Stimulus Elements Research Articles

Exploring Tactile Stimuli from a Wrist-Worn Device to Manipulate Subjective Time Based on the Filled-Duration Illusion.

There are situations where manipulating subjective time would be desirable, such as reducing waiting time, and there are many studies to manipulate subjective time. However, it is not easy to use previous methods in various situations because most of them use visual and auditory information. This study proposes a method to manipulate the subjective time by the tactile stimuli from wrist-worn devices. We designed three types of tactile stimuli presentation methods that change the number, the duration, and the time interval of the stimuli. The evaluation result clarified the elements of the tactile stimuli that intentionally changed the subjective time and confirmed that our method can change the subjective time by about 23% (from % to %). Since few studies have focused on the phenomenon in which the subjective time changes depending on the tactile stimuli from information devices, our findings can contribute to designing information devices and user experiences.

Control by Compound Antecedent Verbal Stimuli in the Intraverbal Relation.

Control by compound antecedent stimuli in verbal behavior represents an understudied but promising area of research. To date, reference to compound verbal stimulus control has generally only included descriptions of convergent multiple control. A sizeable experimental literature exists on the topic of compound stimulus control, which differs from convergent multiple control in that the stimulus elements often do not have a prior conditioning history (i.e., do not separately strengthen any response). The current study attempted to bridge the experimental and verbal behavior literatures by including a two-component antecedent verbal stimulus during intraverbal training for which neither component currently served an evocative function. Subsequent analyses of stimulus control suggested overshadowing by temporal location in the compound verbal stimulus and lack of emergence of the divergent intraverbal relation across all sets. Additional research is needed on compound stimulus control and verbal behavior researchers may be poised to answer several questions relevant to the experimental and verbal behavior literatures on the topic.

시각을 포함한 치매환자용 스마트 다감각 시나리오 및 시스템 개발

This study creates a smart multi-sensory ward in which dementia patients can receive multi-sensory stimulation in daily life and automatically grasp the patient’s condition to increase the convenience of elderly patients. In the process of establishing a smart multi-sensory system, previous studies that stimulate each sensation, tools that can stimulate sensation, machine learning tools that can grasp the patient’s condition, and IoT sensors were investigated. Lighting equipment set similar to the spectrum of daylight was used as a visual stimulus element. ‘Pium’ and ‘Moodo’, smart diffuser devices were used as an olfactory element, and a speaker connected with Raspberry Pi as an auditory element. As factors to determine the patient’s condition, a ‘Teachable Machine’ that detects the patient’s posture through machine learning and a ZigBee communication type IoT sensor were used. After writing a multi-sensory scenario, a smart multi-sensory system was built using Amazon Alexa and Node-RED programs. Unlike conventional multi-sensory therapy that had to be moved to a fixed treatment room at a fixed time, this study created a smart multi-sensory ward that could be treated even in the patient’s daily life without time and space limitations.

Multidigit tactile perception I: motion integration benefits for tactile trajectories presented bimanually.

Interactions with objects involve simultaneous contact with multiple, not necessarily adjacent, skin regions. Although advances have been made in understanding the capacity to selectively attend to a single tactile element among distracting stimulations, here, we examine how multiple stimulus elements are explicitly integrated into an overall tactile percept. Across four experiments, participants averaged the direction of two simultaneous tactile motion trajectories of varying discrepancy delivered to different fingerpads. Averaging performance differed between within- and between-hands conditions in terms of sensitivity and precision but was unaffected by somatotopic proximity between stimulated fingers. First, precision was greater in between-hand compared with within-hand conditions, demonstrating a bimanual perceptual advantage in multi-touch integration. Second, sensitivity to the average direction was influenced by the discrepancy between individual motion signals, but only for within-hand conditions. Overall, our experiments identify key factors that influence perception of simultaneous tactile events. In particular, we show that multi-touch integration is constrained by hand-specific rather than digit-specific mechanisms.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Object manipulation involves encoding spatially and temporally extended tactile signals, yet most studies emphasize minimal units of tactile perception (e.g., selectivity). Instead, we asked participants to average two tactile motion trajectories delivered simultaneously to two different fingerpads. Our results show strong integration between multiple tactile inputs, but subject to limitations for inputs delivered within a hand. As such, the present study establishes a paradigm for studying unified experience of touch despite distinct stimulus elements.

Spin Wave and Soliton Wave Activity as Well as Biocomputer Imulation in Visual Perception

All the material presented in this thesis as well as the author’s implications/conclusions prove that a living organism can be perceived as a complex electronic device similar to technical devices, whereas biological materials (proteins, DNA, RNA) - as components of electronic devices. These arguments allow us to state that a biological system can be considered to be a quantum computer that functions on the basis of entangled quantum states and optoelectronic phenomena. Melanin and neuromelanin are involved in the central control of all biological, physiological and psychological processes. Numerous modular communication systems and signalling pathways that transmit signals into cells are generated under the influence of light. Melanin and neuromelanin function as multireceptors of a full range of electromagnetic, acoustic, and soliton waves, torsion fields and bioplasma, which does not receive so much information as the senses do, but receive it constantly. The role of photoreceptors, receptors of hearing and touch is limited to a single reception of a stimulus, whereas melanin and neuromelanin play an integrative function, combining stimulus elements into a whole, namely combining movement with space and time, sound with light, space and time. From the psychological point of view, melanin and neuromelanin are responsible for the entire process of adaptation to the environment, mental development, the development of attention and perceptual experience, which, together with an increase in melanin and neuromelanin, acquire better sharpness and quality. Bioplasma controls these processes.

An evaluation of the Paycheck Protection Program using administrative payroll microdata

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a principal element of the fiscal stimulus enacted by Congress in response to the COVID-19 economic shock, was intended to assist small businesses to maintain employment and wages during the crisis, as well as cover other expenses. We use high-frequency administrative payroll data from ADP—one of the world’s largest payroll processing firms—to estimate the causal effect of the PPP on the evolution of employment at PPP-eligible firms relative to PPP-ineligible firms, where eligibility is determined by industry-specific firm-size cutoffs. Our estimates indicate that the PPP boosted employment at eligible firms by between 2 percent to 5 percent at its peak effect around mid-May 2020. The boost to employment waned thereafter and ranged from no effect to a 3 percent boost at the end of 2020. Our estimates imply that employers retained an additional 3.6 million jobs as of mid-May 2020, and 1.4 million jobs at the end of 2020, as a consequence of PPP. The estimated cost per year of employment retained was $169,000 to $258,000, equal to 3.4 to 5.2 times median earnings.

Effects of support from innovation and development agencies: a case study on companies awarded by Tecnova 13/2013 – FAPEMIG

Innovation plays an important role for the sustainability of small and medium enterprises - SME, as it enhances their competitive advantage. As one of the elements of government stimulus, the economic subsidy provides access to non-reimbursable financial resources. By means of documentary research, interviews, and direct observation, this study sought to understand the effects of fostering innovation for SMEs awarded by the Tecnova Edict 13/2013, a partnership between FINEP and FAPEMIG. As a result, it was confirmed that government support represents a fundamental instrument for the development of SMEs, offering them opportunities to acquire materials and technologies, train human resources, and facilitate the building of partnerships. The research also identified factors that make it difficult to carry out research and development activities in this segment of organizations. Although hindering elements of the innovation process were highlighted, it was found that government support is fundamental to the promotion of innovation

Effects of support from innovation and development agencies: a case study on companies awarded by Tecnova 13/2013 – FAPEMIG

Innovation plays an important role for the sustainability of small and medium enterprises - SME, as it enhances their competitive advantage. As one of the elements of government stimulus, the economic subsidy provides access to non-reimbursable financial resources. By means of documentary research, interviews, and direct observation, this study sought to understand the effects of fostering innovation for SMEs awarded by the Tecnova Edict 13/2013, a partnership between FINEP and FAPEMIG. As a result, it was confirmed that government support represents a fundamental instrument for the development of SMEs, offering them opportunities to acquire materials and technologies, train human resources, and facilitate the building of partnerships. The research also identified factors that make it difficult to carry out research and development activities in this segment of organizations. Although hindering elements of the innovation process were highlighted, it was found that government support is fundamental to the promotion of innovation.

Cortical circuits for top-down control of perceptual grouping

A fundamental characteristic of human visual perception is the ability to group together disparate elements in a scene and treat them as a single unit. The mechanisms by which humans create such groupings remain unknown, but grouping seems to play an important role in a wide variety of visual phenomena, and a good understanding of these mechanisms might provide guidance for how to improve machine vision algorithms. Here, we build on a proposal that some groupings are the result of connections in cortical area V2 that join disparate elements, thereby allowing them to be selected and segmented together. In previous instantiations of this proposal, connection formation was based on the anatomy (e.g., extent) of receptive fields, which made connection formation obligatory when the stimulus conditions stimulate the corresponding receptive fields. We now propose dynamic circuits that provide greater flexibility in the formation of connections and that allow for top-down control of perceptual grouping. With computer simulations we explain how the circuits work and show how they can account for a wide variety of Gestalt principles of perceptual grouping, texture segmentation tasks, amodal illusory contours, and ratings of perceived groupings. We propose that human observers use such top-down control to implement task-dependent connection strategies that encourage particular groupings of stimulus elements in order to promote performance on various visual tasks.

Dimensions of holistic thinking: Implications for nonsocial information processing across cultures.

Representatives of Asian and Western countries often differ in terms of both their social orientation (e.g., collectivism vs. individualism) and their thinking style (holistic vs. analytic). The disposition to think of oneself in relation to others or to the collective to which one belongs appears similar to a more general holistic thinking style (the disposition to think of elements of a stimulus in relation to one another or their context), suggesting that they may have similar roots. Nevertheless, the low correlations among measures of these characteristics (e.g., Na et al., 2010) indicate that holistic thinking might be multidimensional. To obtain a clearer picture of this multidimensionality, we constructed a procedure that could be used both to assess and to induce three different styles of cognitive processing that reflect different aspects of holistic thinking: specifically, the tendencies (a) to respond to the configuration of a stimulus as a whole without regard to the elements that compose it, (b) to think about stimulus elements in relation to their context, and (c) to think about stimulus elements in relation to one another. Indian, Hong Kong Chinese, North American, and British participants differed in their tendency to use these types of thinking. Moreover, priming these different styles of holistic thinking experimentally affected the performance of only those cognitive tasks that required these thinking styles. Finally, although cultural groups differed spontaneously in their performance of tasks to which different types of holistic thinking were relevant, experimentally inducing these thinking styles eliminated these between-culture differences in performance. Such differences were generally unrelated to measures of social orientation typically used to distinguish representatives of Western and Asian countries. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Broad attention uncovers benefits of stimulus uniformity in visual crowding

Crowding is the interference by surrounding objects (flankers) with target perception. Low target-flanker similarity usually yields weaker crowding than high similarity (‘similarity rule’) with less interference, e.g., by opposite- than same-contrast polarity flankers. The advantage of low target-flanker similarity has typically been shown with attentional selection of a single target object. Here, we investigated the validity of the similarity rule when broadening attention to multiple objects. In three experiments, we measured identification for crowded letters (Experiment 1), tumbling Ts (Experiment 2), and tilted lines (Experiment 3). Stimuli consisted of three items that were uniform or alternating in contrast polarity and were briefly presented at ten degrees eccentricity. Observers reported all items (full report) or only the left, central, or right item (single-item report). In Experiments 1 and 2, consistent with the similarity rule, single central item performance was superior with opposite- compared to same-contrast polarity flankers. With full report, the similarity rule was inverted: performance was better for uniform compared to alternating stimuli. In Experiment 3, contrast polarity did not affect performance. We demonstrated a reversal of the similarity rule under broadened attention, suggesting that stimulus uniformity benefits crowded object recognition when intentionally directing attention towards all stimulus elements. We propose that key properties of crowding have only limited validity as they may require a-priori differentiation of target and context.

The retrosplenial cortex as a possible “sensory integration” area: A neural network modeling approach of the differential outcomes effect in negative patterning

We explored the hypothesis that learning a Pavlovian negative patterning task would be facilitated when training with differential, as opposed to non-differential, reinforcing outcomes. Two groups of rats received pairings of one visual and one auditory stimulus with food reward when these stimuli were presented on separate training trials, but without reward when both stimuli were presented on simultaneous stimulus compound trials (V+, A+, AV-; similar to an XOR problem). For Group Differential, each stimulus was separately paired with distinctively tasting food rewards, whereas for Group Non-Differential each stimulus was randomly paired with both food reward types across different stimulus element trials. We observed that rats learned the negative patterning task more rapidly and effectively when trained with differential outcomes. These data support a multi-layered connectionist model introduced by Delamater (2012) in which a multi-modal processing structure plays the role of a “sensory integration” area like that hypothesized for the retrosplenial cortex by Dave Bucci and his colleagues (e.g., Todd, Fournier, & Bucci, 2019). We discuss how such a region may develop different “negative occasion setting” and “configural inhibition” mechanisms in solving negative patterning and related tasks.

The effectiveness of visual and auditory elements of a compound stimulus in controlling behavior in the domestic dog (Canis familiaris)

This study measured the responses of dogs to signals delivered via hand and voice signals. The study sought to determine whether dogs would display differential stimulus control when switching from a compound stimulus (auditory-visual) cue to presentation of only one of its elements. Twelve dogs performed a target behavior in response to a 2-element compound stimulus composed of a hand (visual modality) signal and a voice (auditory modality) signal. The mean percent correct responses to the visual element (M = 56.5, SD = 20.74) and the auditory element (M = 67.5, SD = 21.57) were both significantly lower than the 85% correct for the compound stimulus, P < 0.017. There was also evidence of a preference for one of the elements of the compound stimulus. The mean percent correct for the more favoured element (M = 77.25, SD = 12.53) was significantly higher than for the less favoured element (M = 46.75, SD = 17.2), P < 0.001. The identity of the favoured element was not consistent across the animals with 75% preferring the auditory element and 25% the visual element. This study contributes to an understanding of factors related to the stimulus control of learned behaviors. The differential control of behavior by alternative cues has implications for the training of assistance or service and other working animals with multiple cues. The results would strongly suggest that training with a compound stimulus is not appropriate if only elements of the compound stimulus are to be subsequently used.

Cortical Synchrony as a Mechanism of Collinear Facilitation and Suppression in Early Visual Cortex.

Stimulus-induced oscillations and synchrony among neuronal populations in visual cortex are well-established phenomena. Their functional role in cognition are, however, not well-understood. Recent studies have suggested that neural synchrony may underlie perceptual grouping as stimulus-frequency relationships and stimulus-dependent lateral connectivity profiles can determine the success or failure of synchronization among neuronal groups encoding different stimulus elements. We suggest that the same mechanism accounts for collinear facilitation and suppression effects where the detectability of a target Gabor stimulus is improved or diminished by the presence of collinear flanking Gabor stimuli. We propose a model of oscillators which represent three neuronal populations in visual cortex with distinct receptive fields reflecting the target and two flankers, respectively, and whose connectivity is determined by the collinearity of the presented Gabor stimuli. Our model simulations confirm that neuronal synchrony can indeed explain known collinear facilitation and suppression effects for attended and unattended stimuli.

The spatiotemporal organization of experience dictates hippocampal involvement in primary visual cortical plasticity

The hippocampus and neocortex are theorized to be crucial partners in the formation of long-term memories. Here, we assess hippocampal involvement in two related forms of experience-dependent plasticity in the primary visual cortex (V1) of mice. Like control animals, those with hippocampal lesions exhibit potentiation of visually evoked potentials after passive daily exposure to a phase-reversing oriented grating stimulus, which is accompanied by long-term habituation of a reflexive behavioral response. Thus, low-level recognition memory is formed independently of the hippocampus. However, response potentiation resulting from daily exposure to a fixed sequence of four oriented gratings is severely impaired in mice with hippocampal damage. A feature of sequence plasticity in V1 of controls, which is absent in lesioned mice, is the generation of predictive responses to an anticipated stimulus element when it is withheld or delayed. Thus, the hippocampus is involved in encoding temporally structured experience, even within the primary sensory cortex.

Tracking dynamic adjustments to decision making and performance monitoring processes in conflict tasks

How we exert control over our decision-making has been investigated using conflict tasks, which involve stimuli containing elements that are either congruent or incongruent. In these tasks, participants adapt their decision-making strategies following exposure to incongruent stimuli. According to conflict monitoring accounts, conflicting stimulus features are detected in medial frontal cortex, and the extent of experienced conflict scales with response time (RT) and frontal theta-band activity in the Electroencephalogram (EEG). However, the consequent adjustments to decision processes following response conflict are not well-specified. To characterise these adjustments and their neural implementation we recorded EEG during a modified Flanker task. We traced the time-courses of performance monitoring processes (frontal theta) and multiple processes related to perceptual decision-making. In each trial participants judged which of two overlaid gratings forming a plaid stimulus (termed the S1 target) was of higher contrast. The stimulus was divided into two sections, which each contained higher contrast gratings in either congruent or incongruent directions. Shortly after responding to the S1 target, an additional S2 target was presented, which was always congruent. Our EEG results suggest enhanced sensory evidence representations in visual cortex and reduced evidence accumulation rates for S2 targets following incongruent S1 stimuli. Results of a follow-up behavioural experiment indicated that the accumulation of sensory evidence from the incongruent (i.e. distracting) stimulus element was adjusted following response conflict. Frontal theta amplitudes positively correlated with RT following S1 targets (in line with conflict monitoring accounts). Following S2 targets there was no such correlation, and theta amplitude profiles instead resembled decision evidence accumulation trajectories. Our findings provide novel insights into how cognitive control is implemented following exposure to conflicting information, which is critical for extending conflict monitoring accounts.

Statistical modeling of dynamic eye-tracking experiments: Relative importance of visual stimulus elements for gaze behavior in the multi-group case

This paper presents a model that allows group comparisons of gaze behavior while watching dynamic video stimuli. The model is based on the approach of Coutrot and Guyader (2017) and allows linear combinations of feature maps to form a master saliency map. The feature maps in the model are, for example, the dynamically salient contents of a video stimulus or predetermined areas of interest. The model takes into account temporal aspects of the stimuli, which is a crucial difference to other common models. The multi-group extension of the model introduced here allows to obtain relative importance plots, which visualize the effect of a specific feature of a stimulus on the attention and visual behavior for two or more experimental groups. These plots are interpretable summaries of data with high spatial and temporal resolution. This approach differs from many common methods for comparing gaze behavior between natural groups, which usually only include single-dimensional features such as the duration of fixation on a particular part of the stimulus. The method is illustrated by contrasting a sample of a group of persons with particularly high cognitive abilities (high achievement on IQ tests) with a control group on a psycholinguistic task on the conceptualization of motion events. In the example, we find no substantive differences in relative importance, but more exploratory gaze behavior in the highly gifted group. The code, videos, and eye-tracking data we used for this study are available online.

The Spatiotemporal Organization of Experience Dictates Hippocampal Involvement in Primary Visual Cortical Plasticity

The hippocampus and neocortex are theorized to be crucial partners in the formation of long-term memories. Here, we assess hippocampal involvement in two related forms of experience-dependent plasticity in the primary visual cortex (V1) of mice. Like control animals, those with hippocampal lesions exhibit potentiation of visually evoked potentials following passive daily exposure to a phase reversing oriented grating stimulus, which is accompanied by long-term habituation of a reflexive behavioral response. Thus, low-level recognition memory is formed independently of the hippocampus. However, response potentiation resulting from daily exposure to a fixed sequence of four oriented gratings is severely impaired in mice with hippocampal damage. A feature of sequence plasticity in V1 of controls, but absent in lesioned mice, is generation of predictive responses to an anticipated stimulus element when it is withheld or delayed. Thus, hippocampus is involved in encoding temporally structured experience, even within primary sensory cortex.

Aging and the perception of motion-defined form

A single experiment required 26 younger and older adults to discriminate global shape as defined only by differences in the speed of stimulus element rotation. Detection of the target shape require...

How “Green” thinking and altruism translate into purchasing intentions for electronics products: The intrinsic-extrinsic motivation mechanism

“Green” antecedents and consequences have been widely explored recently. Despite the prominence of antecedents of green behavior, literature provides little attention to how green thinking and altruism may translate into purchasing intentions for green electronics products. This research investigates two main questions: first, whether green thinking and green altruism directly predict green purchasing intention, second, how green intrinsic and extrinsic motivations can explain these relationships. Based on the cognitive-affective behavior model and collection of 2021 samples of buyers from the electronics industry in China, the results show that: both green thinking and green altruism have a substantial impact on green purchasing intention. Notably, green intrinsic motivation mediates these relationships, while green extrinsic motivation moderates the effect of green thinking and green intrinsic motivation on green purchasing intention. Thus, this research advocates that marketers and policymakers should focus on cognitive and affective elements of green stimuli as well as the intrinsic motivation (enjoyment) of consumers for the success and adoption of green electronics products. While care should be taken when using green extrinsic motivation as it reduces the impact of green altruism and green intrinsic motivation on green purchasing intention. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.