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Slow and fast beat sequences are represented differently through space
Full text linkThe file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version.The Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) suggests the existence of an association between number magnitude and response position, with faster left-hand responses to small numbers and faster right-hand responses to large numbers. Recent studies have revealed similar spatial association effects for non-numerical magnitudes, such as temporal durations and musical stimuli. In the present study we investigated whether a spatial association effect exists between music tempo, expressed in beats per minutes (bpm), and response position. In particular, we were interested whether this effect is consistent through different bpm ranges. We asked participants to judge whether a target beat sequence was faster or slower than a reference sequence. Three groups of participants judged beat sequences from three different bpm ranges, a wide range (40, 80, 160, 200 bpm) and two narrowed ranges (“slow” tempo, 40, 56, 88, 104 bpm; “fast” tempo 133, 150, 184, 201 bpm). Results showed a clear SNARC-like effect for music tempo only in the narrowed “fast” tempo range, with faster left-hand responses to 133 and 150 bpm and faster right-hand responses to 184 and 201 bpm. Conversely, a similar association did not emerge in the wide nor in the narrowed "slow" tempo ranges. This evidence suggests that music tempo is spatially represented as other continuous quantities, but its representation might be narrowed to a particular range of tempi. Moreover, music tempo and temporal duration might be represented across space with an opposite direction
A coloured version of Agostini & Galmonte's Necker cube display
No full textIn what is known as a reversed contrast display it has been found (Agostini & Galmonte, 1997, 2002) that a grey region surrounded by a black area can appear darker than an identical grey region surrounded by white, and the induction cannot be explained by assimilation. Both high- and low-level factors are simultaneously present in this configuration, but the former prevail in determining the effect. The present work was aimed to verify whether global grouping factors induction holds also for coloured displays. In this new version of Agostini & Galmonte's display we used red/yellow inducing backgrounds/corners, while induced regions (dashed lines) were orange. We tested also two control conditions, where we did not expect any effect: 1. inducer corners of the same orange as targets; 2. inducer corners replaced by disks having the same area and colour. Observers' task was to judge the colour of the induced regions on a red/yellow scale. Results are comparable to those obtained for lightness: The targets perceived colour is determined by global factors; in fact, orange was judged as reddish in the yellow corners/red background display and yellowish in the opposite one. Both controls provided no statistically significant difference. To conclude, it seems plausible that global induction overcomes local induction also for coloured displays
Do You Hear More Piano or Drum Sounds? An Auditory Version of the Solitaire Illusion
No full textThe file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI linkThe solitaire illusion is an illusion of numerosity proposed by Frith and Frith. In the original version, an apparent number of elements was determined by the spatial arrangement of two kinds of elements (black and white marbles). In our study, an auditory version of the solitaire illusion was demonstrated. Participants were asked to judge if they perceived more drum or piano sounds. When half of the piano tones were perceived as lower in pitch than a drum sound and the other half higher, piano tones appeared to be arranged in small units, leading to numerosity underestimation. Conversely, when all piano tones were perceived to be higher in pitch than the drum sounds, they appeared to be arranged in a single large unit, leading to numerosity
overestimation. Comparable to the visual version of the solitaire illusion, the clustering seems to be determined by Gestalt principles. In our auditory version, a clear reversal of the illusion (numerosity overestimation or underestimation) was observed when piano tones appeared to be arranged in a single large cluster or in several small clusters, respectively
Training the serve in tennis: The efficacy of different kinds of models
No full textThe serve is a crucial skill in tennis. Young athletes' serve training is usually based on observing a model, where the athlete is asked to reproduce a standard performance shown by the instructor or by an expert player. The self-modeling is also used as a training strategy in tennis, where athletes watch their own performance recorded on a videotape.
But, are visual models the most effective way to improve a motor skill, like the tennis serve? From experimental sport psychology literature we know that acoustic representations of motor actions can be useful models for improving both the performance and its learning. A systematic use of self-models based on a rhythmical acoustic representation highlighted a standardization of the motor performance.
In the present research we investigated the effect of different self-model-based trainings by manipulating the perceptual information: We tested a video only model, an audio only model, and an audio-video one. Twenty young tennis players participated to the experiment. They were asked to perform a series of serves (100 trials). Each individual performance was videotaped and then edited to produce the three different models of the “best” serve performed by each athlete, that was chosen according to the suggestions of the instructor.
Results show significant differences in the learning rate among athletes trained with the different kinds of models: The best result is obtained after acoustic stimulation only, the worst one with a video only model, while the audio-video model led to intermediate results. As it can be found in previous literature, data show also a strong tendency to a performance timing standardization.
Therefore, young tennis players' data suggest that self-model trainings based on acoustic stimulation can be used as effective strategies to learn a motor action like the tennis serve
Automatic spatial association for luminance
No full textIn the present study, we investigated whether luminance
and the side of response execution are associated,
showing a SNARC-like effect (faster responses with the left
hand for dark stimuli, and vice versa for light stimuli).
A total of 30 participants were tested in two experiments. In
Experiment 1, the association between space and the luminance
of chromatic stimuli was directly tested (brightness
discrimination). In Experiment 2, the same spatial association
was tested indirectly (hue discrimination). The results showed
that participants responded faster with their left hand to hues
with lower luminance, and with their right hand to hues with
higher luminance, in either the direct or the indirect task. The
consistency of this association in both tasks demonstrates the
automaticity of the SNARC-like effect for luminance
Ecological sounds affect breath duration more than artificial sounds.
No full textPrevious research has demonstrated that auditory rhythms affect both movement and physiological functions. We hypothesized that the ecological sounds of human breathing can affect breathing more than artificial sounds of breathing, varying in tones for inspiration and expiration. To address this question, we monitored the breath duration of participants exposed to three conditions: (a) ecological sounds of breathing, (b) artificial sounds of breathing having equal temporal features as the ecological sounds, (c) no sounds (control). We found that participants’ breath duration variability was reduced in the ecological sound condition, more than in the artificial sound condition. We suggest that ecological sounds captured the timing of breathing better than artificial sounds, guiding as a consequence participants’ breathing. We interpreted our results according to the Theory of Event Coding, providing further support to its validity, and suggesting its possible extension in the domain of physiological functions which are both consciously and unconsciously controlled
Contrasting symbolic and non-symbolic numerical representations in a joint classification task
Full text link: Both symbolic (digits) and non-symbolic (dots) numerals are spatially coded, with relatively small numbers being responded faster with a left key and large numbers being responded faster with a right key (spatial-numerical association of response codes [SNARC]). The idea of format independent SNARC seems to support the existence of a common system for symbolic and non-symbolic numerical representations, although evidence in the field is still mixed. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether symbolic and non-symbolic numerals interact in the SNARC effect when both information is simultaneously displayed. To do so, participants were presented with dice-like patterns, with digits being used instead of dots. In two separate magnitude classification tasks, participants had to respond either to the number of digits presented on the screen or to their numerical size. In the non-symbolic task, they had to judge whether the digits on the screen were more or less than three, irrespective of the numerical value of the digits. In the symbolic task, participants had to judge whether the digits on the screen were numerically smaller or larger than three, irrespective of the number of digits being present. The results show a consistent SNARC effect in the symbolic task and no effect in the non-symbolic one. Furthermore, congruency between symbolic and non-symbolic numerals did not modulate the response patterns, thus supporting the idea of independent representations and questioning some propositions of current theoretical accounts
The influence of encoding and testing directions on retrieval of spatial information in explored and described environments
Full text linkThe verbal descriptions of an environment elicit a spatial mental model, in which the linear disposition of the described objects might be related to the properties of the description. In particular the direction from which the environment is encoded might shape the spatial mental model, as a consequence of a cultural bias in reading and writing direction. The aim of the present study was to examine the influence of the direction in which objects are encoded on the retrieval of spatial information. In two experiments we asked participants to encode an environment through either physical exploration or verbal description, that are encoding modalities which preserve the sequential presentation of spatial information. We manipulated both the encoding and testing directions of the spatial information, and tested participants by using a two-alternative forced choice task. In both experiments, the results did not reveal any significant effect, disconfirming the idea of the left-right cultural bias for western people for this type of task. The lack of effect suggests that encoding an environment through physical movement and verbal descriptions determines the development of a mental representation which is relatively independent from encoding sequential order
SNARCing With a Phone: The Role of Order in Spatial-Numerical Associations Is Revealed by Context and Task Demands
Full text linkPrevious literature on the spatial-numerical association of response codes (SNARC) effect examined which factors modulate spatial-numerical associations. Recently, the role of order in the SNARC effect has been debated, and further research is necessary to better understand its contribution. The present study investigated how the order elicited by the context of the stimuli and by task demands interact.Across three experiments, we presented numbers in the context of a mobile phone keypad, an overlearned numerical display in which the ordinal position of numbers differs from the mental number line.The experiments employed three tasks with different levels of consistency with the order elicited by the context. In Experiment 1, participants judged numbers based on their spatial position on the keypad, and we found a spatial association consistent with the keypad configuration, indicating that the spatial association is driven both by the context and by the task when they consistently elicit the same order. In Experiment 2a, participants performed a magnitude classification task, and results revealed a lack of spatial associations, suggesting a conflict between the orders elicited by the context and by the task. InExperiment 2b, participants performed a parity judgment task, and the results revealed a SNARC effect, suggesting that the order elicited by the context did not modulate the spatial association. Overall, three different tasks gave rise to three different results. This shows that the context alone is not sufficient in modulating spatial-numerical associations but that the consistency between the orders elicited by context and task demands is a key facto
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