Articles tagged with: Experimental Psychology (formerly “Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie”)
The Involuntary Capture of Attention by Sound
The presentation of auditory oddball stimuli (novels) among otherwise repeated
sounds (standards) triggers a well-identified chain of electrophysiological
responses: The detection of acoustic change (mismatch negativity), the
involuntary orientation of attention to (P3a) and its reorientation from the
novel. Behaviorally, novels reduce performance in an unrelated visual task
(novelty distraction). Past studies of the cross-modal capture of attention by
acoustic novelty have typically discarded from their analysis the data from the
standa [...]
The presentation of auditory oddball stimuli (novels) among otherwise repeated
sounds (standards) triggers a well-identified chain of electrophysiological
responses: The detection of acoustic change (mismatch negativity), the
involuntary orientation of attention to (P3a) and its reorientation from the
novel. Behaviorally, novels reduce performance in an unrelated visual task
(novelty distraction). Past studies of the cross-modal capture of attention by
acoustic novelty have typically discarded from their analysis the data from the
standa [...]
When Arnold is “The Terminator”, We No Longer See Him as a Man
The current research examined the intersection of social categorization and
identity recognition to investigate whether and when one form of construal would
dominate people’s responses to social targets. Using an automatic
priming paradigm and manipulating prime duration to examine how familiarity with
social targets and the time course of processing moderate construal, we asked
participants to judge the familiarity and sex of faces (Experiments 1 and 2,
respectively). The results revealed that both unfamiliar and familiar faces were
i [...]
Activation and Persistence of Implicit Causality Information in Spoken Language Comprehension
A visual world eye-tracking study investigated the activation and persistence of
implicit causality information in spoken language comprehension. We showed that
people infer the implicit causality of verbs as soon as they encounter such
verbs in discourse, as is predicted by proponents of the immediate focusing
account (Greene & McKoon,
1995; Koornneef
& Van Berkum, 2006; Van Berkum, Koornneef, Otten, & Nieuwland,
2007). Interestingly, we observed activation of implicit
causality information even before people encountered th [...]
A visual world eye-tracking study investigated the activation and persistence of
implicit causality information in spoken language comprehension. We showed that
people infer the implicit causality of verbs as soon as they encounter such
verbs in discourse, as is predicted by proponents of the immediate focusing
account (Greene & McKoon,
1995; Koornneef
& Van Berkum, 2006; Van Berkum, Koornneef, Otten, & Nieuwland,
2007). Interestingly, we observed activation of implicit
causality information even before people encountered th [...]
Spatial Knowledge Acquisition in Younger and Elderly Adults
This study investigated the process of spatial knowledge acquisition in younger
adults (20–30 years), middle-aged adults (40–50 years),
and older adults (60–70 years) in a desktop virtual environment,
where participants learned a way through a virtual maze, had to recall landmarks
that were present in the maze, and had to draw an overview of the maze. The
results revealed a general decline in spatial memory of the elderly, that is, in
the time needed to learn a new route, in the retrieval of landmarks from memory
(landmark knowledg [...]
This study investigated the process of spatial knowledge acquisition in younger
adults (20–30 years), middle-aged adults (40–50 years),
and older adults (60–70 years) in a desktop virtual environment,
where participants learned a way through a virtual maze, had to recall landmarks
that were present in the maze, and had to draw an overview of the maze. The
results revealed a general decline in spatial memory of the elderly, that is, in
the time needed to learn a new route, in the retrieval of landmarks from memory
(landmark knowledg [...]
Dynamic Visual Noise Affects Visual Short-Term Memory for Surface Color, but not Spatial Location
In two experiments participants retained a single color or a set of four spatial
locations in memory. During a 5 s retention interval participants viewed either
flickering dynamic visual noise or a static matrix pattern. In Experiment 1
memory was assessed using a recognition procedure, in which participants
indicated if a particular test stimulus matched the memorized stimulus or not.
In Experiment 2 participants attempted to either reproduce the locations or they
picked the color from a whole range of possibilities. Both experiments rev [...]
In two experiments participants retained a single color or a set of four spatial
locations in memory. During a 5 s retention interval participants viewed either
flickering dynamic visual noise or a static matrix pattern. In Experiment 1
memory was assessed using a recognition procedure, in which participants
indicated if a particular test stimulus matched the memorized stimulus or not.
In Experiment 2 participants attempted to either reproduce the locations or they
picked the color from a whole range of possibilities. Both experiments rev [...]
Do People’s Motives Influence Their Susceptibility to Imagination Inflation?
People are motivated to remember past autobiographical experiences related to
their current goals; we investigated whether people are also motivated to
remember false past experiences related to those goals. In Session 1, we
measured subjects’ implicit and explicit achievement and affiliation
motives. Subjects then rated their confidence about, and memory for, childhood
events containing achievement and affiliation themes. Two weeks later in Session
2, subjects received a “computer-generated profile” based
on their Session 1 rating [...]
People are motivated to remember past autobiographical experiences related to
their current goals; we investigated whether people are also motivated to
remember false past experiences related to those goals. In Session 1, we
measured subjects’ implicit and explicit achievement and affiliation
motives. Subjects then rated their confidence about, and memory for, childhood
events containing achievement and affiliation themes. Two weeks later in Session
2, subjects received a “computer-generated profile” based
on their Session 1 rating [...]
Affect 4.0
We describe Affect 4.0, a user-friendly software package for implementing
psychological and psychophysiological experiments. Affect 4.0 can be used to
present visual, acoustic, and/or tactile stimuli in highly complex
(i.e., semirandomized and response-contingent) sequences. Affect 4.0 is capable
of registering response latencies and analog behavioral input with millisecond
accuracy. Affect 4.0 is available free of charge.
Content Type Journal ArticleCategory Research ArticleDOI 10.1027/1618-3169/a000005Authors
Adriaan Spruyt, Universit [...]
We describe Affect 4.0, a user-friendly software package for implementing
psychological and psychophysiological experiments. Affect 4.0 can be used to
present visual, acoustic, and/or tactile stimuli in highly complex
(i.e., semirandomized and response-contingent) sequences. Affect 4.0 is capable
of registering response latencies and analog behavioral input with millisecond
accuracy. Affect 4.0 is available free of charge.
Content Type Journal ArticleCategory Research ArticleDOI 10.1027/1618-3169/a000005Authors
Adriaan Spruyt, Universit [...]
Using the Implicit Association Test as a Measure of Causal Learning does not Eliminate Effects of Rule Learning
Given that human causal judgments may be based on propositional reasoning
processes rather than reflecting the strength of associations between cause and
outcome representations (e.g., De Houwer, 2009, for a review), the question
arises whether there are measures of causal learning that are sensitive only to
the strength of associations. We investigated the potential of the Implicit
Association Test (IAT) in this context. The results showed evidence for rule
learning even when IAT effects were used as an index of learning. This suggests
[...]
Given that human causal judgments may be based on propositional reasoning
processes rather than reflecting the strength of associations between cause and
outcome representations (e.g., De Houwer, 2009, for a review), the question
arises whether there are measures of causal learning that are sensitive only to
the strength of associations. We investigated the potential of the Implicit
Association Test (IAT) in this context. The results showed evidence for rule
learning even when IAT effects were used as an index of learning. This suggests
[...]
Giving Contexts Informative Value Makes Information Context-Specific
Contexts are sometimes informative about relationships that occur within them
and sometimes not. The goal of this experiment was to determine the effect of
that information value on the context-specificity of learning. Participants
performed an instrumental task within a computer game in which they defended
different Andalucía beaches (contexts) by destroying several
attackers (planes or tanks) by clicking on them (responses) with the mouse. A
colored sensor (discriminative stimulus) indicated to participants which
attacker could be des [...]
Contexts are sometimes informative about relationships that occur within them
and sometimes not. The goal of this experiment was to determine the effect of
that information value on the context-specificity of learning. Participants
performed an instrumental task within a computer game in which they defended
different Andalucía beaches (contexts) by destroying several
attackers (planes or tanks) by clicking on them (responses) with the mouse. A
colored sensor (discriminative stimulus) indicated to participants which
attacker could be des [...]
Fast and Fragile
Numerous studies suggest that processing verbal materials containing negations
slows down cognition and makes it more error-prone. This suggests that
processing negations affords relatively nonautomatic processes. The present
research studied the role of two automaticity features (processing speed and
resource dependency) for negation processing. In three experiments, we tested
the impact of verbal negations on affective priming effects in the Affect
Misattribution Paradigm. Going beyond previous work, the results indicate that
negations [...]
Numerous studies suggest that processing verbal materials containing negations
slows down cognition and makes it more error-prone. This suggests that
processing negations affords relatively nonautomatic processes. The present
research studied the role of two automaticity features (processing speed and
resource dependency) for negation processing. In three experiments, we tested
the impact of verbal negations on affective priming effects in the Affect
Misattribution Paradigm. Going beyond previous work, the results indicate that
negations [...] 
