Posters: Cognition I

Task interruptions are common in everyday life and have been shown to have a harmful effect on performance. In the present study, we examined the effects of interruption duration and position on post-interruption performance. Subjects carried out a predefined sequence of six sub-tasks, comprising two n-2 task switch trials (e.g., ABC ACB) or two n-2 task repetition trials (e.g., CBC ABA; n-2 backward inhibition paradigm). This primary task was interrupted by a categorization task before the second, third, or forth sub-task for 2 or 8 seconds; or there was no interruption. In line with the memory of goals model (Altmann & Trafton, 2002), we expected a higher resumption lag (i.e., time to resume the primary task) and more errors with long than with short interruption duration. Moreover, in accordance with previous studies indicating that a decline in post-interruption performance would be especially pronounced when mental workload was high, we predicted that resumption lag and error rates were highest when the primary task was interrupted before the third task (i.e., switch between trial n-1 and n) in n-2 task repetition trials. This is because it is assumed that when switching to a new task, the previous task set is inhibited. When switching from trial n-1 to trial n, this inhibition has to be overcome, and thus the mental workload is higher in this case in relation to the other interruption positions.

During the past years, writing by hand increasingly replaced by the use of digital devices. Current evidence regarding the influence of the writing instrument on reading and writing acquisition is mixed. The present training study therefore tested the influence of the writing tool on the acquisition of literacy skills at the letter and word level with various tests in a large sample of kindergarten children (n=145). We developed a training program consisting of 28 training sessions across seven weeks. Sixteen letters and 12 words were trained either by handwriting with paper and pencil, by writing with a stylus on a tablet PC or by typing on a virtual keyboard of a tablet with closely matched letter games. Before training, immediately after training and in a follow-up four to five weeks after training, we assessed reading and writing performance using standardized tests. We also assessed visuo-spatial skills before and after training. Children of the pencil group showed superior performance in letter recognition and had improved visuo-spatial skills compared with keyboard training. These beneficial effects of handwriting were not observed in the stylus group. Keyboard training, however, resulted in superior performance in word writing and reading compared with handwriting training with a stylus on the tablet. Our results show that handwriting with pencil fosters acquisition of letter knowledge and improves visuo-spatial skills compared with keyboarding. Writing with a stylus on a touchscreen seems to be the least favorable writing tool, possibly because of increased demands on motor control.

Developmental research suggests adolescents to deviate in value-based feedback learning as they show a stronger reward-sensitivity than both children and adults. However, there is mixed evidence for non-linear developmental trends of reward-related processes across adolescence. To investigate the development of feedback-based learning we adapted a reversal-learning paradigm. During the task, participants chose one picture out of picture pairs that were either assigned to positive or negative feedback. Positive feedback led to winning, or not losing points and negative feedback to not winning, or losing points, dependent on the incentive condition. After 5-6 trials, the rule changed and participants needed to adapt to reversed picture-feedback-associations. Here, we focused on the effect of incentive condition on performance in learning over time and in adaption to reversing stimulus-response associations and report findings from 54 early- (10-12 years), 56 mid- (13-15 years) and 48 late-adolescents (16-18 years). Results revealed that adolescents learned with repetitions as indicated by decreased error responses over time and age, and responded faster with increasing age. Moreover, they responded faster in reaction to potential gains than losses. In response to reversed learning rules, adolescents became more accurate with age, while the incentive condition had no effect. In sum, adolescents showed adaptive learning performance and age-related effects were rather reflected in linear trends. As such, despite evidence for an adolescent-specific approach to rewards, we could show no reward-related peak in feedback-based learning performance.

Humans are very sensitive to another person's eye gaze. We investigated the role of eye gaze during a question-answer interaction and its effect on cognitive performance (cf. Falck-Ytter et al., 2015). Using a video-mediated approach, participants were presented with videos of a speaker either looking at the camera (direct gaze) or not (averted) while phrasing the task. They then had to solve and respond to the respective problems verbally. In our first experiment, we used three different cognitive tasks: a digit span task, adapted for each individual participant, an arithmetic task and a verbal task (because a greater effect of eye gaze on cognitive performance in verbal communication compared to numeric domains seemed feasible). The analysis of the accuracy and response time data of 36 participants did not reveal significant effects of speaker eye gaze in any of the three tasks. One reason for this lack of effects could be that we deliberately piloted the tasks to be relatively difficult for our student participants. Arguably, the resulting high level of cognitive load might mean that participants devoted all available resources to solving the tasks, and effectively ignored the speaker’s eye gaze behaviour. In a follow-up experiment (N = 35 to date), we are therefore using the digit span (DS) task only and manipulating difficulty within participants by presenting a mixed set of easy (DS = 5), moderate (DS = 6), and difficult (DS = 7) problems via videos of a speaker with direct and averted gaze.

Economic inequality is a challenging feature of modern societies and a prominent topic in political debates all over the world. However, when asked about distributions of income and wealth people’s perceptions are far from accurate. This poses a serious problem since correct perceptions about economic inequality are a necessary requirement for any objective debate or informed decision about the topic. Our research therefore targets the cognitive process underlying the perceptions of income inequality. More specific we focus on a heuristic called Anchoring and Linear Interpolation (ALI). According to ALI, people’s perceptions of income distributions follow a linear trend between the lowest and the highest income remembered. Based on earlier studies, we presented subjects with a fictitious income distribution and then asked them to estimate the mean income of the four quartiles (the poorest, second-poorest, second-richest and richest quarter). We manipulated the skew and the range of the presented distributions. For both positively as well as negatively skewed distributions, participants mean quartile judgments were much more linear than appropriate and resulted in distinct patterns of estimation errors that are consistent with ALI. When the distribution’s range is increased (without actually changing the correct quartile means) subjects’ estimation errors increase significantly, underlining the influence of the distribution’s endpoints for the underlying cognitive process. These findings support the assumptions of the ALI Heuristic and emphasize its influence on the perception of income distributions.

Spatial components in the representation of ordinal information were initially revealed by Dehaene, Bossini and Giraux (1993). The authors found faster left- than right-hand responses to small numbers and a reverse effect with large numbers. This SNARC effect (Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Code) was also found with overlearned and newly learned non-numerical information (Gevers, Reynvoet & Fias, 2003). The current study examined whether physical dimensions are also mentally represented with a spatial component. Response times to mentally visualized clothing of different weight and brightness were analyzed. Subjects were asked to either categorize the items as lighter vs. heavier or brighter vs. darker than a reference. The characteristic interaction of position (before or after the reference) and side of response (left or right) was found with the dimension of weight: left (right) hand responses were faster for lighter (heavier) clothing. Findings suggest that the representation of physical dimensions may also include spatial components.

Keele et al. (2003) had supposed that implicit learning is based on encapsulated modules processing information within single dimensions. However, it is not clear whether these dimensions refer to modalities (visual, auditory perception) or to distinct features (color, location etc.). The findings of Eberhardt et al. (2017) suggest the latter by showing that a visual-color sequence can be learned concurrently with a visual-spatial sequence. Since location might be a special feature, the aim of the current study was to test whether this also holds for other non-spatial features within the visual modality. Conway and Christiansen (2006) had already shown that this might be true for shapes and colors. In experiment 1 (n=30), we replicated the statistical learning experiment of Conway and Christiansen (2006). Participants saw short sequences of colors or of shapes. Both were derived from different grammars. Results showed learning effects for both, color and shape grammars. In experiment 2 (n=58), we used a sequence learning paradigm. In the learning phase, participants saw a color patch and a shape, and had to judge whether one of the stimuli was dotted. Unbeknown to the participants, colors and shapes followed separate, uncorrelated sequences. Results of a wagering task showed that participants learned both sequences. Thus, both experiments suggest that the term “dimension” of Keele et al. (2003) refers to abstract features (color, shape, location) rather than to modalities.

Finger counting gestures are assumed to play a supportive role in numerical development. It is argued that their non-arbitrary and self-experienceable sensory-motor representations are easier to learn for children than other numerical representations, and that they contribute to number word comprehension. However, Nicoladis et al. (2010) report better performance of children in a give-N task with number words than with manual number gestures. In our study we compare the comprehensibility of different number formats in more detail. We are specifically interested in whether finger counting gestures allow better processing efficacy than other numerical representations and whether they facilitate the understanding of number words in simultaneous presentation. Pre-school and school children absolve a computerized version of a give-N task on a tablet PC, allowing analyses of reaction time data in addition to conventional accuracy data. Participants are presented with finger counting gestures, auditory number words, dice patterns, or bimodal conditions, namely number words paired with gestures or dice patterns. Dice patterns serve as control conditions, containing transparent but not self-experienceable numerical representations. After the target stimulus, ten dots are visually presented; children respond by touching the corresponding number of dots and subsequently touching a depicted basket. Overall, preliminary results replicate the previous finding of higher performance with auditory than gesture stimuli and question the expected advantage of bi-modal conditions. We discuss the role of transparent and self-experienceable number symbols and the predominance of the number word sequence in number comprehension.