Hasil untuk "Consciousness. Cognition"

Boris New, Clément Guichet, Elsa Spinelli et al.

In this study, we investigated whether the visual “word height superiority illusion” (New et al., 2016) could be found in the auditory modality. In two experiments, participants listened to a word–word or word–pseudoword pair of the same or different intensity and judged whether one was louder than the other. They judged stimuli from their native language (L1) and second language (L2). In Experiment 1 with native French speakers, we found that words were perceived louder than pseudowords in the L1 (French) and the L2 (English). Moreover, the illusion was stronger in the L1 (French) than in the L2 (English). In Experiment 2 with native English speakers, we replicated the illusion both in the L1 (English) and the L2 (French) but to a similar extent. Overall, we replicated the visual word height superiority illusion in the auditory modality, which suggests that this may reflect a more general cognitive mechanism.

Alex J. Hoogerbrugge, Christoph Strauch, Sanne Böing et al.

Humans maintain an intricate balance between storing information in visual working memory (VWM) and just-in-time sampling of the external world, rooted in a trade-off between the cost of maintaining items in VWM versus retrieving information as it is needed. Previous studies have consistently shown that one prerequisite of just-in-time sampling is a high degree of availability of external information, and that introducing a delay before being able to access information led participants to rely less on the external world and more on VWM. However, these studies manipulated availability in such a manner that the cost of sampling was stable and predictable. It is yet unclear whether participants become less reliant on external information when it is more difficult to factor in the cost of sampling that information. In two experiments, participants copied an example layout from the left to the right side of the screen. In Experiment 1, intermittent occlusion of the example layout led participants to attempt to encode more items per inspection than when the layout was constantly available, but this did not consistently result in more correct placements. However, these findings could potentially be explained by inherent differences in how long the example layout could be viewed. Therefore in Experiment 2, the example layout only became available after a gaze-contingent delay, which could be constant or variable. Here, the introduction of any delay led to increased VWM load compared to no delay, although the degree of variability in the delay did not alter behaviour. These results reaffirm that the nature of when we engage VWM is dynamical, and suggest that any disruption to the continuous availability of external information is the main driver of increased VWM usage relative to whether availability is predictable or not.

Victoria Leong, Marina Kalashnikova, Denis Burnham et al.

Lena M. Blott, Anna E. Gowenlock, Rogier Kievit et al.

Translating experimental tasks that were designed to investigate differences between conditions at the group-level into valid and reliable instruments to measure individual differences in cognitive skills is challenging (Hedge et al., 2018; Rouder et al., 2019; Rouder & Haaf, 2019). For psycholinguists, the additional complexities associated with selecting or constructing language stimuli, and the need for appropriate well-matched baseline conditions make this endeavour particularly complex. In a typical experiment, a process-of-interest (e.g. ambiguity resolution) is targeted by contrasting performance in an experimental condition with performance in a well-matched control condition. In many cases, careful between-condition matching precludes the same participant from encountering all stimulus items. Unfortunately, solutions that work for group-level research (e.g. constructing counterbalanced experiment versions) are inappropriate for individual-differences designs. As a case study, we report an ambiguity resolution experiment that illustrates the steps that researchers can take to address this issue and assess whether their measurement instrument is both valid and reliable. On the basis of our findings, we caution against the widespread approach of using datasets from group-level studies to also answer important questions about individual differences.

Sarah D. McCrackin, Sabrina Provencher, Ethan Mendell et al.

Sustriana Saragih, Kwartarini Wahyu Yuniarti

Female victims of domestic violence often experience depression. This research used Empathic Love Therapy (ELT) to reduce depressive symptoms, by enabling individual to understand one-self deeper by realizing, understanding, accepting, and loving all aspects of the self, which is the early process of healing. This research is quasi-experiment research using a single group simple interrupted time series design. Five women aged 30-60 years old who experience depression, based on BDI (Beck Depression Inventory) score, participated in an eight-session therapy. Participants were recruited purposively based on theory-based or operational construct sampling. Data analysis combined quantitative and qualitative methods, of which Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test was used for quantitative analysis, whereas qualitative analysis adopted a descriptive analysis. Quantitative findings significant difference in BDI score between before and after treatment (Z = -2.023 with p=  0.043<0.05). Qualitative findings showed that participants were able to find survival personality that emerged from past painful experiences and plays a role in the depression symptoms they are currently experiencing. With the power of love they find from God, they are able to accept themselves, and focus their lives on their potential and positive future plans. Therefore, it can be concluded that Empathic Love Therapy is effective to be used to reduce depressive symptoms.

Andreas Lind, Robert J. Hartsuiker

Sergey Budaev, Tore S. Kristiansen, Jarl Giske et al.

To understand animal wellbeing, we need to consider subjective phenomena and sentience. This is challenging, since these properties are private and cannot be observed directly. Certain motivations, emotions and related internal states can be inferred in animals through experiments that involve choice, learning, generalization and decision-making. Yet, even though there is significant progress in elucidating the neurobiology of human consciousness, animal consciousness is still a mystery. We propose that computational animal welfare science emerges at the intersection of animal behaviour, welfare and computational cognition. By using ideas from cognitive science, we develop a functional and generic definition of subjective phenomena as any process or state of the organism that exists from the first-person perspective and cannot be isolated from the animal subject. We then outline a general cognitive architecture to model simple forms of subjective processes and sentience. This includes evolutionary adaptation which contains top-down attention modulation, predictive processing and subjective simulation by re-entrant (recursive) computations. Thereafter, we show how this approach uses major characteristics of the subjective experience: elementary self-awareness, global workspace and qualia with unity and continuity. This provides a formal framework for process-based modelling of animal needs, subjective states, sentience and wellbeing.

Charlotte Van den Driessche, Françoise Chevrier, Axel Cleeremans et al.

Abstract When engaged in a search task, one needs to arbitrate between exploring and exploiting the environment to optimize the outcome. Many intrinsic, task and environmental factors are known to influence the exploration/exploitation balance. Here, in a non clinical population, we show that the level of inattention (assessed as a trait) is one such factor: children with higher scores on an ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) questionnaire exhibited longer transitions between consecutively retrieved items, in both a visual and a semantic search task. These more frequent exploration behaviours were associated with differential performance patterns: children with higher levels of ADHD traits performed better in semantic search, while their performance was unaffected in visual search. Our results contribute to the growing literature suggesting that ADHD should not be simply conceived as a pure deficit of attention, but also as a specific cognitive strategy that may prove beneficial in some contexts.

Ben J. A. Palanca, Ben J. A. Palanca, Hannah R. Maybrier et al.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) employs the elective induction of generalizes seizures as a potent treatment for severe psychiatric illness. As such, ECT provides an opportunity to rigorously study the recovery of consciousness, reconstitution of cognition, and electroencephalographic (EEG) activity following seizures. Fifteen patients with major depressive disorder refractory to pharmacologic therapy will be enrolled (Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT02761330). Adequate seizure duration will be confirmed following right unilateral ECT under etomidate anesthesia. Patients will then undergo randomization for the order in which they will receive three sequential treatments: etomidate + ECT, ketamine + ECT, and ketamine + sham ECT. Sessions will be repeated in the same sequence for a total of six treatments. Before each session, sensorimotor speed, working memory, and executive function will be assessed through a standardized cognitive test battery. After each treatment, the return of purposeful responsiveness to verbal command will be determined. At this point, serial cognitive assessments will begin using the same standardized test battery. The presence of delirium and changes in depression severity will also be ascertained. Sixty-four channel EEG will be acquired throughout baseline, ictal, and postictal epochs. Mixed-effects models will correlate the trajectories of cognitive recovery, clinical outcomes, and EEG metrics over time. This innovative research design will answer whether: (1) time to return of responsiveness will be prolonged with ketamine + ECT compared with ketamine + sham ECT; (2) time of restoration to baseline function in each cognitive domain will take longer after ketamine + ECT than after ketamine + sham ECT; (3) postictal delirium is associated with delayed restoration of baseline function in all cognitive domains; and (4) the sequence of reconstitution of cognitive domains following the three treatments in this study is similar to that occurring after an isoflurane general anesthetic (NCT01911195). Sub-studies will assess the relationships of cognitive recovery to the EEG preceding, concurrent, and following individual ECT sessions. Overall, this study will lead the development of biomarkers for tailoring the cogno-affective recovery of patients undergoing ECT.

David Benrimoh, Thomas Parr, Peter Vincent et al.

Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) are often distressing symptoms of several neuropsychiatric conditions, including schizophrenia. Using a Markov decision process formulation of active inference, we develop a novel model of AVH as false (positive) inference. Active inference treats perception as a process of hypothesis testing, in which sensory data are used to disambiguate between alternative hypotheses about the world. Crucially, this depends upon a delicate balance between prior beliefs about unobserved (hidden) variables and the sensations they cause. A false inference that a voice is present, even in the absence of auditory sensations, suggests that prior beliefs dominate perceptual inference. Here we consider the computational mechanisms that could cause this imbalance in perception. Through simulation, we show that the content of (and confidence in) prior beliefs depends on beliefs about policies (here sequences of listening and talking) and on beliefs about the reliability of sensory data. We demonstrate several ways in which hallucinatory percepts could occur when an agent expects to hear a voice in the presence of imprecise sensory data. This model expresses, in formal terms, alternative computational mechanisms that underwrite AVH and, speculatively, can be mapped onto neurobiological changes associated with schizophrenia. The interaction of action and perception is important in modeling AVH, given that speech is a fundamentally enactive and interactive process—and that hallucinators often actively engage with their voices.

Stacy A. Wetmore, Ryan M. McAdoo, Scott D. Gronlund et al.

Abstract Filler siphoning theory posits that the presence of fillers (known innocents) in a lineup protects an innocent suspect from being chosen by siphoning choices away from that innocent suspect. This mechanism has been proposed as an explanation for why simultaneous lineups (viewing all lineup members at once) induces better performance than showups (one-person identification procedures). We implemented filler siphoning in a computational model (WITNESS, Clark, Applied Cognitive Psychology 17:629–654, 2003), and explored the impact of the number of fillers (lineup size) and filler quality on simultaneous and sequential lineups (viewing lineups members in sequence), and compared both to showups. In limited situations, we found that filler siphoning can produce a simultaneous lineup performance advantage, but one that is insufficient in magnitude to explain empirical data. However, the magnitude of the empirical simultaneous lineup advantage can be approximated once criterial variability is added to the model. But this modification works by negatively impacting showups rather than promoting more filler siphoning. In sequential lineups, fillers were found to harm performance. Filler siphoning fails to clarify the relationship between simultaneous lineups and sequential lineups or showups. By incorporating constructs like filler siphoning and criterial variability into a computational model, and trying to approximate empirical data, we can sort through explanations of eyewitness decision-making, a prerequisite for policy recommendations.

Davyd M.O. Alves, Alana Peixoto de Almeida, Stefany Karoline Teodoro Correia et al.

S A Nizhnikov

The article reveals the specificity of understanding the symbol as a means of cognition of consciousness in the works by M.K. Mamardashvili. It demonstrates the difference between his interpretation and the analogues existing in neo-Kantianism and Russian Silver Age metaphysics (P.A. Florensky, A.F. Losev, etc). The symbol of consciousness is seen as an “empty shape”, a transcendental issue, through which transcendence generating man as a spiritual and moral being becomes possible Mamardashvili’s criticism of the naturalized theory of ideas (“Platonism”) is analyzed. The idea itself is seen as a symbol of consciousness, a unit of its description. The entire history of philosophy is considered from the same point of view.

Javier Nieto, Gabriela González-Martín, Livia Sánchez-Carrasco

Se diseñaron dos experimentos para evaluar la reinstauración selectiva de respuestas instrumentales asociadas a consecuencias diferentes (Experimento 1), y el efecto del número de sesiones de extinción en dicha reinstauración (Experimento 2). En el Experimento 1 se entrenó a dos grupos de ratas en tres fases. En la primera fase se condujeron dos sesiones diarias, en una la respuesta (R) 1 se asoció con la consecuencia (C) 1 y en la otra la R2 se asoció con la C2 para el Grupo Diferente, y para el Grupo Común se empleó la misma consecuencia para entrenar ambas respuestas. Posteriormente, en extinción, se descontinuó la entrega de las consecuencias. Finalmente, en la prueba se re-expuso a los sujetos a una de las consecuencias empleadas en la primera fase. En el Experimento 2 se empleó un procedimiento similar al del experimento previo, se entrenaron tres grupos (i.e. Común, Diferente C1 y Diferente C2) en cuatro fases secuenciales: Adquisición de R1, Adquisición de R2, Extinción y Prueba. En la fase de prueba se expuso a los grupos a alguna de las consecuencias empleadas durante el entrenamiento, después de 5 ó 10 sesiones de extinción. Los resultados mostraron reinstauración selectiva de respuestas en función de la consecuencia en ambos experimentos, aunque el Experimento 2 mostró reinstauración selectiva sólo cuando la prueba se realizó después de 5 sesiones de extinción, pero no cuando se emplearon 10 sesiones. Se discuten los resultados en términos de las propiedades que adquieren las consecuencias como estímulo discriminativo.

Shaun Gallagher, Francisco Varela

We argue that phenomenology can be of central and positive importance to the cognitive sciences, and that it can also learn from the empirical research conducted in those sciences. We discuss the project of naturalizing phenomenology and how this can be best accomplished. We provide several examples of how phenomenology and the cognitive sciences can integrate their research. Specifically, we consider issues related to embodied cognition and intersubjectivity. We provide a detailed analysis of issues related to time-consciousness, with reference to understanding schizophrenia and the loss of the sense of agency. We offer a positive proposal to address these issues based on a neurobiological dynamic-systems model.

Gumersinda Alonso, A. Sebastián Lombas, Gabriel Rodríguez

En un experimento tres grupos de ratas recibieron inicialmente exposición a un compuesto de dos sabores, AX, y a uno de los elementos de ese compuesto, X. El grupo ALT recibió las presentaciones de AX y X alternadamente; el grupo BLQ-AX-X recibió primero un bloque con todas las presentaciones de AX y después un bloque con todas las presentaciones de X; el grupo BLQ-X-AX recibió la secuencia de presentación contraria. Posteriormente se estableció una aversión a X. Finalmente se observó que la generalización de esta aversión ante AX fue menor en el grupo ALT que en los grupos BLQ-AX-X y BLQ-X-AX, y que estos dos grupos no difirieron entre sí. Se discuten las implicaciones de estos resultados para la hipótesis de modulación de saliencia propuesta por G. Hall (2003).

Basavaraja Papanna, Carlo Lazzari, Kapil Kulkarni et al.

Introduction:: Pregabalin (PGN) is an anxiolytic, analgesic, antiepileptic, and hypnotic medication. There are concerns about its abuse in the community for managing chronic insomnia and other risks when assumed in overdose or combination with other abuse substances. PGN is classified as a controlled medication. While its discontinuation is accompanied by rebound insomnia and other neurological symptoms, cross-tapering PGN with short-term diazepam (DZ) during inpatient admissions has shown promising results in dealing with PGN withdrawal symptoms accompanied by rebound insomnia. Material and Methods:: We report three cases that began abusing their prescribed PGN. During hospital admission, our teams used a protocol for cross-tapering PGN with DZ to reduce withdrawal symptoms. Other sedative medications are suspended while alcohol is not allowed if patients are on leave from the hospital. Standardized scales for assessment were clinical global impression scale-severity (CGI-S), generalized anxiety disorder scale (GAD-7), and insomnia severity index (ISI). Results:: The cross-tapering PGN with DZ showed similar clinical outcomes with reduced withdrawal symptoms and rebound insomnia during two weeks of cross-tapering. Eventually, DZ, too, is stopped in the hospital to avoid another dependence syndrome. Conclusion:: As emerging in the current study, PGN has strong addictive effects in people who have insomnia and is mostly abused for its hypnotic or sleep-inducing properties when other medications have failed. As applied in the current study, DZ can manage PGN withdrawal symptoms with rebound insomnia while cross-tapering. DZ is then discontinued.

M. Perea, L. Fernández, E. Rosa

Donald W. Zimmerman

It is well known that the two-sample Student t test fails to maintain its&#xD; significance level when the variances of treatment groups are unequal, and,&#xD; at the same time, sample sizes are unequal. However, introductory textbooks&#xD; in psychology and education often maintain that the test is robust to variance&#xD; heterogeneity when sample sizes are equal. The present study discloses that,&#xD; for a wide variety of non-normal distributions, especially skewed&#xD; distributions, the Type I error probabilities of both the t test and the&#xD; Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test are substantially inflated by heterogeneous&#xD; variances, even when sample sizes are equal. The Type I error rate of the t&#xD; test performed on ranks replacing the scores (rank-transformed data) is&#xD; inflated in the same way and always corresponds closely to that of the&#xD; Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test. For many probability densities, the distortion&#xD; of the significance level is far greater after transformation to ranks and,&#xD; contrary to known asymptotic properties, the magnitude of the inflation is an&#xD; increasing function of sample size. Although nonparametric tests of location&#xD; also can be sensitive to differences in the shape of distributions apart from&#xD; location, the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test and rank-transformation tests&#xD; apparently are influenced mainly by skewness that is accompanied by&#xD; specious differences in the means of ranks.