Social networks have become an important phenomenon in the daily lives of many people, which is why in recent years they have aroused the interest of many researchers. This fact contrasts with the lack of normative psycholinguistic and affective indexes that facilitate their study within psychology. The aim of the present work is to provide a freely accessible database with words and icons related to the most used social networks. The responses of a sample of university students on familiarity, emotional valence and arousal of 42 words related to social networks and their corresponding icons are analyzed. Most of the stimuli were familiar, had positive valence and generated high arousal in the participants. Gender differences related to familiarity were obtained in some words and icons. The findings obtained in the present work allow us to broaden the understanding of the lexicon used in the field of social networks. Also, the stimuli provided can be used in experimental studies on the use, abuse or dependence on social networks in Spain.
This study examined the ability of a large language model, GPT-4o-mini, to predict age of acquisition (AoA) for Spanish words, as compared to human ratings. We found a strong correlation (rho=.75) between the model's AoA estimates and mean human ratings. This correlation was lower than the level of agreement observed between individual human raters (rho=.85), but we found that finetuning the model on a relatively small dataset of 2000 human AoA ratings has the potential to enhance the model's performance to a level comparable to human consensus. Our analyses further indicated that in large data analyses we risk confounding AoA with word familiarity if we use AoA estimates for words unknown to participants. In line with existing psycholinguistic theorizing, it is better to limit the study of AoA effects to words that are within the participants' vocabulary. We present a novel dataset of AoA estimates for 28,453 Spanish words likely known by adult speakers.
Our prior knowledge of what is about to occur, or perceptual expectations, influences how we perceive and interpret information, including the social context. The general objective of the present investigation was to replicate and extend the research conducted by Barnett et al. (2021) studying how gender stereotype-based expectations modulate the perception and categorization of faces, by employing a mouse tracking technique. To achieve this, mouse movements were continuously recorded while participants categorized the gender and emotion of a series of photos which could be congruent (angry male and happy female) or incongruent (happy male and angry female) with gender stereotypes. On each trial, participants responded by clicking with the mouse on the response buttons located at the top corners of the screen, which indicated the relevant gender or emotion categories. Analyses of the mouse trajectories revealed a higher degree of curvature and complexity while categorizing incongruent faces compared to congruent ones. In addition, Representational Similarity Analysis (RSA) applied to the dynamics of mouse trajectories indicated that the impact of stereotypes fluctuated across time, exerting a larger effect towards the end points of movements. Overall, our results replicate and extend previous studies and highlight the advantages of using continuous behavioral recording techniques, in particular mouse tracking, to analyze not only the influence, but also the temporal impact of expectations on social perception and categorization.
The prevalence of pseudoscientific beliefs has increased in recent years, despite their potential harmful consequences. Previous research has suggested an association between the endorsement of pseudoscience and gullibility, i.e., the tendency to accept false premises despite indications of untrustworthiness. We studied the possible association between these two constructs by means of a scale measuring pseudoscientific beliefs, a scam email assessment task, and a gullibility self-report. We observed positive correlations between pseudoscience endorsement and 'persuadability', a subscale of the gullibility questionnaire, as well as, crucially, with ratings given to low-, but not high-, authenticity scam emails. Our results show an association between pseudoscience endorsement and gullibility, which would only be evident when the situations are more obviously deceptive. By contributing to the understanding of variability with regards to pseudoscience endorsement, our study might serve as a basis for future interventions aimed to promote critical thinking and informed decision-making.
The Retrieval Practice effect states that taking tests during learning enhances later correct retrieval compared to re-studying. However, introducing tests carries the risk of reinforcing the committed errors. A growing body of evidence on Errorful Learning suggests that error commission during learning is beneficial-rather than detrimental-to memory, particularly when errors are noticed and corrected through feedback. The main goal of the present study is to analyze the specific conditions under which errors during learning are beneficial. Specifically, we study whether the semantic relationship of the material and the recovery of the original error modulate Errorful Learning (Experiments 1 and 2). Furthermore, in order to explore potential differences in activation after previously experiencing an error or a correct answer, a priming procedure was used. We explored the processing times of the feedback-words compared with correct and errorful responses (Experiment 3). Our results showed a greater error correction when the study material was semantically related. Moreover, it was not necessary to recover the original errors to retrieve the correct answer. Additionally, participants took longer to respond to items for which they had previous error-experience, and they showed longer processing times for feedback-words during the priming task compared to errors and correct answers. These results might be taken to indicate that more controlled and with a previous error-experience.
In a trial-by-trial predictive judgment task, human participants were trained to predict the probability of a specific outcome value (discounts) based on various cues (funeral products) in different contexts (funeral parlor vs. home). The experiment used a mixed factorial design with two groups of participants. In Group Partial-One-Context, a cue (X) was paired with three distinct discount values: 50%, 30%, and 0% (partial reinforcement, PR). Cue Z was paired with a discount value of 30% for all trials (continuous reinforcement, CR). Both cues were trained in context A. In context B, cue Y was paired with a 0% discount. Testing was conducted in Context A and Context B. Participants in Group Partial-Both-Contexts received the same training as Group Partial-One-Context, except that in Context B, Cue Y was paired with three different discount values: 5%, 10%, and 0% (under PR). In Group Partial-One-Context, context-switching effects were found for Cues X and Y but not for Cue Z. In contrast, Group Partial-Both Contexts showed no context-switching effects. These findings are discussed in relation to the context-switching effects observed with emotionally charged stimuli, such as funeral products. In particular, the results have implications for understanding how consumers respond to marketing cues and promotional tactics, such as discounts, when dealing with emotionally sensitive products across varying contexts.
The golden ratio is defined as an uncanny relationship between numbers and beauty that roots in a two millennian tradition. Two experiments evaluated the relationship between formal aesthetic education and the evaluation of the beauty of artistic golden ratio stimuli by comparing the performance of two groups of university students: Fine Arts students, and students without formal training in art. In Experiment 1, both groups of participants had to choose between pairs of black and white adaptations of Mondrian paintings modified to fit either the golden ratio or the 1/6 proportion. Both groups preferentially chose the golden ratio stimuli as more beautiful than the 1/6 stimuli, with this preference being significantly greater in Fine Arts students. In Experiment 2, when the comparison was conducted between golden ratio and symmetrical stimuli (1/2 proportion stimuli), Fine Arts students clearly chose the golden ratio stimuli as the most beautiful, while no differences were found among university students without formal art education. These findings suggest that specific art education seems to favor the perceived beauty based on the golden ratio, as suggested by traditional literature on the perception of beauty. However, it is also possible that Fine Arts education is chosen by students who are born with a greater aesthetic sensitivity.
Objectives : The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of task content in the illusion of control effect (i.e. the tendency to overestimate our chances of success beyond the objective probabilities). A secondary exploratory objective was to analyze individual differences in task performance. Methods : A total of 88 participants (36 aerospace engineers and 52 undergraduate psychology students) participated in this experiment performing a standard drug -related contingency judgment task (with a fictitious drug that could be effective for a fictitious disease) and a novel analogue task with aerospace content. In both tasks, there was a null contingency between treatment and recovery. However, the chance of spontaneous recovery was 70%, a baseline rate which tends to produce strong illusion of control effects in null contingency setups. The participants were tasked to identify the treatment effectivity (the normative answer was no effectivity at all). Results : The data showed a strong illusion of control with no significant difference between groups and tasks. A non -negligible number of participants displayed inefficient strategies during task performance. Discussion : Both tasks produced comparable results with no significant differences. Our data suggests that inter -individual effects need to be considered in future research and measures of central tendency must be used with caution.
Problematic internet users (PIUs) tend to have poorer attentional control, impaired working memory (WM), and poorer executive functions. Based on previous results using verbal and visuospatial WM tasks, there might be a difference in the processing efficiency of various types of information. Visuospatial processing skills might be enhanced in PIUs, however, studies considering a possible association with verbal processing skills are scarce. Here we investigated how performance on verbal and visuospatial tasks are associated with measures of PIU. Participants (N=51) completed a dot-finding and a 1-back single task with both verbal and visuospatial stimuli, and a dual task that combined the two single tasks. Thus, we manipulated task Difficulty (Single vs Dual) and Modality (Verbal vs Visuospatial). We used the Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire (PIUQ) to measure PIU. People scoring higher (compared to those scoring lower) on control disorder and obsession subscales of PIUQ performed worse on the verbal and better on the visuospatial condition. Higher PIUQ total scores correlated with more difficulty on the single-task and lower difficulty with dual-task performance. In conclusion, although participants more prone to PIU were better in task switching, higher levels of PIU may be associated with worse verbal processing and increased distractibility.
Geometry is a subject frequently associated with mathematical performance or science interest, as well as with reasoning and spatial skills. Within the school context, geometry achievement has been connected with visuospatial abilities but less frequently with motor skills, where the embodied cognition approach seems especially important to explain the emergence of complex cognitive representations based on motor processes. To date, few studies have assessed the contribution of both spatial and motor abilities to predict geometry performance. Thus, in this study, we aimed to examine the role of visuospatial (mental rotation and visualization) and motor skills (fine and gross motor skills) in spatial geometry achievement in primary schoolers. A total of 215 students from the second and third year of basic education participated in this study. The participants were enrolled in several tasks that involved spatial, motor and cognitive abilities. A multiple linear regression model showed that the geometry variable was explained by age, mental rotation and manual dexterity at 22%. The results suggest that geometry performance was supported by specific spatial skills (mental rotation) and fine motor (manual dexterity), but not gross motor ability in primary schoolers.
Recently, a study by Dignath et al. (2023) reported on the intriguing finding that cognitive control is enhanced by information that primes self-referential processing. Here, we present an independently performed replication as a first step towards building a cumulative body of support for this finding. Specifically, we replicated their reduced Stroop effect for color-words that are presented together with the possessive pronoun 'my', as compared to colorwords presented together with a definite or indefinite article. We did so in a Spanish cohort (generalizing from the German cohort in the original study), and while implementing several (theoretically irrelevant) changes to the design in order to showcase that this type of finding is not due to idiosyncratic features of the design.
Working memory (WM) tasks have been extensively studied with laboratory paper and pencil or computerized tasks; few studies have assessed the feasibility and psychometric properties of WM online tests for low-stakes research purposes. This study analyzed the online implementation of two verbal WM tasks, Letter-Number Sequencing and Running Span. Letter-Number Sequencing was tested in a supervised, online video conference setting in small groups. Running Span was assessed asynchronously and unsupervised. Both had adequate reliability. For Letter-Number Sequencing, approximately 25% of the sample had to be excluded following criteria for minimum performance and strategic behavior. In addition, performance did not follow the set size effect, a benchmark for WM tasks, and was systematically different from an in-person sample. In contrast, the remote online Running Span task displayed systematic lower performance with more to-be-remembered items (set size effect), with overall performance aligning closely with a similar in-person evaluation.
One hundred and forty participants were instructed to use absolute judgement or relative judgement just prior to facing a present perpetrator lineup or an absent perpetrator lineup. Participants' eye movements were recorded during the lineup presentation to assess whether they were able to apply the instructions they had been given. The results showed no significant differences between the type of instruction and the identification accuracy in the lineups. However, eye-tracking data showed that participants who were given absolute judgement instructions made significantly fewer comparisons between photographs than those who received relative judgement instructions in both types of lineups. Additionally, in the present perpetrator lineup, participants spent less time looking at the set of photographs of the lineup in the absolute judgement condition than in the relative judgement condition. Moreover, participants' meta-memory evaluations indicated a certain degree of correspondence between participants' self-reports and their eye- tracking data. Finally, a weak relationship was observed between post-lineup confidence and accuracy in both lineups. Therefore, although eye movement data showed that participants in the absolutejudgement condition tried to implement the instructions, this did not translate into a higher accuracy rate in any of the lineups. However, it should be noted that in the present perpetrator lineup, when participants made fewer comparisons between photographs (a performance more characteristic of an absolute judgement) they were more accurate in the identification lineup.
As individuals, we have to adjust our cognition and behavior to adapt to the environment. This adjustment involves, among other things, the functioning of a set of executive/control processes like flexibility to switch from one activity to another, monitoring and updating the information we are processing, and the inhibition of unnecessary contents that may hinder the performance of a task. In this paper, we focus on the latter mechanism, inhibition. We evaluate how inhibition is a tool that enables the control of our behavior, like avoiding making a response when it is not needed, resolving conflict situations, and suppressing contents that interfere with our thoughts and behaviors. We argue for a domain-free inhibitory mechanism that would apply across different areas of human neurocognition. In this paper, we review some of these areas, in which inhibition plays an essential role when people process language and remember information. We want to highlight the functional role of inhibition as a critical component for people to successfully perform many cognitive tasks.
Qualitatively varied reinforcement (QVR) refers to the delivery of two or more consequences for the same operant response. It has been suggested that QVR ought to elicit higher response rates than a single reinforcer. Schedule- induced behaviours, like wheel running, have been compared to operant behaviours, thus they could be thought to be controlled by the same variables. The aim of this study was to compare the rates of lever pressing and wheel running during a component in which QVR was available to those in which a single reinforcer was available. Subjects were 8 experimentally na & iuml;ve male Wistar rats deprived of food and water. Subjects were exposed to a multiple schedule with 3 components in which different consequences were available: food, water, or either food or water, according to a variable interval 120-s schedule for lever pressing. Each component lasted 30 minutes. During experimental sessions subjects also had access to a running wheel. Higher, albeit not significant, lever-pressing rates were recorded during the food component than during the water component or the qualitatively-varied one, and no systematic differences were found between components in wheel-running rates. A second experiment with a similar procedure but in which rats received double amount of reinforcer (food, water, and food and water) yielded similar results, but with slightly higher response rates during the qualitatively varied component than in Experiment 1. Results are consistent with the findings that schedule-induced behaviours are affected by the same variables than operant behaviours. There was no significant effect of QVR to produce higher response rates than single reinforcers.
The choice-induced preference change (CIPC) effect observed in the free-choice paradigm (FCP) is hypothesized to be the result of cognitive dissonance reduction at revaluation. However, the role of self-based metacognitive processes in this mechanism is a subject of debate. This research investigates whether memory processes, studied from the perspective of the dual recollection theory, are involved in the CIPC effect. In two studies, after performing the FCP, participants were asked about their memory for their own choice, using the conjoint-recognition memory paradigm. In Study 1 (N = 72), we used three conditions differing in the sequence of ratings and choice task and in the kind of assessed attributes of objects. The results showed that recollection of choice was lowest for chosen objects with opposite-to-choice change in desirability rating, while familiarity was lowest for chosen objects with consistent with choice change in rating. These differences were not observed for the safety rating and for the control procedure with choice made after ratings. In Study 2 (N = 58), we manipulated the level of similarity of paired objects in the choice phase and found that the CIPC effect was higher for close pairs than for distant pairs. Unlike in Study 1, the CIPC effect was not accompanied by predicted differences in choice recollection. For distant pairs, memory for choice was significantly better for items whose ratings remained stable. These results do not support suggestions that memory for choice is involved in dissonance reduction at the second rating of the FCP.
In this study we tested whether economic inequality and democratic choices affected individuals' cooperative behavior using the public goods game (N = 479). To manipulate economic inequality, we distributed participants' initial tokens either equally, somewhat unequally or very unequally. To manipulate democratic choice, we presented a prescriptive norm to punish the free-riders, either chosen by the participants or imposed. Cooperative behavior was measured by the number of tokens that participants invested in the public good. As predicted, our findings showed a significant difference between the high and the low inequality condition on cooperative behavior. Participants cooperate with more tokens in the low (vs. high) inequality condition. However, when the prescriptive norm was introduced, the difference between inequality conditions disappeared. No differences in cooperation were found when the prescriptive norm was either democratically voted or imposed. Overall, the results showed that prescriptive norms could reduce differences in cooperative behavior independently of inequality levels, and their study could contribute to motivating redistribution and tax compliance.
The present study investigated the effect of the physical estimation environment and the size of the to-beestimated (TBE) objects on the use of measurement units and length estimation performance. Following a betweensubjects design, forty young adults were asked to estimate the length of nine pieces of ribbon presented in two different conditions: an External Measurement condition, wherein several external measurement units were present or a No External Measurement condition in which such external measurement units were absent. The results indicated that the availability of external measurement units affected the type of measurement units that were applied as well as their frequency of use but not the estimation performance. Furthermore, it was found that participants adapted the size of the measurement units they used to the size of the TBE objects. At the same time, estimation accuracy was correlated positively with the frequency of use of external measurement units and negatively with the use of idiosyncratic units. These findings revealed participants' flexibility in length estimation, as they adapted the choice of the measurement units to both the physical estimation environment and the size of the TBE objects. Implications for mathematics education and future research are discussed.
Two experiments evaluated whether the experience of extinction facilitates subsequent acquisition of patterning discriminations in human predictive learning. Both experiments compared acquisition of negative and positive patterning discrimination between a group of participants that had experienced extinction with a nontarget cue, and a group of participants that had not. Experiment 1 found that acquisition of positive (Experiment 1a) and negative (Experiment 1b) patterning discriminations took place at the same rate regardless of the extinction experience with the nontarget cue. Experiment 2 found that, when positive and negative patterning discriminations were concurrently trained, experiencing extinction facilitated the acquisition of positive, but not negative patterning. Results suggest the existence of some boundaries for the idea that experiencing uncertainty facilitates subsequent learning because of the activation of the exploratory mechanism of attention as proposed by recent attentional associative learning theories.
Learning causal relations provides the knowledge that allows us to make accurate predictions and to make more effective interventions. Some of these predictions may have a high value for survival, providing us with a body of knowledge that maximizes context adaptation. This is why researchers have tried to understand how people learn about the causal structures in their environment. In this article, we outline some of the most recent advances in the understanding of causal learning, and specifically of the causal learning biases that often affect our decision-making.
