S1 (FriAM 1-65) - The Psychonomic Society

Saturday Noon Posters 4048–4054
that, although listeners tend to not ignore salient irrelevant properties,
experience and knowledge both have an effect on the use of specific
relevant properties. The results will be discussed in terms of the degree
to which individual properties can be altered.
(4048)
Brief Meditation Training and Its Effects on Pain Perception.
FADEL Z. ZEIDAN, NAKIA S. GORDON, & PAULA GOOLKASIAN,
University of North Carolina, Charlotte—Long-term meditation practice
attenuates responses to experimental pain (Kaikigi et al., 2005).
Meditation may reduce pain perception by serving as a distraction; inducing
a relaxation response (Lazar et al., 2000); or enhancing ability
to cognitively shift attention from pain (Orme-Johnson et al.,
2006). These issues have been explored largely in adept meditators
(Kabat-Zinn et al., 1985). We examined the effects of 3 consecutive
days of 20-min mindfulness meditation training on pain perception to
electrical stimulation. A comparison group tested under relaxation
and arithmetic distraction conditions was also included. The results
demonstrated that brief meditation intervention significantly reduced
pain perception in comparison with relaxation and distraction. These
findings suggest that pain perception can be attenuated after only
60 min of meditation instruction. The cognitive aspect of meditation
practice may play a role in this effect.
(4049)
Presentation Order of Comparison and Standard Stimulus Affects
the Difference Threshold. EINAT LAPID & ROLF ULRICH, University
of Tübingen, & THOMAS RAMMSAYER, University of Bern—
In determining the difference threshold (i.e., the just noticeable difference)
in temporal discrimination tasks, subjects are typically asked
to compare a constant standard stimulus with a variable comparison
stimulus. This task allows one to establish a psychometric function
from which the difference threshold is calculated. The psychophysical
results of our experiments showed that the presentation order of
the comparison and the standard could strongly influence the size of
this threshold. A mathematical model can account for this order effect.
It assumes that subjects average stimulus information across trials
to establish a stable internal representation of the standard. This
model also accounts for our finding that difference thresholds determined
by a two-alternative forced-choice task are larger than thresholds
determined by the classical method of constant stimuli.
(4050)
Does Norwich’s Entropy Theory of Perception Actually Generate
the Stevens’ and Weber–Fechner Laws? IFTIKHAR R. NIZAMI—
Norwich’s “entropy equation,” supposedly derived from information
theory, relates sensation strength to stimulus strength. At “low”
strengths, the relation is approximately logarithmic—“the Weber–
Fechner law”—and at “high” strengths, approximately a power function—“Stevens’
law.” “Low” and “high” must be established through
curve fitting, because the entropy equation has three unknowns, including
a power exponent (y), allegedly “Stevens’ exponent” (x). To
test whether y = x, the logarithmic forms of the entropy equation and
Stevens’ Law were regression-fitted to 64 published plots of logarithm(magnitude-estimate)
versus logarithm(stimulus-strength).
y versus x is broadly scattered; 62/64 times, y � x. In theory, the fitted
entropy equation allows calculation of the transmitted information.
Constraining the fit to yield 2.5 bits/stimulus narrows the scatterplot
so that, roughly, y = 1.7x. Neither the Weber–Fechner nor the
Stevens approximations fully describe any examined sensationgrowth
plot. Quantification of sensation growth by “physical entropy”
(Norwich, Acta Biotheoretica, 2005) repeats these errors.
• EVENT COGNITION •
(4051)
Cognitive Biases in Estimating the Similarity of Environmental
Sounds. BRUNO L. GIORDANO, STEPHEN MCADAMS, & JOHN
112
MCDONNELL, McGill University—Relevant auditory features for
the perception of sound events are often studied using similarity ratings.
Acoustical features for perception are inferred from the association
between similarities and acoustical parameters. This approach
might lead to mistaken conclusions if participants are influenced by
the similarity of the knowledge structures activated by the recognition
of the sound source (e.g., train whistling, train wheels). The comparative
relevance of acoustical and conceptual information to the estimation
of the similarity of animate and inanimate environmental
sounds was measured. Similarities were measured using the agglomerative
hierarchical sorting technique. Participants judged either identification
labels, or the acoustical properties of the sounds, or the
sounds without further specification of the response criteria (conceptual,
acoustical, and unbiased conditions, respectively). Unbiased estimation
of the similarity of animate and inanimate sound events resembled
more closely conceptual and acoustical similarities,
respectively. Methodological and theoretical consequences are
discussed.
(4052)
Using Autobiographical Memory Questionnaires As a Form of Exposure
Therapy for Stressful Events. LISA M. HATHAWAY &
ADRIEL BOALS, University of North Texas—The present study investigated
whether completing the autobiographical memory questionnaire
(AMQ) for a stressful event results in a reduction in the emotionality
and vividness of the event. At Time 1, 190 participants
nominated a negative event from their lives. Participants in the experimental
group completed the AMQ in reference to their nominated
event, whereas the control group nominated six other events. Six
weeks later, participants in both groups completed the AMQ in regards
to the negative event nominated at Time 1. Participants in the
experimental group reported significantly less emotional intensity and
vividness of the event at Time 2, in comparison with the control group.
No such pattern of group differences was observed for a second nominated
stressful event also completed during Time 2. These results
suggest that completing the AMQ for a stressful memory results in a
decrease in the emotional intensity and vividness of the event.
(4053)
Actor Similarity and Binding Errors in Event Memory. JULIE L.
EARLES, ALAN W. KERSTEN, EILEEN S. CURTAYNE, &
JONATHAN G. PERLE, Florida Atlantic University—Mistakes in
eyewitness identification can occur when an eyewitness incorrectly
associates a familiar actor with the actions of another person. The
present research demonstrates that actors do not need to be similar in
appearance for such binding errors to occur. The actors can in fact be
very different in appearance, even different sexes. Participants attempted
to remember a series of brief events, each involving an actor
performing a simple action. Participants were tested one week later
on their recognition memory for the events. Increases in actor similarity
led to increases in binding errors, in which participants falsely
recognized a familiar actor performing a familiar action that had actually
been performed by someone else. Binding errors often occurred
even when the familiar actor was of a different sex than the original
actor, however, providing strong evidence that these binding errors are
not due solely to actor similarity.
(4054)
Freshman Flashbulbs: Exploring Flashbulb Memory Mechanisms in
a Collegiate Sample. JENNIFER M. TALARICO, Lafayette College—
Pilot data from the class of 2010 suggests that memories of distinctive,
emotional, and personally significant events concerning the transition
to college (e.g., meeting one’s roommate or attending one’s first
collegiate class) satisfy the criteria for “flashbulb memory” status;
participants remembered where they were, what they were doing, and
had vivid visual images for these memories. In addition, they were
quite confident that the event occurred as they remembered it. This
allows for the exploration of potential mechanisms for the flashbulb