Working memory capacity modulates habituation rate: Evidence from a cross-modal auditory distraction paradigm

Habituation of the orienting response is a pivotal part of selective attention, and previous research has related working memory capacity (WMC) to attention control. Against this background, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether individual differences in WMC contribute to habituation rate. The participants categorized visual targets across six blocks of trials. Each target was preceded either by a standard sound or, on rare trials, by a deviant. The magnitude of the deviation effect (i.e., prolonged response time when the deviant was presented) was relatively large in the beginning but attenuated toward the end. There was no relationship between WMC and the deviation effect at the beginning, but there was at the end, and greater WMC was associated with greater habituation. These results indicate that high memory ability increases habituation rate, and they support theories proposing a role for cognitive control in habituation and in some forms of auditory distraction

Individual differences in susceptibility to the effects of speech on reading comprehension

Previous research has indicated that meaningful background speech affects individuals reading comprehension performance differently and that this difference is related to working memory capacity. But what mechanism in working memory that is involved is not well understood. The present study’s main purpose was to investigate if individual differences in susceptibility to effects of speech on reading comprehension are moderated by working memory capacity as measured by the number updating task and two different mechanisms within this construct; delayed suppression (i.e. the inhibition of information that once was task-relevant but no longer is) and immediate suppression (i.e. the inhibition of processed but irrelevant information, while withholding attention focused on the to-be-recalled task-relevant items). Forty participants performed a number updating task and a reading comprehension task in silence and with meaningful background speech. The results indicated that the immediate suppression mechanism moderates the effects of background speech on reading comprehension. Those who can’t handle the interference from the background speech let the task-irrelevant information interfere with the ongoing cognitive task and therefore are more likely to be distracted by the background speech while reading a text

Seriell återgivning av två-röstslistor: ord organiseras inte efter röst

Abstract Title: Serial recall of two-voice lists: Words are not perceptually organized by voice. The present study examined how voice affects the perceptual grouping of words in short-term memory that are auditory presented. Three different voice-lists were used: single-voice, alternating-voice and split-voice. In single-voice lists all words were presented in the same voice. In alternating-voice lists words were presented alternately in a male and a female voice. Finally, in split-voice lists words were presented grouped four and four in a male and a female voice. It was hypothesized that recall would be best for split-voice lists, especially at serial position 4 and 5. This was not confirmed. However, in line with earlier investigations, a recall advantage of single-voice lists was found in comparison with recall of alternating-voice lists at the beginning of the serial position curve. Taken together, these results suggest that words are not perceptually organized by voice in short-term memory. Like earlier studies this study found that recall of single-voice lists was better than alternating-voice lists at the first serial position, a result that yet has to be explained. Keywords: Multi-voice lists, serial recall, short-term memory, perceptual organizatio

A Shield against Distraction from Environmental Noise

Working in noisy environments can be detrimental to cognitive performance. In order to perform well people have to find a way to attenuate distraction. This thesis aimed to study the balance between distractibility and task demands in the context of office-related tasks as a means by which to better understand how people in the work environment are influenced by environmental noise. In Report 1, 2 and 3 higher focal-task difficulty was achieved by manipulating the readability of the text that participants were asked to read (i.e. either displaying the text in hard-to-read font or by masking it with static visual noise). The results of Report 1 and Report 2 showed that background speech impaired performance on proofreading and memory for written stories respectively compared to silence, but only when the focaltask difficulty was low, not when it was high. In Report 3 it was shown that background speech, road traffic noise, and aircraft noise impaired performance on text memory compared to silence, but again, only when focal-task difficulty was low. In Report 4 it was tested whether higher cognitive load on the focal task would reduce peripheral processing of a to-be-ignored background story. The results of Report 4 showed that participants in the low-load condition recalled more of the information conveyed in the to-be-ignored background story compared to participants in the high-load condition. It was also investigated whether individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) would influence participants’ memory for written stories (Report 2) and incidental memory of the to-background story (Report 4) differently depending on task demand. The results showed that individuals scoring high on the WMC-test were less distracted by background speech in the easy-to-read font condition (Report 2), and recalled less of the information in the to-be-ignored background story in the low-cognitive load condition (Report 4) compared to individuals that scored lower on the WMC-test. These relationships were not found in the hard-to-read font condition in Report 2, or in the high-cognitive load condition in Report 4. Taken together, these results indicate that higher focal-task difficulty can shield against the detrimental effect environmental noise on performance on office-related tasks. Moreover, it shows that higher focal-task difficulty can help individuals with low-WMC to reach a level of performance that is similar to that of high-capacity individuals.Människor som arbetar inom den byggda miljön (t.ex. kontor eller skolor) är ofta exponerade för olika typer av miljöljud (t.ex. bakgrundsprat, vägtrafiks- eller flygplansbuller) som kan ha en negativ inverkan på deras förmåga att prestera på kognitiva uppgifter (t.ex. läs- eller skrivuppgifter). För att kunna prestera behöver de som arbetar inom den byggda miljön hitta ett sätt att minska hur distraherade de blir av bakgrundsbuller när de arbetar med kontorsrelaterade uppgifter (t.ex. korrekturläsning eller minne för text). Syftet med denna avhandling var att studera balansen mellan distraktion och koncentrationskrav på arbetsuppgiften som ett sätt att undersöka vilken inverkan bakgrundsbuller i arbetsmiljön har på människors förmåga att prestera på kontorsrelaterade uppgifter. I Rapport 1, 2 och 3 manipulerades koncentrationskravet på arbetsuppgiften genom att göra texten mer svårläslig (d.v.s. antingen använda ett mer svårläsligt teckensnitt eller genom att maskera texten med ett visuellt brus). Resultaten på Rapport 1 och 2 visade att bakgrundsprat försämrade prestationen på ett korrekturläsningstest och ett textminnestest jämfört med en tyst betingelse, men bara när texten var lättläslig och inte när den var svårläslig. Rapport 3 visade att bakgrundsprat, vägtrafikbuller och flygplansbuller försämrade prestationen på ett textminnestest jämfört med tystnad, men återigen, bara när texten var lättläslig och inte när den var svårläslig. I Rapport 4 undersöktes om ökad kognitiv belastning på en arbetsuppgift skulle minska hur mycket information av ett bakgrundsprat (d.v.s. en berättelse om en fiktiv kultur) som deltagarna kunde återge trots att de blivit instruerade att ignorera det som sades i bakgrunden. Resultatet visade att deltagarna i betingelsen med låg kognitiv belastning kom ihåg mer av informationen från bakgrundsberättelsen jämfört med deltagarna med hög kognitiv belastning. Denna avhandling undersökte också sambandet mellan individuella skillnader i arbetsminneskapacitet och storleken på hur distraherad individen var av bakgrundsprat (Rapport 2), samt sambandet mellan arbetsminneskapacitet och hur mycket individen mindes av det bakgrundsprat de blivit instruerade att ignorera (Rapport 4), och om dessa samband influerades olika beroende på koncentrationskravet på arbetsuppgiften. Resultatet i Rapport 2 visade att individer med hög arbetsminneskapacitet blev mindre distraherade av bakgrundspratet jämfört med individer med låg arbetsminneskapacitet på prosaminnestestet, men bara när texten var lättläslig, inte när den var svårläslig. Rapport 4 visade att i betingelsen med låg kognitiv belastning kom de med hög arbetsminneskapacitet ihåg mindre av bakgrundsberättelsen jämfört med individerna med låg arbetsminneskapacitet, men när den kognitiva belastningen var hög var det ingen skillnad i hur mycket deltagarna kom ihåg av bakgrundsberättelsen mellan individer med hög och låg arbetsminneskapacitet. Sammanfattningsvis visar resultaten att ökat koncentrationskrav på en arbetsuppgift, genom att öka svårighetsgraden (t.ex. genom att använda ett mer svårläsligt teckensnitt), kan skydda mot den negativa inverkan som bakgrundsbuller har på arbetsuppgifter som liknar de människor arbetar med på kontor. Vidare visade resultaten att ökade koncentrationskrav på arbetsuppgiften kan hjälpa individer med låg arbetsminneskapacitet att prestera i paritet med individer med hög arbetsminneskapacitet när arbetsuppgiften utförs i bakgrundsprat

Distracted While Reading? Changing to A Hard-to-read Font Shields against the Effects of Environmental Noise and Speech on Text Memory

The purpose of this study was to investigate the distractive effects of background speech, aircraft noise and road traffic noise on text memory and particularly to examine if displaying the texts in a hard-to-read font can shield against the detrimental effects of these types of background sounds. This issue was addressed in an experiment where 56 students read shorter texts about different classes of fictitious creatures (i.e., animals, fishes, birds, and dinosaurs) against a background of the aforementioned background sounds respectively and silence. For half of the participants the texts were displayed in an easy-to-read font (i.e., Times New Roman) and for the other half in a hard-to-read font (i.e., Haettenschweiler). The dependent measure was the proportion correct answers on the multiple-choice tests that followed each sound condition. Participants’ performance in the easy-to-read font condition was significantly impaired by all three background sound conditions compared to silence. In contrast, there were no effects of the three background sound conditions compared to silence in the hard-to-read font condition. These results suggest that an increase in task demand—by displaying the text in a hard-to-read font—shields against various types of distracting background sounds by promoting a more steadfast locus-of-attention and by reducing the processing of background sound

Psychological restoration can depend on stimulus-source attribution: A challenge for the evolutionary account?

Visiting or viewing nature environments can have restorative psychological effects, while exposure to the built environment typically has less positive effects. A classic view is that this difference in restorative potential of nature and built environments depends on differences in the intrinsic characteristics of the stimuli. In addition, an evolutionary account is often assumed whereby restoration is believed to be a hardwired response to nature’s stimulus-features. Here, we propose the novel hypothesis that the restorative effects of a stimulus do not entirely depend on the stimulus-features per se, but also on the meaning that people assign to the stimulus. Participants conducted cognitively demanding tests prior to and after a brief pause. During the pause, the participants were exposed to an ambiguous sound consisting of pink noise with white noise interspersed. Participants in the nature sound-source condition were told that the sound originated from a nature scene with a waterfall; participants in the industrial sound-source condition were told that the sound originated from an industrial environment with machinery; and participants in the control condition were told nothing about the sound origin. Self-reported mental exhaustion showed that participants in the nature sound-source condition were more psychologically restored after the pause than participants in the industrial sound-source condition. One potential interpretation of the results is that restoration from nature experiences depends on learned, positive associations with nature; not only on hardwired responses shaped by evolution

Våldsprevention genom Huskurage : Utvärdering och följeforskning av en förebyggande insats i Gävle kommun 2020

Våld är ett av Sveriges största samhällsproblem, och det våld som sker i nära relationer är omfattande (Frenzel, 2014). Samtidigt saknas tillräcklig kunskap om verkningsfulla våldsförebyggande metoder (Jämställdhetsmyndigheten, 2019). Huskurage är en våldspreventiv metod som utvecklats för att förebygga, förhindra och stoppa mäns våld mot kvinnor och våld i nära relationer (VINR). Metoden används i bostadsområden runtom i landet och viktiga aspekter av metoden är att öka allmänhetens medvetenhet om VINR samt deras benägenhet att ingripa vid oro för att någon utsätts för våld. Under 2020 infördes Huskurage i tre stadsdelar i Gävle kommun (Nordost/Norr, Gävle Strand/Alderholmen och Öster) och arbetet med implementeringen utfördes som ett samarbete mellan flera aktörer. I samband med implementeringen utförde Högskolan i Gävle ett forskningsprojekt för att följa och utvärdera insatsen Huskurage Gävle. Projektets syfte var att undersöka arbetet med implementeringen av Huskurage i tre nya stadsdelar i Gävle, och därmed identifiera framgångsfaktorer och utmaningar för personer som arbetar med Huskurage i Gävle, samt förslag på hur arbetet kan utvecklas vidare. Projektet syftade även till att undersöka förändringar i medvetenhet och attityder gällande VINR, benägenhet att ingripa vid oro för att en granne är utsatt för VINR samt upplevelse av trygghet i bostadsområdet i samband med införande av Huskurage. Projektet syftade också till att undersöka om attityder till VINR och benägenhet att ingripa är beroende av individernas kön och grad av prosocialitet. Utvärderingen genomfördes genom en intervjustudie där personer som arbetat med planeringen och införandet av Huskurage i de tre stadsdelarna intervjuades, samt en enkätstudie riktad till samtliga boende över 18 år i stadsdelarna. Enkätstudien utfördes i två steg genom att en enkät skickades ut före implementeringen av Huskurage och en uppföljande enkät skickades ut efter implementeringen. Dokumentation som mötesanteckningar och mejlkorrespondens samlades också in. Resultaten belyser hur olika aspekter av samverkan, engagemang och kommunikation kan bidra till arbetet med Huskurage. Resultatet indikerar också att Huskurage kan bidra till en ökad benägenhet att ingripa vid oro för att någon i bostadsområdet är utsatt för VINR samtidigt som det finns skillnader mellan kvinnor och män i inställningen till VINR i nära relationer och insatsen Huskurage. Huvudresultat i korthet: Att arbeta med Huskurage kräver god samverkan mellan flera aktörer med olika perspektiv på målgruppen för insatsen och ett gemensamt syfte. Ett högt engagemang ger arbetet uthållighet och möjligheter till flexibilitet och anpassning, exempelvis med anledning av pandemin. Kommunikation i samverkan och med visat engagemang för uppgiften är en förutsättning för att implementeringen kunnat ske och anpassas till rådande förutsättningar. Nya förutsättningar innebär nya och fler digitala kommunikationsvägar för att nå ut med Huskurages budskap. Våld i nära relationer är ett känsligt ämne som kräver personliga möten och kommunikation anpassad till olika målgrupper för att nå ut, något som har försvårats av bristen på tid och pengar, och restriktioner knutna till pandemin. Huskurage hade nått ut i olika stor utsträckning i de olika stadsdelarna. I den stadsdel där samtliga boende ingick i målgruppen för insatsen svarade hälften att de kände till Huskurage, och av dessa visste nio av tio att Huskurage införts i den egna stadsdelen. Den typ av information om Huskurage som hade nått ut till flest av de svarande var skriftlig tryckt information, följt av information i sociala medier. De som besvarade enkäten ansåg att Huskurage hade ökat deras benägenhet att ingripa vid oro för att en granne eller ett barn i bostadsområdet var utsatt för våld. De som besvarade enkäten ansåg inte att Huskurage hade ökat deras kunskap eller medvetenhet om våld i nära relationer. Den upplevda tryggheten i bostadsområdet ökade inte efter införande av Huskurage. Kvinnor var mer positivt inställda till värdet av Huskurage än vad män var. Kvinnor ansåg i högre grad än män att våld i nära relationer är ett stort samhällsproblem som det är viktigt att satsa resurser på att motverka. Det fortsatta arbetet med att sprida Huskurage behöver fokusera på att nå ut till diversifierade målgrupper genom att involvera lokalsamhället och använda många olika kanaler och former av kommunikation.Domestic violence is a wide-spread problem in Swedish society (Frenzel, 2014). Despite its gravity, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the usefulness of preventive methods (Jämställdhetsmyndigheten, 2019). Huskurage is a method to prevent, inhibit and discontinue men’s violence against women and domestic violence. The method is used in residential areas throughout Sweden. Important aspects of the method are to increase public awareness of domestic violence and the readiness to act on suspicions of violence in one’s vicinity. During 2020, Huskurage was implemented in three parts of Gävle city (Nordost/Norr, Gävle Strand/Alderholmen and Öster).  The work of implementing and disseminating Huskurage is done by the city of Gävle in co-operation with the housing company and some other actors. The University of Gävle conducted a research project to monitor the implementation and evaluate its impact. The purpose of the project was to examine how the implementation of Huskurage was carried out in these three parts of the city, and thereby identify successful aspects, challenges and suggestions for improvement. The project also aimed to examine changes in awareness and attitudes toward domestic violence, readiness to act on suspicion of violence toward a neighbour, and perceptions of safety in one’s residential area following the implementation of Huskurage. Another aim was to examine whether attitudes toward domestic violence and readiness to act on suspicion of violence are associated with an individual’s gender and extent of prosocialness. Qualitative interviews were conducted with individuals who worked with the implementation. A quantitative study was conducted that targeted the beliefs of the residents in the three areas. One questionnaire was sent out to all adult (18+ years) residents before the implementation of Huskurage, and a follow-up questionnaire was sent out 6 months later. Documents such as meeting minutes and email correspondence was also gathered. The results illuminate how different aspects regarding cooperation, commitment and communication can enhance work practices. The results also indicate that Huskurage can contribute to an increased readiness to act on suspicions of violence in one’s residential area. Furthermore, there are gender differences in attitudes toward domestic violence and the method Huskurage

Auditory distraction compromises random generation

Auditory distraction of random generation – a quintessentially executive control task – was explored in three experiments. Random number generation was impaired by the mere presence of irrelevant auditory sequences that comprise digits, but not letters, and then only if the digits were heard in a canonical order (1, 2, 3 … or 3, 2, 1 …), not in random order (Experiments 1 and 2). Random letter generation was impaired by irrelevant letters heard in alphabetical order (a, b, c …) and reversed alphabetical order (i, h, g …), but not by numbers in canonical order or letters in random order (Experiment 3). Attempting to ignore canonical sequences – with items that are members of the same category as the to-be-generated items – reduced the randomness of the generated sequence, by decreasing the tendency to change the direction of the produced sequence for random number generation, and by increasing resampling of responses for random letter generation. Like other selective attention tasks, the cost of distraction to random generation appears to stem from preventing habitual responses assuming the control of action

Effects of speech on proofreading: Can task-engagement manipulations shield against distraction?

This article reports 2 experiments that examine techniques to shield against the potentially disruptive effects of task-irrelevant background speech on proofreading. The participants searched for errors in texts that were either normal (i.e., written in Times New Roman font) or altered (i.e., presented either in Haettenschweiler font or in Times New Roman but masked by visual noise) in 2 sound conditions: a silent condition and a condition with background speech. Proofreading for semantic/contextual errors was impaired by speech, but only when the text was normal. This effect of speech was completely abolished when the text was written in an altered font (Experiment 1) or when it was masked by visual noise (Experiment 2). There was no functional difference between the 2 ways to alter the text with regard to the way the manipulations influenced the effects of background speech on proofreading. The results indicate that increased task demands, which lead to greater focal-task engagement, may shield against the distracting effects of background speech on proofreading