Bizarre Effects Research Articles

The bizarreness effect and visual imagery: No impact of concurrent visuo-spatial distractor tasks indicates little role for visual imagery.

Ancient as well as modern writers have promoted the idea that bizarre images enhance memory. Research has documented bizarreness effects, with one standard technique finding that sentences describing unusual, implausible, or bizarre scenarios are better remembered than sentences describing plausible, every day, or common scenarios. Not surprisingly, this effect is often attributed to visual imagery, and the effect often referred to as the bizarre imagery effect. But the role of imagery has been disputed even as research has found it difficult to clearly distinguish the effects of imagery from other possible bases for the bizarreness advantage. The current experiments assessed the visual-imagery hypothesis by disrupting visual imagery processes during encoding, which should reduce the bizarreness effect if it is indeed due to imagery. Specifically, one group carried out a concurrent task that selectively disrupted visual working memory (and visual imagery) during the encoding of sentences; a control group encoded the sentences without distraction. Across four experiments, the distractor task was dynamic visual noise, the spatial tapping task, and a visual span task. Each experiment found a robust bizarreness effect that was never reduced by visuospatial distraction. Combined, meta-analytic, and Bayesian analyses concurred with the results of the individual experiments. The results indicate little role for visual imagery in the bizarreness effect. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Bizarreness and Typicality Effects of Color on Object Recognition Memory.

The bizarreness effect on object recognition is a strong phenomenon, but its influence has been inconsistent for bizarre object color. In this study, we manipulated three factors in separate experiments to determine whether a color bizarreness effect on object recognition memory would occur and, if not, why. Participants first saw (i.e., learned) object pictures that were either bizarrely or typically colored; they then completed a recognition memory test. In three experiments, we then manipulated (a) degree of color bizarreness (Experiment 1), (b) the orientation task (Experiment 2), and (c) additional demands for object identification (Experiment 3). In Experiment 1, we provided 49 undergraduate participants with object pictures whose colors were typical, moderately atypical, or bizarre and found no color bizarreness effect on recognition memory even for extremely bizarre colors. In Experiment 2, we manipulated the orientation task in that 28 young adult participants expressed their preferences for the pictures on a three-point scale while another 28 participants judged how natural the pictures were. Each orientation task group better recognized typically-colored rather than bizarrely-colored objects (typicality effect). In Experiment 3, we asked 27 young adults to identify the objects during the learning phase to ensure that they paid attention to the objects' bizarre colors; recognition memory was then unaffected by either color bizarreness or typicality. Thus, despite a general bizarreness effect in recognition memory, bizarre colors are less likely to influence object recognition memory.

Color bizarreness effects in object memory: Evidence from a recall test and eye tracking

AbstractThe main purpose of this study was to examine whether we could find a color bizarreness effect in object memory. Given robust results that objects with bizarre shapes are remembered better than those with common shapes, we would also expect to find a color bizarreness effect. In experiment 1, as in most studies of bizarreness effects, participants were presented pictures one by one in the learning phase, and recalled the object names in the test phase. In experiment 2, we presented multiple objects simultaneously in the learning phase and measured how long participants looked at each object by eye tracking. If participants paid attention to bizarre color objects, it would provide strong support for a color bizarreness effect. The results supported the existence of this effect. Our results strengthen research findings on bizarreness effects in pictorial materials in a different aspect. Not only an object's shape, but also its color can produce the bizarreness effect. Furthermore, we clearly demonstrated that bizarre colors attract attention and enhance object memory. This could be applied to making memorable advertisements and creating learning materials.

Screening/Spot/Colour test of hallucinogens

Hallucinogens are diverse group of chemicals occurring naturally as well as synthetic. These drugs produce bizarre effects on the mind, such as distortion of time, space, sound, colour, and other sensations. It acts primarily on the central nervous system and interfere with the filtering mechanisms of the mind causing alterations in perceptions, thinking and moods. In India, Forensic Science Laboratories run by Government under the Home ministry usually carry out this. The samples must be analyzed by the forensic toxicologist/chemists/scientist. This article deals with the screening/spot test for hallucinogens. It attempts has been made for screening/spot/colour test of Hallucinogens in a stepwise manner, which can be of handy reference for the forensic toxicologist/scientist/chemist.

Metoclopramide and acute dystonia: A case report

Metoclopramide is one of the frequently used antiemetic and prokinetic. The aim of this case report is to emphasize the occurrence of metoclopramide induced acute dystonic reaction. Its prevalence is increasing and can be life threatening. We present a case of 18 years old female, who presented to the emergency of Kathmandu Medical College with the complaints of pain and stiffness of the neck and inability to keep her tongue in her mouth. She developed acute dystonic reactions after her fourth dose of Metoclopramide; which was prescribed for her vomiting associated with dysmenorrhea. The drug was discontinued and 25 mg of intravenous Chlorpheniramine was administered. The symptom subsided in two hours and was discharged with oral Chlorpheniramine. Metoclopramide can cause severe adverse reaction such as acute dystonic reaction, which is of unpredictable nature, physicians should be aware of this bizarre effect and the treatment.

Prototypical actions with objects are more easily imagined than atypical actions

ABSTRACTTool use is an important facet of everyday life, though sometimes it is necessary to use tools in ways that do not fit within their typical functions. Here we asked participants to imagine characters using objects based on instructions that fit the prototypical actions for the object or were atypical in a novel object-action imagery task. Atypical action instructions either described sensible, substitute uses of the object, or actions that were bizarre but possible. Participants were better able to imagine the prototypical than atypical actions, but no effect of bizarreness was found. We additionally assessed inter-individual differences in movement imagery ability using two objective tests. Performance in the object-action imagery task correlated with the movement imagery tests, providing a link between motor simulations and mental imagery ability.

Secondary distinctiveness effects: Orthographic distinctiveness andbizarreness effects make independent contributions to memory performance.

The secondary distinctiveness effect means that items that are unusual compared to one's general knowledge stored in permanent memory are remembered better than common items. This research studied two forms of secondary-distinctiveness-based effects in conjunction: the bizarreness effect and the orthographic distinctiveness (OD) effect. More specifically, an experiment investigated in young adults a possible additive effect of bizarreness and OD effects in free recall performance. Results revealed that in young adults these two secondary-distinctiveness-based effects appear to be largely independent and can complement each other to enhance performance. Findings are discussed in light of current distinctiveness theory.

Investigating secondary-distinctiveness-based effects in aging and Alzheimer's disease patients.

The aim of the present study was 2-fold. First, two experiments were devised to further investigate secondary distinctiveness-based effects in relation to aging. By using a repeated study-test procedure, it aimed at restoring the bizarreness effect (Experiment 1) or at amplifying the orthographic distinctiveness (OD) effect in older adults (Experiment 2). Second, by including Alzheimer's disease patients (AD patients) in both experiments, it also aimed at instigating research on secondary distinctiveness-based effects in relation to Alzheimer disease. The results of Experiment 1 revealed that a repeated study-test procedure may to some extent facilitate the free recalling of bizarre images in older adults. However, the benefit of such procedure does not seem to be durable in older adults (no bizarreness effect for the last study-test cycle) and is inefficient in AD patients. Surprisingly, for both older adults and AD patients, results of Experiment 2 revealed a similar OD effect across all study-test cycles. The findings of both experiments were related to previous work suggesting that the bizarreness effect and the OD effect are mediated by different processing.

A Bizarre Virtual Trainer Outperforms a Human Trainer in Foreign Language Word Learning

In this study, the effects that a human trainer and a pedagogical virtual agent have on the memory for words in a foreign language (L2) were investigated. In a recent study on L2 word learning, Bergmann and Macedonia (2013) cued participants to memorize novel words both audiovisually and by performing additional gestures. The gestures were performed by both a human and a virtual trainer. In some of the tests, the virtual agent had a greater positive influence on memory performance than the human trainer. In order to determine why the agent was a better trainer than the human, 18 naive subjects were invited to rate the gestures performed by both trainers. Furthermore, participants were asked to evaluate their perception of the human and the agent. It was hypothesized that the gestures performed by the agent would be more peculiar than those by the human and possibly attract greater attention. It was also hypothesized that the agent’s personality might be more appealing than that of the human. The results showed that the agent’s gestures were perceived as less natural than those of the human. This might have triggered greater attention and/ or more emotional involvement of the participants. The perception of both trainers as “personalities” did not differ, with the exception of a few traits for which the human trainer was considered to be better. Altogether, because of the peculiar gestures it made and because of its looks, the agent may have been perceived as bizarre. Therefore, he might have induced the bizarreness effect in the memory for words. KeywordsVirtual Agen; Evaluatio; Foreign Language; Learning

History on organotin compounds, from snails to humans

Organotin compounds are industrial chemicals used as biocides, polyvinyl chloride stabilizers and industrial catalysts for the manufacture of silicone and polyurethane foams. Despite multiple applications, organotin notoriety is due to tributyltin, a potent biocide used in antifouling paints. Because of the intensive use of tributyltin for the protection of ships’ hulls, tributyltin has been largely released into waters, resulting in adverse and even bizarre effects on aquatic organisms, such as imposex in gastropods. However, organotins include other compounds such as tributyltin derivatives, phenyltins and octyltins. Organotin use in plastics, silicone and foams results in their occurrence almost everywhere, e.g., clothes, toys, wallpaper, food containers, household piping and medical devices. Hence, humans are exposed to organotins not solely through ingestion of contaminated seafood but also through direct contact with treated products and by inhalation and ingestion of dust. As a consequence, organotins have been detected in human samples. Toxicity data reveal that organotins are endocrine disruptors, immunotoxicants, carcinogens and obesogens. Here, we review the levels, fate and effects of organotin compounds toward wildlife and humans, starting with a description of organotin applications, with particular incidence in antifouling paints. The global contamination of the marine environment and the deleterious effects of tributyltin onto nontarget organisms are addressed, with particular attention to the imposex phenomenon. The restrictions on tributyltin use in antifouling paints are also described alongside with the new regulations for organotins in consumer products. The sources and pathways of organotins in the environment are discussed, studies in human exposure are presented, and future research is proposed.

The bizarreness effect: evidence for the critical influence of retrieval processes

People show better memory for bizarre sentences relative to common sentences, a finding referred to as the bizarrness effect. Interestingly, this effect is typically only obtained using a mixed-list design, in which participants study common and bizarre sentences in the same list. This bizarreness effect in mixed-list designs has been explained as the result of both enhanced encoding processes and efficient retrieval processes. The present experiment was designed to isolate the unique contributions of the retrieval context to the bizarreness effect. Participants studied common sentences in one room under one set of instructions, and bizarre sentences in another room under another set of instructions. At test, participants recalled the common and bizarre sentences either together or separately. The results showed that the bizarreness effect was only obtained when participants recalled the common and bizarre items together; no bizarreness advantage emerged when participants were required to recall the common and bizarre items separately. These results suggest that differential encoding processes are not necessary for explaining the bizarreness effect in memory. Rather, retrieval of the mixed-list context appears to be critical for obtaining the effect.

English

Abstract Introduction Modern media are instruments of a cross-linked social system. Because everyone is involved, media-associated psychological effects have arisen. Due to the bizarre effects of mediacaused behaviour, authors have discussed the question of the entity of possible newand media-associated symptoms and devised a practical way to approach this question. In summary, the question that arises is whether George Orwell’s literally-formulated hypotheses could clarify the phenomenon of media-associated diseases. Hypothesis Owing to the increasing use of new media tools, such as smartphones and handhelds, and social media networks, bizarre reports of mediaassociated aggressive or self-aggressive behaviour have arisen. These reports are perhaps not only a result of a permanent multitasking-use of the new media tools but also a new entity of media-associated diseases caused by the media tools themselves. Conclusion To check these implications, we propose a stepwise clinical pathway to clarify the question if the phenomenon of media-associated diseases is genuine or only an end result of the increased use of media tools. Introduction Modern media, such as the Internet and mobile phones, are leading irreplaceable instruments of a crosslinked global system. The Internet, which allows people in different parts of the world to exchange information, is accessible everywhere at all times by modern mobile smartphones, which support a wide range of services such as text and multimedia messaging, email, short-range wireless communications (infrared, Bluetooth), business applications, gaming and photography. The use of social networking, including Facebook, Twitter and others, and new media as communication tools has rapidly risen1–6. Nearly everyone in all parts of business and social life are involved in the use of social networking, especially younger clients and peer groups7. Additionally, medical consultation, diagnosis and even treatment are performed with the help of tools such as web-based or network-associated instruments7,8,9. Additionally, disease-specific and self-regulating media communities have arisen within communities that deal with other social or private content4,5,10. The new media usage results to its negative side effects; dramatic and sometimes bizarre reports, including suicides addressed via media platforms, suicidal or aggressive behaviour or misuse of the communication tools have been reported11,12,13. The incredible and uncounted possibilities of these new steadily growing technical innovations may reflect an apparent unlimited progress of human interactions; however, the principles of individuality are increasingly affected by the obligation of permanent accessibility and an overflow of exogenous impulses. The multitasking subject therefore is permanently forced to interact between endogenous and exogenous information. This interaction itself does not represent a ‘quiet process,’ as individual and exogenous impulses are in a steadily open (public) interaction, in which the talkativeness of both sides seems to be a never-ending story in a ‘Twitter/Facebook’ society. The alluring freedom of perfect human interactivity may be much more invasive for further human development than actually imaginable. The question that arises is whether new diseases are genuinely caused by media-associated phenomena and the appropriate way to diagnose these diseases. In 1984, George Orwell described the model of the so-called ‘Thought Police’ (thinkpol in Newspeak), a secret police of Oceania that uncovered and punished thought-crime and thought-criminals by omnipresent surveillance (such as telescreens) to monitor, search and arrest members of society who could potentially challenge the authority and status quo, even if only by thought1.

Ageing and Secondary-Distinctiveness-Based Effects: The Orthographic Distinctiveness Effect is More Robust than the Bizarreness Effect

Differences related to ageing were investigated in two cases of secondary-distinctiveness-based effects: the bizarreness effect and the orthographic distinctiveness effect. A secondary distinctiveness effect means that items that are unusual compared to one's general knowledge stored in permanent memory are better remembered than common items. Experiment 1 confirmed that ageing diminishes the facilitative effects of bizarreness in a mixed list design with equal numbers of bizarre and common images. We suggest that the impaired bizarreness effect in older adults (above age 70) may be due to reduced attentional resources, since no bizarreness effect was observed for younger adults in the divided attention condition. Experiment 2 studied the orthographic distinctiveness effect in ageing for the first time. Contrary to our expectations, an orthographic distinctiveness effect was observed for all participants including older adults and younger adults in a divided attention condition. Because reduced attentional resources due to normal ageing or to experimental manipulation did not impact the facilitative effects of orthographic distinctiveness, our findings suggest that the orthographic distinctiveness effect may be mediated by more automatic processing.

The impact of processing time on the bizarreness and orthographic distinctiveness effects

The bizarreness effect and the orthographic distinctiveness effect (OD effect) are typical cases of secondary-distinctiveness-based effects. This study tested the simple attentional account or processing time hypothesis as a possible explanation of the bizarreness effect and the OD effect. In the bizarreness effect literature, this hypothesis gained support by some studies but was also discredited by other research. In light of these conflicting results, Experiment 1 was devised to test the processing time hypothesis in the bizarreness effect by using black-and-white concrete images and manipulating the time allotted for processing the stimuli (500 ms, 1000 ms, 3000 ms). Concerning the OD effect, no research has directly investigated the impact of processing time by examining the effect under varying amounts of study time. Experiment 2 was thus devised to investigate this same hypothesis in the OD effect and time allotted for processing the stimuli was manipulated (250 ms, 500 ms, 1000 ms, 3000 ms). Results did not support the processing time hypothesis since the magnitude of the bizarreness effect and of the OD effect was not modulated by the amount of time allotted for processing the stimuli. We refer to alternative explanations to account for these two secondary-distinctiveness-based effects.

Aging, imagery, and the bizarreness effect

ABSTRACT This study examined the bizarre imagery effect in young and older adults, under incidental and intentional conditions. Intentionality was manipulated across experiments, with participants receiving an incidental free recall test in Experiment 1 and an intentional test in Experiment 2. This study also examined the relation between working memory resources and the bizarreness effect. In Experiment 1 young and older adults were presented with common and bizarre sentences; they later received an incidental recall test. There were no age differences in sensitivity to the bizarreness effect in Experiment 1 when ANOVAs were used to analyze the data. However, when the bizarreness effect was examined in terms of effect size, there was evidence that younger adults produced larger bizarreness effect sizes than younger adults. Experiment 2 further explored age differences in sensitivity to the bizarreness effect by presenting young and older adults with bizarre and common sentences under intentional learning conditions. Experiment 2 failed to yield age differences as a function of item type (bizarre vs. common). In addition, Experiment 2 failed to yield significant evidence that the bizarreness effect is modulated by working memory resources. The results of this study are most consistent with the distinctiveness account of the bizarreness effect.

L’imagerie bizarre et la mémoire

One experiment examined free recall memory performance for bizarre and common pictures. Bizarre pictures were designed either deleting some components (SB pictures) either adding some components (AB pictures). A classical bizarreness effect was only obtained for AB pictures. Indeed no facilitative effect of bizarreness was obtained when incomplete fragmented pictures were used. Results were discussed in light of theories interested by the explanation of the bizarreness effect in memory.

The bizarre effects of multiplicative noise

The bizarre effects of multiplicative noise

Adult age differences in memory for distinctive information: Evidence from the bizarreness effect

Two experiments examined age-related differences in memory for bizarre and common pictures. In Experiment 1, a facilitative effect of bizarreness was obtained for young adults and one of the older groups, but not for the oldest group (over age 70). However, the bizarreness effect was found for even the oldest group when predominantly common lists were used in Experiment 2. It is concluded that older adults suffer from deficits in distinctive processing, but those deficits can be reduced by providing a more uniformly common context in which differences can be processed.

Quantum force turns repulsive

The experimental verification that a bizarre quantum effect — the Casimir force — can manifest itself in its repulsive form is pivotal not only for fundamental physics but also for nanotechnology. Space is not completely empty; the vacuum teems with quantum mechanical energy fluctuations able to generate an attractive force between objects that are very close to each other. This 'Casimir–Lifshitz' force can cause static friction or 'stiction' in nanomachines, which must be strongly reduced. Until now only attractive interactions have been reported but in theory, if vacuum is replaced by certain media, Casimir–Lifshitz forces should become repulsive. This has now been confirmed experimentally. Repulsion, weaker than the attractive force, was measured in a carefully chosen system of interacting materials immersed in fluid. The magnitude of both forces increases as separation decreases. The repulsive forces could conceivably allow quantum levitation of objects in a fluid and lead to new types of switchable nanoscale devices with ultra-low static friction. Levitation depends only on the dielectric properties of the various materials. The cover illustrates repulsion between a tiny gold sphere and a silica substrate (left). Replace the silica with gold (right), and the force becomes attractive.

Assessing a retrieval account of the generation and perceptual-interference effects

A number of memory phenomena are modulated by experimental design, with the effect (e.g., of bizarreness, generation, or perceptual interference) occurring in recall for mixed-list, but not pure-list designs. These effects have other similarities and have been treated in common theoretical frameworks, some focusing on encoding and others on retrieval. The typical paradigm for examining design effects confounds encoding and retrieval contexts, making it difficult to compare these accounts. Using a new paradigm, McDaniel, Dornburg, and Guynn (2005) concluded that retrieval processes contribute to the bizarreness effect. We applied this paradigm to the related perceptual-interference and generation effects. Participants were presented with two pure study lists and later recalled the lists separately (inducing pure retrieval sets) or together (inducing a combined or mixed retrieval set) in a single test. In four experiments, the combined recall condition consistently failed to enhance the size of the generation or perceptual-interference effect. Two additional experiments verified that perceptual interference and generation enhanced recognition memory, as predicted by the standard encoding accounts. The results provide no support for the retrieval account of these two variables but generally are consistent with an encoding locus.