Spatial Attention Interacts With Serial-Order Retrieval From Verbal Working Memory

The ability to maintain the serial order of events is recognized as a major function of working memory. Although general models of working memory postulate a close link between working memory and attention, such a link has so far not been proposed specifically for serial-order working memory. The present study provided the first empirical demonstration of a direct link between serial order in verbal working memory and spatial selective attention. We show that the retrieval of later items of a sequence stored in working memory-compared with that of earlier items-produces covert attentional shifts toward the right. This observation suggests the conceptually surprising notion that serial-order working memory, even for nonspatially defined verbal items, draws on spatial attention. © The Author(s) 2013.Peer reviewe

The Gravitational Lens -- Galaxy Group Connection. II. Groups Associated with B2319+051 and B1600+434

We report on the results of a spectroscopic survey of the environments of the gravitational lens systems CLASS B1600+434 (z_l = 0.41, z_s = 1.59) and CLASS B2319+051 (z_l = 0.62). The B1600+434 system has a time delay measured for it, and we find the system to lie in a group with a velocity dispersion of 100 km/s and at least six members. B2319+051 has a large group in its immediate foreground with at least 10 members and a velocity dispersion of 460 km/s and another in the background of the lens with a velocity dispersion of 190 km/s. There are several other small groups in the fields of these lens systems, and we describe the properties of these moderate redshift groups. Furthermore, we quantify the effects of these group structures on the gravitational lenses and find a ~5% correction to the derived value of H_0 for B1600+434.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, submitted to A

The notion of contextual locking: Previously learnt items are not accessible as such when appearing in a less common context

We examined the effect of context on the learning of spatial coding in four experiments. Two partially overlapping sets of stimuli, which had the very same stimulus–response spatial coding, were presented in unique contexts. Results show contextual locking—that is, response times to the very same item in a more common context (80%) were significantly shorter than those in a less common context (20%). Contextual locking was obtained both when the context was more salient (Experiments 1 and 2) and less salient (Experiments 3 and 4). In addition, results were obtained even when contextualization seemed less necessary (Experiments 2 and 4). Binding of information to context is discussed in relation to chunking, transfer effects, and practical applications pertaining to professional training

An Agent-based Collective Model to Simulate Peer Pressure Effect on Energy Consumption

This paper presents a novel model for simulating peer pressure effect on energy awareness and consumption of families. The model is built on two well-established theories of human behaviour to obtain realistic peer effect: the collective behaviour theory and the theory of cognitive dissonance. These theories are implemented in a collective agentbased model that produces fine-grained behaviour and consumption data based on social parameters. The model enables the application of different energy efficiency interventions which aim to obtain more aware occupants and achieve more energy saving. The presented experiments show that the implemented model reflects the human behaviour theories. They also provide examples of how the model can be used as an analytical tool to interpret the effect of energy interventions in the given social parameters and decide the optimal intervention needed in different cases

Context dependent learning in the serial RT task

This study investigated the development of contextual dependencies for sequential perceptual-motor learning on static features in the learning environment. In three experiments we assessed the effect of manipulating task irrelevant static context features in a serial reaction-time task. Experiment 1 demonstrated impaired performance after simultaneously changing display color, placeholder shape, and placeholder location. Experiment 2 showed that this effect was mainly caused by changing placeholder shape. Finally, Experiment 3 indicated that changing context affected both the application of sequence knowledge and the selection of individual responses. It is proposed either that incidental stimulus features are integrated with a global sequence representation, or that the changed context causes participants to strategically inhibit sequence skills

Affordances, constraints and information flows as ‘leverage points’ in design for sustainable behaviour

Copyright @ 2012 Social Science Electronic PublishingTwo of Donella Meadows' 'leverage points' for intervening in systems (1999) seem particularly pertinent to design for sustainable behaviour, in the sense that designers may have the scope to implement them in (re-)designing everyday products and services. The 'rules of the system' -- interpreted here to refer to affordances and constraints -- and the structure of information flows both offer a range of opportunities for design interventions to in fluence behaviour change, and in this paper, some of the implications and possibilities are discussed with reference to parallel concepts from within design, HCI and relevant areas of psychology

Shifting Home Energy Consumption Through a Holistic Understanding of the Home System of Practice

This chapter describes the concept of the home system of practice, which can be used to provide a deeper understanding of the social system of the home and inform long-term solutions for enabling domestic energy reduction. More traditional methods have attempted to persuade occupants to change behaviour through the use of information campaigns and feedback technology. However, these interventions are usually short lived as they ignore the underlying reasons for practices to occur. A more effective solution is through practice-oriented design, which co-creates innovative technology with the user. In addition, the emergence and use of automated technology enables practices to act independently of the user. Yet, the success of automation is also reliant on an understanding of the home system of practice, occupant needs and skills

Motor skill learning in the middle-aged: limited development of motor chunks and explicit sequence knowledge

The present study examined whether middle-aged participants, like young adults, learn movement patterns by preparing and executing integrated sequence representations (i.e., motor chunks) that eliminate the need for external guidance of individual movements. Twenty-four middle-aged participants (aged 55–62) practiced two fixed key press sequences, one including three and one including six key presses in the discrete sequence production task. Their performance was compared with that of 24 young adults (aged 18–28). In the middle-aged participants motor chunks as well as explicit sequence knowledge appeared to be less developed than in the young adults. This held especially with respect to the unstructured 6-key sequences in which most middle-aged did not develop independence of the key-specific stimuli and learning seems to have been based on associative learning. These results are in line with the notion that sequence learning involves several mechanisms and that aging affects the relative contribution of these mechanisms