scholarly journals Movement as a window to the mind: grasping adults’ perception and understanding of others’ goal-directed movements

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Schyana Sivanantham
Keyword(s):  
Response Times ◽  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Action Observation ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Distance Effect ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Small Object ◽  
Social Worlds ◽  
Reach To Grasp ◽  
Matching Effect

<p>Did you know you are a mindreader? Most of us have a fundamental curiosity about people and are in fact engaging in the process of mindreading every day, as we navigate our social worlds. For instance, we often think about what other people are thinking. On a more basic level, we even predict others’ goals based on their actions, such as when they reach for and grasp objects in their environment. This thesis aimed to test and validate a classic action observation paradigm. In order to do so, three experiments were conducted to investigate action observation for goal-directed movements. In Experiment 1, adults' eye gaze was tracked as they viewed reach-to-grasp movements. Contrary to standard predictions, results did not replicate gaze proactivity according to a motor matching account. Rather, adults' eyes latched on to targets that were larger and/or nearer to the agent’s hand. A motor matching account would have predicted that grasp type (pincer grasp or whole-hand prehension) should cue gaze proactivity to the congruent target (i.e., small object or large object, respectively). In Experiment 2, adults’ reaction times were measured as they viewed the same stimuli, but presented in static rather than dynamic format. Similarly to Experiment 1, adults’ response times were faster to detect a target when it appeared over an object closer to the reaching hand, rather than an object farther away from the hand. Again, this was not in line with a motor matching account. Finally, in Experiment 3, adults’ explicit probability judgements were solicited for still frames taken from the original video stimuli. Yet again, a distance effect prevailed, whereby adults explicitly predicted that the agent’s hand would contact the closer of two objects, even when the hand was at rest (in the absence of any motor cue). Overall, these results imply that adults are applying non-motor heuristics during action observation. As such, the stimuli tested in these classical studies may not be fit for purpose, that is, they do not reliably show a motor matching effect during action observation in adults. The implications of these findings for future research and theorising are also discussed.</p>

scholarly journals Movement as a window to the mind: grasping adults’ perception and understanding of others’ goal-directed movements

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Schyana Sivanantham
Keyword(s):  
Response Times ◽  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Action Observation ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Distance Effect ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Small Object ◽  
Social Worlds ◽  
Reach To Grasp ◽  
Matching Effect

<p>Did you know you are a mindreader? Most of us have a fundamental curiosity about people and are in fact engaging in the process of mindreading every day, as we navigate our social worlds. For instance, we often think about what other people are thinking. On a more basic level, we even predict others’ goals based on their actions, such as when they reach for and grasp objects in their environment. This thesis aimed to test and validate a classic action observation paradigm. In order to do so, three experiments were conducted to investigate action observation for goal-directed movements. In Experiment 1, adults' eye gaze was tracked as they viewed reach-to-grasp movements. Contrary to standard predictions, results did not replicate gaze proactivity according to a motor matching account. Rather, adults' eyes latched on to targets that were larger and/or nearer to the agent’s hand. A motor matching account would have predicted that grasp type (pincer grasp or whole-hand prehension) should cue gaze proactivity to the congruent target (i.e., small object or large object, respectively). In Experiment 2, adults’ reaction times were measured as they viewed the same stimuli, but presented in static rather than dynamic format. Similarly to Experiment 1, adults’ response times were faster to detect a target when it appeared over an object closer to the reaching hand, rather than an object farther away from the hand. Again, this was not in line with a motor matching account. Finally, in Experiment 3, adults’ explicit probability judgements were solicited for still frames taken from the original video stimuli. Yet again, a distance effect prevailed, whereby adults explicitly predicted that the agent’s hand would contact the closer of two objects, even when the hand was at rest (in the absence of any motor cue). Overall, these results imply that adults are applying non-motor heuristics during action observation. As such, the stimuli tested in these classical studies may not be fit for purpose, that is, they do not reliably show a motor matching effect during action observation in adults. The implications of these findings for future research and theorising are also discussed.</p>

scholarly journals Effects of attentional shifts along the vertical axis on number processing: an eye-tracking study with optokinetic stimulation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arianna Felisatti ◽  
Mariagrazia Ranzini ◽  
Elvio Blini ◽  
Matteo Lisi ◽  
Marco Zorzi
Keyword(s):  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Numerical Cognition ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Distance Effect ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Number Processing ◽  
Numerical Magnitude ◽  
Optokinetic Stimulation ◽  
Comparison Task

Previous studies suggest that associations between numbers and space are mediated by shifts of visuospatial attention along the horizontal axis. In this study, we investigated the effect of vertical shifts of overt attention, induced by optokinetic stimulation (OKS) and monitored through eye-tracking, in two tasks requiring explicit (number comparison) or implicit (parity judgment) processing of number magnitude. Participants were exposed to black-and-white stripes (OKS) that moved vertically (upward or downward) or remained static (control condition). During the OKS, participants were asked to verbally classify auditory one-digit numbers as larger/smaller than 5 (comparison task; Exp. 1) or as odd/even (parity task; Exp. 2). OKS modulated response times in both experiments. In Exp.1, downward attentional displacement increased the Magnitude effect (slower responses for large numbers) and reduced the Distance effect (slower responses for numbers close to the reference). In Exp.2, we observed a parity by magnitude interaction that was amplified by downward OKS. Moreover, eye tracking analyses revealed an influence of number processing on eye movements both in Exp. 1, with eye gaze shifting downwards during the processing of numbers 1-2 as compared to 8-9; and in Exp. 2, with leftward shifts after large even numbers (6,8) and rightward shifts after large odd numbers (7,9). These results provide evidence of bidirectional links between number and space and extend them to the vertical dimension. Moreover, they document the influence of visuo-spatial attention on processing of numerical magnitude, numerical distance and parity. Together, our findings are in line with grounded and embodied accounts of numerical cognition.

scholarly journals Computer Vision and Human Behaviour, Emotion and Cognition Detection: A Use Case on Student Engagement

Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 287
Author(s):  
Pieter Vanneste ◽  
José Oramas ◽  
Thomas Verelst ◽  
Tinne Tuytelaars ◽  
Annelies Raes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Computer Vision ◽  
Object Recognition ◽  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Individual Student ◽  
Use Case ◽  
Complex Task ◽  
Individual Behaviour ◽  
Cognitive Component

Computer vision has shown great accomplishments in a wide variety of classification, segmentation and object recognition tasks, but tends to encounter more difficulties when tasks require more contextual assessment. Measuring the engagement of students is an example of such a complex task, as it requires a strong interpretative component. This research describes a methodology to measure students’ engagement, taking both an individual (student-level) and a collective (classroom) approach. Results show that students’ individual behaviour, such as note-taking or hand-raising, is challenging to recognise, and does not correlate with students’ self-reported engagement. Interestingly, students’ collective behaviour can be quantified in a more generic way using measures for students’ symmetry, reaction times and eye-gaze intersections. Nonetheless, the evidence for a connection between these collective measures and engagement is rather weak. Although this study does not succeed in providing a proxy of students’ self-reported engagement, our approach sheds light on the needs for future research. More concretely, we suggest that not only the behavioural, but also the emotional and cognitive component of engagement should be captured.

Time after time: support for memory accounts of temporal preparation.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joe Butler ◽  
Samuel Ngabo ◽  
Marcus Missal
Keyword(s):  
Response Times ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Order Effects ◽  
Previous Trial ◽  
Adaptive Responses ◽  
Temporal Preparation ◽  
Subsequent Trial ◽  
Higher Order Effects

Complex biological systems build up temporal expectations to facilitate adaptive responses to environmental events, in order to minimise costs associated with incorrect responses, and maximise the benefits of correct responses. In the lab, this is clearly demonstrated in tasks which show faster response times when the period between warning (S1) and target stimulus (S2) on the previous trial was short and slower when the previous trial foreperiod was long. The mechanisms driving such higher order effects in temporal preparation paradigms are still under debate, with key theories proposing that either i) the foreperiod leads to automatic modulation of the arousal system which influences responses on the subsequent trial, or ii) that exposure to a foreperiod results in the creation of a memory trace which is used to guide responses on the subsequent trial. Here we provide data which extends the evidence base for the memory accounts, by showing that previous foreperiod exposures are cumulative with reaction times shortening after repeated exposures; whilst also demonstrate that the higher order effects associated with a foreperiod remain active for several trials.

Ultra-fast selection of grasping points

2013 ◽  
Vol 110 (7) ◽  
pp. 1484-1489 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Voudouris ◽  
J. B. J. Smeets ◽  
E. Brenner
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Times ◽  
Preferred Orientation ◽  
Reach To Grasp ◽  
Contact Points ◽  
Selection Of

To grasp an object one needs to determine suitable positions on its surface for placing the digits and to move the digits to those positions. If the object is displaced during a reach-to-grasp movement, the digit movements are quickly adjusted. Do these fast adjustments only guide the digits to previously chosen positions on the surface of the object, or is the choice of contact points also constantly reconsidered? Subjects grasped a ball or a cube that sometimes rotated briefly when the digits started moving. The digits followed the rotation within 115 ms. When the object was a ball, subjects quickly counteracted the initial following response by reconsidering their choice of grasping points so that the digits ended at different positions on the rotated surface of the ball, and the ball was grasped with the preferred orientation of the hand. When the object was a cube, subjects sometimes counteracted the initial following response to grasp the cube by a different pair of sides. This altered choice of grasping points was evident within ∼160 ms of rotation onset, which is shorter than regular reaction times.

scholarly journals Hand Dexterity Impairment in Patients with Cervical Myelopathy: A New Quantitative Assessment Using a Natural Prehension Movement

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masao Omori ◽  
Satoshi Shibuya ◽  
Tsuyoshi Nakajima ◽  
Takashi Endoh ◽  
Shinya Suzuki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cervical Myelopathy ◽  
Movement Time ◽  
Objective Assessment ◽  
Cord Compression ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
Small Object ◽  
Reach To Grasp ◽  
Japanese Orthopedic Association ◽  
Hand Dexterity ◽  
Grip And Release Test

Cervical myelopathy (CM) caused by spinal cord compression can lead to reduced hand dexterity. However, except for the 10 sec grip-and-release test, there is no objective assessment system for hand dexterity in patients with CM. Therefore, we evaluated the hand dexterity impairment of patients with CM objectively by asking them to perform a natural prehension movement. Twenty-three patients with CM and 30 age-matched controls were asked to reach for and grasp a small object with their right thumb and index finger and to subsequently lift and hold it. To examine the effects of tactile afferents from the fingers, objects with surface materials of differing textures (silk, suede, and sandpaper) were used. All patients also underwent the Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) test. Preoperative patients showed significantly greater grip aperture during reach-to-grasp movements and weaker grip force than controls only while attempting to lift the most slippery object (silk). Patients, immediately after surgery, (n=15) tended to show improvements in the JOA score and in reaction time and movement time with respect to reaching movements. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that some parameters of the prehension task could successfully predict subjective evaluations of dexterous hand movements based on JOA scores. These results suggest that quantitative assessments using prehension movements could be useful to objectively evaluate hand dexterity impairment in patients with CM.

scholarly journals Familiarity affects the same event-related brain potential components in note readers and non-note readers

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 205920431877823 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Becker
Keyword(s):  
Visual Perception ◽  
Neural Plasticity ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Music Perception ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Familiarity Effect ◽  
Professional Musicians ◽  
Brain Potential ◽  
Cognitive Domains

Musical expertise can lead to neural plasticity in specific cognitive domains (e.g., in auditory music perception). However, not much is known about whether the visual perception of simple musical symbols (e.g., notes) already differs between musicians and non-musicians. This was the aim of the present study. Therefore, the Familiarity Effect (FE) – an effect which occurs quite early during visual processing and which is based on prior knowledge or expertise – was investigated. The FE describes the phenomenon that it is easier to find an unfamiliar element (e.g., a mirrored eighth note) in familiar elements (e.g., normally oriented eighth notes) than to find a familiar element in a background of unfamiliar elements. It was examined whether the strength of the FE for eighth notes differs between note readers and non-note readers. Furthermore, it was investigated at which component of the event-related brain potential (ERP) the FE occurs. Stimuli that consisted of either eighth notes or vertically mirrored eighth notes were presented to the participants (28 note readers, 19 non-note readers). A target element was embedded in half of the trials. Reaction times, sensitivity, and three ERP components (the N1, N2p, and P3) were recorded. For both the note readers and the non-note readers, strong FEs were found in the behavioral data. However, no differences in the strength of the FE between groups were found. Furthermore, for both groups, the FE was found for the same ERP components (target-absent trials – N1 latency; target-present trials – N2p latency, N2p amplitude, P3 amplitude). It is concluded that the early visual perception of eighth note symbols does not differ between note readers and non-note readers. However, future research is needed to verify this for more complex musical stimuli and for professional musicians.

Traffic Signal Color Recognition Is a Problem for Both Protan and Deutan Color-Vision Deficients

2003 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 495-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Atchison ◽  
Carol A. Pedersen ◽  
Stephen J. Dain ◽  
Joanne M. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Color Vision ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Traffic Signal ◽  
White Background ◽  
Signal Design ◽  
Traffic Light ◽  
Light Signals ◽  
Signal Color

We investigated the effect of color-vision deficiency on reaction times and accuracy of identification of traffic light signals. Participants were 20 color-normal and 49 color-deficient males, the latter divided into subgroups of different severity and type. Participants performed a tracking task. At random intervals, stimuli simulating standard traffic light signals were presented against a white background at 5° to right or left. Participants identified stimulus color (red/yellow/green) by pressing an appropriate response button. Mean response times for color normals were 525, 410, and 450 ms for red, yellow, and green lights, respectively. For color deficients, response times to red lights increased with increase in severity of color deficiency, with deutans performing worse than protans of similar severity: response times of deuteranopes and protanopes were 53% and 35% longer than those of color normals. A similar pattern occurred for yellow lights, with deuteranopes and protanopes having increased response times of 85% and 53%, respectively. For green lights, response times of all groups were similar. Error rates showed patterns similar to those of response times. Contrary to previous studies, deutans performed much worse than protans of similar severity. Actual or potential applications of this research include traffic signal design and driver licensing.

Hands-Free versus Hand-Held Cell Phone Conversation on a Braking Response by Young Drivers

2007 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 514-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joy L. Hendrick ◽  
Jamie R. Switzer
Keyword(s):  
Cell Phone ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Cell Phones ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Free Cell ◽  
Visual Signal ◽  
Young Drivers ◽  
Speed Of Information Processing ◽  
Additional Support ◽  
The Right

As some states allow motorists to use hands-free cell phones only while driving, this study was done to examine some braking responses to see if conversing on these two types of cell phones affects quick responding. College-age drivers ( n = 25) completed reaction time trials in go/no-go situations under three conditions: control (no cell phone or conversation), and conversing on hands-free and hand-held cell phones. Their task involved moving the right foot from one pedal to another as quickly as possible in response to a visual signal in a lab setting. Significantly slower reaction times, movement times, and total response times were found for both cell phone conditions than for the control but no differences between hands-free and hand-held phone conditions. These findings provide additional support that talking on cell phones, regardless if it is hands-free or hand-held, reduces speed of information processing.

scholarly journals Time-dependent modulation of spinal excitability during action observation in the macaque monkey

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.J. Jerjian ◽  
R.N. Lemon ◽  
A. Kraskov
Keyword(s):  
Pyramidal Tract ◽  
Rhesus Macaques ◽  
Action Observation ◽  
Macaque Monkey ◽  
Reach To Grasp ◽  
Hand Muscles ◽  
Spinal Circuitry ◽  
Hand Muscle ◽  
Spinal Excitability ◽  
Muscle Responses

ABSTRACTNeurons in the primate motor cortex, including identified pyramidal tract neurons projecting to the spinal cord, respond to the observation of others’ actions, yet this does not cause movement in the observer. Here, we investigated changes in spinal excitability during action observation by monitoring short latency electromyographic responses produced by single shocks delivered directly to the pyramidal tract. Responses in hand and digit muscles were recorded from two adult rhesus macaques while they performed, observed or withheld reach-to-grasp and hold actions. We found modest grasp-specific facilitation of hand muscle responses during hand shaping for grasp, which persisted when the grasp was predictable but obscured from the monkey’s vision. We also found evidence of a more general inhibition before observed movement onset, and the size of this inhibition effect was comparable to the inhibition after an explicit NoGo signal. These results confirm that the spinal circuitry controlling hand muscles is modulated during action observation, and this may be driven by internal representations of actions. The relatively modest changes in spinal excitability during observation suggest net corticospinal outflow exerts only minor, sub-threshold changes on hand motoneuron pools, thereby preventing any overflow of mirror activity into overt movement.

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