Semantic representation of synaesthesia

Synaesthesia has multifaceted consequences for both subjective experience and cognitive performance. Here, I broach the issue of how synaesthesia is represented in semantic memory. I hypothesize that, for example, in grapheme colour synaesthesia, colour is represented as an additional feature in the semantic network that enables the formation of associations that are not present in nonsynaesthetes. Thus, synaesthesia provokes richer memory representations which enable learning opportunities that are not present in non-synaesthetes, provides additional memory cues, and may trigger creative ideas

Structural Information from Solid-State NMR

The application of selective averaging techniques combined with multidimensional spectroscopy to solid-state NMR structure determination is discussed. Examples include spin-diffusion and spy-diffusion experiments

Hypnagogic states are quite common: Self-reported prevalence, modalities, and gender differences.

The hypnagogic state refers to the transitional phase between wakefulness and sleep during which vivid experiences occur. In this questionnaire study, we assessed the self-reported prevalence of hypnagogic states considering the frequency of experiences in different modalities. We also assessed the emotional quality and the vividness of the experiences. Moreover, we compared hypnagogic states to other phenomena, such as dreams, sleep paralysis, imagination, and extra-sensory perception in these measures. Hypnagogic states were reported by 80.2 % of 4456 participants and were more prevalent in women than men. Experiences were most often kinaesthetic and visual, and less often auditory, tactile, and olfactory or gustatory. Hypnagogic states were less prevalent than dreams and characterized by different modality profiles. However, they were similar to dreams in their emotional quality, the irritation they caused, and in their vividness. In conclusion, hypnagogic states are quite common

Gamifying Intention Memory – Revisiting Ovsiankina

The Ovsiankina effect refers to the desire to complete interrupted and unfinished tasks. In this study, we investigated whether this effect can be generalized and is observable in videogames. We created 16 short videogames, which were comparable in their controls, and half of which were interrupted midway, whilst the other half could be finished. To complete the videogame, participants either had to reach a certain score or achieve the highest score possible in a finite amount of time. After playing, participants chose eight games for replay. Overall, interrupted videogames were chosen more frequently for replay than finished videogames. Thus, we showed that the Ovsiankina effect appears to be robust and observable even in videogames

Correlation and response relevance in sequence learning

We tested the effects of introducing a secondary sequence into the serial reaction time task. Specifically, we examined the role of correlated streams of information and response relevance. In the first experiment, the order of stimulus locations was correlated with the order of key press responses in the conventional way. A symbol-identity sequence, of a different length, was also present but no manual responses were made to it, and it was not correlated with any other stream of information. In the second experiment, two concurrent streams of location-based stimuli were presented. Both were sequenced but only one sequence required responses. Importantly, the sequences were either correlated with one another or not (same vs. different lengths). In the third experiment, the same design was used but with one sequence visual and the other auditory. In all three experiments, participants became sensitive to the sequence that required responses, and resultant knowledge was largely explicit. They were also sensitive to the sequence that did not require responses but only when it was correlated with the sequence that did, and here resultant knowledge was implicit. The findings suggest that the presence of a secondary sequence can affect learning, but only when stimuli in that sequence are integrated, through correlation, with responses made to the primary sequenc

Incidental task sequence learning: perceptual rather than conceptual?

In four experiments we investigated whether incidental task sequence learning occurs when no instructional task cues are available (i.e. with univalent stimuli). We manipulated task sequence by presenting three simple binary-choice tasks (colour, form or letter case decisions) in regular repeated or random order. Participants were required to use the same two response keys for each of the tasks. We manipulated response sequence by ordering the stimuli so as to produce either a regular or a random order of left versus right-hand key presses. When sequencing in both, or either, separate stream (i.e. task sequence and/or response sequence) was changed to random, only those participants who had processed both sequences together showed evidence of sequence learning in terms of significant response time disruption (Experiments 1-3). This effect disappeared when the sequences were uncorrelated (Experiment 4). The results indicate that only the correlated integration of task sequence and response sequence produced a reliable incidental learning effect. As this effect depends on the predictable ordering of stimulus categories, it suggests that task sequence learning is perceptual rather than conceptual in natur

Hypnagogic states are quite common: Evidence from a prevalence study with young adults.

The hypnagogic state refers to the transitional phase between wakefulness and sleep during which vivid experiences occur. There is, however, great ambiguity in the reported prevalences of this phenomenon. In this study, we assessed the prevalence of hypnagogic states and the frequency of experiences in different modalities (visual, auditory, tactile, kinaesthetic, olfactory and gustatory) in three adult samples of a total of 4457 participants. We also asked them to rate their emotional quality, how irritated they felt by their experiences, and how vivid their experiences were. Moreover, we compared hypnagogic states to other states of consciousness, such as dreams, sleep paralysis, imagination, and extra-sensory perception. Hypnagogic states occurred in up to 81.5% of participants and prevalence was comparable across samples. Experiences were most often kinaesthetic (90.3%) and visual (70.9%), and less often auditory (43.1%), tactile (38.3%), and olfactory or gustatory (24.6%). Hypnagogic states were less prevalent than dreams and expressed a different profile of modalities in which they occurred, but were comparable in their emotional quality, the irritation they caused, and their vividness. In conclusion, hypnagogic states are quite common

Synesthetes are More Involved in Art — Evidence From the Artistic Creativity Domains Compendium (ACDC)

Creativity is a multidimensional, multistage, and time-dependent process, which can be expressed in various artistic domains and sub-domains (e.g., visual arts, literature, music, and performing arts). The present study investigated the involvement of synesthetes in art, and whether the type of synesthesia determines the preferred artistic domain. We tested 709 participants with either grapheme-color, sound-color, or sequencespace synesthesia (monotypical synesthesia) or a combination thereof (multiple synesthesia) and nonsynesthete controls with the Artistic Creativity Domains Compendium (ACDC). The ACDC measures the involvement in art on the three levels “interest,” “ability,” and performance” for the four domains “visual arts,” “literature,” “music,” and “performing arts.” Overall, the results showed that synesthetes have an affinity for all four artistic domains compared with non-synesthete controls. Moreover, the presence of multiple types of synesthesia affected the specific preference. Besides, compared with monotoypical synesthetes, the group of grapheme-color-sound-color-and-sequence-space synesthetes showed higher involvement in all artistic domains, most pronounced in visual arts. Overall, the study demonstrates that synesthesia is associated with higher interest, ability, and performance in art

Achievement Motivation Affects Memory For Unfinished Tasks

This study aimed to investigate whether achievement motivation affects memory for finished and unfinished tasks. We tested 1094 young adults, who were presented with 12 anagrams and given one minute to complete each of them. After a short delay, they had to recall as many anagrams as possible. The results showed that unsolved anagrams were more likely to be recalled than solved ones. Moreover, achievement motivation resulted in higher recall of unsolved anagrams. These findings provide support for the special status of unfinished tasks in memory and highlight the importance of achievement motivation for Zeigarnik-like phenomena

After-effects of responding to activated and deactivated prospective memory target events differ depending on processing overlaps

Responding to a prospective memory task in the course of an ongoing activity requires switching tasks, which typically comes at a cost in performing the ongoing activity. Similarly, when the prospective memory task is deactivated, a cost can occur when previously relevant prospective memory targets appear in the course of the ongoing activity. In three experiments with undergraduate student participants (N = 226), in which cue focality was manipulated as a function of processing overlaps, we investigated the after-effects of activated and deactivated prospective memory target events. We predicted that lower focality results in stronger after-effects when the prospective memory task is activated but to weaker after-effects when the prospective memory task is deactivated. In contrast, we predicted that higher focality results in weaker after-effects when the prospective memory task is activated but to stronger after-effects when the prospective memory task is deactivated. For activated prospective memory, the pattern of results conformed to the expectations. For deactivated prospective memory, after-effects occurred only under high process overlap situations in a zero-target condition, in which participants were instructed for the prospective memory task, but never had the opportunity to perform it, indicating the special representational status of uncompleted intentions. We discuss these findings within the process overlap framework, which allows more fine-grained distinctions than the focal versus non-focal dichotomy