2,713 results on '"Mental representation"'
Search Results
2. Beyond the episodic–semantic continuum: the multidimensional model of mental representations.
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Addis, Donna Rose and Szpunar, Karl K.
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EPISODIC memory , *AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL memory , *MENTAL representation , *SEMANTIC memory , *IMAGINATION - Abstract
Tulving's concept of mental time travel (MTT), and the related distinction of episodic and semantic memory, have been highly influential contributions to memory research, resulting in a wealth of findings and a deeper understanding of the neurocognitive correlates of memory and future thinking. Many models have conceptualized episodic and semantic representations as existing on a continuum that can help to account for various hybrid forms. Nevertheless, in most theories, MTT remains distinctly associated with episodic representations. In this article, we review existing models of memory and future thinking, and critically evaluate whether episodic representations are distinct from other types of explicit representations, including whether MTT as a neurocognitive capacity is uniquely episodic. We conclude by proposing a new framework, the Multidimensional Model of Mental Representations (MMMR), which can parsimoniously account for the range of past, present and future representations the human mind is capable of creating. This article is part of the theme issue 'Elements of episodic memory: lessons from 40 years of research'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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3. Compositionality in perception: A framework.
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Lande, Kevin J.
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Perception involves the processing of content or information about the world. In what form is this content represented? I argue that perception is widely compositional. The perceptual system represents many stimulus features (including shape, orientation, and motion) in terms of combinations of other features (such as shape parts, slant and tilt, common and residual motion vectors). But compositionality can take a variety of forms. The ways in which perceptual representations compose are markedly different from the ways in which sentences or thoughts are thought to be composed. I suggest that the thesis that perception is compositional is not itself a concrete hypothesis with specific predictions; rather it affords a productive framework for developing and evaluating specific empirical hypotheses about the form and content of perceptual representations. The question is not just whether perception is compositional, but how. Answering this latter question can provide fundamental insights into perception. This article is categorized under:Philosophy > RepresentationPhilosophy > Foundations of Cognitive SciencePsychology > Perception and Psychophysics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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4. Demystifying unsupervised learning: how it helps and hurts.
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Bröker, Franziska, Holt, Lori L., Roads, Brett D., Dayan, Peter, and Love, Bradley C.
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SUPERVISED learning , *MENTAL representation , *LEARNING , *MACHINE learning , *RESEARCH personnel - Abstract
Humans are not guaranteed to benefit from unsupervised experiences (and neither are machines). Instead, given unsupervised experience, humans self-reinforce their predictions. This can help performance when the predictions are accurate; it can hurt or have no effect when the predictions are inaccurate. Predictions depend on the internal representations of learners, which are shaped by prior experiences. Thus, prediction accuracy depends on how well internal representations align with the task. Only by assessing these representations can researchers understand whether and why unsupervised learning helps or hurts in a specific task and in a specific person. The literatures on self-reinforcement and unsupervised learning in humans have largely operated in isolation, but would benefit from more crosstalk. Insights also have broad implications for lifelong learning and the design of instruction. Humans and machines rarely have access to explicit external feedback or supervision, yet manage to learn. Most modern machine learning systems succeed because they benefit from unsupervised data. Humans are also expected to benefit and yet, mysteriously, empirical results are mixed. Does unsupervised learning help humans or not? Here, we argue that the mixed results are not conflicting answers to this question, but reflect that humans self-reinforce their predictions in the absence of supervision, which can help or hurt depending on whether predictions and task align. We use this framework to synthesize empirical results across various domains to clarify when unsupervised learning will help or hurt. This provides new insights into the fundamentals of learning with implications for instruction and lifelong learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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5. Minds and markets as complex systems: an emerging approach to cognitive economics.
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Johnson, Samuel G.B., Schotanus, Patrick R., and Kelso, J.A. Scott
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MENTAL representation , *COGNITIVE science , *COLLECTIVE representation , *BEHAVIORAL economics , *SOCIAL processes - Abstract
Cognitive economics uses cognitive science to understand economic decision-making. We review research streams that conceptualize both minds and markets as complex adaptive systems. Narrative theories of decision-making examine the cognitive and social representations and processes that govern decision-making under uncertainty. Agent-based cognitive models study how cognitive mechanisms at the individual level can contribute to emergent systems-level phenomena. Post-cognitivist approaches such as the Market Mind Hypothesis consider minds and markets to be one continuous complex system. Coordination Dynamics is one useful framework for analyzing this system. Cognitive economics is an emerging interdisciplinary field that uses the tools of cognitive science to study economic and social decision-making. Although most strains of cognitive economics share commitments to bridging levels of analysis (cognitive, behavioral, and systems) and embracing interdisciplinary approaches, we review a newer strand of cognitive economic thinking with a further commitment: conceptualizing minds and markets each as complex adaptive systems. We describe three ongoing research programs that strive toward these goals: (i) studying narratives as a cognitive and social representation used to guide decision-making; (ii) building cognitively informed agent-based models; and (iii) understanding markets as an extended mind – the Market Mind Hypothesis – analyzed using the concepts, methods, and tools of Coordination Dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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6. Troubles with mathematical contents.
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Facchin, Marco
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MENTAL representation , *COGNITIVE science , *COGNITION , *ARGUMENT - Abstract
To account for the explanatory role representations play in cognitive science, Egan's deflationary account introduces a distinction between cognitive and mathematical contents. According to that account, only the latter are genuine explanatory posits of cognitive-scientific theories, as they represent the arguments and values cognitive devices need to represent to compute. Here, I argue that the deflationary account suffers from two important problems, whose roots trace back to the introduction of mathematical contents. First, I will argue that mathematical contents do not satisfy important and widely accepted desiderata all theories of content are called to satisfy, such as content determinacy and naturalism. Secondly, I will claim that there are cases in which mathematical contents cannot play the explanatory role the deflationary account claims they play, proposing an empirical counterexample. Lastly, I will conclude the paper highlighting two important implications of my arguments, concerning recent theoretical proposals to naturalize representations via physical computation, and the popular predictive processing theory of cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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7. Age effects on processing spatial relations within different reference frames: The role of executive functions.
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Markostamou, Ioanna and Coventry, Kenny R.
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EXECUTIVE function , *OLDER people , *AGE differences , *MENTAL representation , *SPATIAL ability - Abstract
Mental representations of space can be generated and communicated with respect to different reference frames and perspectives. The present study investigated the effects of age and individual differences in domain-general executive functions on people's ability to process spatial relations as expressed in language within different spatial reference frames (SRFs). Healthy adults aged between 18 and 85 completed a novel task involving self-, third-person-, object-, and environment-centered judgements of spatial relations between two objects, as well as standard tests of working memory, inhibition, and mental flexibility. A psychometric evaluation confirmed the test-retest reliability and the convergent and divergent validity of the new task. Results showed that the lifespan trajectories varied depending on the SRF. Processing from a self-centered perspective or an object-centered frame remained intact throughout the adult-lifespan. By contrast, spatial processing from a third-person-centered perspective or within an environment-centered frame declined in late adulthood. Mediation regression models showed that mental flexibility accounted for a significant part of the age-related variance in spatial processing across all allocentric SRFs. The age effects on environment-centered processing were also partially mediated by age-related changes in visuospatial working memory capacity. These findings suggest that at least partially distinct systems are involved in mentally representing space under different SRFs, which are differentially affected by typical aging. Our results also highlight that people's ability to process spatial relations across different SRFs depends on their capacity to employ domain-general effortful cognitive resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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8. Integration patterns in the use of metadata for data sense‐making during relevance evaluation: An interpretable deep learning‐based prediction.
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Li, Qiao, Wang, Ping, Liu, Chunfeng, Li, Xueyi, and Hou, Jingrui
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MENTAL representation , *INFORMATION retrieval , *HEURISTIC , *METADATA , *FORECASTING - Abstract
Integrating diverse cues from metadata to make sense of retrieved data during relevance evaluation is a crucial yet challenging task for data searchers. However, this integrative task remains underexplored, impeding the development of effective strategies to address metadata's shortcomings in supporting this task. To address this issue, this study proposes the “Integrative Use of Metadata for Data Sense‐Making” (IUM‐DSM) model. This model provides an initial framework for understanding the integrative tasks performed by data searchers, focusing on their integration patterns and associated challenges. Experimental data were analyzed using an interpretable deep learning‐based prediction approach to validate this model. The findings offer preliminary support for the model, revealing that data searchers engage in integrative tasks to utilize metadata effectively for data sense‐making during relevance evaluation. They construct coherent mental representations of retrieved data by integrating systematic and heuristic cues from metadata through two distinct patterns: within‐category integration and across‐category integration. This study identifies key challenges: within‐category integration entails comparing, classifying, and connecting systematic or heuristic cues, while across‐category integration necessitates considerable effort to integrate cues from both categories. To support these integrative tasks, this study proposes strategies for mitigating these challenges by optimizing metadata layouts and developing intelligent data retrieval systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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9. Infants infer and predict coherent event interactions: Modeling cognitive development.
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Theuer, Johanna K., Koch, Nadine N., Gumbsch, Christian, Elsner, Birgit, and Butz, Martin V.
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GAZE , *MENTAL representation , *ACTION theory (Psychology) , *COGNITIVE development , *INFANTS - Abstract
Mental representations of the environment in infants are sparse and grow richer during their development. Anticipatory eye fixation studies show that infants aged around 7 months start to predict the goal of an observed action, e.g., an object targeted by a reaching hand. Interestingly, goal-predictive gaze shifts occur at an earlier age when the hand subsequently manipulates an object and later when an action is performed by an inanimate actor, e.g., a mechanical claw. We introduce CAPRI2 (Cognitive Action PRediction and Inference in Infants), a computational model that explains this development from a functional, algorithmic perspective. It is based on the theory that infants learn object files and events as they develop a physical reasoning system. In particular, CAPRI2 learns a generative event-predictive model, which it uses to both interpret sensory information and infer goal-directed behavior. When observing object interactions, CAPRI2 (i) interprets the unfolding interactions in terms of event-segmented dynamics, (ii) maximizes the coherence of its event interpretations, updating its internal estimates and (iii) chooses gaze behavior to minimize expected uncertainty. As a result, CAPRI2 mimics the developmental pathway of infants' goal-predictive gaze behavior. Our modeling work suggests that the involved event-predictive representations, longer-term generative model learning, and shorter-term retrospective and active inference principles constitute fundamental building blocks for the effective development of goal-predictive capacities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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10. Visuo-spatial working memory abilities modulate mental rotation: Evidence from event-related potentials.
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Zhao, Binglei, Della Sala, Sergio, and Gherri, Elena
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SHORT-term memory , *EVOKED potentials (Electrophysiology) , *SPATIAL memory , *ERROR rates , *INDIVIDUAL differences , *MENTAL representation , *MENTAL rotation - Abstract
In the present study, we investigated whether differences in spatial working memory (SWM) abilities – assessed through the Corsi block task (CBT) – impact the processes of mental rotation (MR) engaged during a classic letter rotation task. Based on the median split of their scores in the CBT, participants were divided into a higher and a lower SWM group. Behavioral and electrophysiological data were recorded while participants completed the MR task and were compared across groups. Higher error rates were observed in individuals with lower than higher SWM scores, while no RT differences emerged. Systematic group differences were observed before and during the MR process of canonical letters. A delayed onset of the event-related potential (ERP) rotation-related negativity (RRN), a reliable psychophysiological marker for MR processes, was observed in the lower SWM group for all rotation angles, suggesting that a longer time is needed to generate a mental representation of familiar stimuli in individuals with lower SWM scores. Furthermore, a delayed RRN offset indicating the end of the MR process and longer RRN durations suggesting longer MR processes were found for letters with larger rotation angles (i.e. 120°, 150°) in individuals with lower SWM scores on canonical character trials. These observed group differences provided evidence for the debated issue of the interaction between SWM and MR, suggesting that SWM plays a role in both the initial phase to generate the mental representation of familiar objects and during the MR process, especially for larger angles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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11. Distractor similarity and category variability effects in search.
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Robbins, Arryn and Evdokimov, Anatolii
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VISUAL perception , *MULTIDIMENSIONAL scaling , *LONG-term memory , *MENTAL representation , *EYE tracking - Abstract
Categorical search involves looking for objects based on category information from long-term memory. Previous research has shown that search efficiency in categorical search is influenced by target/distractor similarity and category variability (i.e., heterogeneity). However, the interaction between these factors and their impact on different subprocesses of search remains unclear. This study examined the effects of target/distractor similarity and category variability on processes of categorical search. Using multidimensional scaling, we manipulated target/distractor similarity and measured category variability for target categories that participants searched for. Eye-tracking data were collected to examine attentional guidance and target verification. The results demonstrated that the effect of category variability on response times (RTs) was dependent on the level of target/distractor similarity. Specifically, when distractors were highly similar to target categories, there was a negative relation between RTs and variability, with low variability categories producing longer RTs than higher variability categories. Surprisingly, this trend was only present in the eye-tracking measures of target verification but not attentional guidance. Our results suggest that searchers more effectively guide attention to low-variability categories compared to high-variability categories, regardless of the degree of similarity between targets and distractors. However, low category variability interferes with target match decisions when distractors are highly similar to the category, thus the advantage that low category variability provides to searchers is not equal across processes of search. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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12. When foundations falter: The emergence of defensive narratives from insecure attachment dynamics.
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Richardson, Emma and Boag, Simon
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ATTACHMENT theory (Psychology) , *TREATMENT effectiveness , *MENTAL representation , *MOTOR vehicle driving , *ANXIETY - Abstract
The present paper introduces a theoretical model that addresses the interplay between insecure attachment, internal narratives, and defensive behaviour. Drawing from attachment theory research, we conceptualize the "internalized defensive narrative" (IDN) as a mental representation associated with attachment-insecurity. The model illustrates how the unique IDN associated with attachment-anxiety and attachment-avoidance respectively invoke hyperactivating and deactivating defenses. In clinical contexts, the model's application may possibly contribute to the development of more effective therapeutic strategies that target the root causes of a client's defensive behaviour. By recognizing the IDN as a key factor in the maintenance of the insecure cycle, therapists can potentially help clients gain insights into the psychological mechanisms driving their behaviour and provide them with tools for change, leading to improved therapeutic outcomes for individuals struggling with these issues. Further research is needed to validate and elaborate on the proposed model and its implications for clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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13. Evaluation of the hydrating benefits of a cationic hyaluronic acid: From biological evaluation to consumer home use trial.
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Blanc Catala, Justine, Zanchetta, Catherine, François, Candice, Chapuis, Emilie, Joset, Nathalie, Meunier, Marie, Loeser, Florian, Godbille, Shan, Scandolera, Amandine, Reynaud, Romain, and Lefèvre, Fabrice
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CUSTOMER satisfaction , *TECHNOLOGICAL innovations , *HYALURONIC acid , *COGNITIVE testing , *MENTAL representation - Abstract
Active ingredients are often assessed based on physiological measurements, but innovative technologies to measure skin sensations can provide a holistic volunteer assessment of the use of an ingredient. In this paper, the hydrating benefits of a cationic hyaluronic acid (HA) were evaluated alongside clinical biometrics and innovative cognitive measurements to determine how biological benefits correlated with volunteers' feelings and perceptions of hydration. The results demonstrated that cationic HA provides hydrating benefits at the clinical level due to its film‐forming properties. Through the use of innovative behavioural measurement tools, we were able to show that these outcomes are perceived by naïve consumers in real‐life conditions. In addition, the benefits of cationic HA reported by users were in accordance with the mental representation they had related to the use of HA, thus the product achieved complete sensorial embodiment. We can conclude that the combination of clinical evaluations and home use trials consolidates product assessment when seeking to measure consumer satisfaction with proven biological benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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14. Disturbance at the self-other boundary in schizophrenia: Linking phenomenology to clinical neuroscience.
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Jimenez, Amy M. and Green, Michael F.
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AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL memory , *TEMPOROPARIETAL junction , *PREFRONTAL cortex , *FUNCTIONAL connectivity , *CLINICAL neurosciences , *MENTAL representation - Abstract
In this selective review, we describe the current neuroscientific literature on disturbances of the self-other boundary in schizophrenia as they relate to structural and experiential aspects of the self. Within these two broad categories, the structural self includes body ownership and agency, and the experiential self includes self-reflection, source monitoring, and self-referential and autobiographical memory. Further, we consider how disturbances in these domains link to the phenomenology of schizophrenia. We identify faulty internal predictive coding as a potential mechanism of disturbance in body ownership and agency, which results in susceptibility to bias (over- or under-attributing outcomes to one's own actions or intentions). This is reflected in reduced activity in the temporoparietal junction (TPJ), a heteromodal association area implicated in several aspects of self-other processing, as well as reduced fronto-parietal functional connectivity. Deficits of the experiential self in schizophrenia may stem from a lack of salience of self-related information, whereby the mental representation of self is not as rich as in healthy controls and therefore does not result in the same level of privileged processing. As a result, memory for self-referential material and autobiographical memory processes is impaired, which hinders creation of a cohesive life narrative. Impairments of the experiential self implicate abnormal activation patterns along the cortical midline, including medial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate/precuneus, as well as TPJ. In fact, TPJ appears to be involved in all the reviewed aspects of the self-other disturbance. We conclude with suggestions for future work, including implications for interventions with critical timing considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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15. Representation and mental life: describing the mind on an adolescent inpatient eating disorder ward.
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Wynn, Lewis
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EATING disorders in adolescence , *ANOREXIA nervosa , *BEHAVIOR therapy , *MENTAL representation , *COGNITIVE therapy - Abstract
This paper attempts to identify and to describe the implicit understanding of mind and mental life at work across an adolescent inpatient eating disorder ward, where the author worked as a healthcare assistant for 12 weeks. It does so by providing an account of ‘prompts’ employed by hospital staff during mealtimes on the ward. The vision of mental illness implied by these ‘prompts’ is described as supporting a paradigm of mental life consistent with the assumptions of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). An account of supervising mealtimes while employing language consistent with a psychodynamic model of mind is briefly offered as an alternative, before some of the benefits and drawbacks of both paradigms are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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16. Relevance of the common‐sense model for people living with a genetic predisposition for breast and ovarian cancer.
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Fantini‐Hauwel, Carole, Geerts‐Crabbé, Laura, and Antoine, Pascal
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BRCA genes , *HEALTH behavior , *GENETIC models , *GENETIC testing , *OVARIAN cancer , *GENETIC counseling , *MENTAL representation - Abstract
Objectives Method Results BRCA1/2 pathogenic variants have been associated with an increased risk for breast, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate cancer as well as melanoma. The present research uses the Leventhal's common‐sense model of self‐regulation (CSM), a theoretical framework highlighting the role of mental representations on responses to a health‐threat. We aim at understanding the personal meaning and representation of living with an hereditary breast and ovarian cancer predisposition.Semi‐structured interviews of 15 BRCA carriers were analysed using the interpretative phenomenological analysis.Mental representations develops in childhood and are influenced by childhood emotional responses to the familial experience of the BRCA predisposition. Pre‐existing beliefs about BRCA, even erroneous, are deeply anchored and not called into question by medical informations given during the genetic counselling. This is particularly true when medical information is perceived as too complex, inconsistent or in contradiction with familial experience. These beliefs about the consequences of being carriers of the BRCA gene influence emotional and behavioural experiences leading to experience fear, anxiety, lack of hope for future or self‐identity change. For participants with a traumatic familial experience of cancer, the lack of treatment for this genetic disease generates a perpetual overestimation of cancers’ risk and the feeling of an unending danger associated with early death despite breast and ovarian prophylactic surgery. When strong negative representations of the BRCA predisposition are experienced, dysfunctional health behaviours, such as drugs consumption or overuse of medical consultations, could appear consecutively to emotional disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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17. Examining the Equivalence Between Imagery and Execution—Does Imagery Comprise the Intended Spatial Trajectory?
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Roberts, James W., Wakefield, Caroline J., and de Grosbois, John P.
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TIME perception , *MENTAL representation , *STANDARD deviations , *LOGIC - Abstract
AbstractThe functional equivalence model suggests a common internal representation initiates both imagery and execution. This suggestion is supported by the mental chronometry effect, where there is a positive relation between task difficulty (as defined by the Index of Difficulty; ID) and imagined movement time. The present study extends this logic by examining whether imagery captures the spatial trajectory. Participants were initially tasked with the imagery and execution of a rapid aiming movement under different IDs. These initial attempts were adapted to configure auditory tones at early (25%) and late (75%) intervals for a separate set of imagery trials. If a tone had sounded, participants had to estimate post-trial where their imagined limb would have been located. The findings revealed increases in ID that coincided with increases in imagined and executed movement times. However, participant mean and standard deviation of estimated locations revealed limited differences between the early and late tones. Further inspection revealed some evidence for these estimated locations shifting further along in space following more rapid imagined movements. While equivalence is clearly evident within the temporal domain, there is comparatively little to suggest that this logic extends to the resolution required for simulating the spatial characteristics of movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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18. Building the representation of male mental health professionals in eating disorder treatment.
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Ganson, Kyle T. and Bunnell, Douglas W.
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MENTAL health services , *MENTAL health personnel , *EATING disorders , *MENTAL representation , *SOCIAL workers - Abstract
Male mental health professionals (e.g. social workers, psychologists) are a minority of providers in eating disorder treatment spaces, and there is a drastic need to increase their representation in this clinical area. This Last Word outlines the barriers that impede male mental health professionals from specializing in eating disorder treatment, such as masculine gender norms, and provides four specific recommendations to enhance training, hiring, retention, and the development of male mental health professionals in the treatment of people with eating disorders. These recommendations include, developing gender awareness, specialized training, talking about gender, and gender and relationships. Building the representation of male mental health professionals in eating disorder treatment may reduce stigma and myths about these disorders and have positive impacts on clients across genders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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19. Creating communities that care: social representation of mental health in two urban poor communities in Ghana.
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Agyei, Francis, de-Graft Aikins, Ama, Osei-Tutu, Annabella, and Annor, Francis
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MENTAL health services , *CLASSIFICATION of mental disorders , *POOR communities , *MENTAL representation , *MENTAL illness - Abstract
Building caring communities is fundamental to achieving a community-based approach to mental health. Understanding how communities perceive mental illness provides critical insight into fostering mental health awareness and care. We explored the perceptions of mental illness among members of two urban poor communities in Accra, Ghana. Qualitative data were collected from 77 participants through key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and situated conversations. Using theory-driven thematic analysis based on social representations theory, findings revealed cognitive-emotional representations of mental illness. The communities demonstrated high awareness of the multilevel factors contributing to mental illness risk and experiences, drawing on five sources of knowledge: embodied, common sense, medical, cultural, and religious. Mental illness representations informed the classification and legitimization of mental illness based on the severity of conditions and the identity of sufferers. These findings provide valuable insights for planning community mental health interventions that address both social and institutional care needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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20. Concept Maps to Assess System Understanding: Are Graphical Explanations More Accurate than Verbal Ones?
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Schmidt, Judith, Wollermann, Lilli, Abele, Stephan, and Müller, Romy
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CONCEPT mapping , *MENTAL representation , *PROBLEM solving , *EXPLANATION - Abstract
Solving problems in a technical system usually requires people to understand its functioning on different levels of abstraction (i.e., goals, functions, components, characteristics) that are connected via means–ends links. We combined this abstraction hierarchy with concept mapping to assess people's understanding of system functioning. The present study examines the benefits and drawbacks of the proposed method by comparing it to a viable alternative, namely verbal explanation. Using a set of pre-defined concepts, twenty-four participants explained the functioning of two everyday systems: one graphically by constructing a concept map and one verbally. The verbal explanations were subsequently transformed into concept maps by the authors. Compared to verbal explanations, participant-constructed concept maps contained a higher proportion of functional propositions, and lower proportions of structural, temporal, general, and other propositions. Contrary to our expectations, there was no difference regarding the accuracy of functional propositions. Even though participants needed far less time to explain system functioning verbally, our results indicate that concept mapping is better suited to assess functional system understanding. We discuss how this benefit relates to the cognitive processes during concept mapping, and how the method needs to be adapted to assess functional understanding of more complex systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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21. Degraded Visibility Body-Specifically Affects Mental Rotation.
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Rotach, Zoé, Beazley, Claude, and Ionta, Silvio
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MENTAL representation , *MENTAL rotation , *STIMULUS & response (Psychology) , *MENTAL imagery , *FORM perception - Abstract
The way we perceive our own body is shaped by our perception. Changes in sensory input, such as visual degradation, can lead to visual-to-motor shifts in the reference frame used to mentally represent the body. While this effect has been demonstrated in mental representation of hands, it is still unknown whether it also affects mental representation of other body parts. To fill this gap, we asked 35 neurotypical participants to perform mental rotation (laterality judgement) of hand, foot, and full-body images, while the images' visibility (figure/background contrast) was manipulated. Visibility deteriorations increased the steepness of the response time (RT) slopes for mental rotation of hand images shown from a less common view (palm) and of foot images from a more common view (dorsum), but not of full-body images from either the common or uncommon views. Suggesting that steeper and flatter RT slopes evoke the activation of a motor- or vision-based cognitive strategy for mental rotation, respectively, we propose that visual deterioration induces body-specific visual-to-motor shifts in mental processing. These findings show that the reliance on visual or motor aspects to mentally represent the body can be modulated by a reduction in sensory input, which changes the employed cognitive strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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22. Beliefs in Free Will Versus Determinism: Search for Meaning Mediates the Life Scheme–Depressive Symptom Link.
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Li, P. F. Jonah and Wong, Y. Joel
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FREE will & determinism , *MENTAL depression , *MENTAL representation , *AUTONOMY (Philosophy) , *MENTAL health - Abstract
A life scheme can be understood as the cognitive representation of individuals' life events and their goal attainment in the past and future. We conceptualize beliefs in free will and determinism as two life schemes. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between beliefs in free will and determinism, search for meaning, and depressive symptoms. While belief in free will uniquely and negatively predicted depressive symptoms, deterministic belief was uniquely and positively associated with depressive symptoms. Moreover, a multiple mediation model revealed that beliefs in free will and determinism were indirectly associated with increased depressive symptoms via their positive relations with search for meaning. These findings are discussed in view of the relationship between inconsistent life schemes and the need to search for meaning, as well as the mediating role of the search for meaning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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23. Multiple representations in geospatial databases, the brain's spatial cells, and deep learning algorithms.
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Yuan, May
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MACHINE learning , *GEOGRAPHIC information systems , *MENTAL representation , *DEEP learning , *CARTOGRAPHY , *HUMAN geography - Abstract
Buttenfield (1988) pioneered research on multiple representations in the dawn of GIScience. Her efforts evoked inquiries into fundamental issues arising from the selective abstractions of infinite geographic complexity in spatial databases, cartography, and application needs for varied geographic details. These fundamental issues posed ontological challenges (e.g. entity classification) and implementational complications (e.g. duplication and inconsistency) in geographic information systems (GIS). Expanding upon Buttenfield's line of research over the last three decades, this study reviewed multiple representations in spatial databases, spatial cognition, and deep learning. Initially perceived as a hindrance to GIS, multiple representations were found to offer new perspectives to encode and decipher geographic complexity. This paper commenced by acknowledging Buttenfield's pivotal contributions to multiple representations in GIScience. Subsequent discussions synthesized the literature to outline cognitive representations of space in the brain's hippocampal formation and feature representations in deep learning. By cross-referencing related concepts of multiple representations in GIScience, the brain's spatial cells, and machine learning algorithms, this review concluded that multiple representations facilitate learning geography for both humans and machines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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24. A Comparison of Detour Behaviors in Some Marine and Freshwater Fish Species.
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Potrich, Davide, Orsini, Chiara, Stancher, Gionata, Baratti, Greta, and Sovrano, Valeria Anna
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MARINE fishes , *FRESHWATER fishes , *ZEBRA danio , *CURIOSITY , *MENTAL representation - Abstract
Simple Summary: Detour behavior refers to the ability to reach a goal object that is not directly accessible due to an obstacle (opaque or transparent) by circumventing it. It varies among species, suggesting that environmental adaptation may drive insight behavior. Some species of marine and freshwater fish were placed in a corridor with social stimuli at the end, not directly accessible due to an opaque barrier. Two symmetrical apertures positioned midline in the corridor allowed the fish to temporarily abandon the view of the goal and attempt to circumvent the barrier. All fish showed the ability to move around an interposed obstacle. This is the first evidence of detour behavior in marine fishes within the "four-compartment box task", while results in freshwater fishes confirmed previous evidence. The comparable performance of marine and freshwater fishes suggests similar selective ecological pressure even in different aquatic habitats (e.g., sea and freshwater basins). Moreover, different exploratory behaviors emerged between correct and incorrect compartments (particularly in Danio rerio), providing evidence for a possible mental representation or "permanence in existence" of the goal while performing the obstacle circumvention, as opposed to a more parsimonious idea suggesting that the detour ability emerges only from primitive forms of exploratory behavior such as taxis. Evidence of detour ability to reach a salient goal in marine fishes (Chromis viridis, Chrysiptera parasema, Dascyllus aruanus) and freshwater fishes (Xenotoca eiseni, Danio rerio) has been observed using a "four-compartment box task" with an opaque barrier. The first experiment investigated this ability in marine fishes (Chromis viridis, Chrysiptera parasema, Dascyllus aruanus). Fish were placed in a four-compartment box, with social stimuli not accessible due to an opaque barrier. Two symmetrical apertures midline in the corridor allowed the fish to temporarily abandon the goal's view and attempt to circumvent the barrier. Marine fish showed searching behavior in the two compartments near the social stimuli. In the second experiment, the detour abilities of a marine fish (Dascyllus aruanus) and two freshwater fishes (Xenotoca eiseni, Danio rerio) were compared using a modified version of the apparatus, with elongated compartments continuing further from the obstacle barrier and social stimuli. This enabled the evaluation of the dependence on effective distance to achieve the social goal. Both marine and freshwater fish exhibited detour skills. Additionally, Danio rerio's differential spatial explorations inside compartments supported an active interest in searching for conspecifics, suggesting possible social object permanence retention. Overall, these results highlight the ecological salience of detour skills in fishes, irrespective of species-specific adaptations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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25. Diminished differentiation of rewards in individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis.
- Author
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Pratt, D. N., Treadway, M. T., Strauss, G. P., and Mittal, V. A.
- Subjects
- *
REWARD (Psychology) , *MONETARY incentives , *PEOPLE with schizophrenia , *MENTAL representation , *MENTAL illness - Abstract
Reward processing is impaired in people with schizophrenia, which may begin in the clinical high-risk (CHR) for psychosis period. The Monetary Incentive Delay (MID) task has been important in understanding the neural correlates of reward processing deficits in various psychiatric disorders. Previous research has found that CHR individuals have an imprecise mental representation of rewards, which leads to a diminished differentiation between rewards, though this has not been observed behaviorally. A total of 19 CHR individuals and 20 controls were given a novel variant of the MID task, designed to examine how modulating reward context may impact responses to reward cues, a process often referred to as "adaptive coding." Both groups appeared to update their behavior in response to the rewards available in this adaptive task. However, when compared to controls who showed a more graded decrease in response time to increasing reward contexts, CHR individuals appeared to have a sharp decrease in response time in the low reward context that is nearly stable across higher reward contexts. This is largely driven by the exponential component of the response time distribution, which is often interpreted to be more cognitively or effortfully influenced. Response times are related to negative symptoms, but not positive symptoms, disorganized symptoms, or estimated intelligence. Although an adaptive coding effect was not observed, these results provide novel insight into the reward processing mechanisms and volitional processes in the CHR population, as this was the first study to observe the diminished differentiation of rewards behaviorally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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26. What does decoding from the PFC reveal about consciousness?
- Author
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Block, Ned
- Subjects
- *
INATTENTIONAL blindness , *BRAIN stimulation , *MENTAL representation , *PREFRONTAL cortex , *CONSCIOUSNESS - Abstract
A number of recent articles have shown intracranial decoding in prefrontal cortex (PFC) for high-level perceptual features but not low-level features. Furthermore, sustained perception results only in momentary PFC decoding. These results have been taken to both confirm and challenge aspects of 'prefrontalist' theories of consciousness. New 'inattentional blindness' results have been used to argue for PFC representation of perceptual contents. Pointer versions of prefrontalist theories of consciousness provide a way of accommodating the decoding results but have been thought to be challenged by inattentional blindness results. Pointer theories run into problems with intracranial stimulation. Bifurcation dynamics yields a new no-report paradigm. The global playground provides a better account of pure access than the global workspace. PFC decoding may depend on postperceptual cognition. Disputes between rival theories of consciousness have often centered on whether perceptual contents can be decoded from the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Failures to decode from the PFC are taken to challenge 'cognitive' theories of consciousness such as the global workspace theory and higher-order monitoring theories, and decoding successes have been taken to confirm these theories. However, PFC decoding shows both too much and too little. Too much because cognitive theories of consciousness do not need PFC rerepresentation of perceptual contents since pointers to perceptual representations suffice. Too little because there is evidence that PFC decoding of perceptual content reflects postperceptual cognitive representation, such as thoughts that have those perceptual contents rather than conscious percepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
- Full Text
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27. The impact of instructional support via generative learning strategies on the perception of visual authenticity, learning outcomes, and satisfaction in AR-based learning.
- Author
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Moser, Stephanie and Lewalter, Doris
- Subjects
- *
LEARNING strategies , *MENTAL representation , *LEARNING , *VISUAL perception , *AUGMENTED reality - Abstract
Augmented reality (AR) presents significant opportunities for creating authentic learning environments by accurately mirroring real-world objects, contexts, and tasks. The visual fidelity of AR content, seamlessly integrated into the real world, contributes to its perceived authenticity. Despite acknowledging AR's positive impact on learning, scant research explores specific learning strategies within an AR context, and there's a lack of studies linking perceived visual authenticity to these strategies. This study addresses these gaps by surveying learners using AR technology to study the human cardiovascular system, exploring perceived visual authenticity, learning outcomes, and satisfaction. Learners used either (1) AR with the self-explanation learning strategy, (2) AR with the drawing learning strategy, or (3) AR only. Analysis of variance and correlation was used for data analysis. Results indicated no significant differences in perceived visual authenticity and satisfaction among the learning strategy groups. However, groups employing learning strategies showed superior learning outcomes compared to the AR-only group. Crucially, the self-explanation learning strategy significantly enhanced knowledge gain compared to drawing and AR-only groups, indicating that self-explanation, together with the visual input from the AR-learning environment, fosters a more coherent mental representation. This increased learning efficacy was achieved while maintaining a consistent perception of visual authenticity and satisfaction with the learning material. These findings expand the current landscape of AR research by moving beyond media comparison studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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28. The influence of repetitive thoughts of CS-US pairing on expectancy learning and evaluative conditioning: a fundamental study.
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Kosinski, Thierry and Leleu, Vincent
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- *
MENTAL representation , *ASSOCIATIVE learning , *ASSOCIATION of ideas , *EXPECTATION (Philosophy) , *MENTAL illness , *RUMINATION (Cognition) - Abstract
Repetitive thinking is a common phenomenon, also implicated in a variety of mental disorders. The content of repetitive thoughts can take the form of prediction of aversive events (in worry) or evoking negatively valenced information (in rumination), for instance. Investigating the influence of repetitive thinking through the lens of associative learning could help deepen our understanding of the mechanisms involved in its effects.In two experiments, non-clinical participants were exposed to CS-US pairings with the aim of creating non-threatening expectancy learning (Experiment 1) or evaluative conditioning (Experiment 2). After each conditioning trial, participants were instructed to initiate repetitive thoughts about the pairing (i.e. rehearse) or follow control instructions.Experiment 1 (N = 64) showed that such intervention strengthen the association between the mental representations of the CS and the US, leading to a stronger US expectancy in response to the CS. In Experiment 2 (N = 107), an evaluative conditioning effect was observed; however, it was not influenced by instructions.The study demonstrated that simulated repetitive thinking strengthens the CS-US association and leads to greater US expectancy in expectancy learning, despite appearing not to influence the evaluative conditioning effect. The potential implications of these findings on repetitive thinking are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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29. Effects of gender sensitive language in job listings: A study on real-life user interaction.
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Hetjens, Dominik and Hartmann, Stefan
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- *
MENTAL representation , *LINGUISTICS , *ADVERTISING , *SUFFIXES & prefixes (Grammar) , *GENDER - Abstract
The possible impact of gender-sensitive language on readers is among the most controversially debated issues in linguistics and beyond. Previous studies have suggested that there is an effect of gender-sensitive language on mental representations, based on data gathered in laboratory settings with small groups of participants. We add a new perspective by examining correlations of authentic language use with authentic user interaction on a recruitment website. Drawing upon a large dataset provided by the recruitment platform StepStone, we evaluate whether job advertisements using certain kinds of gender-sensitive language in their titles correlate with higher proportions of views by female users. Our results indicate that there are differing effects depending on the type of gender-sensitive language that is used. Overall, the strongest correlation can be found with terms that include the feminine suffix -in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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30. Tracking the brain signature of (mis)spelled logotypes via letter transpositions and replacements.
- Author
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Labusch, Melanie, Perea, Manuel, Rocabado, Francisco, Marcet, Ana, Fernández-López, María, Civera, Teresa, and Vergara-Martínez, Marta
- Subjects
- *
WORD recognition , *MENTAL representation , *ORTHOGRAPHY & spelling , *BRAND name products , *SPELLING errors - Abstract
All leading models of visual word recognition assume a hierarchical process that progressively converts the visual input into abstract letter and word representations. However, the results from recent behavioral studies suggest that the mental representations of words with a highly consistent visual format, such as logotypes, may comprise not only purely abstract information but also perceptual information. This hypothesis would explain why participants often misperceive transposed-letter misspellings with the original base words to a larger degree in logotypes (e.g., SASMUNG, but not SARVUNG, is perceived as SAMSUNG) than in common words. The present experiment examined the electrophysiological signature behind the identification of correctly spelled and misspelled logotypes (via letter transposition or replacement) in an ERP go/no-go semantic categorization experiment. Results showed that N400 amplitudes for transposed-letter misspelled logotypes (SASMUNG) and intact logotypes (SAMSUNG) did not differ significantly across various time windows (until 600 ms), whereas replacement-letter misspelled logotypes (SARVUNG) yielded consistently larger N400 amplitudes. These findings reveal that the mental representations of logotypes are particularly resistant to minor orthographic changes, which has important theoretical and applied (e.g., marketing) implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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31. Parent–child math talk and early math interest: comparing the effects of written versus hands-on materials.
- Author
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Huang, Hsin-Hui and Lee, Peiyi
- Subjects
- *
MENTAL representation , *UNITS of measurement , *TEACHING aids , *SYNCHRONIC order , *PARENTS - Abstract
This study investigated the impact of written and hands-on teaching materials on parent–child math talk and children’s interest in mathematics. Thirty parents and their preschool children participated in two play sessions, one using written material and the other using hands-on material, each lasting 12 min. At the end of each session, the children’s interest levels were assessed, and the frequency of math-related conversations was analysed. Regardless of the materials used, discussions primarily revolved around fundamental numerical concepts, with little mention of practical measurement units and conventional nominatives or number comparisons involving the application of mental representation. Ordinal and division concepts were only mentioned by parents in the written scenario rather than in the hands-on one. Overall, using written material led to doubling math discourse compared to hands-on material. However, children showed slightly higher interest levels in the hands-on scenario, where parent–child math talk categories also exhibited greater synchrony. The study highlights the complementary nature of written and hands-on teaching materials and provides recommendations for their future application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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32. Erroneous thinking on climate change.
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Myllylä, Mari and Saariluoma, Pertti
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EFFECT of human beings on climate change , *CLIMATE change , *INTERNET forums , *ONLINE comments , *MENTAL representation - Abstract
The ultimate source of the ongoing human-induced climate change must be found within the thinking that guides actions. This human aspect goes outside the laws of natural science. Human thinking as a cause of anthropogenic or industrial climate change is still an under-researched topic. Here, we focus on how humans think about climate change. We use a content-based analysis of the mind to analyze comments in a Finnish online forum, Suomi24. Our immediate findings are that people have errors in reviewing knowledge and constructing information in their mental representations. Discussions are colored by illusions, false claims, incorrect interpretations, mistakes, and opinions to deny facts. Understanding erroneous thinking is crucial, as it helps to identify ways to correct risky thinking and to understand why people do what they do. Ultimately, erroneous thinking is the root cause of the modern climate crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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33. MEDIAÇÃO DIGITAL E REPRESENTAÇÕES MENTAIS: UM ESTUDO SOBRE HIBRIDAÇÃO COGNITIVA NA ARTICULAÇÃO ENTRE HUMANOS E NÃO-HUMANOS NAS AULAS DE CIÊNCIAS DA NATUREZA.
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Pereira Zanatta, Ronnie Petter and Saavedra Filho, Nestor Cortez
- Subjects
- *
MENTAL representation , *COGNITIVE structures , *NUCLEAR fusion , *SIGN language , *PSYCHOLOGICAL typologies - Abstract
This article presents a study on how digital mediation in the teaching-learning process of Modern and Contemporary Physics concepts in elementary school establishes the production of hybrid mechanisms of cognition between humans and non-humans, in light of Bruno Latour's generalized symmetry. To this end, we chose as knowledge content the phenomenon of nuclear fusion, foreseen as an object of knowledge in the National Common Curricular Base (BNCC) of Natural Sciences. In view of this, we adopted the articulation of three theoretical references, the Network Cognitive Mediation Theory (TMC), responsible for discussing the mediation mechanisms as processing external to the human brain and its implications on the cognitive structure of students, the Theory of Mental Models that classifies and categorizes the types of mental representations and Bruno Latour's Symmetrical Anthropology that provides a systemic, reticular and nondichotomized view of the construction of reality. The initial results were obtained after analyzing the questionnaires and the students' verbal and sign languages. Subsequently, we interpreted the results in accordance with the concepts of hybridization, detours and translations of Latourian thought. We found that digital mediation in this context influences the cognitive mechanisms used by students and the sophistication of the mental representations constructed by them. Finally, we recognize that both the teaching-learning process and the construction of mental representations based on digital mediation constitute Latourian hybrids, as the actors involved begin to share human and non-human skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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34. The Role of Interoceptive Sensitivity and Hypnotizability in Motor Imagery.
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Malloggi, Eleonora, Zelič, Žan, and Santarcangelo, Enrica Laura
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- *
MOTOR imagery (Cognition) , *POWER density , *POWER spectra , *ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY , *COGNITION , *MENTAL representation - Abstract
Motor imagery (MI) requires the mental representation of the body, obtained by integrating exteroceptive and interoceptive information. This study aimed to investigate the role of interoceptive sensitivity (IS) in MI performed through visual and kinesthetic modalities by participants with low (lows, N = 26; SHSS: A, M + SD: 1.00 + 1.52), medium (mediums, N = 11; SHSS: A, 6.00 + 0.77) and high hypnotizability scores (highs, N = 16; SHSS:A, 9.75 + 1.24), as measured by the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale: Form A. The three groups displayed different MI abilities and IS levels. The efficacy of MI was measured using the chronometric index and self-reported experience, while IS was measured using the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) questionnaire. Alpha and beta power spectrum densities (PSDs) were extracted from the EEG signals acquired during baseline, actual movement and visually and kinesthetically imagined movements. The chronometric indices do not reveal significant differences between groups and imagery modalities. The self-report MI efficacy indicates better kinesthetic imagery in highs and mediums than in lows, and no modality difference among lows. The MAIA dimensions sustain the differences in subjective experience and almost all the EEG differences. The latter are slightly different in highs, mediums and lows. This is the first report of the major role played by IS in MI and strongly supports the theory of embodied cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
35. The dark and bright side of the numbers: how emotions influence mental number line accuracy and bias.
- Author
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Sabaghypour, Saied, Farkhondeh Tale Navi, Farhad, Kulkova, Elena, Abaduz, Parnian, Zirak, Negin, and Nazari, Mohammad Ali
- Subjects
- *
FREQUENCY tuning , *MENTAL representation , *FILM excerpts , *ERROR rates , *EMOTIONS - Abstract
The traditional view of cognition as detached from emotions is recently being questioned. This study aimed to investigate the influence of emotional valence on the accuracy and bias in the representation of numbers on the mental number line (MNL). The study included 164 participants who were randomly assigned into two groups with induced positive and negative emotional valence using matched arousal film clips. Participants performed a computerised number-to-position (CNP) task to estimate the position of numbers on a horizontal line. The results showed that participants in the positive valence group exhibited a rightward bias, while those in the negative valence group showed an opposite pattern. The analysis of mean absolute error revealed that the negative valence group had higher error rates compared to the positive valence group. Furthermore, the MNL estimation pattern analysis indicated that a two-cycle cyclic power model (CPM) best explained the data for both groups. These findings suggest that emotional valence influences the spatial representation of numbers on the MNL and affects accuracy in numerical estimations. Our findings are finally discussed in terms of body-specificity and the Brain's Asymmetric Frequency Tuning (BAFT) theories. The study provides new insights into the interplay between emotions and numerical cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
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36. On the unified representation of continuity and discontinuity and its neurocognitive grounding.
- Author
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Nirupama, Ratna and Mondal, Prakash
- Subjects
- *
NATURAL languages , *MENTAL representation - Abstract
Discontinuity in natural language is characterized by the linear disruption of a continuous string of linguistic expressions forming a constituent. While dependency relations in Dependency Grammar (DG) can capture discontinuity well, phrase-structure-based approaches such as Phrase Structure Grammar (PSG) face difficulty in accommodating discontinuity. Categorial Grammar (CG) has correspondences with PSG, although it can handle discontinuity, if equipped with wrapping operations. Given the existing literature on discontinuity in natural language, it appears that constituency relations of PSG, dependency relations of DG and functor-argument relations of CG are distinct and independent. Here, we argue for a unified representation achieved by taking into account fundamental representational principles of PSG, DG and CG. For simplicity, we show this by considering an embedded clause from Wan, spoken in Ivory Coast, as an illustrative case. The paper then attempts to explain, based on available empirical pieces of evidence, the plausible connections between the unified representation and the neurocognitive representation of continuity and discontinuity in natural language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
- Full Text
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37. Space is a latent sequence: A theory of the hippocampus.
- Author
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Raju, Rajkumar Vasudeva, Guntupalli, J. Swaroop, Guangyao Zhou, Wendelken, Carter, Lázaro-Gredilla, Miguel, and George, Dileep
- Subjects
- *
HIPPOCAMPUS (Brain) , *SEQUENTIAL learning , *MENTAL representation , *COGNITIVE maps (Psychology) , *SEQUENCE spaces , *REPRESENTATIONS of graphs - Abstract
Fascinating phenomena such as landmark vector cells and splitter cells are frequently discovered in the hippocampus. Without a unifying principle, each experiment seemingly uncovers new anomalies or coding types. Here, we provide a unifying principle that the mental representation of space is an emergent property of latent higher-order sequence learning. Treating space as a sequence resolves numerous phenomena and suggests that the place field mapping methodology that interprets sequential neuronal responses in Euclidean terms might itself be a source of anomalies. Our model, clone-structured causal graph (CSCG), employs higher-order graph scaffolding to learn latent representations by mapping aliased egocentric sensory inputs to unique contexts. Learning to compress sequential and episodic experiences using CSCGs yields allocentric cognitive maps that are suitable for planning, introspection, consolidation, and abstraction. By explicating the role of Euclidean place field mapping and demonstrating how latent sequential representations unify myriad observed phenomena, our work positions the hippocampus in a sequence-centric paradigm, challenging the prevailing space-centric view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
38. Synergy Makes Direct Perception Inefficient.
- Author
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de Llanza Varona, Miguel and Martínez, Manolo
- Subjects
- *
MENTAL representation , *ENVIRONMENTAL psychology , *COGNITIVE science , *COGNITION - Abstract
A typical claim in anti-representationalist approaches to cognition such as ecological psychology or radical embodied cognitive science is that ecological information is sufficient for guiding behavior. According to this view, affordances are immediately perceptually available to the agent (in the so-called "ambient energy array"), so sensory data does not require much further inner processing. As a consequence, mental representations are explanatorily idle: perception is immediate and direct. Here we offer one way to formalize this direct-perception claim and identify some important limits to it. We argue that the claim should be read as saying that successful behavior just implies picking out affordance-related information from the ambient energy array. By relying on the Partial Information Decomposition framework, and more concretely on its development of the notion of synergy, we show that in multimodal perception, where various energy arrays carry affordance-related information, the "just pick out affordance-related information" approach is very inefficient, as it is bound to miss all synergistic components. Efficient multimodal information combination requires transmitting sensory-specific (and not affordance-specific) information to wherever it is that the various information streams are combined. The upshot is that some amount of computation is necessary for efficient affordance reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
39. Effects of scaffolding emotion language use on emotion differentiation and psychological health: an experience-sampling study.
- Author
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Seah, T. H. Stanley and Coifman, Karin G.
- Subjects
- *
PSYCHOTHERAPY , *AFFECT (Psychology) , *ECOLOGICAL momentary assessments (Clinical psychology) , *EMOTIONS , *MENTAL representation , *INTRACLASS correlation , *PSYCHOLOGICAL factors - Abstract
Emotion differentiation (ED) – complexity in the mental representation and description of one’s emotional experiences – is important for mental health. However, less is known whether ED can be enhanced in adults. We investigated if scaffolding emotion language use during affect labelling – initial provision of emotion word prompts (close-ended) followed by free response (open-ended) – impacts ED and psychological health. Utilising a crossover design, 92 college students completed questionnaires assessing psychological health at three time-points and ecological momentary assessment of emotions, affect valence and emotional self-efficacy for 14 days. Participants were randomised to the “scaffolding” group, where they reported emotions using the close-ended (7 days) followed by open-ended (7 days) approach, or the reverse sequence (control group). We extracted two ED indices: traditional intraclass correlation coefficient from close-ended reports and novel specificity index from open-ended reports. Primary analyses examined group differences across weeks while exploratory analyses examined moment-to-moment differences using multilevel modelling. Relative to controls, the scaffolding group demonstrated greater ED during open-ended emotion reporting of negative emotions and associated shifts in negative affect and emotional self-efficacy. There were no significant group differences in psychological symptoms. Results provide preliminary evidence that scaffolding may enhance ED and have implications for psychological intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
40. LATERAL BIASES IN THE REPRESENTATION OF THE MENTAL NUMBER LINE AMONG HEALTHY YOUNG JAPANESE ADULTS.
- Author
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Hikari Yamashita
- Subjects
- *
JAPANESE people , *JAPANESE students , *MENTAL representation , *WESTERN civilization , *NUMERALS - Abstract
Background: Studies have presented evidence for mental number representation in Western cultures, where smaller numbers are assumed on the left and larger numbers on the right. Writing systems to represent numbers vary according to culture. Although, in Japan, Arabic numerals are primarily used, traditio - nal Kanji and Kana characters are also employed. However, studies investigating mental number line representation involving Kanji and Kana characters are lacking. This study exami - ned the characteristics of the mental number line in Ja pa nese culture using a numerical bisection task. Material/Methods: A total of 36 right-handed Japanese university students participated in this study. Each participant was asked to judge which flanker number in a triplet was farther from the middle number (e.g., 19-42-55). Similar trials were conducted for each digit triplet of Arabic, Kanji, and Kana numerals. Results: Despite changing the spatial configuration of the stimuli, the participants consistently overestimated the numerical length to the left for each digit triplet of Arabic numerals. Although the sequence effect was a leftward bias for descending sequences than for ascending sequences, no numerical distance effect was observed, in which the leftward bias would be stronger for a higher numerical distance between the stimuli. Although a similar leftward bias was observed for Kanji numerals, no unidirectional bias was found for Kana numerals. Conclusions: The reason a leftward bias was not observed for Kana numerals is that, unlike Arabic and Kanji numerals, they were considered in relation to the nature of number notation in Japanese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
41. Il bambino competente: la mente infantile non è primitiva né pre-rappresentazionale.
- Author
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Erreich, Anne
- Subjects
- *
DIFFERENTIATION (Cognition) , *LONG-term memory , *EXPLICIT memory , *PATHOLOGICAL psychology , *PSYCHOANALYTIC theory - Abstract
Some theories which locate serious adult psychopathology in the pre-verbal infant's inability to formulate or represent traumatic experience are mentioned, in particular those of Howard B. Levine and Donnel B. Stern. The clinical and academic research findings are considered highly relevant to psychoanalytic theorizing, and it is argued that a view of the infant with "primordial" and "unrepresented" states of mind has little evidence to support it. In fact, research findings point to an opposite view: that of the "competent infant", one with highly accurate perceptual discrimination capacities and an innate ability to register and represent subjective experience in both procedural and declarative memory, even prenatally. Given the infant's competencies, it seems implausible to hold that representational deficits are at the heart of serious adult psychopathology, which is instead seen to be the result of defensive maneuvers against unknowable and unspeakable truth rather than the absence of a pre-verbal representational capacity. Current research findings pose a significant challenge for psychoanalytic theories which espouse so-called "primitive mental states", non-conscious" states, or "unrepresented", "unsymbolized", "unformulated" experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
42. Aprendizaje basado en las habilidades artísticas: Un abordaje a partir de Deleuze.
- Author
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Chura Yupanqui, Edy, Peralta Guzmán, Cristian Alonso, Luján Villegas, Jaime Fernando, and Mendoza Alva, Cecilia Eugenia
- Subjects
- *
MENTAL representation , *NATURE (Aesthetics) , *BASIC education , *CRITICAL thinking , *WRITING processes , *EXPERIENTIAL learning - Abstract
Much has been written about the strategies that can be applied to promote learning based on artistic skills, but it is striking that the poetic process contained in art on which it is possible to obtain existential learning in general is not explained, nor in the basic education student, specifically. Firstly, this article reveals, through documentary research, that the importance of the creative process is limited to the projection of representations and cognitive schemes, as if learning through art had rationalist objectives. Secondly, it is proposed to explain the importance of artistic motivation in the educational process by exploring the existence of knowledge through and from the body, and not only in the use of cognition. To do this, the significance of the creative process in Gilles Deleuze’s notions of body, repetition and identity will be explained. This reflection calls for the development of emotional individuality through participation and critical thinking as essential elements for learning artistic skills, through Latin American pedagogical design. So promoting the learning of artistic skills involves the construction of an intersubjectively provoked identity. The pedagogical design, if it is consubstantial with the nature of art, must condition the social relationship model of the predominant social, cultural and educational structure, especially in the world of the child in Basic Education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
43. The Formats of Cognitive Representation: A Computational Account.
- Author
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Coelho Mollo, Dimitri and Vernazzani, Alfredo
- Subjects
- *
MENTAL representation , *ARTIFICIAL intelligence , *COGNITIVE science , *INTUITION , *COGNITION - Abstract
Cognitive representations are typically analyzed in terms of content, vehicle, and format. Although current work on formats appeals to intuitions about external representations, such as words and maps, in this article, we develop a computational view of formats that does not rely on intuitions. In our view, formats are individuated by the computational profiles of vehicles, that is, the set of constraints that fix the computational transformations vehicles can undergo. The resulting picture is strongly pluralistic, makes space for a variety of different formats, and is intimately tied to the computational approach to cognition in cognitive science and artificial intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
44. Measuring and reducing implicit prejudice against Black women and people with intersectional identities.
- Author
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Phills, Curtis E.
- Subjects
- *
BLACK people , *BLACK women , *PREJUDICES , *MENTAL representation , *ETHNIC groups , *BLACK men , *INTERSECTIONALITY - Abstract
This paper addresses a critical gap in measuring and reducing implicit prejudice: biases against Black women and people with intersectional identities. Though social psychologists have published many methods to measure and interventions to reduce implicit prejudice against Black people, these methods often target biases against Black people or Black men rather than Black women. Thus, these methods may leave Black women out because the mental representations of Black women and Black men differ and the mental representation of Black people is more similar to the mental representation of Black men than Black women. This paper advocates for an intersectional approach to measuring and reducing implicit prejudice that accounts for the unique prejudices faced by Black women. Specifically, this paper argues that researchers should tailor their methods to account for how the mental representations of Black women and Black men differ including differences in stereotypic content and ambivalence. The paper concludes by acknowledging the difficulties related to developing long‐lasting interventions, the need to move beyond reducing implicit prejudice, and the value of studying the men and women of additional racial and ethnic groups and other intersections like sexual orientation and socioeconomic status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
45. Grounding Cognition in Perceptual Experience.
- Author
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Bianchi, Ivana, Actis-Grosso, Rossana, and Ball, Linden J.
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EMOTION recognition , *PSYCHOACOUSTICS , *RECOLLECTION (Psychology) , *AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL memory , *MENTAL representation , *PSYCHOLOGICAL research - Abstract
This document summarizes a special issue in the Journal of Intelligence titled "Grounding Cognition in Perceptual Experience." The issue explores the relationship between perceptual experience and cognitive performance. The articles cover a wide range of topics, including the influence of perceptual experience on mental representations, language, judgments, reasoning, and memories. The authors emphasize the need to incorporate phenomenological measures in research and discuss the integration of phenomenology into mainstream theories. They also explore the application of perceptual experience in improving motor performance and studying ambiguous figures. Overall, the articles highlight the importance of considering perceptual experience in understanding various cognitive processes and offer insights into the interconnectedness of perception and cognition. [Extracted from the article]
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- 2024
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46. The role of short-term memory in discourse comprehension: some reflections on the impact of Kintsch and van Dijk (1978).
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Fletcher, Charles R.
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MENTAL representation , *CAPACITY (Law) , *SHORT-term memory , *DISCOURSE - Abstract
The limited capacity of the short-term working memory system is a major cognitive bottleneck that limits our ability to create a coherent mental representation of a text. The earliest cognitive models of comprehension proposed top-down, schema-based solutions to this problem. In 1978, Walter Kintsch, in collaboration with Teun van Dijk, offered a more-bottom-up approach. The goal of this commentary is to both place this contribution in context and explore some of the research that it inspired. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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47. Textbase and situation model representations as educational constructs.
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Wolfe, Michael B. and Bowdle, Brian F.
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COLLEGE teachers , *EDUCATIONAL outcomes , *MENTAL representation , *COLLEGE students , *UNIVERSITIES & colleges - Abstract
The distinction proposed by Walter Kintsch and colleagues between textbase and situation model representations has had a profound influence on theory and research in discourse processing over the past four decades. However, this distinction also has implications for education that have been less widely recognized. We describe a number of practical applications that can be adopted by college instructors and students alike to enhance learning outcomes. We describe how these two levels of mental representation relate to college and university instruction, studying, and assessment. We also consider how certain topics and study strategies that align with this distinction are easier for students to grasp if this framework is already in place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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48. Cognitive load assessment for cadet pilots in simulated aircraft environment-pilot study.
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Alharasees, Omar and Kale, Utku
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INSTRUMENT flying , *COGNITIVE load , *HEART beat , *FLIGHT training , *MENTAL representation - Abstract
Purpose: This study aims to propose a methodology aimed at understanding the cognitive and physiological processes inherent in cadet pilot operations. Through analyzing responses from two cadet pilots with varied experience levels across diverse simulation scenarios, the research uses descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA and percentage change analysis to explore crucial variables, including heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV) and respiratory rate (RR). Design/methodology/approach: The investigation meticulously examines HR, HRV and RR under circumstances encompassing resting state, visual flight rules and instrument flight rules with engine failure. Pilots undergo comprehensive analyses employing statistical techniques and visual representations to comprehend cognitive loads and physiological adaptations. Findings: Significant disparities emerge between the two pilots, elucidating the profound impact of experience on cognitive and physiological outcomes. Novice cadet pilots exhibit heightened variability during scenario transitions, while experienced cadet pilot demonstrate controlled responses, indicative of adaptability. Visual flight simulations evoke distinct responses, whereas instrument-based scenarios, particularly those simulating emergencies, lead to pronounced physiological changes. Practical implications: The findings of this research hold practical significance in introducing the proposed novel methodology for monitoring Cadet pilots to refine pilot training simulation protocols and enhance aviation safety by illuminating the interplay between experience levels and scenario complexities. Originality/value: This study proposes a novel methodology for investigating cognitive and physiological responses in pilot operations, mainly investigating cadet pilots' vital parameters through diverse analytical methods and an exploration of scenario-specific demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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49. Avicenna on empty intentionality: a case study in analytical Avicennianism.
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Zarepour, Mohammad Saleh
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INTENTIONALITY (Philosophy) , *MENTAL representation , *ANALYTIC philosophy , *ACT (Philosophy) - Abstract
Appealing to some analytic tools developed by contemporary analytic philosophers, I discuss Avicenna's views regarding the problem(s) of linguistic and mental reference to non-existents, also known as the problem(s) of 'empty intentionality'. I argue that, according to Avicenna, being in an intentional state directed towards an existing thing involves three elements: (1) an indirect relation to that thing, (2) a direct relation to a mental representation of that thing, and (3) a direct relation to the essence of that thing. Empty intentionality does not involve the first element. Moreover, depending on the nature of the non-existent we are thinking about, the third element may not be involved either. Thus, the necessary element of being in an intentional state towards something is to be related to a mental representation of that thing. The nature of this representation may vary depending on the nature of the non-existent towards which our thought is directed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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50. Visuo-motor updating in individuals with heightened autistic traits.
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Pomè, Antonella and Zimmermann, Eckart
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SACCADIC eye movements , *AUTISM spectrum disorders , *EYE movements , *GEOGRAPHICAL perception , *MENTAL representation - Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) presents a range of challenges, including heightened sensory sensitivities. Here, we examine the idea that sensory overload in ASD may be linked to issues with efference copy mechanisms, which predict the sensory outcomes of self-generated actions, such as eye movements. Efference copies play a vital role in maintaining visual and motor stability. Disrupted efference copies hinder precise predictions, leading to increased reliance on actual feedback and potential distortions in perceptions across eye movements. In our first experiment, we tested how well healthy individuals with varying levels of autistic traits updated their mental map after making eye movements. We found that those with more autistic traits had difficulty using information from their eye movements to update the spatial representation of their mental map, resulting in significant errors in object localization. In the second experiment, we looked at how participants perceived an object displacement after making eye movements. Using a trans-saccadic spatial updating task, we found that those with higher autism scores exhibited a greater bias, indicating under-compensation of eye movements and a failure to maintain spatial stability during saccades. Overall, our study underscores efference copy's vital role in visuo-motor stability, aligning with Bayesian theories of autism, potentially informing interventions for improved action- perception integration in autism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2024
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