Human Experimental Psychology Research Articles

Canadian Journal of (Experimental) Psychology: The first 70 years.

This article presents a survey of the first 70 years of this journal, covering (a) the origin and subsequent history of the journal, (b) who the Editors have been, (c) how the Editors have influenced the journal, (d) the most highly cited articles, and (e) consideration of the journal's content. After shifts in its purpose over its first two decades, the journal settled into being an outlet that is well respected around the world for research in the field of human experimental psychology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

In which case is working memory for movements affected by verbal interference? Evidence from the verbal description of movement

ABSTRACT Current perspectives on whether verbal interference affects working memory for movements have not yet reached a consensus. This study explored the causes of this controversy to reveal the relation between working memory for movements and the phonological loop. Experiment 1 explored whether the verbal description of movement moderated the effect of verbal interference (articulatory suppression) on working memory for movements. Verbal interference only affected working memory for easy-to-describe movements (lower accuracy). Experiment 2 excluded the interpretation of familiarity to the controversy and the effect of familiarity on the results of Experiment 1. Experiment 3 verified the results of Experiment 1 with another form of verbal interference, i.e., presenting irrelevant words visually. These three experiments suggest that the phonological loop is not recruited for processing working memory for movements in nature, but the two may interact through the verbal description prestored in the long-term memory. Thus, the current study provides a certain level of support for the separable movement-based subsystem hypothesis (Smyth, M. M., Pearson, N. A., & Pendleton, L. R. (1988). Movement and working memory: Patterns and positions in space. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A: Human Experimental Psychology, 40(3), 497–514. doi:10.1080/02724988843000041).

Can sustained attention adapt to prior cognitive effort? An evidence from experimental study

According to the limited resources paradigm, prior cognitive effort should result in a temporary depletion of available cognitive resources (Kahneman, 1973). Some recent evidence however has proved an opposite effect of increment in the availability of cognitive resources as a function of prior cognitive effort. In the current study the follow-up effect of cognitive effort on sustained attention was examined. Eighty-nine participants took part in the experiment. The cognitive load was manipulated between subjects using three versions of the DIVA Task (intensive warming-up condition, moderate warming-up condition and the control one). Following the experimental manipulation, the availability of cognitive resources during vigilance task was checked. Some significant effects of experimental manipulation were observed. First, in the context of overall task performance, subjects from the intensive warming-up condition obtained lower total errors rate than subjects from the control one. Some moderate effect of cognitive warming-up on time-on-task performance was also observed, although it was isolated to false alarms rate. Those results, tentatively suggesting the occurrence of the cognitive warming-up effect in vigilance performance, are then discussed. PsycINFO classification categories and codes2300 Human Experimental Psychology: 2346 Attention

Using Eye Movements to Elucidate Human Behavior

Abstract: Reviews the book, Eye movements: A window on mind and brain edited by Roger P. G. van Gompel, Martin H. Fischer, Wayne S. Murray, and Robin L. Hill (see record 2007-07810-000). Although the reviewers believe that this book is a bit outdated (by about four years, with some sections receiving insufficient coverage), their overall impression was favorable. The book illustrates the progress that the study of complex cognitive processes via the measurement and analysis of eye movement has made over the last three decades. The content is wide in scope and touches on many important areas. Covering history, theory, and new findings, this collection is an excellent source for the dissemination of knowledge related to many aspects of eye-movement research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved) Subjects: *Brain; *Cognitive Processes; *Eye Movements; Experimentation Classification: Human Experimental Psychology (2300) Format Availablability: Electronic

Visual Search and Decision Making in Bees: Time, Speed, and Accuracy

An insect searching a meadow for flowers may detect several flowers from different species per second, so the task of choosing the right flowers rapidly is not trivial. Here we apply concepts from the field of visual search in human experimental psychology to the task a bee faces in searching a meadow for familiar flowers, and avoiding ‘‘distraction’’ by unknown or unrewarding flowers. Our approach highlights the importance of visual information processing for understanding the behavioral ecology of foraging. Intensity of illuminating light, target contrast with background (both chromatic and achromatic), and number of distractors are all shown to have a direct influence on decision times in behavioral choice experiments. To a considerable extent, the observed search behavior can be explained by the temporal and spatial properties of neuronal circuits underlying visual object detection. Our results also emphasize the importance of the time dimension in decision making. During visual search in humans, improved accuracy in solving discrimination tasks comes at a cost in response time, but the vast majority of studies on decision making in animals have focused on choice accuracy, not speed. We show that in behavioral choice experiments in bees, there is a tight link between the two. We demonstrate both between-individual and within- individual speed-accuracy tradeoffs, whereby bees exhibit considerable behavioral flexibility in solving visual search tasks. Motivation is an important factor in selection of behavioral strategies for a search task, and sensory discrimination capabilities may be underestimated by studies that quantify accuracy of behavioral choice but neglect the temporal dimension.

Implicit Association Test: Separating Transsituationally Stable and Variable Components of Attitudes toward Gay Men

Implicit Association Test: Separating Transsituationally Stable and Variable Components of Attitudes toward Gay Men

Has the Wheel Turned Full Circle? Fifty Years of Learning Theory, 1946–1996

Fifty years ago, learning theory, whose principles were derived from experiments on conditioning in animals, was a central focus of much of experimental psychology. But the cognitive revolution that swept through human experimental psychology in the 1960s, especially when it was taken up by many animal psychologists themselves, seemed to consign traditional learning theory to the scrap heap. Liberation from the shackles of old-fashioned behaviourism, however, should not be bought at the price of dismissing associative learning theory. Suitably modified and extended, associative theory is capable of explaining much of the behavior of animals and of pointing precisely to the ways in which that behaviour is complex. And under some circumstances, at least, the behaviour of people mirrors that of other animals and is equally amenable to an associative analysis.

Schizophrenia

It is argued in this article that information-processing models enable us to link psychotic phenomena to their neural bases. The core abnormality is viewed as a disturbance in the integration of sensory input with stored material. The performance of schizophrenic subjects on tasks derived from both animal learning theory and human experimental psychology is consistent with the model. The way in which such a disturbance relates to schizophrenic symptoms is outlined. It may result from an abnormality at one or more points in the neural circuit responsible for generating predictions of subsequent sensory input; in particular the hippocampus and related brain structures are implicated. The potential relevance of the model for psychological intervention is discussed.

Volume 48,1995 Section A: Human Experimental Psychology List of Contents

Volume 48,1995 Section A: Human Experimental Psychology List of Contents

Spatial attention and two modes of visual consciousness

The relationship between spatial attention and visual consciousness was critically examined in an attempt to show the operation of two simultaneously available modes of visual consciousness (i.e., object consciousness, which concerns the conscious identification of objects, and background consciousness, which deals with conscious monitoring of the background scene). The traditional view seems to pay attention only to object consciousness, which is a product of spatial attention. To substantiate the hypothesis, five topics from varied fields of human experimental psychology were chosen: iconic storage, stabilized retinal image disappearance, stable perception of external space, texture segregation and attention, and spatial frequency sensitivity in a figure-ground reversal figure. The findings of these studies suggest that there may be visual consciousness outside of focal attention and that background consciousness operates as a default mode for global scene analysis and early warning of anomalies. Finally, neural substrata for these two modes of consciousness are suggested.

A simple (or simplistic?) cognitive model for schizophrenia

An approach which views schizophrenia as a disturbance of information processing appears promising as a way of linking biological and clininal aspects of the disorder. A review of research in this area led to the suggestion that the basic disturbance in schizophrenia is “a weakening of the influences of stored memories of regularities of previous input on current perception”. This formulation leads to the prediction that in certain circumstances, schizophrenics may perform better than normal subjects. Recent studies employing tasks derived from human experimental psychology provide evidence in support of the model. It is argued that the link between information processing disturbances and biological abnormalities may be facilitated by the use of paradigms derived from animal learning theory (latent inhibition and Kamin's blocking effect). On both tasks the pattern of performance of acute schizophrenics is consistent with the cognitive model. The ways in which such an information processing disturbance may lead to schizophrenic symptomatology are outlined, with particular reference to the formation and maintenance of delusional beliefs. The core cognitive abnormality may result from a disturbance in any of the brain structures involved in the prediction of subsequent sensory input. The proposed circuit, which draws heavily on Gray's model, implicates in particular the hippocampus and related areas and is consistent with studies of brain pathology in schizophrenia.

SuperLab: General-purpose Macintosh software for human experimental psychology and psychological testing

SuperLab is a general-purpose psychology testing package for the Macintosh. SuperLab presents static visual and auditory stimuli in blocks of trials, each trial consisting of a user-specified sequence of stimuli. Responses can be recorded from the keyboard or from switches connected to an I/O board. Stimuli can be contingent on subjects’ responses, allowing feedback based on response accuracy. Timing uses Time Manager routines from the Macintosh Toolbox. Data are recorded in a text format with tabs delimiting fields, allowing analysis and presentation by other Macintosh spreadsheet, statistics, and graph-making applications. SuperLab has a Macintosh user interface for developing experiments. Psychological tasks can also be designed and modified with any application that generates a text format file.

Vasopressin does not enhance memory processes: A study in human twins

Behavioral effects of lysin-vasopressin (LVP) were investigated applying two paradigms from human experimental psychology. The first task was designed to simulate amnesic symptoms in normals. The second task addressed the emotional value of the items to be processed. Additionally, EEG recordings were used as indicators of the central nervous system effectiveness of LVP. Blood pressure and heart rate measured peripheral arousal. The co-twin control method was employed to increase experimental power. Contrary to the prediction of the vasopressin memory hypothesis none of the specific memory parameters was improved by LVP treatment. Changes in the electrical activity of the brain, but not in blood pressure and heart rate indicated central nervous system actions of LVP. However, interpretation of LVP effects in terms of memory processing seems not to be justified.

How to assess the aged? An experimental psychologist's view. Some comments on Dr Kendrick's paper

Kendrick's paper usefully draws attention to practical goals for gerontologists. However, both his optimism for psychometric techniques and his pessimism about techniques used in human experimental psychology are unnecessary.

State notation programming languages in psychology

State notation is a method of representing the procedures used in psychological experimentation concisely and unambiguously. It has formed the basis of three highlevel computer programming languages (ACT, SKED and SCAT) which have been developed for on-line experimental control systems. These languages are extremely powerful tools for programming procedures involving digital inputs and outputs. The power of minicomputers enables time-sharing systems to be used to run a number of complex experiments simultaneously (typically between 10 and 16). All three languages were developed for the experimental analysis of behaviour, but have also been used in a wide range of studies of human experimental psychology and in studies involving concomitant measurement of behaviour and physiology. The languages and associated hardware are less well able to deal with studies involving either very high temporal resolution or large quantities of verbal or other symbolic material. However, because state notation languages embody a conceptual structure that closely resembles that of much psychological experimentation, they are particularly easy for psychologists to learn and use effectively. For this reason, and because of the laboriousness of developing new programs for special applications, it is most efficient to have a state notation language generally available and to resort to other approaches only when it becomes unduly cumbersome.

Effects of Evoked Spike-Wave Discharges Upon Short Term Memory in Patients with Epilepsy

AbstractMemory for digits was examined during EEG examination in five female children suffering from light sensitive epilepsy. Sequences of random digits equal to the patients' digit span, span-less-one and span-less-two were presented, followed by a 2 sec. interval, after which recall of the digits was required. The 2 sec. interval could be filled in any of four possible ways by: a burst of photic stimulation which evoked a paroxysm of generalised spike-wave in the EEG; a burst of slow (3 Hz) photic stimulation having no discernible effect upon the EEG; a burst of fast (30 Hz) stimulation, again having no observable effect; or a period of silence with no photic stimulation. It was found that recall of digits series of all three lengths was impaired if a paroxysm of spike-wave had been generated between the end of presentation and the beginning of recall. There were no significant differences in correctness of recall when the slow, fast and no-stimulation photic conditions were compared. It was found that the last two digits in the digit span were more vulnerable to recall failure than were the first two. On the basis of recent work in human experimental psychology, the initial and final digit pairs appear to be retrieved from functionally different storage systems. It is tentatively suggested therefore, that since different parts of the digit span are dislocated to different extents by spike-wave activity, they may depend upon different neural substrates.

An intelligent experimental station controller for human experimental psychology

The purpose of this paper is to describe the intelligent experimental station controller used in the extensible multiprogramming system for experimental psychology (EMPP) at the University of Washington. The EMPP system is an integrated hardware and software system designed to simplify the development of on-line psychological experiments. An intelligent graphics control system is one of the most important aspects of the system. The controller oversees the operation of eight independent experimental stations, each containing a cathode ray tube (CRT) terminal and a keyboard console. In addition to conventional computer interface functions, the controller contains an extensible hardware character generator which allows dynamic selection of the display character set. This paper describes both the hardware and software features of the system.

Review of Human experimental psychology.

Review of Human experimental psychology.

Abstracts of Papers on Human Experimental Psychology to be presented at the 10th Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Chase-Park Plaza Hotel, St. Louis, Missouri, November 6, 7, 8, 1969

Abstracts of Papers on Human Experimental Psychology to be presented at the 10th Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Chase-Park Plaza Hotel, St. Louis, Missouri, November 6, 7, 8, 1969

CERTAIN RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY.

I am sure that every speaker must tell you, as indeed he certainly feels, that it is a great honour to have the opportunity to present a paper to your Society, which has such a distinguished role both in the history and in the most recent advances of science. I am glad to have this opportunity to speak to you. Upon being asked to talk on this topic, however, I became acutely aware of how active a field experimental psychology is today. Each year Psychological Abstracts publishes summaries of approximately 9500 articles presumed to be relevant to some branch of psychology. Of these approximately 1300 are in human experimental psychology and 1400 in comparative and physiological psychology, or a total of something like 2700 in the general area of experimental psychology. I cannot hope to do justice to such an avalanche of material. The best I can do is to give you a few brief samples from certain actively developing areas, but other equally active areas might just as well have been chosen. In order to be impartial, I have excluded my own work on motivational effects of electrical and chemical stimulation of the brain and on conflict behaviour,* which I have had ample opportunity to present in lectures elsewhere in your country.