When tasks are performed, other tasks are postponed, at least implicitly. Little is known about h... more When tasks are performed, other tasks are postponed, at least implicitly. Little is known about how task sequencing is determined. We examined task sequencing in object transfer tasks for which either task could easily or logically come before the other. The task was to transfer ping pong balls from two buckets into a bowl. To perform the task, participants walked down a corridor, picked up one of two buckets (their choice), carried it to the end of the corridor, transferred the balls from the bucket into a bowl, carried the bucket back to the start position, and then did the same with the other remaining bucket. As in an earlier study where just one of two buckets had to be carried to the end of a corridor (Rosenbaum et al. Psychol Sci 25(7):1487-1496, 2014), participants showed a marked tendency to start with the near bucket. The near-bucket preference was modulated only to a small extent by the number of balls that could be emptied into the bowl. The relative lack of importance o...
Attention, perception & psychophysics, Jan 4, 2018
A towering figure in experimental psychology, Charles W. Eriksen, passed away in February this ye... more A towering figure in experimental psychology, Charles W. Eriksen, passed away in February this year. "Erik" made extensive original and lasting contributions to both research methods and theories in several areas of psychology, especially involving visual information processing. His research exhibited consistent concerns with experimental methods for distinguishing among alternative explanations and distinguishing perception from behavior. Erik pioneered many research methods now in common use-including converging operations, visual search, rapid serial presentations, the stop-signal paradigm, temporal integration in form perception, spatial cues for guiding selective attention, and the flankers task. He also introduced and tested many theories of selective attention. Erik was the founding editor of Perception & Psychophysics, and served for 23 years as its principal editor. An impressive and unforgettable person, Erik was a compelling personification of "the greatest...
Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting
Transparent motion occurs whenever dynamic HUD or HMD symbology is overlaid on the scene availabl... more Transparent motion occurs whenever dynamic HUD or HMD symbology is overlaid on the scene available through the windscreen. Psychophysical research has shown that two-dimensional transparent motion can produce systematic errors in perceived motion direction. In two experiments, we examined: a) whether transparent radial expansion patterns that accompany observer motion and specify heading direction are subject to such errors, b) whether attentional allocation to different motion components affects these errors, and c) whether these errors can result in inappropriate control input. We found that significant errors in perception of heading direction do occur for transparent radial expansion patterns, that attentional allocation influences these errors, and that these errors result in inappropriate control input.
Questions regarding the malleability of the mirror neuron system (MNS) continue to be debated. MN... more Questions regarding the malleability of the mirror neuron system (MNS) continue to be debated. MNS activation has been reported when people observe another person performing biological goal-directed behaviors, such as grasping a cup. These findings support the importance of mapping goal-directed biological behavior onto one's motor repertoire as a means of understanding the actions of others. Still, other evidence supports the Associative Sequence Learning (ASL) model which predicts that the MNS responds to a variety of stimuli after sensorimotor learning, not simply biological behavior. MNS activity develops as a consequence of developing stimulus-response associations between a stimulus and its motor outcome. Findings from the ideomotor literature indicate that stimuli that are more ideomotor compatible with a response are accompanied by an increase in response activation compared to less compatible stimuli; however, non-compatible stimuli robustly activate a constituent respo...
Holding an action plan in memory for later execution can delay execution of another action if the... more Holding an action plan in memory for later execution can delay execution of another action if the actions share a similar (compatible) feature. This compatibility interference (CI) occurs for actions that share the same response modality (e.g., manual response). We investigated whether CI can generalize to actions that utilize different response modalities (manual and vocal). In three experiments, participants planned and withheld a sequence of key-presses with the left- or right-hand based on the visual identity of the first stimulus, and then immediately executed a speeded, vocal response ('left' or 'right') to a second visual stimulus. The vocal response was based on discriminating stimulus color (Experiment 1), reading a written word (Experiment 2), or reporting the antonym of a written word (Experiment 3). Results showed that CI occurred when the manual response hand (e.g., left) was compatible with the identity of the vocal response (e.g., 'left') in Experiment 1 and 3, but not in Experiment 2. This suggests that partial overlap of semantic codes is sufficient to obtain CI unless the intervening action can be accessed automatically (Experiment 2). These findings are consistent with the code occupation hypothesis and the general framework of the theory of event coding (Behav Brain Sci 24:849-878, 2001a; Behav Brain Sci 24:910-937, 2001b).
The immune system may be compromised after menopause because of the effects of aging and diminish... more The immune system may be compromised after menopause because of the effects of aging and diminishing concentrations of estrogen, an immune-modulating hormone. Isoflavones, plant-derived compounds with estrogenic and antioxidant properties, may offer immunologic benefits to women during this stage of life. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of soy isoflavones, both in soymilk and in supplement form, on markers of immunity and oxidative stress in postmenopausal women. Postmenopausal women aged 50-65 y (n = 52) enrolled in this 16-wk double-blind, placebo-controlled trial were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 experimental groups: 1) control, 706 mL cow milk/d plus a placebo supplement; 2) soymilk, 71.6 mg isoflavones derived from 706 mL soymilk/d plus a placebo supplement; and 3) supplement, 70 mg isoflavones in a supplement plus 706 mL cow milk/d. Plasma and 24-h urine samples were obtained at baseline and at 16 wk. Immune variables included lymphocyte subsets, cytokin...
Conjunction benefits refers to the case in which discriminating the presence of multiple features... more Conjunction benefits refers to the case in which discriminating the presence of multiple features within an object (feature conjunctions) can be faster than discriminating the presence of the less discriminable feature alone (Fournier et al., 1998, 2000). An asynchronous priming model ...
Conjunction benefits refer to the case in which discriminating the presence of multiple features ... more Conjunction benefits refer to the case in which discriminating the presence of multiple features within an object (feature conjunctions) can be faster than discriminating the presence of the less discriminable feature alone (Fournier et al., 1998, 2000; 2004). An asynchronous priming ...
When tasks are performed, other tasks are postponed, at least implicitly. Little is known about h... more When tasks are performed, other tasks are postponed, at least implicitly. Little is known about how task sequencing is determined. We examined task sequencing in object transfer tasks for which either task could easily or logically come before the other. The task was to transfer ping pong balls from two buckets into a bowl. To perform the task, participants walked down a corridor, picked up one of two buckets (their choice), carried it to the end of the corridor, transferred the balls from the bucket into a bowl, carried the bucket back to the start position, and then did the same with the other remaining bucket. As in an earlier study where just one of two buckets had to be carried to the end of a corridor (Rosenbaum et al. Psychol Sci 25(7):1487-1496, 2014), participants showed a marked tendency to start with the near bucket. The near-bucket preference was modulated only to a small extent by the number of balls that could be emptied into the bowl. The relative lack of importance o...
Attention, perception & psychophysics, Jan 4, 2018
A towering figure in experimental psychology, Charles W. Eriksen, passed away in February this ye... more A towering figure in experimental psychology, Charles W. Eriksen, passed away in February this year. "Erik" made extensive original and lasting contributions to both research methods and theories in several areas of psychology, especially involving visual information processing. His research exhibited consistent concerns with experimental methods for distinguishing among alternative explanations and distinguishing perception from behavior. Erik pioneered many research methods now in common use-including converging operations, visual search, rapid serial presentations, the stop-signal paradigm, temporal integration in form perception, spatial cues for guiding selective attention, and the flankers task. He also introduced and tested many theories of selective attention. Erik was the founding editor of Perception & Psychophysics, and served for 23 years as its principal editor. An impressive and unforgettable person, Erik was a compelling personification of "the greatest...
Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting
Transparent motion occurs whenever dynamic HUD or HMD symbology is overlaid on the scene availabl... more Transparent motion occurs whenever dynamic HUD or HMD symbology is overlaid on the scene available through the windscreen. Psychophysical research has shown that two-dimensional transparent motion can produce systematic errors in perceived motion direction. In two experiments, we examined: a) whether transparent radial expansion patterns that accompany observer motion and specify heading direction are subject to such errors, b) whether attentional allocation to different motion components affects these errors, and c) whether these errors can result in inappropriate control input. We found that significant errors in perception of heading direction do occur for transparent radial expansion patterns, that attentional allocation influences these errors, and that these errors result in inappropriate control input.
Questions regarding the malleability of the mirror neuron system (MNS) continue to be debated. MN... more Questions regarding the malleability of the mirror neuron system (MNS) continue to be debated. MNS activation has been reported when people observe another person performing biological goal-directed behaviors, such as grasping a cup. These findings support the importance of mapping goal-directed biological behavior onto one's motor repertoire as a means of understanding the actions of others. Still, other evidence supports the Associative Sequence Learning (ASL) model which predicts that the MNS responds to a variety of stimuli after sensorimotor learning, not simply biological behavior. MNS activity develops as a consequence of developing stimulus-response associations between a stimulus and its motor outcome. Findings from the ideomotor literature indicate that stimuli that are more ideomotor compatible with a response are accompanied by an increase in response activation compared to less compatible stimuli; however, non-compatible stimuli robustly activate a constituent respo...
Holding an action plan in memory for later execution can delay execution of another action if the... more Holding an action plan in memory for later execution can delay execution of another action if the actions share a similar (compatible) feature. This compatibility interference (CI) occurs for actions that share the same response modality (e.g., manual response). We investigated whether CI can generalize to actions that utilize different response modalities (manual and vocal). In three experiments, participants planned and withheld a sequence of key-presses with the left- or right-hand based on the visual identity of the first stimulus, and then immediately executed a speeded, vocal response ('left' or 'right') to a second visual stimulus. The vocal response was based on discriminating stimulus color (Experiment 1), reading a written word (Experiment 2), or reporting the antonym of a written word (Experiment 3). Results showed that CI occurred when the manual response hand (e.g., left) was compatible with the identity of the vocal response (e.g., 'left') in Experiment 1 and 3, but not in Experiment 2. This suggests that partial overlap of semantic codes is sufficient to obtain CI unless the intervening action can be accessed automatically (Experiment 2). These findings are consistent with the code occupation hypothesis and the general framework of the theory of event coding (Behav Brain Sci 24:849-878, 2001a; Behav Brain Sci 24:910-937, 2001b).
The immune system may be compromised after menopause because of the effects of aging and diminish... more The immune system may be compromised after menopause because of the effects of aging and diminishing concentrations of estrogen, an immune-modulating hormone. Isoflavones, plant-derived compounds with estrogenic and antioxidant properties, may offer immunologic benefits to women during this stage of life. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of soy isoflavones, both in soymilk and in supplement form, on markers of immunity and oxidative stress in postmenopausal women. Postmenopausal women aged 50-65 y (n = 52) enrolled in this 16-wk double-blind, placebo-controlled trial were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 experimental groups: 1) control, 706 mL cow milk/d plus a placebo supplement; 2) soymilk, 71.6 mg isoflavones derived from 706 mL soymilk/d plus a placebo supplement; and 3) supplement, 70 mg isoflavones in a supplement plus 706 mL cow milk/d. Plasma and 24-h urine samples were obtained at baseline and at 16 wk. Immune variables included lymphocyte subsets, cytokin...
Conjunction benefits refers to the case in which discriminating the presence of multiple features... more Conjunction benefits refers to the case in which discriminating the presence of multiple features within an object (feature conjunctions) can be faster than discriminating the presence of the less discriminable feature alone (Fournier et al., 1998, 2000). An asynchronous priming model ...
Conjunction benefits refer to the case in which discriminating the presence of multiple features ... more Conjunction benefits refer to the case in which discriminating the presence of multiple features within an object (feature conjunctions) can be faster than discriminating the presence of the less discriminable feature alone (Fournier et al., 1998, 2000; 2004). An asynchronous priming ...
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