Abstract Recent evidence suggests that schizophrenia is associated with impaired processing of global visual motion, but intact processing of global visual form. This project assessed whether ...preserved visual form detection in schizophrenia extended beyond low-level pattern discrimination to a naturalistic form-detection task. We assessed both naturalistic form detection and global motion detection in individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorder, bipolar affective disorder, and healthy controls. Individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorder and bipolar affective disorder were impaired relative to healthy controls on the global motion task, but not the naturalistic form-detection task. Results indicate that preservation of visual form detection in these disorders extends beyond configural forms to naturalistic object processing.
The current paper investigates the individual differences underlying the ability to solve classic and contemporary insight problems along the subjective phenomenology of insight in the solution of ...these problems. We investigate fluid reasoning, divergent thinking and schizotypy. Experiments 1-3 (total N = 434) investigated the association between schizotypy, divergent thinking, reasoning abilities, and participants' tendencies to report feelings associated with insight (e.g. aha experience) in the solution of classic insight, classic non-insight problems, and compound remote associates. We found that both positive schizotypy (particularly the subscale Unusual Experiences) and originality (uncommon responses in a creativity task) were positive predictors of aha experiences, though not of problem solving. These results highlight important individual differences in the tendency to perceive meaning in problem solving and the implications for our metacognitive judgments of truth in our problem-solving processes.
This study provides evidence for the existence of a low-level chromatic motion mechanism and further elucidates the conditions under which its operation becomes measurable in an experimental ...stimulus. Observers discriminated the direction of motion of amplitude modulated (AM) gratings that were defined by luminance or chromatic variation and masked with spatiotemporally broadband luminance or chromatic noise. The size and retinal location of the stimuli were varied and the effects of broadband noise and grating masks were both compared with the cohort of stimuli. Some significant disparities in the published literature were well explained by the results. In conclusion, evidence for a chromatically sensitive motion mechanism that evades the, detrimental effects of a luminance mask was found only at the fovea and only when the stimulus was small and centrally placed.
This study seeks to clarify the reasons for some of the differences in the published data on chromatic motion perception, and to provide further support for the existence of a low-level motion ...mechanism sensitive to purely chromatic change. Observers discriminated the direction of motion of displaced sinusoidal gratings in the presence of a static grating mask (or pedestal). Each component of the stimulus was independently described in cardinal colour space and calibrated for subjective equiluminance using multiple methods. The motion structure, stimulus size, temporal frequency, contrast, relative phase and chromatic properties were all varied parametrically and the data cast in terms of predictions made by two different theoretical approaches to the test-mask combination. The vast majority of the data were well explained by a low-level motion mechanism sensitive to the motion of foveally-placed chromatic stimuli. Data consistent with either higher-level motion perception or a luminance-like signal were found outside the fovea and when the stimulus properties did not otherwise favour chromatic motion perception. There was some explanation of inconsistencies in previously published data and a strong suggestion that previous results showing pedestal-like behaviour for these stimulus combinations were a special case rather than a general result.
Danek and Salvi (The Journal of Creative Behavior, 1–3, 2018) provide a sound overview of research on the relationship between feelings of aha and the accuracy of problem‐solving solutions. However, ...there are reasons to be cautious in concluding that a characteristic of insightful solutions is their superior accuracy. A relationship between correct solutions and aha experiences clearly exists in the literature. However, the strength and frequency of aha experiences seem to be variable across individuals and can be manipulated. We provide a brief overview of some literature that challenges the claim that aha experience indicates accurate solutions, particularly, manipulations of aha experiences, metacognitive misattributions and erroneous insights, and dispositions toward insight.
The maintenance of attention on moving objects is required for cognition to reliably engage with the visual world. Theories of object tracking need to explain on which patterns of visual stimulation ...one can easily maintain attention and on which patterns one cannot. A previous study has shown that it is easier to track rigid objects than objects that expand and contract along their direction of motion, in a manner that resembles a substance pouring from one location to another (vanMarle and Scholl 2003 Psychological Science 14 498–504). Here we investigate six possible explanations for this finding and find evidence supporting two of them. Our results show that, first, objects that expand and contract tend to overlap and crowd each other more, and this increases tracking difficulty. Second, expansion and contraction make it harder to localize objects, even when there is only a single target to attend to, and this may also increase tracking difficulty. Currently, there is no theory of object tracking that can account for the second finding.
The issue of whether there is a motion mechanism sensitive to purely chromatic stimuli has been pertinent for the past 30 or more years. The aim of this review is to examine why such different ...conclusions have been drawn in the literature and to reach some reconciliation. The review critically examines the behavioral evidence and concludes that there is a purely chromatic motion mechanism but that it is limited to the fovea. Examination of motion performance for chromatic and luminance stimuli provides convincing evidence that there are at least two different mechanisms for the two kinds of stimuli. The authors further argue that the chromatic mechanism may be at a particular disadvantage when the integration of multiple local motion signals is required. Finally, the authors present a descriptive model that may go some way toward explaining the reasons for the differences in collected data outlined in this article.
Psychological health is seriously impacted when humans are in isolated environments for long periods of time; monotony and boredom have been identified as serious stressors that can compromise the ...safety of space travel. This paper explores the potential of creativity and affective computation as future countermeasures to deep boredom in space, while also evaluating current countermeasures and highlighting their lack of flexibility. Responsiveness is required in order to address psychological health in space. The success of long-duration missions requires that major psycho-physiological challenges such as profound boredom be properly taken into account in the design of space habitats. By applying recent psychological research findings that assign a positive potential to boredom experiences, we reconsider the role of monotony and boredom in space travel. We propose the integration of artificial empathy systems within space habitats as a way to leverage this positive potential, by outlining tentative first steps towards ‘Affective Computing Environments’ (ACE) for space-flight. Through this process, space environments could potentially be imbued with the ability to perceive and respond to human emotional states. We conclude with a reflection on the importance of flexibility and responsiveness in strategies to mitigate monotony in deep space settings.
Second-order Type I and Type II plaids were constructed by combining two orientation-filtered random-dot gratings. Each component consisted of a dynamic filtered random-dot field, the contrast of ...which was modulated by a drifting sinusoidal grating. Orienting the two components suitably and interleaving at 120 Hz allowed us to produce a two-dimensional plaid pattern made from one-dimensional second-order components. The perceived direction of motion of both Type I and Type II plaids was measured as a function of the orientation content of the carrier, the contrast, and the duration of the stimulus. Type I plaids had a perceived direction close to the intersection of constraints/vector sum solution (which coincide for Type I patterns) for all conditions when the motion was visible. Type II plaids had a perceived direction that moved away from the vector sum and toward the intersection of constraints solution as the orientation bandwidth of the carrier increased. The data explain discrepancies in previous work using comparable stimuli and are consistent with recent evidence that the previously considered parallel pathways of form and motion have a strong influence upon one another from early stages of cortical visual processing.
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