Showing papers in "Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology in 2023"

Stimulus-response compatibility effects during object semantic categorisation: Evocation of grasp affordances or abstract coding of object size?

Abstract: When the size of visual objects matches the size of the response required to perform the task, a potentiation effect has been reported, with faster responses in compatible than incompatible situations. Size compatibility effects have been taken as evidence of close perception-action interrelations. However, it is still unclear whether the effect arises from abstract coding of the size of stimulus and response or from the evocation of grasp affordances from visual objects. We aimed to disentangle the two interpretations. Two groups of 40 young adults categorised small and large objects presented in standardised size as natural or artefact objects. One group categorised manipulable objects that may be associated with small or large size properties and evoke power or precision grasp affordances. The other group categorised non-manipulable objects that may only be associated with small or large size properties. Categorisation responses were made by reaching and grasping a monotonic cylindric device with a power or precision grip in a grasping condition and with large or small touch responses in a control condition. Compatibility effects were found in both grasping and control conditions, independently of the manipulability or category of objects. Participants were faster when the size of the expected response matched the size of the object than when they mismatched, especially for power grasps or whole-hand touch responses. Overall findings support the abstract coding hypothesis and suggest that compatibility between the conceptual size of the object and the size of the hand response is sufficient to facilitate semantic categorisation judgements.

EXPRESS: When and where did it happen? Systematic differences in recall of core and optional sentence information.

Abstract: This paper reports on four experiments aiming to examine immediate post-sentential recall of core sentence information (conveyed by direct objects), and optional/additional information (conveyed by temporal or locative adjuncts). Participants read simple and unambiguous Czech sentences such as Starší důchodce velmi pečlivě pročetl noviny v neděli v knihovně 'An older retiree read the newspaper very carefully on Sunday in the library'. Sentences always appeared as a whole after pressing a space bar. Immediately after the sentence disappeared, an open-ended (free response) question was presented targeting either the direct object (e.g. newspaper), temporal adjunct (e.g. on Sunday), or locative adjunct (e.g. in the library). Altogether, it was found that the core information (conveyed by the direct object) was recalled almost perfectly, whereas additional information, conveyed by temporal and locative adjuncts, was recalled with significantly lower accuracy rates. Information structure also played a role: if the temporal or locative adjunct was focused, it was recalled better than if it was unfocused.The present paper thus shows systematic differences in recall success for different pieces of information. These findings suggest the presence of selective attention mechanisms during early stages of sentence processing. Factors such as syntactic function or information structure influence the degree of attention to different pieces of information conveyed by a sentence. In turn, certain pieces of information may not be consciously accessible already after the sentence is processed.

EXPRESS: Implicit and Explicit Processing on Base Rate Neglect Problems.

Abstract: Base rate reasoning as assessed on Base Rate Neglect (BRN) Tasks has been studied extensively, with a sizeable body of findings indicating that both logical (base rate) and belief-based (case description) processing contribute to responses on the task. Various task conditions have been found to influence which type of processing controls responding. The present study compares two instructional sets, one which requires responding in terms of the base rate information and one which requires responding in accordance with the case description. This manipulation allows for a distinction between explicit processing (set-consistent) and implicit processing (set-inconsistent and potentially interfering). We also manipulated the extremity of the base rates employed in the task and the extremity of the stereotypes contained in the case description. We argue that extremity effects should be present in implicit, but not explicit, processing, suggesting that these effects are the result of limitations in the control of set-inconsistent processing. Results generally supported the predictions. In addition, a proclivity for analytical thinking, as measured by the Actively Open-minded Thinking scale, was associated with less interference of belief-based processing on logical responding, but greater interference of logical processing on belief-based responding.

EXPRESS: Syntactic adaptation leads to updated knowledge for local structural frequencies.

Abstract: Syntactic adaptation has been shown to occur for various temporarily ambiguous structures wherein an initially unexpected resolution becomes easier to process after repeated exposure. More controversial and less replicated is the claim that this adaptation toward a locally frequent structure occurs due to a strategic shifting of expectations to match short-term statistical regularities such that readers adapt away from the a priori more frequent structure. Experiment 1 replicates the initial adaptation toward a coordination garden path structure and away from a compound NP structure using self-paced reading; however, this paradigm has been criticized for its low reliability for detecting such small effects. To this end, Experiments 2 and 3 use a combination of self-paced reading and sentence completion tasks to replicate initial adaptation toward both coordination and reduced relative garden path structures and show evidence for a preference for these structures over their a priori more frequent alternatives. Together, these data reveal that participants may be tracking local structural statistics in real-time; however, they may not be able to rapidly use that information to update processing behaviors.

EXPRESS: The Attentional Boost Effect Overcomes Dual-Task Interference in Choice-Response Tasks.

Abstract: Dual-task interference often arises when people respond to an incoming stimulus according to an arbitrary rule, such as choosing between the gas pedal and the brake when driving. Severe interference from response selection yields a brief "Psychological Refractory Period," during which a concurrent task is put on hold. Here, we show that response selection in one task does not always hamper the processing of a secondary task. Responding to a target may paradoxically enhance the processing of secondary tasks, even when the target requires complex response selection. In three experiments, participants encoded pictures of common objects to memory while simultaneously monitoring a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) of characters or colors. Some of the RSVP stimuli were targets, requiring participants to press one of two buttons to report their identity; others were distractors that participants ignored. Despite the increased response selection demands on target trials, pictures encoded with the RSVP targets were better remembered than those encoded with the RSVP distractors. Contrary to previous reports and predictions from dual-task interference, the attentional boost from target detection overcomes increased interference from response selection.

EXPRESS: Effect of Color-Shape Associations on visual feature discrimination.

Abstract: Non-synesthetes exhibit a tendency to associate specific shapes with particular colors (i.e., circle-red, triangle-yellow, and square-blue). Here, we used two Go/No-go tasks to examine the congruency priming effect of color-shape associations on recognition efficiency of color and shape features. At the beginning of each trial, a target color or shape word was introduced, followed by a colored-shape visual stimulus. Participants were required to press a key to a target stimulus ("go" cues), while withholding their responses to a non-target stimulus ("no-go" cues). The targets were presented either visually (visual word, Experiment 1) or auditorily (spoken word, Experiment 2). Results showed a congruency effect of color-shape associations on recognition efficiency for color and shape features in both experiments. Response times were shorter in congruent than incongruent conditions, that a target could be recognized faster when it was presented with the congruent visual features than with incongruent ones, irrespective of the presentation form (visual or auditory). These results suggest that color-shape associations can be strong to influence visual recognition of color and shape features.

EXPRESS: The role of visual and auditory information in social event segmentation.

Abstract: Humans organize their social worlds into social and nonsocial events. Social event segmentation refers to the ability to parse the environmental content into social and nonsocial events or units. Here we investigated the role that perceptual information from visual and auditory modalities, in isolation and in conjunction, played in social event segmentation. Participants viewed a video clip depicting an interaction between two actors and marked the boundaries of social and nonsocial events. Depending on the condition, the clip at first contained only auditory or only visual information. Then, the clip was shown containing both auditory and visual information. Higher overall group consensus and response consistency in parsing the clip was found for social segmentation and when both auditory and visual information was available. Presenting the clip in the visual domain only benefitted group agreement in social segmentation while the inclusion of auditory information (in the audiovisual condition) also improved response consistency in nonsocial segmentation. Thus, social segmentation utilizes information from the visual modality, with the auditory cues contributing in ambiguous or uncertain conditions and during segmentation of nonsocial content.

EXPRESS: Can't catch the beat: Failure to find simple repetition effects in three types of temporal judgements.

Abstract: More experience results in better performance, usually. In most tasks, the more chances to learn we have, the better we are at it. This does not always appear to be the case in time perception however. In the current article, we use three different methods to investigate the role of the number of standard example durations presented on performance on three timing tasks: rhythm continuation, deviance detection, and final stimulus duration judgment. In Experiments 1a and 1b, rhythms were produced with the same accuracy whether one, two, three or four examples of the critical duration were presented. In Experiment 2, participants were required to judge which of four stimuli had a different duration from the other three. This judgement did not depend on which of the four stimuli was the deviant one. In Experiments 3a and 3b, participants were just as accurate at judging the duration of a final stimulus in comparison to the prior stimuli regardless of the number of standards presented prior to the final stimulus. In summary, we never found any systematic effect of the number of standards presented on performance on any of the three timing tasks. In the discussion, we briefly relate these findings to three theories of time perception.

EXPRESS: The Production of Referring Expressions is Influenced by the Likelihood of Next Mention.

Abstract: The present study provides converging evidence across three next-mention biases that likelihood of coreference influences the choice of referring expression: Implicit Causality (IC), the goal bias of Transfer-of-Possession verbs, and Implicit Consequentiality. A pilot study and four experiments investigated coreference production in German using a forced-reference paradigm (Fukumura and van Gompel 2010). The pilot study used object- and subject-biased IC verbs, showing a statistically marginal influence of next-mention bias on referential expressions, albeit mediated by grammatical function and feature overlap between antecedents. Experiment 1 focused on these features for object reference with Transfer-of-Possession verbs (Rosa and Arnold 2017), showing effects of coreference bias. In a within- participants comparison, Experiment 2 showed comparable effects for two classes of IC verbs, stimulus-experiencer and experiencer-stimulus predicates. Experiment 3 replicated and extended the IC form effects to another verb class, agent-evocator verbs. Finally, Experiment 4 revealed effects on anaphoric form also for Implicit Consequentiality, while simultaneously replicating the effect observed for IC.

EXPRESS: Examining listeners' perception of spoken words with different face masks.

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic made face masks part of daily life. While masks protect against the virus, it is important to understand the impact masks have on listeners' recognition of spoken words. We examined spoken word recognition in three different mask conditions (no mask; cloth mask; Kn95 mask) and in both easy (low density, high phonotactic probability) and hard (high density, low phonotactic probability) words in a lexical decision task. In Experiment 1, participants heard all words and nonwords in all three mask conditions. In Experiment 2, participants heard each word and nonword only once in one of the mask conditions. The reaction time and accuracy results were consistent between Experiments 1 and 2. The pattern of results was such that the no mask condition produced the fastest and most accurate responses followed by the Kn95 mask condition and the cloth mask condition, respectively. Furthermore, there was a trend toward a speed-accuracy tradeoff with Word Type. Easy words produced faster but less accurate responses relative to hard words. The finding that cloth masks had a more detrimental impact on spoken word recognition than Kn95 masks is consistent with previous research, and the current results further demonstrate that this effect extends to individual word recognition tasks with only audio presentation.

EXPRESS: Sound-action symbolism in relation to precision manipulation and whole-hand grasp usage.

Abstract: It has been suggested that actions can provide a fruitful conceptual context for sound symbolism phenomena, and that tight interaction between manual and articulatory processes might cause that hand actions, in particular, are sound-symbolically associated with specific speech sounds. Experiment 1 investigated whether novel words, built from speech sounds that have been previously linked to precision or power grasp responses, are implicitly associated with perceived actions that present precision manipulation or whole-hand grasp tool-use or the corresponding utilization pantomimes. In the two-alternative forced-choice task, the participants were more likely to match novel words to tool-use actions and corresponding pantomimes that were sound-symbolically congruent with the words. Experiment 2 showed that the same or even larger sound-action symbolism effect can be observed when the pantomimes present unfamiliar utilization actions. Based on this we propose that the sound-action symbolism might originate from the same sensorimotor mechanisms that process the meaning of iconic gestural signs. The study presents a novel sound-action phenomenon and supports the view that hand-mouth interaction might manifest itself by associating specific speech sounds with grasp-related utilizations.

Consciousness, (meta)cognition, and culture

Abstract: Our conscious experience is determined by a combination of top-down processes (e.g., prior beliefs) and bottom-up processes (e.g., sensations). The balance between these two processes depends on estimates of their reliability (precision), so that the estimate considered more reliable is given more weight. We can modify these estimates at the metacognitive level, changing the relative weights of priors and sensations. This enables us, for example, to direct our attention to weak stimuli. But there is a cost to this malleability. For example, excessive weighting of top-down processes, as in schizophrenia, can lead to perceiving things that are not there and believing things that are not true. It is only at the top of the brain’s cognitive hierarchy that metacognitive control becomes conscious. At this level, our beliefs concern complex, abstract entities with which we have limited direct experience. Estimates of the precision of such beliefs are more uncertain and more malleable. However, at this level, we do not need to rely on our own limited experience. We can rely instead on the experiences of others. Explicit metacognition plays a unique role, enabling us to share our experiences. We acquire our beliefs about the world from our immediate social group and from our wider culture. And the same sources provide us with better estimates of the precision of these beliefs. Our confidence in our high-level beliefs is heavily influenced by culture at the expense of direct experience.

Is conflict adaptation adaptive? An introduction to conflict monitoring theory and the ecological problems it faces.

Abstract: Attending to a single stimulus (or dimension of a stimulus) requires filtering out distracting stimuli to avoid producing an incorrect response. The conflict monitoring (or conflict adaptation) account proposes that experience of conflict results in a shift of attention away from distracting stimuli and/or towards the target stimulus. The proportion congruent and congruency sequence effects are two findings often used to argue in favour of the conflict monitoring account. However, there are several potential limitations with conflict monitoring theory. This article explores some of the previously unarticulated (or rarely articulated) supplementary assumptions that must be made for the conflict monitoring account to be consistent with several important findings in the literature, some of which might undermine the initial intuitive appeal of the theory. Indeed, this opinion paper presents the view that conflict adaptation may not actually be particularly adaptive for performance. This article also discusses alternative interpretations of so-called "attentional control" phenomena. According to this view, participants may simply be learning regularities in the task structure that are unintentionally introduced when manipulating conflict (e.g., contingent regularities between distracting stimuli and responses). This sort of learning does benefit performance and is inherent for our functioning in the world, making this a more parsimonious view. Although simplicity is not everything, this article will present the case that the assumptions (often hidden or non-obvious) of conflict monitoring theory are non-trivial and, in many cases, imply relatively non-adaptive processes.

Testing links between pain-related biases in visual attention and recognition memory: An eye-tracking study based on an impending pain paradigm

Abstract: Although separate lines of research have evaluated pain-related biases in attention or memory, laboratory studies examining links between attention and memory for pain-related information have received little consideration. In this eye-tracking experiment, we assessed relations between pain-related attention biases (ABs) and recognition memory biases (MBs) among 122 pain-free adults randomly assigned to impending pain (n = 59) versus impending touch (n = 63) conditions, wherein offsets of trials that included pain images were followed by subsequent possibly painful and non-painful somatosensory stimulation, respectively. Gaze biases of participants were assessed during presentations of pain-neutral (P-N) and happy-neutral (H-N) face image pairs within these conditions. Subsequently, condition differences in recognition accuracy for previously viewed versus novel pained and happy face images were examined. Overall gaze durations were significantly longer for pain (vs. neutral) faces that signalled impending pain than impending non-painful touch, particularly among the less resilient in the former condition. Impending pain cohorts also exhibited comparatively better recognition accuracy for both pained and happy face images. Finally, longer gaze durations on pain faces that signalled potential pain, but not potential touch, were related to more accurate recognition of previously viewed pain faces. In sum, pain cues that signal potential personal discomfort maintain visual attention more fully and are subsequently recognised more accuracy than are pain cues that signal non-painful touch stimulation.

The correlation between proprioceptive drift and subjective embodiment during the rubber hand illusion: A meta-analytic approach.

Abstract: In the rubber hand illusion (RHI), participants see a fake hand touched synchronously with their real hand, which is hidden from view. The three-way interaction between vision, touch, and proprioception induces the sensation that the dummy hand belongs to oneself (i.e., subjective embodiment) and the illusory displacement of the real hand towards the fake one (i.e., proprioceptive drift). In the literature, there are mixed results (some positive and some null) regarding the existence of a relationship between subjective embodiment and proprioceptive drift. We conducted a Bayesian meta-analysis to tackle this issue quantitatively. Evidence strongly favours the presence of a correlation between subjective embodiment and proprioceptive drift, supporting the model proposed by Botvinick and Cohen in 1998. However, the correlation is around .35, a value suggesting that the two indices capture different facets of the RHI. This result clarifies the association between the illusory effects produced by the RHI and may be helpful for designing studies having appropriate statistical power.

EXPRESS: Understanding the complexities of mathematical cognition: A multi-level framework.

Abstract: Mathematics skills are associated with future employment, wellbeing and quality of life. However, many adults and children fail to learn the mathematics skills they require. To improve this situation, we need to have a better understanding of the processes of learning and performing mathematics. Over the past two decades there has been a substantial growth in psychological research focusing on mathematics. However, to make further progress we need to pay greater attention to the nature of, and multiple elements involved in, mathematical cognition. Mathematics is not a single construct; rather, overall mathematics achievement is comprised of proficiency with specific components of mathematics (e.g., number fact knowledge, algebraic thinking), which in turn recruit basic mathematical processes (e.g., magnitude comparison, pattern recognition). General cognitive skills and different learning experiences influence the development of each component of mathematics as well as the links between them. Here I propose and provide evidence for a framework that structures how these components of mathematics fit together. This framework allows us to make sense of the proliferation of empirical findings concerning influences on mathematical cognition and can guide the questions we ask, identifying where we are missing both research evidence and models of specific mechanisms.

EXPRESS: Shared vs. Separate Structural Representations: Evidence From Cumulative Cross-Language Structural Priming

Abstract: How do bilingual speakers represent the information that guides the assembly of words into sentences for their two languages? The shared-syntax account (Hartsuiker, Pickering, & Veltkamp, 2004) argues that bilinguals have a single, shared representation of the sentence structures that exist in both languages. Structural priming has been shown to be equal within- and across-languages, providing support for the shared-syntax account. However, equivalent levels of structural priming within- and across-languages could be observed even if structural representations are separate and connected, due to frequent switches between languages, which is a property of standard structural priming paradigms. Here, we investigated whether cumulative structural priming (i.e., structural priming across blocks rather than trial-by-trial), which does not involve frequent switches between languages, also shows equivalent levels of structural priming within- and cross-languages. Mixed results point towards a possibility that cumulative structural priming can be more persistent within- compared to cross-languages, suggesting a separate-and-connected account of bilingual structural representations. We discuss these results in terms of the current literature on bilingual structural representations and highlight the value of diversity in paradigms and less-studied languages.

Comparing mnemonic effects of iconic gestures and pictures on word memory

Abstract: Previous studies using intermodal semantic priming have found that gestures improve language memory. In the present study, we ask whether the inherent characteristics of representative gestures (iconic gestures) facilitate word memory, or it is simply the semantic content shared with the words. Two analogous experiments were carried out presenting iconic gestures, pictures, or null primes to target words (nouns and action verbs). In Experiment 1, participants performed a free word recall task. In Experiment 2, the task was one of recognition. The results showed that participants recalled (Experiment 1) an equivalent number of words preceded by gestures or pictures compared with words alone, with no prime. However, a significantly higher number of words were recognised (Experiment 2) when they were primed by iconic gestures compared with the other two conditions, an advantage also found in reaction times (RTs) and both effects being larger in verbs than in nouns. These findings are discussed regarding the differences between recall and recognition processes as well as the particular characteristics of representative gestures.

EXPRESS: Mental representation of equivalence and order.

Abstract: With mental models based on relational information, the present research shows that the semantics expressed by the relation can determine structural properties of the constructed model. In particular, we demonstrate a reversal of the classical, well-replicated Symbolic Distance Effect (SDE), as a function of relational semantics. The classical SDE shows that responses are more accurate, and faster, the wider the distance between queried elements on a mentally constructed rank order. We replicate this effect in a study using a relation that expresses a rank hierarchy ("older than", Experiment 4). In contrast, we obtain a clear reversal of the same effect for accuracy data when the relation expresses a number of equivalence classes ("is from the same city", Experiments 1 - 3). In Experiment 3 we find clear evidence of a reversed SDE for accuracy and latency in the above standard condition, and flat curves of means, across pair distances, for accuracy and latency in a condition that makes equivalence classes salient from the beginning. We discuss these findings in the context of a process model of equivalence class formation based on learned piecemeal information.

EXPRESS: Effects of alternating letter case on processing sequences of written words.

Abstract: In three grammatical decision experiments we examined the impact of alternating letter case on sentence reading. Experiments 1 and 2 compared grammatical decision responses ("Is this a grammatically correct sequence of words or not?") in three different conditions: 1) SAME CASE / same case; 2) alternating CASE between WORDS; 3) aLterNaTing cAsE wItHin WoRdS. For the grammatically correct sequences, we observed significantly faster responses in the same case conditions compared with the between-word case manipulation, as well as a significant advantage for the between-word condition compared with within-word alternating case. These results confirm that case-alternation deteriorates sentence reading, but more so at the level of single word processing (within-word alternation) than at the sentence level (between-word alternation). Experiment 3 demonstrated that between-word case alternation facilitates sentence processing compared with an all-lowercase condition when betweenWORDspacesAREremoved. Therefore, in the absence of between-word spacing, case changes across words facilitate sentence processing, possibly by guiding readers' eyes to optimal locations for word identification.

EXPRESS: Perceiving Others' Cognitive Effort Through Movement: Path Length, Speed and Time.

Abstract: Effort perception is a crucial capacity underpinning characteristically human forms of sociality, allowing us to learn about others' mental states and about the value of opportunities afforded by our environment, and supporting our ability to cooperate efficiently and fairly. Despite the crucial importance and prevalence of effort perception, little is known about the mechanisms underpinning it. Across two online experiments (N= 462), we tested whether adults estimate others' cognitive effort costs by tracking perceptible properties of movement such as path length, time and speed. The results showed that only time had a consistent effect on effort perception, i.e., participants rated longer time as more effortful. Taken together, our results suggest that within the context of our task - observing an agent deciphering a captcha - people rely on the time of others' actions to estimate their cognitive effort costs.

EXPRESS: Response Generation, not Response Execution, Influences Feelings of Rightness in Reasoning.

Abstract: It has been argued that the experience of ease (i.e., the ability to quickly generate an initial response) during processing influences one's likelihood of engaging reflectively when reasoning. This is a key feature of of Thompson et al.'s (2011) Metcogntive Reasoning Theory (MRT), and numerous studies have found support for this claim by showing that answers that come to mind quickly, are associated with higher feelings of rightness (FOR), and less reflective processing.However, the possibility remains that the critical determinant of FORs may be the speed of executing a response, and not generating a response given the nature of the evidence for this claim. Across two Experiments, we manipulated the duration of the response execution in order to identify whether participants' FOR judgments are at least partially based on factors occurring after the initial mental generation of an answer. We found no evidence that FORs nor reflection are influenced by a manipulation of response execution. Broadly, the present investigation provides evidence that the relation between speed of response and FORs is likely due to the speed with which an answer is generated internally, and not the response execution phase. These findings are consistent with Thompson and colleagues' (2011) claims, and provide further support for their suggestion that answer fluency is the critical variable in determining FORs. All data, scripts and materials can be found at https://osf.io/f48az/.

EXPRESS: Subjective memory measures: metamemory questionnaires currently in use.

Abstract: Subjective memory evaluation is important for assessing memory abilities and complaints alongside objective measures. In research and clinical settings, questionnaires are used to examine perceived memory ability, memory complaints, and memory beliefs/knowledge. Although they provide a structured measure of self-reported memory, there is some debate as to whether subjective evaluation accurately reflects memory abilities. Specifically, the disconnect between subjective and objective memory measures remains a longstanding issue within the field. Thus, it is essential to evaluate the benefits and limitations of questionnaires that are currently in use. This review encompasses three categories of metamemory questionnaires: self-efficacy, complaints, and multidimensional questionnaires. Factors influencing self-evaluation of memory including knowledge and beliefs about memory, ability to evaluate memory, recent metamemory experiences, and affect are examined. The relationship between subjective and objective memory measures is explored and considerations for future development and use of metamemory questionnaires are provided.

EXPRESS: The Relevance of Familiarity in the Context of Self-Related Information Processing.

Abstract: Humans are inclined to preferentially process self-related content, referred to as the 'self-bias'. Different paradigms have been used to study this effect. However, not all paradigms included a familiar other condition (but rather an unfamiliar other condition), needed to differentiate self-specific effects from the impact of familiarity. The primary goal of our study was to test the suitability for studying the self-bias of two paradigms that provide robust measures of saliency effects - i.e. the Repetition Blindness (RB) effect and the Emotional Stroop (ES) interference - while addressing the familiarity confound. We further explored whether self-bias effects were related to autism symptomatology, as a reduced self-bias in autism has been reported in previous research. In an online procedure, 82 adults performed a RB task and an ES task in a counterbalanced order, while being presented with both self- and familiar other-related stimuli. Results of both frequentist and Bayesian analyses did not provide evidence in favor of a specific self-bias on either task: we found no significant modulation of the RB effect, nor of the ES interference, for the own vs. a close other's name. Moreover, no link with autism symptomatology was found. Tackling a crucial shortcoming from earlier studies, our investigation raises awareness on the importance of accounting for familiarity when investigating self-related processing.

EXPRESS: Dual-tasking while using two languages: Examining the cognitive resource demands of cued and voluntary language production in bilinguals.

Abstract: The way bilinguals switch languages can differ depending on the context. In cued dual-language environments, bilinguals select a language in response to environmental cues (e.g., a monolingual conversation partner). In voluntary dual-language environments, bilinguals communicating with people who speak the same languages can use their languages more freely. The control demands of these types of language-production contexts, and the costs of language switches, have been argued to differ (Adaptive Control Hypothesis, Green & Abutalebi, 2013). Here we used a dual-task paradigm to examine how cued and voluntary bilingual production differ in cognitive resources used. Forty Mandarin-English bilinguals completed two language-switching paradigms as the primary task; one in response to cues and one while using two languages freely. At the same time, they also had to respond to the pitch of tones (secondary task). Response times (RTs) on the secondary task, as well as naming times on the primary task, were shorter in the voluntary- than cued-naming condition. Task workload ratings were also higher in the cued- than voluntary-naming condition. This suggests more attentional resources are needed in a cued-naming context to monitor cues and select languages accordingly. However, the costs associated with switching from one language to the other were similar in both voluntary and cued naming contexts. Thus, while cued naming might be more effortful overall, cued and voluntary switching recruited similar levels of cognitive resources.

EXPRESS: The influence of foreperiod duration on the preparation and control of sequential aiming movements.

Abstract: Reaction time and movement times to the first target are typically longer for two-target sequential movements compared to one-target movements. While this one-target advantage has been shown to be dependent on the availability of advance information about the numbers of targets, there has been no systematic investigation of how foreperiod duration (i.e., interval between presentation of the target(s) and stimulus) influences the planning and execution of sequential movements. Two experiments were performed to examine how the one-target advantage is influenced by the availability and timing of advance target information. In Experiment 1, participants performed one- and two-target movements in two separate blocks. In Experiment 2, target conditions were randomized from trial to trial. The interval between target(s) appearing and stimulus tone (i.e., foreperiod) was varied randomly (0, 500, 1000, 1500, 2000 ms). The results of Experiment 1 revealed that while the one-target advantage in reaction time was not influenced by foreperiod duration, the one-target advantage in movement time increased as foreperiod duration increased. The variability of endpoints at the first target was greater in the two- compared to one-target condition. In Experiment 2, the one-target advantage in both reaction and movement time increased as the length of the foreperiod increased. However, there was no difference in limb trajectory variability between target conditions. The implication of these findings for theories of motor planning and execution of multiple segment movements is discussed.

EXPRESS: Identifying unfamiliar voices: examining the system variables of sample duration and parade size.

Abstract: Voice identification parades can be unreliable due to the error-prone nature of earwitness responses. UK government guidelines recommend that voice parades should have nine voices, each played for 60 seconds. This makes parades resource-consuming to construct. In the present paper we conducted two experiments to see if voice parade procedures could be simplified. In Experiment 1 (N=271, 135F), we investigated if reducing the duration of the voice samples on a nine-voice parade would negatively affect identification performance using both conventional logistic and signal detection approaches. In Experiment 2 (N=270, 136F), we first explored if the same sample duration conditions used in Experiment 1 would lead to different outcomes if we reduced the parade size to include only six voices. Following this, we pooled the data from both experiments to investigate the influence of target-position effects. The results show that 15s sample durations result in statistically equivalent voice identification performance to the longer 60s sample durations, but that the 30s sample duration suffers in terms of overall signal sensitivity. This pattern of results was replicated using both a nine- and a six-voice parade. Performance on target-absent parades were at chance-levels in both parade sizes and response criteria were mostly liberal. Additionally, unwanted position effects were present. The results provide initial evidence that the sample duration used in a voice parade may be reduced, but we argue that the guidelines recommending a parade with nine-voices should be maintained to provide additional protection for a potentially innocent suspect given the low target-absent accuracy.

EXPRESS: Deficits of Duration Estimation in Individuals aged 10 to 20 Years Old with Idiopathic Mild Intellectual Disability: The Role of Updating Working Memory.

Abstract: Duration estimation is a conceptual ability that plays a crucial role in human behavior. Impairments in duration estimation ability have a significant impact on daily autonomy and social and cognitive capacities, even more so in psychological disorders. It has been recently shown that the ability to estimate durations develops at a slower pace in individuals with mild intellectual disability (MID) compared to typically developing (TD) individuals. More generally, it has been also demonstrated that duration estimation requires working memory updating. In the present study, we compared the duration estimation and updating performances of individuals with idiopathic MID without associated disorders aged from 10 to 20 years to those of typical individuals of the same ages (N = 160). Our results highlight a developmental lag not only in the capacity to estimate short durations (< 1 second) in individuals with idiopathic MID, both in a bisection task and in a reproduction task, but also in working memory updating capacity. The findings also emphasize - for the first time - the importance of updating for both the age-related increase in duration estimation capacities and the deficits of these capacities in idiopathic MID. This is consistent with the hypothesis that duration estimation deficits in idiopathic MID may be due, to a large extent, to lower updating abilities.

EXPRESS: Language Switching when Writing: The Role of Phonological and Orthographic Overlap

Abstract: While language switching of bilinguals has been investigated extensively in the spoken domain, there has been little research on switching while writing. The factors that impact written language switching may differ from those that impact language switching while speaking. Thus, the study's goal was to test to what extent phonological and/or orthographic overlap impacts written language switching. In four experiments, German-English bilinguals completed a cued language switching task where responses had to be typed. To-be-named translation-equivalent concepts were selected to be similar phonologically, orthographically or neither. Participants' switching between languages while writing was facilitated by both phonological as well as orthographic overlap. Maximum orthographic overlap between translation-equivalent words with dissimilar pronunciations facilitated switching to the extent that no switch costs could be observed. These results imply that overlapping orthography can strongly facilitate written language switching and that orthography's role should be considered more thoroughly in models of bilingual language production.

EXPRESS: To Sleep or Not to Sleep? No Effect of Sleep on Contextual Word Learning in Younger Adults.

Abstract: This study investigated the effect of sleep on novel word learning through reading context. Seventy-four healthy young adults attended two testing sessions, with either overnight sleep (sleep group) or daytime wakefulness (wake group) occurring between the sessions. At the initial learning session, participants identified the hidden meanings of novel words embedded within sentence contexts and were subsequently tested on their recognition of the novel word meanings. A recognition test was also conducted at the delayed session. The analyses revealed comparable recognition of novel word meanings for the sleep and wake group at both the initial and the delayed session, indicating that there was no benefit of sleep compared to wakefulness for novel word learning through context. Overall, this study highlights the critical influence of encoding method on sleep-dependent learning, where not all forms of word learning appear to benefit from sleep for consolidation.