Mental Simulation Process Research Articles

Narratives of the self in bilingual speakers: the neurophenomenal space

Abstract We tell one another stories of our lives. Sharing subjective experience is part of what it means to be an embodied, languaging being. In order to explore this aspect of our nature we need to relate our phenomenal experience to its neural bases as we talk. I describe a three-step procedure to do so as a person recounts a personal story. The first step characterizes their subjective experience. I describe two complementary ways to do so. The second step infers the attentional and attributional processes that compose that experience. I suppose that telling a personal story is a form of reliving it. The process of mental simulation involved recruits other attributional processes and is itself nested under one that sustains attention to the goal of telling the story. The third step identifies these processes with their possible neural bases expressed through the language network. I take the mapping from the phenomenal to the neural to be the neurophenomenal space and offer a visualization of it. I illustrate the procedure using the hypothetical example of a bilingual speaker who tells of a recent experience walking in a new city.

Pleasure or Health? The Role of Mental Simulation in Desire and Food Choices.

Many times, desire possesses us and impedes us from making healthier food choices. From a grounded cognition perspective, we investigated the role of two types of mental simulation (process and outcome) in desire and food choice to understand the processes that modulate them and find strategies that encourage healthier food choices. In addition to these explicit measures, we used two implicit methods to measure approach-avoidance tendencies and visual attention. Our results showed that imagining the consumption of vice and virtue foods increased desire for the product imagined and seemed to favor the choice of a vice food. However, at an implicit level, the motivation to approach and avoid food products was neutral. Imagining the post-consumption of a vice food decreased desire for the imagined food and although it tempted people at an implicit level, it made people more prone to choose a virtue food. When a vice food was imagined, attentional bias increased for all types of food regardless of the simulation. When a virtue food was imagined, there was no effect on choice, motivation nor attentional bias. In conclusion, simply imagining certain foods is a potential solution for promoting healthier and thoughtful choices.

Imagination Matters When You Shop Online: The Moderating Role of Mental Simulation Between Materialism and Online Impulsive Buying.

BackgroundSeveral studies have demonstrated that materialistic people tend to engage in impulsive buying. However, how to help them reduce such irrational behavior, especially in online shopping context, is not known. This study aimed to explore whether mental simulation moderates the relationship between materialism and online impulsive buying.MethodsA total of 200 Chinese college students participated in the experiment. We adopted an imaginary priming paradigm to manipulate three types of mental simulation: process simulation (i.e., imagining the detailed process of purchasing goods), upward outcome simulation (i.e., imagining possible positive outcomes after purchasing), and downward outcome simulation (i.e., imagining possible negative outcomes after purchasing). Then we asked participants to make purchase decisions in a simulated online store.ResultsResults showed that mental simulation exerted a significant moderating effect. In the upward outcome simulation group, a higher level of materialism predicted more online impulsive buying. However, this association was not significant in the downward outcome simulation and process simulation groups.ConclusionOur findings have implications for interventions in that mental simulation (process simulation or downward outcome simulation) can act as an effective way to help materialists reduce online impulsive buying.

Altered subcallosal and posterior cingulate cortex-based functional connectivity during smoking cue and mental simulation processing in smokers

BackgroundLong-term cigarette smoking induces sensitization of incentive salience and conditioning of contextual cues which involves brain function alteration across multiple regions. Understanding how nicotine affects hub-based functional connectivities involved in affective and cognitive function can help us determine the treatment strategy for nicotine dependence. MethodFunctional MRI was conducted on 30 smokers and 30 non-smokers while mentally simulating neutral and smoking hand movements. Smoking cue and mental simulation processing-related changes in functional connectivity strengths of the subcallosal and posterior cingulate cortex (SCC and PCC) with major brain network nodes were examined. ResultsCompared to non-smokers, smokers showed cue-induced SCC functional connectivities which were enhanced with the intraparietal sulcus and reduced with the medial prefrontal cortex. The PCC activation and functional connectivity enhancements with the anterior insula cortex and rostro-lateral prefrontal cortex was found during smoking mental simulation. The PCC-lateral prefrontal cortex functional connectivity correlated with nicotine dependence severity. ConclusionThe present results demonstrate that smokers can be identified by cue-induced SCC functional connectivity strength decline and increment in the default mode and dorsal attention network nodes. However, nicotine dependence was associated with smoking mental simulation-related PCC-lateral prefrontal cortex functional connectivity strength, suggesting that the development of nicotine dependence may depend on the strength of coupling between the default mode network and the central executive network at the cognitive level.

Spatial perspective taking: Effects of social, directional, and interactive cues.

Including an avatar in the array in a spatial perspective-taking test improves performance, but it is not clear why. Different aspects of an avatar, including its directional nature, its agency (perceived ability for action), and its interactivity, may all influence perspective-taking performance. Experiment 1 examined how performance was influenced by a social directional cue (an avatar) and an abstract directional cue (an arrow). Participants performed best in the avatar condition and no better in the arrow condition than in a control condition. These results suggest that directionality of the cue alone is not sufficient to facilitate performance on this task. Experiment 2 compared an avatar to a concrete directional cue that was grounded in everyday experience interacting with objects, but was non-agentive (a chair). There was no significant difference between the avatar and the chair conditions, which both outperformed the control condition. Participants in both experiments and all conditions primarily reported utilizing mental simulation strategies that involved imagining themselves in the array of objects. The results suggest that grounding the task in everyday interactions with people or objects facilitates this mental simulation process and more generally enhances performance on perspective-taking tasks.

Mobile advertising: The effect of tablet tilt angle on user’s purchase intentions

ABSTRACTWith the advent of mobile screens, online advertisements are viewed on screens held in various positions, from horizontal (such as when the tablet is rested on a table or on the knees) to vertical (when placed on an easel, for example), allowing the viewer to see the advertisement in different body postures. Based on the theory of embodied cognition, we present two experimental studies in which we show (1) that mobile device tilt angle impacts purchase intention of advertised products, (2) that purchase intention is increased when device tilt angle allows viewers to stand in a body posture that is consistent with the image perspective, and (3) that mental simulation process mediates this effect. The results contribute to a better understanding of the conditions of advertising effectiveness on mobile devices.

Rigidity in Motor Behavior and Brain Functioning in Patients With Schizophrenia and High Levels of Apathy.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether apathy in schizophrenia is associated with rigidity in behavior and brain functioning. To this end, we studied associations between variability in dynamic functional connectivity (DFC) in relevant functional brain networks, apathy, and variability in physical activity in schizophrenia. Thirty-one patients with schizophrenia, scoring high on apathy, were included and wore an actigraph. Activity variability was calculated on the activity counts using the root of the Mean Squared Successive Difference (MSSD). Furthermore, we calculated DFC on resting-state data as phase interactions between blood oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signals of 270 brain regions per volume. Variability (MSSD) in DFC was calculated for 3 networks, including the default-mode network (DMN), frontoparietal network, and salience-reward network (SRN). Finally, we calculated correlations between these DFC estimates and apathy and activity variability. First, lower activity variability was associated with higher levels of apathy. Second, higher levels of apathy were associated with lower variability in DFC in the DMN and SRN. Third, higher activity variability was associated with higher variability in DFC in the SRN. In conclusion, patients with schizophrenia and more severe levels of apathy showed less variability in their physical activity and more rigid functional brain network behavior in the DMN and SRN. These networks have been shown relevant for self-reflection, mental simulation, and reward processing, processes that are pivotal for self-initiated goal-directed behavior. Functional rigidity of these networks may therefore contribute to reduced goal-directed behavior, which is characteristic for these patients.

Head versus Heart: The Effect of Objective versus Feelings-Based Mental Imagery on New Product Creativity

Abstract Imagination visual mental imagery, a mental simulation process that involves imagining an end user interacting with an end product, has been proposed as an efficient strategy to incorporate end-user experiences during new product ideation. Consumer research finds that this strategy enhances overall product usefulness, but does not resolve whether and how this process may impact outcome originality. The present work delineates the imagination visual mental imagery construct and argues that such mental imagery can take two different routes—one that is more feelings-based (i.e., feelings-imagination), and one that is more objective (i.e., objective-imagination). Further, we propose that although these two approaches will equally benefit outcome usefulness, they will have differential impact on outcome originality. Across five studies, we demonstrate that adopting a feelings-imagination versus an objective-imagination approach induces higher empathic concern, enhancing cognitive flexibility, which leads to higher outcome originality. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Performance improvement through motor imagery study of the case in artistic gymnastics

The motor imagery is a cognitive process of mental simulation of actions in absence of movement. There are two methods to improve skills learning trough motor imagery: in first person and in third person. The biological basis on which the motor imagery theory is founded by mirror neurons. The aim wants to evaluate the effects of motor imagery practice in training, so it verifies the effects on the skills. The method is experimental and it consists of two steps subsequently. To administrate the questionnaire at athletes in order to evaluate the perception of own skill, called round-off flic, and then to compare their perception with the evaluation of Italian federation of artistic gymnastics method. The data will be being compared with those of judge/technician. By the data there is a more effective internal evaluation and also an improvement in the performance on about 80% of the gymnasts that performed the round-off flic. Interpretation of data concerning evaluation of others emerged a lower outside awareness of the skills that is looked. The innovative aspect of this study is the use of hetero-evaluation tool. It is rarely used, but the data show improvements in the performance and ability to evaluate, after using for 5 months of this methodology. Another innovative aspect is the use of motor imagery in the third person. Finally, there’s and improvements learnings for about 80%. So, providing the athletes and trainers could use practice of motor imagery as a possible application for the improvement of the performance.

Thinking Outside the Box: Orbitofrontal Cortex, Imagination, and How We Can Treat Addiction.

Addiction involves an inability to control drug-seeking behavior. While this may be thought of as secondary to an overwhelming desire for drugs, it could equally well reflect a failure of the brain mechanisms that allow addicts to learn about and mentally simulate non-drug consequences. Importantly, this process of mental simulation draws upon, but is not normally bound by, our past experiences. Rather we have the ability to think outside the box of our past, integrating knowledge gained from a variety of similar and not-so-similar life experiences to derive estimates or imagine what might happen next. These estimates influence our current behavior directly and also affect future behavior by serving as the background against which outcomes are evaluated to support learning. Here we will review evidence, from our own work using a Pavlovian over-expectation task as well as from other sources, that the orbitofrontal cortex is a critical node in the neural circuit that generates these estimates. Further we will offer the specific hypothesis that degradation of this function secondary to drug-induced changes is a critical and likely addressable part of addiction.

Size Does Matter: Implied Object Size is Mentally Simulated During Language Comprehension

Embodied theories of language comprehension propose that readers construct a mental simulation of described objects that contains perceptual characteristics of their real-world referents. The present study is the first to investigate directly whether implied object size is mentally simulated during sentence comprehension and to study the potential influence of developmental factors on mental simulation by comparing adults' and children's mental simulation processing. Participants performed a sentence-picture verification task in which they read a sentence that implied a large or a small size for an object and then saw a picture of the object that matched or mismatched the implied size. Responses to pictures were faster when implied size and pictured size matched, suggesting that readers activated perceptual information on object size during sentence comprehension. The magnitude of the match effect was equal across age groups. The results contribute to refining and advancing knowledge with respect to the nature of mental simulations.

The Cognitive Side of M1.

The primary motor cortex (M1) is traditionally implicated in voluntary movement control. In order to test the hypothesis that there is a functional topography of M1 activation in studies where it has been implicated in higher cognitive tasks we performed activation-likelihood-estimation (ALE) meta-analyses of functional neuroimaging experiments reporting M1 activation in relation to six cognitive functional categories for which there was a sufficient number of studies to include, namely motor imagery, working memory, mental rotation, social/emotion/empathy, language, and auditory processing. The six categories activated different sub-sectors of M1, either bilaterally or lateralized to one hemisphere. Notably, the activations found in the M1 of the left or right hemisphere detected in our study were unlikely due to button presses. In fact, all contrasts were selected in order to eliminate M1 activation due to activity related to the finger button press. In addition, we identified the M1 sub-region of Area 4a commonly activated by 4/6 categories, namely motor imagery and working memory, emotion/empathy, and language. Overall, our findings lend support to the idea that there is a functional topography of M1 activation in studies where it has been found activated in higher cognitive tasks and that the left Area 4a can be involved in a number of cognitive processes, likely as a product of implicit mental simulation processing.

Online Body Schema Adaptation Based on Internal Mental Simulation and Multisensory Feedback

In this paper, we describe a novel approach to obtain automatic adaptation of the robot body schema and to improve the robot perceptual and motor skills based on this body knowledge. Predictions obtained through a mental simulation of the body are combined with the real sensory feedback to achieve two objectives simultaneously: body schema adaptation and markerless 6D hand pose estimation. The body schema consists of a computer graphics simulation of the robot, which includes the arm and head kinematics (adapted online during the movements) and an appearance model of the hand shape and texture. The mental simulation process generates predictions on how the hand will appear in the robot camera images, based on the body schema and the proprioceptive information (i.e. motor encoders). These predictions are compared to the actual images using Sequential Monte Carlo techniques to feed a particle-based Bayesian estimation method to estimate the parameters of the body schema. The updated body schema will improve the estimates of the 6D hand pose, which is then used in a closed-loop control scheme (i.e. visual servoing), enabling precise reaching. We report experiments with the iCub humanoid robot that support the validity of our approach. A number of simulations with precise ground-truth were performed to evaluate the estimation capabilities of the proposed framework. Then, we show how the use of high-performance GPU programming and an edge-based algorithm for visual perception allow for real-time implementation in real world scenarios.

The two-steps mental simulation process of Chinese definite unbounded negative sentences

The two-steps mental simulation process of Chinese definite unbounded negative sentences

Event processing in the visual world: Projected motion paths during spoken sentence comprehension.

Motion events in language describe the movement of an entity to another location along a path. In 2 eye-tracking experiments, we found that comprehension of motion events involves the online construction of a spatial mental model that integrates language with the visual world. In Experiment 1, participants listened to sentences describing the movement of an agent to a goal while viewing visual scenes depicting the agent, goal, and empty space in between. Crucially, verbs suggested either upward (e.g., jump) or downward (e.g., crawl) paths. We found that in the rare event of fixating the empty space between the agent and goal, visual attention was biased upward or downward in line with the verb. In Experiment 2, visual scenes depicted a central obstruction, which imposed further constraints on the paths and increased the likelihood of fixating the empty space between the agent and goal. The results from this experiment corroborated and refined the previous findings. Specifically, eye-movement effects started immediately after hearing the verb and were in line with data from an additional mouse-tracking task that encouraged a more explicit spatial reenactment of the motion event. In revealing how event comprehension operates in the visual world, these findings suggest a mental simulation process whereby spatial details of motion events are mapped onto the world through visual attention. The strength and detectability of such effects in overt eye-movements is constrained by the visual world and the fact that perceivers rarely fixate regions of empty space.

A Neural Architecture for Performing Actual and Mentally Simulated Movements During Self-Intended and Observed Bimanual Arm Reaching Movements

Dexterous reaching, pointing, and grasping play a critical role in human interactions with tools and the environment, and it also allows individuals to interact with one another effectively in social settings. Developing robotic systems with mental simulation and imitation learning abilities for such tasks seems a promising way to enhance robot performance as well as to enable interactions with humans in a social context. In spite of important advances in artificial intelligence and smart robotics, current robotic systems lack the flexibility and adaptability that humans so naturally exhibit. Here we present and study a neural architecture that captures some critical visuo-spatial transformations that are required for the cognitive processes of mental simulation and imitation. The results show that our neural model can perform accurate, flexible and robust 3D unimanual and bimanual actual/imagined reaching movements while avoiding extreme joint positions and generating kinematics similar to those observed with humans. In addition, using visuo-spatial transformations, the neural model was able to observe/imitate bimanual arm reaching movements independently of the viewpoint, distance and anthropometry between the demonstrator and imitator. Our model is a first step towards developing a more advanced neurally-inspired hierarchical architecture that integrates mental simulation and sensorimotor processing as it learns to imitate dexterous bimanual arm movements.

예측의 문제 상황에 대한 멘탈 시뮬레이션에서 나타난 심상 시뮬레이션의 역할과 전략 분석

Received 25 February 2014Received in revised form7 April 201415 April 2014Accepted 16 April 2014Purpose of this study is to analyze the roles and strategies of imagistic simulation observed in mental simulation about problematic situation of prediction, and thereby identify the process of generating prediction, explanation and sophistication. For this study, a framework for mental simulation process and strategy based on literary research was developed and content was validated from four experts of science education. This study was participated by 10 preliminary elementary school teachers, and a total of 20 cases were gathered for two thought experiment tasks based on the think-aloud method. The results were as follows: First, mental simulation process described based on the seven elements of 'perception,' 'interpretation,' 'statement of initial representation,' 'running imagistic simulation,' 'identifying result of simulation,' 'identifying alignment' and 'restatement structured representation.' The study confirmed that initial representation by interpreting related concepts and running imagistic simulation a number of times to develop explanation and prediction. Second, the study identified the use of strategies to enhance simulation such as 'zoom in,' 'partition,' 'dimensional enhancement,' 'dimensional reduction,' 'remove,' 'replace' and 'extreme case.' Running spatial transformation that uses strategy to enhance simulation contributed to discovering mechanism elements in problematic situations.

Technical movements in archery

Tursi, D. & Napolitano, S. (2014). Technical movements in archery. J. Hum. Sport Exerc., 9(Proc1), pp.S570S575. The archery is a typically sport. It is a closed skill sport characterized by repetition, as precise as possible, of a movement already known automated. The aim is to evaluate the effects of motor imagery practice in training. The motor imagery is a cognitive process of mental simulation of actions in absence of movement. There are two methods to improve skills learning through motor imagery: in first person and In third person. The biological basis on which the motor imagery theory is founded, is formed by: mirror neurons. It is an experimental approach and it consists of two steps. Both groups were video taped in the execution of sport skills and evaluated, through a check list made by archery indicators: positioning phase, traction and aim, release and follow through in 4 level of descriptors by technicians every four months. A sample of archery team of children (9-11 years old) splitting in control and experimental groups, after a pre-assessment, performed by technicians, about technical skills through an evaluation grid prepared ad hoc on technical fundamentals taken into the study to form two homogeneous groups (Experimental group n = 10, control group n = 10). Experimental group using modeling video performed by a athletes of National Italian Archery Team could lead to significant changes in technical skills. Data recruit at starting, ongoing and final training program and their analysis, evaluation and comparison by control group show percentage of 9% better outcomes. particularly, at final training shows a minimum improvement 3.2% than ongoing phase that gives a maximum improvement 9.6%, while a substantial balance in the control group with a medium improvement of 3.2% in every phase of training program. In this study two basic aspects of the performance are examined: the motor execution and the motor imagine. Both share the same neuromotor mechanism: the motor imagery. Concerning the woman artistic gymnastics, it can be useful during the training and the race. So providing the athletes and trainers of a means which uses the motor imagery as a possible application for the improvement of the performance. So in conclusion, the study aims to provide a standard training feasible on a large scale to train the cognitive and physical abilities of an athlete and provide a support tool in the race in order to improve performance, optimize time and to reduce the margin of error. Keywords: MOTOR IMAGERY, ARCHERY, PERFORMANCES.

Unpacking estimates of task duration: The role of typicality and temporality

Research in task duration judgment has shown that unpacking a multifaceted task into components prior to estimating its duration increases estimates. In three studies, we find that unpacking a complex task can increase, decrease, or leave unaffected task duration estimates depending on the typicality of the unpacked components and their temporal position in the task sequence. Unpacking atypical long components increases task duration estimates, while unpacking atypical short components decreases estimates (Study 1). Unpacking atypical early components increases task duration estimates, while unpacking atypical late components decreases estimates (Study 2). Unpacking typical early or late components leaves estimates unaffected (Study 3). We explain these results based on the idea that task duration estimation involves a mental simulation process, and by drawing on theories of unpacking in probability judgment that emphasize the role of the typicality of the unpacked components. These findings hint at a deep conceptual link between probability judgment and task duration estimation but also show differences, such as the influence that temporality exerts on estimated duration.

Motor imagery as a tool to enhance the didactics in physical education and artistic gymnastic

The motor imagery is a cognitive process of mental simulation of an action in absence of physical movement. During the motor imagery the cerebral areas of the pre-motor cortex, the same which a muscular contraction would put in action, are activated. There are two methods of motor imagery: In first person - In thirdperson. The biological basis on which the motor imagery theory is founded, is formed by mirror neurons. The mirror neurons are a particular class of visual-motor neurons which permit to learn and to optimize a motor gesture without executing it. The mirror neurons are the basis for learning and understanding of motor events intentions. The artistic gymnastics is a sport of precision and the movements are complex,then it use the abilities closed skills. The artistic gymnastics uses the model of closed-loop control.According to the recruitment of energy, artistic gymnastics is a sport mainly alactacid anaerobic/lactate. Starting from these scientific assumptions the aim of this study wants to evaluate the effects and the potential benefits of motor imagery in order to contribute to the strengthening of young athletes performances in the artistic gym. Used in training in the race.