S1 (FriAM 1-65) - The Psychonomic Society

Friday Noon Posters 2022–2027
targets are embedded in a rapid serial visual presentation stream of
distractors, perception of the second target is impaired if the intertarget
lag is less than 500 msec. This phenomenon, called the attentional
blink, has been attributed to a temporal inability of attentional resources.
Nevertheless, a recent study found that observers could monitor
two streams concurrently for up to four items presented in close
succession, suggesting a much larger visual capacity limit. However,
such high-capacity performance could be obtained by a rapid attentional
shift, rather than concurrent monitoring of multiple locations.
Therefore, we examined these alternatives. The results indicate that
observers can concurrently monitor two noncontiguous locations,
even when targets and distractors are from different categories, such
as digits, alphabet, Japanese, and pseudocharacters. These results can
be explained in terms of a modified input-filtering model in which a
multidimensional attentional set can be flexibly configured at different
spatial locations.
(2022)
The Effects of Noise Reduction on Listening Effort. ANASTASIOS
SARAMPALIS, University of California, Berkeley, SRIDHAR
KALLURI & BRENT W. EDWARDS, Starkey Hearing Research
Center, & ERVIN R. HAFTER, University of California, Berkeley (sponsored
by William Prinzmetal)—Hearing-aid users frequently complain
of difficulty understanding speech in the presence of noise. Signal
processing algorithms attempt to improve the quality, ease of listening,
and/or intelligibility of speech in noisy environments. Hearingaid
users often report that speech sounds easier to understand with a
noise reduction (NR) algorithm, even though there are no documented
intelligibility improvements, suggesting that NR may lead to a reduction
in listening effort. We investigated this hypothesis using a dualtask
paradigm with normal-hearing and hearing-impaired listeners.
They were asked to repeat sentences or words presented in noise while
performing either a memory or a reaction-time task. Our results
showed that degrading speech by reducing the signal-to-noise ratio increased
demand for cognitive resources, demonstrated as a drop in
performance in the cognitive task. Use of an NR algorithm mitigated
some of the deleterious effects of noise by reducing cognitive effort
and improving performance in the competing task.
(2023)
Ideal Observer Analysis in Dual Attention Task. REIKO
YAKUSHIJIN, Aoyama Gakuin University, & AKIRA ISHIGUCHI,
Ochanomizu University—We applied ideal observer analysis to a
dual-task situation in order to investigate directly how attentional resources
are allocated. Two sets of component circles arrayed circularly
were displayed side by side. The sets were different both in the size
of components and in the size of circular configurations. Participants
were asked in each trial to discriminate the size of components (local
task) or the size of circular configurations (global task). The task required
was in random order through trials. Priority of each task was
manipulated across trial sequences. Gaussian noise was introduced to
those sizes so that ideal performance could be calculated quantitatively
on each task. The result showed that, although statistical efficiency
was higher in the prior task, the efficiency summation of two
tasks was constant irrespective of the priority manipulations. It suggests
that the total amount of attentional resource was constant regardless
of top-down allocation of attention.
(2024)
Working Memory Consolidation Causes the Attentional Blink.
HIROYUKI TSUBOMI, University of Tokyo, & NAOYUKI OSAKA,
Kyoto University (sponsored by Naoyuki Osaka)—In an RSVP stream,
the first target interferes with the second if it is presented within a few
hundred milliseconds. This phenomenon, called the attentional blink
(AB), is often thought to reflect the temporal limit of visual working
memory (VWM) consolidation. However, this relationship has been
assumed rather than directly tested. We presented an array of 24 black
or green Landolt C rings. After 3 sec, one of the green rings turned
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red for 100 msec, followed by a 100-msec mask. Subsequently, a black
ring turned red for 100 msec, followed by a 100-msec mask. The participants
were instructed to report the gap direction of the two red
rings. The AB for the second red ring occurred only when there were
more than three green rings in the array. Using the same type of stimuli,
VWM capacity was independently measured to three items. This
indicates a clear connection between VWM and AB.
(2025)
Does the Response Criterion Affect Redundancy Gain in Simple RT?
JEFF O. MILLER, University of Otago—In simple RT, responses are
faster when two stimuli are presented than when one is—an example
of “redundancy gain.” Models of redundancy gain typically assume
that two stimuli cause faster accumulation of sensory evidence, thus
satisfying a response criterion more rapidly when both are presented.
That account predicts that, all other things being equal, redundancy
gain should be larger when the response criterion is higher. We tested
this prediction in two experiments manipulating the response criterion.
One experiment compared blocks of trials with infrequent versus
frequent catch trials, assuming that observers would set a higher
criterion when catch trials were frequent. The other experiment compared
blocks including no-stimulus catch trials against blocks including
a distractor stimulus in catch trials, assuming that observers would
set a higher criterion in the latter blocks to avoid incorrectly responding
to distractors. The results have implications for models of
redundancy gain.
(2026)
Dual-Task Performance With Consistent and Inconsistent Stimulus–
Response Mappings. KIM-PHUONG L. VU, California State University,
Long Beach, & ROBERT W. PROCTOR, Purdue University—
This study examined benefits for consistent stimulus–response mappings
for two tasks in a psychological-refractory-period paradigm. In
Experiment 1, participants performed three-choice spatial tasks, using
combinations of corresponding and mirror-opposite mappings. Both
mappings showed a consistency benefit for stimuli in the two outer
positions, for which the correct response differed across mappings,
but only the corresponding mapping showed a consistency benefit for
the center position, for which the middle response was always correct.
Experiments 2 and 3 used four-choice spatial tasks. A consistency
benefit was obtained for both mappings when the mapping for each
task was completely corresponding or mirror opposite. However, a
consistency benefit was not always obtained for a mixed mapping for
which corresponding responses were made to two positions and opposite
responses to two positions. These results suggest that the consistency
benefit is mainly evident when the mappings for both tasks
can be characterized by a single rule.
(2027)
Interhemispheric Collaboration for Matching Emotions Signified by
Words and Faces. JOSEPH B. HELLIGE, URVI J. PATEL, JIYE KIM,
& PATRICIA GEORGE, University of Southern California—Previous
visual laterality studies indicate that benefits of dividing an information
processing load across both cerebral hemispheres outweigh costs
of interhemispheric transfer as the tasks become more difficult or
complex. The present experiment indicates that this finding does not
generalize to a complex task that requires matching emotions represented
by two different visual formats whose perceptual processing
involves different cortical areas: words (e.g., sad) and cartoon faces
(e.g., a face with sad expression). Combined with other recent studies
that mix stimulus formats (e.g., digits and dots to represent numeric
quantity), the present results suggest that when stimuli are simultaneously
presented in appropriately different visual formats,
identification of those stimuli may take place in parallel, via different
cortical access routes. Consequently, there is little interference, even
when the stimuli are presented to a single cerebral hemisphere, so
there is little or no benefit from spreading processing across both
hemispheres.