judgements. Our findings indicate that under higher cognitive control demands individuals' oculomotor responses improved following the motivationally salient cue (in-group). Our findings have important implications for learning and cognitive control in a social context. As we included rival groups, our results might to some extent reflect the effects of out-group threat. Future studies could extend our findings using non-threatening out-groups instead.

Multisensory enhancement elicited by unconscious visual stimuli.

The merging of information from different senses (i.e., multisensory integration) can facilitate information processing. Processing enhancements have been observed with signals that are irrelevant to the task at hand, and with cues that are non-predictive. Such findings are consistent with the notion that multiple sensory signals are sometimes integrated automatically. Multisensory enhancement has even been reported with stimuli that have been presented subliminally, though only with meaningful multisensory relations that have already been learned. The question of whether there exist cases where multisensory effects occur without either learning or awareness has, though, not been clearly established in the literature to date. Here, we present a case study of a patient with Posterior Cortical Atrophy, who was unable to consciously perceive visual stimuli with our task parameters, yet who nevertheless still exhibited signs of multisensory enhancement even with unlearned relations between audiovisual stimuli. In a simple speeded detection task, both response speed, and the variability of reaction times, decreased in a similar manner to controls for multisensory stimuli. These results are consistent with the view that the conscious perception of stimuli and prior learning are not always a prerequisite for multisensory integration to enhance human performance.

Self and team prioritisation effects in perceptual matching: Evidence for a shared representation.

Previous research has demonstrated that in-group favouritism occurs not only in higher-level judgments such as reward allocation, but also in low-level perceptual and attentional tasks. Recently, Moradi, Sui, Hewstone, and Humphreys (2015) found a novel effect of in-group bias on a simple perceptual matching task in which football fans responded more efficiently to stimuli newly associated with their own football team than stimuli associated with rival or neutral teams. This result is consistent with a robust self-bias effect in which individuals show a large performance advantage in responding to stimuli associated with the self over stimuli associated with a close friend or a stranger (Sui, He, & Humphreys, 2012). The present research utilised a perceptual matching paradigm to investigate the relations between self and in-group prioritisation amongst a sample of college rowers. Across two experiments, we demonstrated a reliable performance advantage for self and team stimuli. We also found a relationship between the self and team advantage in RT, and demonstrated an overlap in the perception of self- and team-associated shapes that was stronger in participants who reported a greater sense of group identity with their team. Further, we found no relation between the team bias and positive valence implicitly associated with the team, showing that the team bias effects are unlikely to be driven by emotional significance. The results are consistent with an overlap between self and in-group representation, which may provide evidence for a common process driving both self and in-group perceptual advantage effects.

Neuropsychological evidence for the temporal dynamics of category-specific naming.

Multiple accounts have been proposed to explain category-specific recognition impairments. Some suggest that category-specific deficits may be caused by a deficit in recurrent processing between the levels of a hierarchically organized visual object recognition system. Here, we tested predictions of interactive processing theories on the emergence of category-selective naming deficits in neurologically intact observers and in patient GA, a single case showing a category-specific impairment for natural objects after a herpes simplex encephalitis infection. Fragmented object outlines were repeatedly presented until correct naming occurred (maximum 10 times), and the fragments increased in length with every repetition. We studied how shape complexity, object category, and fragment curvature influence the timing of correct object identification. The results of a survival analysis are consistent with the idea that deficits in recurrent processing between low- and high-level visual object representations can cause category-selective impairments.

The self survives extinction: Self-association biases attention in patients with visual extinction.

People show biases to self-related information on a range of tasks. Key but controversial questions are whether self-related information is processed without attention, and whether self-related information determines what is attended. We examined this using patients showing visual extinction. We had patients associated shapes with themselves or their best friend prior to carrying out a shape identification task. We demonstrate that extinction was modulated by whether patients associated stimuli with themselves or their best friend. Notably, patients were biased to identify their own shape relative to the shape associated with their friend, when the two shapes were placed in competition. This occurred even when the self-associated shape fell in the contralesional field. The data indicate that self-relatedness can be computed pre-attentively and can cue attention to regions of space that would otherwise be ignored by neuropsychological patients.

Exploring the quiet eye in archery using field- and laboratory-based tasks.

The 'quiet eye' (QE)-a period of extended gaze fixation on a target-has been reported in many tasks that require accurate aiming. Longer quiet eye durations (QEDs) are reported in experts compared to non-experts and on successful versus less successful trials. The QE has been extensively studied in the field; however, the cognitive mechanisms underlying the QE are not yet fully understood. We investigated the QEDs of ten expert and ten novice archers in the field and in the laboratory using a computer-based archery task. The computer task consisted of shooting archery targets using a joystick. Random 'noise' (visual motion perturbation) was introduced at high and low levels to allow for the controlled examination of the effects of task complexity and processing demands. In this computer task, we also tested an additional group of ten non-archers as controls. In both field and computer tasks, eye movements were measured using electro-oculography. The expert archers exhibited longer QED compared to the novice archers in the field task. In the computer task, the archers again exhibited longer QEDs and were more accurate compared to non-archers. Furthermore, expert archers showed earlier QE onsets and longer QEDs during high noise conditions compared to the novices and non-archers. Our findings show skill-based effects on QED in field conditions and in a novel computer-based archery task, in which online (visual) perturbations modulated experts' QEDs. These longer QEDs in experts may be used for more efficient programming in which accurate predictions are facilitated by attention control.

Changes in intrinsic functional connectivity and group relevant salience: The case of sport rivalry.

Studies have shown that attending to salient group relevant information could increase the BOLD activity across distributed neural networks. However, it is unclear how attending to group relevant information changes the functional connectivity across these networks. We investigated this issue combining resting states and task-based fMRI experiment. The task involved football fans learning associations between arbitrary geometric shapes and the badges of in-group, the rival and the neutral football teams. Upon learning, participants viewed different badge/shape pairs and their task was to judge whether the viewed pair was a match or a mismatch. For whole brain analyses increased activity was found in the IFG, DLPFC, AI, fusiform gyrus, precuneus and pSTS (all in the left hemisphere) for the rival over the in-group mismatch. Further, the ROI analyses revealed larger beta-values for the rival badge in the left pSTS, left AI and the left IFG. However, larger beta-values were found in the left pSTS and the left IFG (but not AI) for the in-group shape. The intrinsic functional connectivity analyses revealed that compare to the pre-task, post task functional connectivity was decreased between the left DLPFC and the left AI. In contrast, it was increased between the left IFG and the left AI and this was correlated with the difference in RT for the rival vs. in-group team. Our findings suggest that attending to group relevant information differentially affects the strength of functional coupling in attention networks and this can be explained by the saliency of the group relevant information.

The Neural Basis of Independence Versus Interdependence Orientations: A Voxel-Based Morphometric Analysis of Brain Volume.

Sociocultural research has established independence and interdependence as two fundamental ways of thinking about oneself and the social world. Recent neuroscience studies further demonstrate that these orientations modulate brain activity in various self- and socially related tasks. In the current study, we explored whether the traits of independence and interdependence are reflected in anatomical variations in brain structure. We carried out structural brain imaging on a large sample of healthy participants ( n = 265) who also completed self-report questionnaires of cultural orientations. Voxel-based morphometry analysis demonstrated that a relative focus of independence (vs. interdependence) was associated with increased gray-matter volume in a number of self-related regions, including ventromedial prefrontal cortex, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and right rostrolateral prefrontal cortex. These results provide novel insights into the biological basis of sociocultural orientations.

Aging enhances cognitive biases to friends but not the self.

We measured changes in self and friend biases in perceptual matching in young and older participants. Participants learned associations between neutral geometric shapes and three personal labels (You, Friend, or Stranger), representing themselves, their named best friend, and a stranger not corresponding to anyone they knew. They then responded whether the shapes and labels matched or mismatched. In addition, participants reported the perceived personal distance between themselves, their best friend, and a stranger. Relative to young participants, older adults showed an increased bias toward matching their friends over strangers, whereas the bias toward the self over friends tended to decrease. Equivalent results occurred for a perceived personal distance measure, and, on measures of perceptual sensitivity with older participants, the personal distance between friends and strangers correlated with the friend bias in matching. These results indicate that the social bias toward a familiar best friend increases with age and modulates perceptual matching.

Different activity patterns for action and language within their shared neural areas: An fMRI study on action observation and language phonology.

The neural processes for action and language activate shared brain regions including the left inferior frontal, parietal and temporal-occipital cortices. However, it still remains unclear how action and language are related and what neural activity patterns are elicited within these shared cortical regions. In this study we examined the neural activation for action observation and language phonology in their shared cortical regions by conducting three experiments in a single fMRI session: a mixed-task experiment involving both action and language phonological processing, and two independent experiments involving language phonology and action observation respectively. To control for differences in the visual processing and to enable a direct comparison between the tasks, the same visual stimuli were used for the mixed-tasks. Common neural areas for action observation and language phonology were located in the junction of the left inferior frontal/precentral gyrus, the left intraparietal sulcus and the left temporal-occipital cortex. Nevertheless, multi-voxel pattern analysis on the shared neural areas revealed that different patterns of neural activity were elicited for the action and language phonological tasks. Our results provide the first neuroimaging evidence that the common neural structures are engaged differently by action and language phonological processing.

The neural representation of the gender of faces in the primate visual system: A computer modeling study.

We use an established neural network model of the primate visual system to show how neurons might learn to encode the gender of faces. The model consists of a hierarchy of 4 competitive neuronal layers with associatively modifiable feedforward synaptic connections between successive layers. During training, the network was presented with many realistic images of male and female faces, during which the synaptic connections are modified using biologically plausible local associative learning rules. After training, we found that different subsets of output neurons have learned to respond exclusively to either male or female faces. With the inclusion of short range excitation within each neuronal layer to implement a self-organizing map architecture, neurons representing either male or female faces were clustered together in the output layer. This learning process is entirely unsupervised, as the gender of the face images is not explicitly labeled and provided to the network as a supervisory training signal. These simulations are extended to training the network on rotating faces. It is found that by using a trace learning rule incorporating a temporal memory trace of recent neuronal activity, neurons responding selectively to either male or female faces were also able to learn to respond invariantly over different views of the faces. This kind of trace learning has been previously shown to operate within the primate visual system by neurophysiological and psychophysical studies. The computer simulations described here predict that similar neurons encoding the gender of faces will be present within the primate visual system. (PsycINFO Database Record